JPT Final: Smith making his name as Walsall’s master craftsman

By Tom Simmonds.

Walsall make their first trip to Wembley on Sunday to contest the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy with runaway League One leaders Bristol City. While the Saddlers currently sit 15^th in the table, it would be a mistake to think the Robins will have it all their own way in the final.

That they are going to Wembley is thanks, in no small part, to the outstanding job Dean Smith has done at the Bescot. The 43-year-old was appointed in January 2011 with the Saddlers marooned in the League One relegation zone. Smith’s first game in charge gave an early sign of the resolve he would instil. Away to Tranmere, they rescued a 3-3 draw despite being 3-1 down with five minutes left. It set the tone for a miraculous escape achieved with a game to spare after Walsall were only defeated four times in the last 17 games of that campaign.

While their 19^th-place finish in 2011-12 might not suggest progress on the surface, the 20 draws earned in that season indicates that Smith was quietly going about the first priority of team-building – ensuring Walsall were difficult to beat as a minimum.

Next season saw a flirtation with the play-offs and a ninth-placed finish, after the foundations were augmented by Will Grigg’s 19 goals and Jamie Paterson’s art and industry. Forest, Brentford and Sheffield United took Paterson, Grigg and Febian Brandy in the summer of 2013, but Smith still managed to steer the Saddlers to a solid 13^th-placed finish in 2013-14, despite having the guts of his attack taken from him.

They are similarly ensconced in mid-table at the time of writing, 11 wins and 13 draws from 37 games, despite only scoring 36 league goals, are further evidence that Smith’s emphasis on making Walsall difficult to beat is still their foundation stone.

Smith’s Walsall, though, are not simply stiflers of the better resourced. They did not take a step back in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Milton Keynes, and had their fair share of pressure in a belting second half in which the defences refused to yield, despite both teams creating several chances.

Set up in the modish 4-2-3-1 formation against MK, Walsall got much joy from Andy Taylor overlapping on the left, capped by his magnificent cross for Tom Bradshaw’s early opener. A midfield base formed by two West Brom graduates – veteran James Chambers and the younger Sam Mantom – allowed another Hawthorns product, Romaine Sawyers, to play trequartista behind Bradshaw; while Jordan Cook and Man City loanee Jordy Hiwula worked the flanks. While this is not a mature team, that they can live with sides like MK and the fifth-placed Sheffield United team, who they also drew 1-1 with on Tuesday night, are signs that Smith has another group of players with the potential to at least emulate his 2012-13 vintage.

Success is relative, and Smith’s achievements at Walsall are, pound-for-pound, up with the most impressive in the English professional game. While this is a story of stability, his tenure should be seen in its proper context. To achieve serene stability with average attendances under 5,000 in all four of his seasons (this season’s stands at 4,466) is nothing short of a minor miracle in a league in which the appearance of very big clubs is no longer an occasional occurrence.

Losing the likes of the aforementioned players with monotonous regularity is also a fact of life for Smith, and he stoically rebuilds in the face of this. It is astonishing that his name never seems to be mentioned when managerial jobs in higher leagues become available. A Wembley appearance is a fitting reward for Smith’s work so far. If he can get his hands on the Paint Pot on Sunday, it will provide material validation of his quiet, unfussy, and magnificent job.

Walsall fans: Can you leave Wembley with the JPT on Sunday?  What have been your favourite moments under Dean Smith’s management? Do you fear losing him to a bigger club?

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