Play-Offs anyone?

The last time I wrote about Walsall, players were departing, results were slipping and even the ever faithful support was wearing thin. Not surpirsing really when DD’s bemusing army had only just started to turn up to matches, having beaten Hartlepool away 1-0 and then another 3-2 away victory three days later, only this time it came at then promotion favourites Doncaster in the John Smiths Dulex Paint Cup Trophy thingy.
How things can change, but then again it wouldn’t be Walsall if they didn’t. Last time around when the then Red army were in League One, a gambling man had visions of reaching another division. He did, only the one beneath the one we were in at that time. What a plank! During that pain-staking season, Walsall had been in a good position for the Play-Offs, but then failed to acumilate any kind of form and deflated like a flan in a cupboard. As I said, how things can change.
As we approach the ever busy Christmas period, there is optimism, hunger, enthusiasm and plain old determination from all parties at the Banks’s to keep a run of only two defeats in the last nine games going for as long as possible. Is it though? The absense of key players, such as Michael Dobson and Mark Bradley, have left the squad looking thinner than Bobby Charlton’s famous comb-over, and with that in mind – can we sustain a push towards the top-six? Yes…well we can try. With good results in the past month against teams such as Tranmere and Brighton, it’s hard to not see us throw our weight around and give it hell when we come up against the so-called ‘bigger’ teams later this month. Next up, for example, is Northampton away, followed by Notts Forest at home. Oooo…tough ones! Hopefully we can prove the critics, who lie within the Health Stand usually, wrong and pick up some all important points in our race to make a positive impact on League One this season. As long as we don’t go near the bottom four, it’s a success anyway.