Chris Marsh wants Walsall to open up

Walsall legend Chris Marsh has urged the crisis-hit club to open up to their supporters.

The former defender, who made 479 appearances for the Saddlers, insisted the fans are the lifeblood of the club and the Saddlers must re-engage with their angry faithful.

Walsall sacked manager Chris Hutchings and assistant Martin O'Connor yesterday with the club bottom of League One and eight points adrift of safety.

Monday's 4-1 defeat at Peterborough brought a furious reaction from fans which prompted the club to act and Marsh insisted they must continue to listen.

He said: "The club is nothing without its fans. Jeff Bonser will take the criticism but it's a sad situation. I was listening to the radio the other day and someone came on and said she'd never known it so bad.

"They are going to lose fans left, right and centre if things don't improve. People won't renew their season tickets and the club certainly don't want that.

"They have to listen to the fans."

The Saddlers are now hunting a new boss with Mark Kinsella and Jim Gannon early favourites, while former Ferencvaros manager and current England under-19 assistant coach Bobby Davison has applied.

Head of youth Dean Smith is in temporary charge, but Marsh insisted whoever comes in must be ready to fire up a demoralised team.

He said: "You want someone to come in and shake it up. I admire what Chris and Martin have done because they have worked in difficult circumstances within the means of the club.

"But now they need someone to rev it up and get them out of trouble."

Marsh revealed his heartbreak at the state of the club after just four wins in their last 22 games.

He said: "It's always sad to see the club like that. They are my team and I love them and I don't want to see them down the bottom, it's really hard.

"I was there in the late 1980s when we went down twice on the bounce under John Barnwell and that took a long time to recover from.

"When we went down Kenny Hibbitt came and tried to revive us and did a good job in difficult circumstances.

"Chris Nicholl then came in and took us on further."