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Can Walsall recover from the Fryatt hangover?
By Nathan Jackson July 25 2006
Walsall were a good outside bet for the playoffs in League One before Fryatt left and then they were eventually relegated. With a vastly experienced squad however, they are again a good outside bet for the playoffs and could turn out to be one of the surprise teams this season.

Manager : Richard Money

Key Player : Dean Keates

Tipped by many for : Lower Midtable

Last Season : It was a season of two halves for Walsall and those can be entitled “Here’s Matty Fryatt” and “Matty’s gone”. With prolific striker Matty Fryatt in the squad, Walsall were challenging for promotion and were heading slowly but surely towards the playoffs in League One. However, when the transfer window came around, Matty Fryatt left for Leicester City and Walsall quickly collapsed and were relegated with a few weeks of the season to go with a 3-1 home defeat against Huddersfield Town.

This season : Walsall have brought in several good players who are also experienced in the lower league, such as Tony Bedeau from Torquay United. As a good footballing team, they should succeed in this division as most teams in this division play the long ball tactics and the footballing sides tend to do well in this division. One thing that might work in their favour is that most of their players have tasted success before, making them hungry for success again. One thing that is absolutely vital is that they beat all the teams down the bottom of the table to, at the very least avoid relegation but they should have no problems with the bottom half of the table.

Their success will depend on: If they find adequate replacement for Matty Fryatt.

Prediction : 6th, despite of their problems last season, Walsall still have a squad highly capable of doing well at this level.

 

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