Walsall are a club in crisis.
Some outsiders will remember them for their days in the second-tier in the late ‘90s and early noughties, others the Dean Smith era and the side that pushed for League One promotion against the odds in 2015-16.
Since then, though, it has been a downward spiral for the Black Country club, who are in grave danger of falling into the abyss of non-league football with no obvious route back.
Modern football is such that fans are rarely shy to call for a change of coach when results go awry, but Matt Taylor’s sacking – even after seven straight defeats left the West Midlanders a mere four points above the EFL’s trap door – has antagonised natives far, far more than it has satisfied them.
Instead, supporters believe the scrutiny should rest squarely on Chairman Leigh Pomlett and Technical Director Jamie Fullarton, who has instead been entrusted with finding Taylor’s replacement.
Why all the pressure on those two, rather than the man who has been in immediate control of the first team? And why has Pomlett gone from being extremely popular with fans to one of the perceived main culprits for the more recent part of the club’s plight?
This can only be explained with context, and truthfully the Saddlers have not been in a healthy position structurally for a long time – well before Pomlett and Fullarton.
Long-serving chairman Jeff Bonser kept the club solvent, but did little to invest in the playing squad, the infrastructure and match-day experience, rarely engaging with supporters: treatment of dissenting voices had been at times draconian.
28 years of no healthy communication from Bonser meant, when Leigh Pomlett took ownership of the club in 2019, he could please fans easily.
Regular YouTube videos, answered questions and a successfully navigated pandemic were enough to satisfy locals, without much actually changing. Associates of the previous owner remained on the board, so this was essentially the same operation, packaged differently.
Fullarton was, initially, a popular appointment as Technical Director, with fans welcoming a football mind upstairs to oversee operations, and the Scot won over some natives last Spring with a charm offensive.
It would have taken a quick search of Fullarton’s history and reputation, though, to dispel first impressions.
One Notts County fan claimed Fullarton freezes people out for no reason, is rude and insulting towards staff and forced out a few from the media team.
Elsewhere, a Bolton Wanderers supporter alleged that Fullarton had 10 of the Under-21s he had a grudge against lined up in training and got the rest to fire balls at them, one of which hit a lad in the face and broke his nose.
Other accusations can be found elsewhere, but there is a pattern to Fullarton’s career history, which has led to concern over a bullying culture at Walsall.
In fact, some speculate that the director’s presence was a factor behind highly-regarded Academy Manager Miguel Llera’s decision to depart, and the drop in performance from the youth team over the last 10 months would support that theory.
Why has Fullarton kept his job, with so many doubts hanging over him?
Sacking a Technical Director may be more financially, administratively or legally complex than that of a coach or manager, because Fullarton is a member of the board rather than a mere employee.
Pomlett, though, has either been unconvincing in his defence of Fullarton – if he maintains the 47-year-old’s innocence – or weak in his attempts to not only safeguard the culture at the club, but more importantly, to protect any individuals who may be affected.
The Saddlers chairman denied suggestions of a bullying culture in a video but gave only 46 seconds to the topic within a 10-minute update, which seems questionable given the importance of the topic and how damaging the allegations would be if, as he is purporting, they are untrue.
It seems hard to ignore the possibility that the owner may be hiding something, though, based on his dealings with the Independent Saddlers Supporters Association (ISSA), with whom he contested the version of meeting minutes that were published.
There are clear differences between the ISSA’s version of the minutes with their interaction with Pomlett and Supporter Liaison Officer Graham Whittaker, and the club-approved version.
The club tried to reword the “good references from a number of parties” on Fullarton that the ISSA published as “great reviews from all parties he spoke to, including the Scottish Football Association”.
“That is a tough role {for JF} and sometimes will cause a level of upset whenever there is change” got altered to “he is a disciplinarian and does not suffer fools lightly.”, while “any allegations would be investigated and dealt with” got changed to “the allegations of bullying are untrue”.
Because ISSA have refused to keep Pomlett’s reported initial comments from their meeting private, they are being blamed for ‘inaccuracies and misinterpretations’.
Perhaps to deflect attention from himself and Fullarton, Pomlett has opted to sack Taylor and merely hope a new boss will spark a turnaround, but the staggering lack of eye contact in the video shows you he, himself, does not truly believe he has solved the issue.
Protest planned for Saturday by ISSA. Meet at Railway Club between 12.15-2pm. Walk from Railway to Banks's Stadium, assemble outside reception at 2.15pm, watch game meet again outside at reception at full time
Full details can be found on FB/UTS
The ISSA are planning a peaceful protest before Saturday’s hosting of Tranmere, as fans demand answers from Pomlett and look to bring about change in their corner of the Black Country.
Without that change – on a substantial scale – 133 years of Football League history are in serious jeopardy.
