Saddlers lose defender

So after Carlos, and Martin Butler and Danny Sonner, Alan Picken today has parted company with the Saddlers by mutual consent.

The central defender who came over from Oz and stepped right off the plane into the first team to cover Ian Ropers suspension against Rochdale last August, never got his career off the ground. To be fair he looked a class above the rest at Rochdale and I even tipped him to be our star find last season, many including manager Richard Money expected big things. In truth by playing so soon he aggrivated a knee injury, a further cameo appearance against Macclesfield in the end signalled the end of his Walsall career as investigation proved an operation in Austrialia had been bungled and despite further op’s and plenty of times when he was reported to be nearly ready to return, secondary problems meant he was never to pull on a first team shirt again. He has returned to Oz and we wish him well, I for one wonder what might have been if he had been able to show the form which kept Ricky Lambert in his pocket that sunny August day.