Jonny Drury & George Bennett review Walsall's January transfer window business

Express & Star

Jonny Drury is joined by Walsall reporter George Bennett to review the Saddlers' January transfer business. Mat Sadler wrapped up his deals early, with five new faces coming in during the window. One has subsequently been sent back out on loan, and they discuss how successful the window has been for the Saddlers.

Transcript

00:00 Hello and welcome to ExpressandStart.com for this Walsall Transfer Deadline Day update.

00:13 My name is Jonny Jury. I'm alongside Walsall main man and E&S correspondent George Bennett.

00:18 Now, George, Transfer Deadline Day is usually quite busy. That hasn't been the case with

00:24 the Sadlers and we're pretty much 99.9% sure that that isn't going to be the case. No incomings

00:31 or outgoings expected or any more expected at the Poundland-Bescott Stadium. So we're

00:36 just going to spend the next three or four minutes just reviewing Walsall's window really.

00:39 They've got a lot of business done in the doors. Five signings in in total. I think

00:44 it all kicked off with Evan Weir coming from Drug E.D. United, but he's obviously gone

00:47 back out on loan. So not someone that Sadlers fans are going to see for a little while.

00:52 The four other signings, George, just in just sort of overall, you know, sounds like Matt

00:58 Sadler's pretty happy with his window. How do you review it? Do you think they're, I

01:02 know Freddie Drake has gone, but do you think they're going into the second half of the

01:05 season in a pretty strong position despite the fact that they've lost their sort of main

01:09 striker?

01:10 Yeah, I think in some ways they are and then in other ways they're not. I think for me,

01:17 the biggest positive of the transfer market this January was how proactive they were in

01:22 replacing Freddie Draper because it was something that was on the card for a long time, you

01:28 know, for probably, to be honest, since he started scoring goals at a regular rate. Walsall

01:34 fans were worried that inevitably he could end up being recalled. And I think Matt Sadler,

01:41 without wanting to admit it, knew that as well. And the club always had in the back

01:44 of their minds that they had to plan for that, for that possibility. And it clearly showed

01:50 they were ready because with, what, 10 days of him leaving, Josh Gordon and Mo Fowle were

01:56 through the door. So immediately they bolstered their attacking ranks rather than kind of

02:01 leaving themselves short and scrambling at the end of the transfer window, which is slightly

02:06 what they did last January with, you know, the fact there was this golden carrot hanging

02:10 down that Danny Johnson could come back when he was recalled. And unfortunately it didn't

02:15 happen and ended up going for Matty Stephens on transfer deadline day. So I think that

02:21 was, that for me was a major positive. We've obviously seen Jamie Jellis come through the

02:26 door, which I think in terms of future investment, Matt Sadler said, you know, he's not only

02:33 trying to better his squad for the now, but he's also looking at the future. And I think,

02:38 you know, it remains to be seen how much time Jamie Jellis will get between now and the

02:43 end of this season. I mean, he's picked up a slight injury in his last game for Tamworth.

02:50 So we're at least not going to see him till mid-February, but it'll be interesting to

02:55 see how much time he gets. But for a future investment, that's clearly probably falls

02:59 into that bracket. And we've not really seen a great deal of Emanuel Adebaiega yet, but

03:05 he's another option, especially with the fact that Harry Williams is now set to be out for

03:09 the rest of the season. He probably will get some game time. It seems that back three at

03:15 the minute is pretty settled. But if anything was to happen, God forbid, to Daniels, Farkuson

03:21 or Okagbewe, then, you know, they've got someone to come in and fill in. I'd say it's been

03:29 a good window, but, you know, the business was done early and I think maybe Walsall's

03:34 now, they were all excited with the signings that were coming in and then it's been quiet

03:38 the last fortnight and maybe they would have wanted one or two more additions. But yeah,

03:44 Sadler's told me his phone's off. He's not expecting any outgoings and he's definitely

03:50 not chasing any incomings. So he's happy. He's happy with his squad and it seems like

03:55 what Walsall have got now is what they'll have for the rest of the season.

03:59 Of them, then five that have come in, just focusing a bit more on the front line, really,

04:03 obviously, like we've referenced there, they've lost Freddie Draper, who was a really good

04:06 loan signing and, you know, touch wood if either Mo Fowler or Josh Gordon can produce

04:11 what Freddie Draper's done in the second half of the season, it is going to be a good second

04:16 half of the campaign for the Sadlers. In terms of those two coming in, you know, one in terms

04:21 of Fowler, who scored a few goals for Doncaster in the league this season, you know, Josh

04:24 Gordon, someone who's experienced, who Walsall fans know all about. How do you rate that

04:31 business in terms of bringing those two in, sort of very different strikers at different

04:35 stages of their careers, but two who, you know, probably got a point to prove, really?

04:41 Well, Sadler said at the start of the season when he assembled his first set of attacking

04:46 options that the one thing he wants to achieve is to have a variety of options. And I feel

04:51 like he's regained that now with, you know, Draper leaving. But you've got someone in

04:56 Mo Fowler that's six foot five, nearly six foot six. So, you know, you've got that towering

05:01 presence up front and we only saw glimpses of it on his debut against Sutton. But you

05:06 could see once he started to bed into this side, there were the early signs there that

05:10 there's something about him. I mean, I thought his hold up play was relatively good. He liked

05:13 to drop in deep. But you could also see that he is a raw talent possibly, but probably

05:21 more so that he's not used to playing with his team yet, I would say is probably more

05:24 accurate. So it'd be interesting to see how he develops. But clearly a young striker who

05:28 scored some goals at this level this season. So you'd like to think that, you know, he

05:33 can help fill the void. But there's options there. Obviously, Josh Gordon has experience

05:38 with Matt Sadler. They were teammates together and he knows the Walsall fans well. So you'd

05:43 think that that transition would be quite a seamless one, really. And yeah, a point

05:48 to prove because I think I was looking back and smashing in goals last season for Barrow,

05:54 went to League One, hasn't really worked out for him. And now he's dropped down a division

05:58 to try and rediscover that goal score in touch. So he'll be desperate to do that. And then

06:03 there's options there like James Taylor, Jamil Matt, Aaron Midote is on his way back. So,

06:10 you know, if for one reason or another, it doesn't work out with one of them, there's

06:14 plenty of options there. But Matt Sadler will want a settled front line. And, you know,

06:19 I think the next couple of weeks, probably a window where he can maybe experiment and

06:23 try a little bit. But, you know, for the rest of the season, he will want some sort of continuity

06:29 up front eventually, which they clearly lost when Draper left.

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