Darrell Clarke: Walsall will have to adapt
Darrell Clarke insists he and his players need to ‘adapt’ to the changing landscape of League Two – with his first Walsall season set to end with a top-half finish.
The EFL yesterday set out its final ‘framework’ for ending the season, which will see promotion and relegation upheld and the final table decided on an unweighted points per game system.
Saddlers are currently 14th in the division but would finish 12th under the proposals and Clarke is eager to prepare well for football’s eventual return.
“The case for football managers is to adapt to things that perhaps we didn’t prepare for, we’ve had to tweak and change along the way,” he said.
“Adapting to the different circumstances as we go along and with the pitches and the training ground we’ve done that. First and foremost it’s about the health and well-being of my staff and players, that is paramount. We need to be as professional as we can be with the ever moving circumstances, so we’re well prepared. My players are working very hard in the background and we’re monitoring that.
“We’re training to be as positive as we can be and the main thing is that they’re all good and their families are good.”
Last week, all 24 fourth tier sides agreed that they wished to call time on the current season due to the financial pressures caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The clubs agreed to the EFL’s ‘framework’ that the league table would be finalised using an unweighted points-per-game system and that automatic promotion and the play-offs would be played.
However, the clubs asked for relegation to the National League to be suspended with Stevenage currently three points clear at the bottom, but with a game in hand over Macclesfield.
This means that Stevenage will be the only team relegated, unless further action is taken on Macclesfield, who have been docked several points this season for failing to play matches and pay players.
The EFL have also determined that a 51 per cent majority is needed from a vote for a season to be officially curtailed.
All 24 League Two clubs will now consider the EFL framework before it is formally proposed by the board and then voted on by the clubs.
