Analysis: Walsall ease their fears as they grab a vital victory

Many Saddlers supporters may say that’s the rollercoaster of following the club in a nutshell.

Credit where it is due, Walsall put in a performance to smile about on Saturday.

Three points were just what the doctor ordered. Not only does this victory improve the mood significantly, but it also brings a welcome bit of breathing room when it comes to the League Two table.

Now six points clear of the drop zone, the job is far from over, but it is certainly a long-overdue step in the right direction.

Interim boss Neil McDonald and first-team coach Mat Sadler went back to basics for this clash, and it paid off handsomely.

Set up in a 4-4-2 formation, the onus was on making sure, first and foremost, that players focused on their own jobs and won their individual battles.

Walsall also needed to reduce their defensive errors and make sure that they came up with something in attack.

And for the first time in a long while, those boxes were ticked.

The fact this display – solid in every sense – had to come after the dismissal of Matt Taylor was a shame.

Why could this not have happened for Taylor last Tuesday at rock-bottom Scunthorpe United?

Were his tactics not getting across properly? Were the players not applying themselves for him? Or was it a combination of both of those things?

Either way, this is not the first time that a team has impressed in the wake of seeing a head coach depart, and it will not be the last.

Whether it sits well or not, it is the nature of the beast and, ultimately, Walsall have finally managed to stop a dreadful losing run.

Quite what the coming days have in store for the Saddlers is unclear.

Naturally, attention is on who the next boss will be – ex-Newport County man Michael Flynn and former Walsall coach Dean Holden among the bookmakers’ favourites.

But for the here and now, it is just nice to have a victory to enjoy.

Whoever takes charge for this coming Saturday’s trip to table-toppers Forest Green Rovers – McDonald or a fresh face – will at least be overseeing a group with renewed confidence.

The straightforwardness of the Saddlers’ set-up for this clash was refreshing and, vitally, it worked.

Four in defence, four in midfield and two up front.

In a world where tactics and systems are so focused upon, and rightly so, there is equally times where stripping things right down to the bare bones does the job.

If you have players competing for every ball, you are going to have a chance.

Walsall made three changes to the side that slumped to a sorry loss at Scunthorpe as Conor Wilkinson and Brendan Kiernan returned, while young midfielder Sam Perry made his first league start since November.

Chairman Leigh Pomlett’s programme notes mentioned how he had addressed the squad last Thursday to ‘communicate my feelings and that of supporters’.

Outside the ground before the game got going, scores of fans gathered for a ‘peaceful protest’ organised by the Independent Saddlers Supporters’ Association – chanting and appearing to lay a mock coffin near to the stadium’s main entrance.

The match itself got off to a pretty uneventful start.

Walsall, to their credit, were holding their own and applying themselves well.

The first half was short of proper action to sink your teeth into, but the Saddlers had kept it goalless going into the break, putting them on course for a valuable result. There were no glaring errors to complain about, too.

They did almost shoot themselves in the foot shortly after the restart.

A sloppy pass from Hayden White was latched upon by Lee O’Connor, but the full-back, thankfully, raced back to stop the attack.

As the second half progressed, Walsall started to take control – Liam Kinsella the standout performer with an immense, all-action midfield display.

And they managed to capitalise on a Tranmere mistake to grab three crucial points.

Veteran Peter Clarke compounded a loose touch by recklessly sliding in on Wilkinson, wiping the Saddlers striker out for an obvious penalty.

Walsall’s No.9 then kept his nerve from 12 yards, sending Ross Doohan the wrong way.

Given how the season has gone, nobody will be getting carried away with this triumph. But nothing can quite match the feeling of a win, can it? Let’s hope for more.