Ex-boss Brian Dutton: Walsall should re-sign loanees

The pair, on loan from Lincoln and Villa respectively, have now returned to their parent clubs.

They flourished under Dutton and the former head coach, in one of his last interviews in charge, urged the club to bring them back.

Melbourne mentioned he was fighting for a contract when he joined in January and when asked if there was a deal ready for him to sign, Dutton said: “Max has done very well.

“He’s was third choice left-back at Lincoln and he’s come out on loan and put himself in the shop window. He’s performed admirably. The biggest positive about him, beyond his football ability, is his willingness to put himself out there for Walsall.

“He wants to be on the field, not lose his shirt, and represent Walsall. The more you can have guys around with that character the more successful you will be.

“He’s no doubt in a strong position to negotiate football contracts moving forward.

“He’s done fantastic so of course it would be wise to have conversations with Max Melbourne about his future.”

When asked if Walsall will try and bring Wright back next season, he added: “Usually with these guys when they do well they look to kick them on but we have a strong relationship with the guys at Aston Villa.

“We have facilitated Aston Villa and they have facilitated us in terms of the loan of Tyreik Wright. I think he’s been a little superstar for us.

“He hasn’t got the goals that he should have had, that’s the next step he needs to take, but in terms of performances he’s been excellent in my opinion.

“A young guy coming over from Ireland and away from his family, 19-years-old, and top of the running stats pretty much every game.

“He’s absolutely given everything for Walsall. Unfortunately he probably hasn’t had the players on the pitch to supplement him and the runs he makes. He makes a lot of intelligent runs that we haven’t found.

“He has levels and gears and he’ll keep going through them. I expect him to have a really successful football career. I’m so happy to have played a part in that.

“If we could pinch him for another season at Walsall we’d be honoured.”

Although Dutton was unsure on where his future would be, a big focus of his final days in charge was on recruitment.

He insisted mistakes needed to be learned from and when asked if the burden needs to be eased on Rory Holden, the former manager insisted that should be a priority.

He said: “When you become dependent on one guy for success or failure then the set-up is not quite right in my opinion.

“We have fell foul of not having that connection between defence and attack and Rory does that. Emmanuel Osadebe also does that but he’s just starting out on his journey.

“Rory was there and in the zone. He was really influencing things at will.

“Walsall can’t be reliant on one player, it’s too big a club for that. There’s too much at risk and at stake.

“Same with Elijah Adebayo, we lose him and replace him with two very inexperienced EFL players.

“Walsall is far too big to allow this. It needs to be rectified in the future so this situation can’t happen again.

“A lot of people at the football club lose their jobs if Walsall get relegated and it’s not fair on them. There has to be more structure and intelligence moving forward.”

Dutton also answered several more questions in his final pre-match press conference, all of which are listed below.

What is Mat Sadler’s future?

“It’s up in the air to be honest,” Dutton said.

“Mat Sadler is a great guy first and foremost, he’s somebody the football club should value very highly.

“Not only for his contribution in football, but his personality and humility. He nurtures the young guys and his very important to them.

“My advice to the people making the decisions on players and staff at Walsall is that Mat Sadler is a very good egg, first and foremost, and he has a hell of a lot to offer.

“He has 475 EFL career starts, that’s almost a third of our whole squad. That alone is massive in terms of helping these young guys. He’s someone that I would push that the football club keep, but it’s not in my hands at the moment.”

When asked if he would advise him to continue playing or focus on coaching, Dutton added: “He for sure has another year left in him to play, at least.

“He’s one of the fittest guys at the club and managed 22 games on the bounce for me playing Saturday-Tuesday.

“His body is robust enough to deal with it but it comes from within. He’ll know himself when it’s time and when it’s not. It’s not a decision I can make for him.

“He’ll be a massive asset to the football club, whether that’s as an assistant, a first-team coach, youth-team coach or as a League Two footballer.”

Would you consider staying with Walsall in another role?

Dutton said: “I keep every door open.

“I love football and the coaching element. I love the managerial element of football. I love the analysis element of football.

“I wouldn’t close any doors. It’s not a case of ‘I want to be a manager and I must be a manager’, the opportunity was offered to me and I wanted to support Walsall who have been good to me. I didn’t want to let them down.

“I have no ambitions to do one thing or the other, all I want to do is be successful in my career.

“I’ll keep every avenue open. I don’t yearn to be a manager, it’s not something I’m besotted with. It’s something I’d like to do because I think I’d be successful given a transfer window and given time.

“But I won’t close any door working at Walsall because it’s a special club.”

How do you get the best out of Wes McDonald?

Dutton said: “Wes is a special talent.

“He’s a player who is capable of anything on a football pitch. He’s so talented and so skilled.

“He’s been a little bit unfortunate under my tenure that we were a very leaky team conceding lots of goals and not scoring many.

“I had to sacrifice these talented attacking players with flair for a team that could keep the door shut, keep clean sheets and give us an opportunity to win games.

“We’ve managed to do that. We’ve had six clean sheets under my tenure and had three prior to me coming in.

“Poor Wes has had to sacrifice himself for the good of the team. But you can see him coming back into a more cohesive team how talented he is.

“Wes McDonald has a very bright future. He’s a talented guy and hopefully it can be with Walsall.”

He’s out of contract this summer, does he deserve a new deal?

Dutton said: “Over the last two seasons he’s shown he’s very capable at this level and probably better than this level.

“With Wes it’s about building that team around him who can make him successful, which in turn will make Walsall successful.

“At the moment he doesn’t have that team around him, we’ve been missing key players.

“Nobody is going to not take Wes McDonald, he’s a talented guy. But in my opinion you definitely need the right players around him to be as successful as he can be.

“I have to sit down with Jamie and understand where the budget is at next year, what players we can afford and then make intelligent decisions.

“Is Wes McDonald a talented guy? For sure. On his day is he too good for this level? Yes he is.

“Would Walsall benefit from having Wes McDonald signed up for another season? Of course they would.”