00:00Hi Sadlers fans, just hopping on here to go over the main takeaways really from last night's Fans Forum.
00:09You know, gave supporters for a good two hours the opportunity to sort of take the likes of Ben Boycott,
00:15who joined via Videolink, and fellow co-chairman Lee Pomlett, joined by CEO Ben Sadler,
00:21the opportunity to take them to task, you know, largely about last season and, you know,
00:27the collapsed promotion bid and, you know, I'd say kind of went some way to do him really in their sort of end of season statement.
00:36All three of them took responsibility and, you know, Ben Boycott said that lessons will be learnt from it.
00:42And one sort of key takeaway was, of course, the failures of the January transfer window following Nathan Lowe's recall.
00:48And he alluded to the fact that the club were aware that Nathan Lowe was going to stay
00:55until the managerial change of Mark Robbins and obviously the recall by Leicester City of Stoke City striker Cannon.
01:05So that was sort of the first point he made.
01:08But, you know, he said that January didn't do what they wanted it to do.
01:12And so things will be put in place.
01:14And one thing is they're looking to appoint in time for the January transfer window next year a first team recruitment coordinator.
01:26And Ben Sadler added, you know, the fact that it's someone that they've worked with before
01:30and they've got a candidate in mind.
01:35Elsewhere, there was also talk about the fact that, you know, Walsall had signed three strikers.
01:41Strikers, the fact that Nathan Lowe was there in the first half of the window meant that they missed out on a number of targets.
01:48Matt Sadler mentioned that, stated that after the defeat against AFC Wimbledon in the League Two Playoff Final Wembley in May.
01:57And they said that, you know, they also tabled a club record bid for another striker who is believed to be Freddie Draper,
02:04you know, in terms of those, you know, Ben Sadler, Ben Boycott, Lee Pomlett.
02:09There were no names mentioned, but it was quite clear that probably Freddie Draper was the man in question
02:15and said, you know, that they tabled a significant offer, which was a club record bid.
02:23And that really, you know, Lincoln made it quite clear that he wasn't for sale at any price.
02:27And the club basically had to move away from that.
02:30There was also a conversation on Harry Williams' situation and obviously, you know, set to miss the whole of next season after rupturing his Achilles at Wembley.
02:41And that the club have offered him a new contract, which has not yet been accepted.
02:48But, you know, the club have got a doozy of care, as Sadler revealed earlier this week, to help him through his rehabilitation.
02:54It is not a 12-month deal, Ben Sadler stated.
02:57But, you know, the club are hopeful of helping him through that rehabilitation and then, you know,
03:02seeing him in Walsall colours again in the future.
03:07And, of course, you know, there's been pressure put on the club in terms of Matt Sadler's position.
03:15And all three, you know, made their position on that very clear, their stance very clear.
03:20And the fact that, you know, they feel that Matt Sadler is the best person to take Walsall forward for the long-term future.
03:28And they also said that in the short term, they thought it would have had a demoralising impact on the team had he been sat in the middle of the campaign.
03:37They also defended their decision to offer him a three-year deal during the season and said, you know,
03:44at the time that they were fearful of losing Matt Sadler with the fact that, you know,
03:50he's being sort of tooted with interest from other clubs.
03:52But, you know, in fairness to Matt Sadler, Lee Pomlett mentioned, Matt Sadler was always, you know, eager to remain with Walsall.
04:04And, you know, there's plenty of other points to cover and I'll be putting a full transcript out of that.
04:09I mean, I've just spent the last four hours really writing up the transcript of that two-hour conversation.
04:14So that's kind of been a small sample of what my day has been like.
04:18But Lee Pomlett finished with the words, you know, he said he hadn't slept properly for a week after that Wembley defeat.
04:25Said he feels a hurt just as much as the Walsall fans do with himself being a supporter of the club.
04:31Lots of praise for the way Traveller have taken the club forward.
04:34But said, now is the time to move on.
04:37There's going to be plenty of new players in a Walsall shirt who, you know, won't be linked to the disappointment of last season.
04:45And he just hopes that the fans can find it in their hearts to move on and kick on again ahead of next season.
04:50But like I say, a full transcript set to come.
04:53And also, you know, I've kind of put the main takeaways there.
04:56But, you know, the full transcript to be there just in case there's any other points that you'd like to read up on.
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