Express & Star

Walsall Comment: Dean Keates knew the issues but they were too big

Nobody, absolutely nobody, wanted this.

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On Saturday, the Saddlers sacked one of their own.

Walsall born, Walsall breed, Dean Keates returned to the Banks's Stadium last March a club legend.

He remains a legend today.

But from the moment he agreed to become boss, Keates knew the three promotions he won as a player would count for very little.

Results were always going to define his fate. And sadly – very sadly – results have not been good enough.

It's incredible to think where we are now when Walsall started the campaign with a seven-match unbeaten run.

It led to everyone getting over excited, myself included.

But that first month aside, there has been little to cheer.

If you create a table from September 1 to today, Walsall sit bottom with just 29 points from 35 matches.

For eight months they have, statistically, been the worst team in the division.

And Keates knows, as manager, he the man ultimately responsible for that run.

With any Walsall boss though, there is always another side to the story.

We are told every year the budget is "competitive." And it is factually accurate that it is not the lowest in the division.

But the Express & Star understands the budget is actually middle of the road in League Two.

Therefore Keates, just like those who have proceeded him, was operating with one hand tied behind his back.

The 40-year-old also had a major issue with the number of contracted players he inherited when he took charge.

Last summer he released everyone he could with the exception of Amadou Bakayoko. And he only had his contract extended so he could be sold.

You always got the impression Keates would have axed more players if he could.

And in hindsight, that was his probably his biggest mistake.

For the vast majority of this season, players have pulled on their shirts in the knowledge they aren't part of the manager's long-term plans.

And that means Walsall may as well be playing with a team full of loanees as it stands because you can't see many of them sticking around next season.

Keates did what he could in the transfer market.

You'd have to say the summer signings of Andy Cook, Josh Gordon and Josh Ginnelly were good captures.

Morgan Ferrier and Zeli Ismail have been hit and miss, albeit both were electric at the start of the campaign.

Keates' January arrivals have not had the desired impact though. But that is remarkably similar to last season under Jon Whitney.

For Krystian Bielik read Matt Jarvis.

For Justin Shaibu read Aramide Oteh.

For Julien Ngoy read Corey Blackett-Taylor.

The Villa loanee may work a lot harder than the Belgian but they are both raw talents who have barely played first-team football.

The similarities are incredible.

And that goes to show the problems at Walsall go above and beyond the manager.

The really frustrating thing when speaking to Keates was that it always seemed clear he knew what the problems were.

On the field and off the field, he understood a lot of changes needed to be made.

He always spoke so openly and honestly. He was a breath of fresh air.

But for whatever reason, while he identified the problems, he couldn't fix them.

When Keates was poached from Wrexham, he arrived with the Welsh side having just registered a record amount of clean sheets.

But with this squad, he could not stop the Saddlers from leaking goals with the defensive record this season truly awful.

There is no doubt Keates has been let down massively by some of the players.

But at times the boss didn't help himself.

Cook, George Dobson and Liam Kinsella have been Walsall's best players this year by some distance.

But all three have found themselves out the side at some stage of the season.

The boss also often waited too long to make substitutions and change things in games, perhaps not trusting the options he had at his disposal.

What was really odd was the side which whimpered to defeat against Oxford on Saturday, had none of the characteristics Keates showed as a player.

Teams are supposed to be the embodiment of their manager.

But on Saturday, the players didn't have the quality, heart or desire Keates showed in his playing days.

That is arguably the biggest shame of his tenure.

Keates will come back from this.

His managerial stint at the Banks's has been a steep learning curve, to say the least.

He will use the experience for good elsewhere.

But Walsall opted to move him on because, incredibly, there is still a real chance they can beat the drop this year.

The Saddlers have five games left, four of which are against teams in and around them.

Win three of them, and they'll probably be a League One side next year.

After Saturday, something drastic had to change and it's Keates who has fallen on the sword.

But the players have played a huge role in the sacking of a legend.

The least those players can now do is step up and keep the club in the division.