Football Season Guide

Walsall have been League One's "nearly" side for the last two seasons, as the Saddlers have made a real habit of producing periods of stellar football, but being unable to maintain that level for long enough to actually make the step up and make the top six. Their previous season was no exception, as their poor start and a poor period that they had during the second half of the season made them impossible to push for promotion. The Saddlers have become a quite stable club, as they have a long-serving manager in Dean Smith and generally avoid changing their playing squad too much, but the problem that they have is that they do not have the funds required to strengthen their squad an extra bit and finally become genuine play-off rivals. The Saddlers have suffered one real blow during the summer, as their impressive keeper Richard O'Donnell has refused to sign a new contract despite months of negotiations, and has decided to join Wigan. Neil Etheridge, who joins from Charlton, will try to replace him - Etheridge is a decent keeper who is proven at League One level, but he has some pretty big shoes to fill, as O' Donnell was impressive last season. The other arrivals include Jason Demetriou, who joins from Anorthosis, and Milan Lalkovic, a well-known face at the Bescot, who joins the Saddlers following an unsuccessful spell at Barnsley. All in all, Walsall have not changed too much during the summer, and seem to be at a similar level as last season. It remains to be seen whether this level will be enough for anything more than midtable mediocrity this time around.