How will Jon Whitney’s new-look Walsall match up in League One this year?

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2015/16 for Black Country outfit Walsall was by all means a magical season, even if it were to ultimately end in heartbreak. The Saddlers missed out on automatic promotion by the skin off their teeth in League One, finishing 3^rd and being pipped to automatic promotion by Staffordshire minnows Burton Albion who finished runners-up behind 2013 FA Cup Winners, Wigan Athletic.

Their 3^rd place finish paved the way for their first playoff campaign since 2001, and their closest shot at promotion ever since they won promotion back to the third tier in 2006/07, but with several members of the team which made the run to the playoffs already having moved on to pastures new, Jon Whitney will have a big job on his hands rebuilding the Saddlers and reinvigorating them for another shot at promotion in 2016/17 having finished the season as Walsall’s fourth boss over the course of the campaign following the departures of Dean Smith, John Ward and Sean O’Driscoll. But can his new-look Walsall team be expected to match the dizzy heights of last season?

Of last season’s squad, Jason Demetriou, Paul Downing, Sam Mantom, Anthony Forde, Jordan Cook, Milan Lalkovic and Romaine Sawyers have all sealed moves away from the Bescot Stadium, and in-so-doing 35 of Walsall’s goals in League One last season head out with them. The crushing blow however was the departure of leading marksman Tom Bradshaw, who scored 40 goals in two seasons for the club, including 20 in 2015/16. He was duly snapped up by Barnsley, Walsall’s playoff conquerors last season who are stepping up their preparations for life back in the Championship, whilst the beaten Saddlers gear up to go again in the third tier.

Whitney has already set about patching up his Walsall side, filling the void left by Jason Demetriou in defence by recruiting Championship experienced former Yeovil full-back Joe Edwards, whilst also adding a loan signings to his rear-guard in Southampton’s Jason McCarthy, likely to replace Paul Downing. The creative crux of his team has been replaced by Peterborough’s Erhun Oztumer, the addition of West Ham’s George Dobson on loan, and bringing winger Florent Cuvelier back to the West Midlands after a difficult and injury stricken stint at Sheffield United.

Cuvelier had two loan spells at the club back in 2012 when on the books of Stoke City, but Oztumer, who scored six last season for the Posh, is one signing to get fans of the Black Country side excited so far this summer having impressed during pre-season, and will provide the creativity in the centre of the park lost with the departures of Forde and Sawyers. Cuvelier can be expected to bring back some of the width formerly catered for by Slovakian Milan Lalkovic before his move to Portsmouth, along with the signing of a proven winger at League One level in Franck Moussa, who scored 20 times in 92 appearances for Coventry City.

The biggest coup so far this summer however, and probably the signing that most of Walsall’s potential success hinges on, is that of former Gillingham, Norwich and Blackburn striker Simeon Jackson, who has been brought into the club as a direct replacement for Tom Bradshaw.

The Canadian only notched two goals in 19 appearances for Blackburn Rovers last season, but having registered 70 goals in 273 games for a host of clubs at Football League level, including 13 for Norwich during their 2010/11 campaign when they secured promotion to the Premier League, the Saddlers have managed to plug the hole left by Bradshaw with a proven goalscorer, and with the creativity around him, there is no reason to believe that he wouldn’t thrive at the Bescot Stadium.

The creative dynamism and fluid, passing football played at Walsall over the years certainly presents itself as the way forward for Whitney’s side, having stood them in such good stead last season. A forward like Jackson enjoys feeding off balls into feet, and with pace and trickery on the wings, and a creative midfield, Whitney is building a side aiming to get the best out of the Canadian. Oztumer’s form for Peterborough in the past bodes well also, and he will likely fit in behind Jackson as the link between midfield and the spearhead in Jackson, with the wide players in support. The gaffer will also be hoping that Joe Edwards can bring back the extra attacking dimension that Demetriou provided from right-back, overlapping his right-winger and supporting the Saddlers going forward.

Despite having one prolific goalscorer on the books, much of Walsall’s success was owed to goals being shared around the team, and their contributions once again will be just as important, particularly if it takes time for new recruit Simeon Jackson to bed into the side and rediscover his goalscoring touch. Much of the excess weight was picked up by the midfield, with Sawyers a particular benefactor, though as well as looking to Oztumer and possibly Dobson to pick up the pieces, Whitney will be looking at his two new wide players, both known to have an eye for goal, to pull their weight, Moussa in particular having enjoyed a fruitful spell in League One with Coventry.

Although much of Walsall’s play is centred around playing on the ground, potentially reverting to a 4-4-2 system with another forward in support of Simeon Jackson may be a beneficial change for the side, with Jackson’s partnership with Chris Martin at Norwich five years ago having paid similar dividends. Despite having two wing players who tend to run at full-backs, their ability to provide service from the flanks for forwards should not be neglected, and without a target-man for Jackson to play-off, potentially Whitney’s team may be missing a further source of goals, something lacking at the club since the departure of Will Grigg in 2013. Whether the former physio chooses to pursue this however is another matter, and he may be content in sticking with Jackson whilst having a creative lynch-pin behind him and hoping to forge most goal-scoring opportunities from playing on the ground.

Whitney’s Walsall signings make clear the direction the West Midlands club is taking, and fans can expect more of the same in the way the club goes about its business and indeed goes about playing its football. Further success however will be based on whether this new-look side can gel in the typical dynamic Walsall style and whether playing primarily carpet-football will provide enough of a creative force. Jackson, the man on the end of it all, will have much resting on his shoulders as the man responsible for putting the majority of chances away. His tally next season, given the severe loss of goals in Bradshaw, may prove the difference between another mediocre campaign for the Saddlers, or whether they can bounce back and remain on track for a Championship charge.

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