Walsall finished eleventh in League Two last season. It might not sound much but it was their highest finish in the table for eight seasons. This is a club that has not tasted promotion in 17 years. Mat Sadler is the man trying to change that culture.
“I felt like the club, and I was probably part of this, had become one where the ambition of the players wasn’t quite there,” Sadler tells Sky Sports. “You have great facilities, a brilliant stadium. I don’t know but maybe there was a level of comfort with that.”
Sadler, 39, had two spells with Walsall as a player. His pitch for the job as manager was centred on the idea that nobody knew the place better than he did. Under Dean Smith, he had been part of the better times. But he had seen that momentum eroded too.
“I finished my career here and there were probably too many players who came here and finished their career here. I want to reverse that, I want this to be a place where, as it was under Dean, people come to improve, people come to get better every day.
“This is an amazing football club and I want players to see it that way. I want them to feel it is great to be at Walsall, but I am not stopping. I want to improve, I want to get better, I want to eat every single bit out of each day, and I am going to enjoy doing that.
“That is how I see the football club, and to every player that I look to recruit, I speak about that. Because I do not want anybody to be comfortable, I want everyone to be just fighting every day to get better, to improve. That is the culture that I want to create.”
Sadler played in the Premier League for Birmingham City. His first Premier League away game saw him mark David Beckham. “I don’t tell people about that, it was a long time ago. It is scary because it seems like yesterday but that is how quickly the time goes.”
As a manager, he now thinks back to those experiences, the methods he responded to as a player and those he did not. “I know how vulnerable players are when they are on that pitch, a lot of people looking at you, whatever the level,” he explains.
“It is about helping the guys through that, giving them the messages and the pictures to cope. I was never one who overly liked being bawled at, I must admit. I do not think it really got the best out of me as a player. I want my players to feel they can talk to me.”
He points to his past managers, Paul Hurst and Steve Bruce. “Just people who respected you.” But it is Smith, his old boss at Walsall, who stands out. Smith’s one-time assistant Richard O’Kelly is now an associate director at the club, a source of support.
“Him and Dean didn’t shout and bawl. They were very much about how do we improve, how do we change things, how do we upset the pattern. I love the unique way that they think about football. They are incredible people who I will keep bouncing stuff off.”
There is a sense that Sadler is still learning his craft. In the corner of his office at the training ground is a well-thumbed copy of Legacy by James Kerr, exploring what the All Blacks can teach us about the business of life. “People are at the heart of everything.”
He was thrust into this role as a caretaker in April of last year but has grown into the job. “I always knew that, if given the opportunity, I would take it with both hands. I want to be in football. It’s what I enjoy, it’s what I think about at all times. My wife will tell you that.”
His son too, who, at the age of seven, already has a passion for the game – and all things Walsall. “He is relentless. He thinks Jamille Matt should be in the England squad,” says Sadler, referring to the Saddlers’ 34-year-old talisman. “I am right with him on that.”
Matt is among a group of senior professionals at Walsall, alongside captain Donervon Daniels and the experienced Brandon Comley, who Sadler has relied upon to set the tone. “They drive the standards of the place, not allowing people to have down days.”
He adds: “They are incredible people. Flags in the ground, if you like, who you can really rely on. People call them anchors. People that you just know are solid, good people. The younger ones definitely do look up to them and they help drive things for me.”
He points to Jamie Jellis and Connor Barrett, signed from non-League clubs. “Guys who are desperate to get better.” Ryan Stirk and Charlie Lakin from Birmingham. “Guys who have had a taste of it and want to get back there. I love that drive and motivation.”
The hope is that Sadler can build on his first full season as a manager, one that presented plenty of challenges. Walsall were inside the bottom six in December. It was a testing time. “I knew we needed to improve and we came out the other end of it.”
He talks of the “incredible backing” of those above him and an understanding that the circumstances were awkward. Chris Hussey had retired in September. “Just after the window closed.” And Sadler was without five centre-backs at one stage of the season.
“People say it on every course, it is about being adaptable. You try to plan but you have to be able to change, work on different shapes. I was not worried but I was determined. We eventually settled down and could do what we wanted from the outset.
“We saw progress last season, for sure. From December onwards, we were right up there. Looking back, it counts for nothing but those were good experiences to lean on this season. We have kept many of the pieces of the puzzle to help take us forward.”
Walsall have lost Isaac Hutchinson, their player of the season, who has moved up a division with Bristol Rovers. But Sadler is relaxed about the situation. “That comes with us wanting to get better. If I want that then people are going to want my players.”
The bigger picture is that many of the key figures from last season remain under contract. “That continuity going into this season is certainly helpful.” For the first time in a long time, there is a belief within that there is the possibility of building something.
“It is still a work in progress, but I want us to be a work in progress, striving to get better all the time, not being happy with where we are at. I know the football club inside out, I know what makes it tick, I know where we have been, and where we are trying to get to.”
Having finished five points off the play-off places, could Walsall take that next step and finally enjoy a season worth celebrating? Having signed a new deal, Sadler wants to make it happen. “It is up to me. I just want to give us a team to be proud of,” he says.
“Our supporters have not had many things to shout about for a long time now. I am desperate to give them something to shout about. To see those smiles on people’s faces, that is what motivates me every day. That is what I get up in the morning to do.”
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