Walsall Wednesdays

There is one reason why I will not buy a season ticket at Walsall this season – they are too expensive. Consider the cost: I usually sit around the press box in the previously named HL Fellows Stand, which cost around £200 back in 2001. Six years later, they want me to pay £300 to sit in the same seat, when £200 can get you a seat in a Premiership stadium just a few miles down the road at Villa Park. How can you justify the lower league club to have more expensive season ticket prices? My view is you can`t, and that is one of the reasons for why I am not buying a season ticket this year (the other being my geographical location for nine months of the year being in Lancashire). If the price was lower, say just under the £200 mark, I would make the journey on a Saturday down to the Midlands to watch the lads sweat blood and tears for the Saddlers cause. Instead, commercialisation hitting the former known Bescot Stadium has put up the prices to pay for improvement in the Sunday market. It makes me sick! As if football has come to this in the modern era.

Anyway, I was very pleased to see someone sign for us this week, especially when it`s Tommy Mooney. He may be 36 on August 11th, but who cares, he still has a lot to offer to the club, especially to the younger players, such as Troy Deeney. For me, DD has struck genius, as Deeney is set to offer a threat up-front for us next year and the experiences of Mooney will only enhance his ability even more. However, who will be next to enter the player door at the Banks`s? I have a firm belief that it will be Rhys Weston, who has reportedly been offered a contract. I hope he has, as whenever I have seen him play, especially for Cardiff in the past, he has always impressed me with his defensive strength and attacking ability. He is only 26, which would make a change for us at the moment. I would be a very happy Saddler if he did.

With preseason underway, it remains to be seen who DD will pick in his first preseason game. Whoever is picked will need to show their qualities, while proving they are worthy to wear the white shirt. There is also a battle for the number one jersey next season, with Ince and Bossu fighting it out. Personally, I would go with Incey, because he was clearly the best goalkeeper in League Two last season, despite flapping occasionally, and Bossu is the future. Ince only has two years left, if that, at Walsall, which means that the Frenchman will get his chance later on. DD may spring a surprise though, because let`s not forget about Rene Gilmartin. He may have been loaned out, but when he comes back, he might be set for a call-up to the first team.