Chris Marsh: Big steps are made by Walsall

Once again the drama hasn’t stopped with the fan focus meeting, supporter protest and the small matter of Oxford at home.

But you’ve got to give credit where it is due and I think progress has been made.

People who read this column every week know I’ve been critical of Jeff Bonser at times and the direction the club is heading.

And I can completely understand why fans chose to protest during the Oxford match on Saturday.

But I’m delighted to hear that some members of the board are going to meet with the supporters behind that protest this Friday.

It’s important to note board members do hold meetings with the Walsall Supporters Trust every two months. They do communicate.

But I’ve felt for a long time the communication from the club could still improve.

And whether you are Bonser in or Bonser out, Jon Whitney in or Jon Whitney out, the important thing is that everyone gets around the table to talk.

What we all want is to work out the best way to move forward because we all share one thing in common – we all love Walsall Football Club.

While I have been critical of Bonser, I still respect the things he has done.

From what I can remember, he put his house on the line when he first purchased the club. You can’t help but admire that.

But football has changed a lot since then and he has probably taken the club as far as he can.

Walsall is for sale and Jeff wants a fair price, which you can also understand.

But until a buyer is found, all we can do is work together and that’s why it’s so important this meeting on Friday takes place.

It will take the heat off a little bit – which coincidently is what happened with Whitney at the focus meeting on Thursday.

The boss answered some difficult questions from some very angry fans.

I wasn’t there on the night, but everything I have read since is that he came across very well. He was relaxed and showed his sense of humour.

He didn’t walk out the room with everyone suddenly believing he is the right man for the job.

There is still an awful long way to go before fans truly believe Whitney is a manager.

But he did calm the waters a little bit, which again is another step forward.

The biggest step forward of all, though, was the three points picked up in the victory over the U’s

And I’ve got to congratulate Liam Roberts for what was a 10-out-of-10 performance in goal.

On another day, Walsall would have drawn or maybe ever lost that game.

But the 23-year-old was absolutely outstanding and made four fantastic saves.

Credit must also go to Erhun Oztumer, his quick thinking for the free-kick led to the first goal.

And that delicate chip for the second was an outstanding piece of skill. He really is a special player, but it was Roberts who rightly grabbed the headlines.

Walsall have had some great goalkeepers over the years. Of course, there is my pal Jimmy Walker, while Richard O’Donnell and Neil Etheridge have been fantastic recently.

Hopefully we have now got another star on our hands with Roberts.

I just want to end the column this week by paying tribute to the great Cyrille Regis.

I met him a few times, but he was very good friends with a close pal of mine, Derek Statham.

Albion were actually my team as a youngster, my grandad played for them and he and my dad would take me to games.

Growing up, I watched Regis, Laurie Cunningham, Bryan Robson and all those wonderful players. What a side they had.

I idolised Regis. He really was an incredible footballer. He was also a pioneer.

The racist abuse he used to receive was shocking. But he was one of the first players to use it as fuel.

He shrugged it off, looked those people in the eye and said ‘I’m going to score against you’.

What a man he was. I actually had two of my mates phone up on Monday in tears when they heard the news.

That is how much Cyrille Regis meant. Two men in their 40s and 50s were crying they were so devastated to see him go.

I spoke to Derek Statham and he was struggling to come to terms with it. He said he had seen him a couple of weeks ago and he looked absolutely magnificent. He was so fit.

It’s so sad because everyone, absolutely everyone, looked up to Cyrille Regis. He is a massive loss.