After six games of the Sky Bet League One season Walsall Football Club find themselves in 21st place, with an ever-growing injury list, Bescot Banter reader Kyle Mitchell has sent us his views, and is keen for supporters to 'keep the faith' and wait to see what a clean bill of health could bring before allowing the 'doom and gloom' to set in.Six games into the season and many people are already thinking everything is doom and gloom but there are still 40 games left to make a push for the top half and hopefully top 6.
The biggest problem and concern so far is the lack of goals from the squad. In the league we have scored just 3 goals, all of which have come from recent signing Tom Bradshaw. Now this is a concern that has continued from last season in which we only scored 49 goals in the league (more than only the bottom 3, Sheffield United and Crawley).
We have taken big steps to fixing this problem by bringing in a number of forwards including Bradshaw, Manset and Cook but so far only 3 goals have come from the signings.
Personally I still feel that the answer to goals could be closer than we think, with a fully fit squad and the inclusion of Mantom and Cook into the team we can only improve. So far we have missed Mantom's passing ability which even with the arrival of Billy Clifford will make a big difference to the side.
I also think the young players in the squad such as Morris and Bakayoko will be key to scoring. Bakayoko still hasn't been given a full chance to prove himself and show exactly what he can do.
There have also been some positives to the season so far: A defence which has started strongly, and continued last seasons form by only conceded 5 goals in the league so far which is less than top of the table Peterborough United, and this is without a proven right back.
James Chambers who has been filling in at centre back has started strongly, fellow defender James O'Connor is somebody who I still feel would be better suited to a centre back role and teenage sensation Liam Kinsella, who has filled the gap at right back, has played well but similarly to Benning, will be better suited to a midfield role.
The answer to our struggles is not to turn against a manager, who has done wonders with the club: In his first half a season he had taken us from likely to be relegated under Chris Hutchings, to a great escape and League One survival. In his first full season he led us to a 9th place finish and then 13th the season after. All of which he has done with a budget which is still one of, if not the smallest in the league.
We will not get a better manager than Dean Smith in the current situation, managers want money to spend and any manager will have to rely on the current squad and the youth system as spending big could lead to troubles in the running of the club.
Things will get better with a fully fit squad. After Saturday's 0-0 draw with Colchester United, many people seemed to forget we had 7 players missing from the squad,including our best midfielder in Mantom, starting defender James Chambers and attacking threats such as Jordan Cook through injury and Romaine Sawyers through international duty.
With time and fitness I believe Deano will be able to put us back up into the higher reaches of the table, in a season which I still feel we could make a play-off push if we get a fully fit squad in time.
By: Kyle Mitchell.
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