Was Tom Knowles' Walsall departure a surprise?

Jonny Drury and George Bennett discuss Tom Knowles' departure from Walsall - and whether it came as a surprise.

Transcript

00:00Tom Knowles was one of the main departures. We had the release and retain list and there

00:12were players that were always going to leave the club at the end of their contract. But

00:14Tom Knowles, somebody who's left, has he gone to Forest Green? Newly, sort of freshly relegated

00:19Forest Green in the National League next season. Was that something of a surprise to you when

00:26the news sort of filtered in a couple of weeks ago?

00:29Possibly. I mean, obviously he was not necessarily an ever-present because of injuries and suspensions,

00:37but he was someone that had regular game time under Matt Sadler last season, playing in

00:42an unfamiliar position really for himself in that right wing back slot in his first

00:47season. He's playing much further forward, scored five goals. And last season, I think

00:53it was two goals in all competitions, but none in the league. But he was always a threat

00:58down that right hand side. And I think one thing that, you know, Walsall fans really

01:02liked about him was the fact that his work ethic is something that you could never dispute.

01:08And also his connection with the fans. He was going to away games when he was injured

01:12and it's worth remembering that he'd really picked up quite a strong spell of form when

01:17Walsall had gone on that five match winning streak in February and the start of March

01:21and his injury against Forest Green, all teams actually, where it kind of really cut an end

01:27to his season because he only featured right towards the tail end of the campaign after

01:32that. And that kind of coincided with Walsall's slump in form. So that could possibly suggest

01:38that he was an important player there, but there were probably flaws to his game. You

01:43know, there was question marks over his final ball and he should have probably been more

01:47productive in the final third. Walsall sometimes struggled to defend from wide areas and that

01:53was just the final game of the season when they lost 5-1 against Wimbledon, was maybe

01:57culpable for that. So, you know, if you were looking to strengthen, then the right wing

02:01back area would have been an area you'd have looked to strengthen. And unfortunately for

02:05Tom Knowles, who I believe has probably found a good club there in Forest Green, where although

02:12they might be in the National League and he's dropped out of the Football League, they're

02:15going to be a club with the investment they made that would be looking to get back there.

02:19So, you know, I feel like probably the right decision, but Walsall had to be ruthless there

02:27really. And, you know, that's the direction they've looked to go by improving that right

02:32wing back slot with the arrival of Conor Barrett.