Will Jackson Smith sign a new deal with Walsall?

George Bennett discusses the Walsall released and retained list - and whether players will accept new contracts.

Transcript

00:00 When will the cogs of the transfers start to turn?

00:28 The

00:44 contract doesn't run out until June 30th so it could be between now and then really. In

00:51 terms of a timeline it's difficult to really offer that at the moment. Jackson Smith deserves

01:00 that new contract first and foremost. It clearly shows just how much confidence the club have

01:08 in his abilities. They've let a goalkeeper like Owen Evans go who before Smith's breakthrough

01:14 around December time was first choice and Smith arrived there playing second string

01:20 and he's firmly established himself with some really impressive performances. You would

01:26 just like to think that by offering him that contract and by letting Evans go that they

01:31 have some level of confidence that he will sign it. Otherwise that brings up a different

01:37 situation entirely where you've lost two key goalkeepers there. That's clearly a situation

01:44 that Walsall wouldn't have been naive to put themselves in. Jackson Smith at just 22 years

01:50 old is clearly going to be a key player for Walsall going forward and by getting him on

01:55 a new deal would be a great investment. With Tom Knowles and Joe Foulkes, that one's currently

02:01 in negotiations. Tom Knowles came into that right wing back slot, it was an unfamiliar

02:08 role to him. I felt just before he got injured in March he was really beginning to show signs

02:13 that he was really starting to adjust to the role, especially defensively because we see

02:18 the runs he makes going forward. Sometimes there's question marks over the final ball

02:23 but he gets himself into great positions going forward. I felt sometimes he was a little

02:27 bit rash defensively and I felt that that area of his game was really improving before

02:31 his injury and he came back in against Wimbledon and struggled but that was off the back of

02:37 what was a number of weeks out on the sidelines. Joe Foulkes is another one who's come through

02:41 the academy and had a spell in the team earlier in the season and showed signs of promise,

02:49 then had to have a spell out of the team which was very difficult for him. But he came back

02:53 in when Knowles did get injured and I felt he acquitted himself really well and deserves

03:00 an opportunity to try and build on that now. But in terms of timelines, nothing at the

03:05 moment unfortunately but I can see why Walsall were in negotiations and offering contracts

03:11 to try and keep those players and get them on the ball for next season.