The Official Walsall Match Thread (Sponsored by Good Friday "for all your misnomer needs")

As the clock ticked past the 90th minute at the Broadfield Stadium last Saturday, the 909 Gills fans present could have been forgiven for thinking that we were finally about to draw (ha!) our four game losing run to a conclusion. Not so. Firstly, Aaron Rowe treated Taylor Richards as though social distancing was still in force to allow him a free strike from the edge of the box and, with our heads gone yet again, Dack and Hutton were bisected by a simple ball to leave Tobi Adeyemo free in acres of space inside the box to lash home a second, leaving us pointless for the fifth successive game and the vultures circling in the West Sussex skies.

The final whistle set off yet more wailing and gnashing of teeth in the away end and across social media, but it's feelingly increasingly like impotent rage. The majority of the squad have mentally checked out, both newbies and those already damaged from years of shoddy outcomes. Those still fighting seem to be bordering on bursting into tears in their post-match interviews or even on the pitch such is the level of their frustrations. Defeat tomorrow would equal the worst run of results in 21 years, although back then it was mostly narrow defeats in the second tier against sides of the calibre of West Ham and Leicester, not getting tubbed in the basement tier and losing to tinpotters like Crawley. Undone by a side who hadn't won in 11 with a bloke in charge who'd never managed a game in his life. Despite all this, Ainsworth appears untouchable, the increasingly loathsome two year plan still being used as a cover for his managerial shortcomings and inability to find anything remotely resembling structure on the pitch. 

In flailing around in a vain attempt to stop the rot I'm surprised he's not yet resorted to subbing Morris or Turner on at half-time for each other such is his unwillingness to commit to having a first choice keeper, what must that do for the confidence of the defence? And there's another bloody misnomer, the "defence". Hutton genuinely cannot defend, apart from flexing his pecs I'm not sure what he can actually do; anyone with more pace than Captain Tom will take Max Clark to the cleaners; Andy Smith is a mere shadow of the loanee we saw last season, bullied and error-prone; Sam Gale's gone right off the boil after looking a potential champion and the rest are either crocked (Masterson), have one foot out the door (Ogie) or are way past it on a contract length that screams "WHY?!??!" (Beckles). Nevertheless, the constant chopping and changing cannot be good for them, although that doesn't excuse the individual errors that contribute almost a goal a game to the opposition before the first whistle is blown.

Admirably, the defence often decide to bypass our midfield when moving the ball forward, knowing that we don't appear to have single central midfielder bar Bradley Dack who can reliably pass more than water. And they're all mostly maimed on a weird sort of rota basis. We also don't seem to have left and right sided midfielders anymore, we have bodged compromises with sort of wingers, or strikers who should be in the centre of the box waiting for the ball bunged out on the wing to achieve nine tenths of fuck all. The one out and out striker utilised in his correct position is the lumbering figure of Josh Andrews who has all the mobility of Jaws from the Bond movies and absolutely none of the teeth.

To tomorrow then, and a trip to Walsall, a side unbeaten in their last four and still harbouring desires to snatch the final play-off place. Depending on other results tomorrow (plus our almost inevitable defeat) they could just sneak in there ahead of their game on Monday at the Swine. Their seasons in the last two years seem to be a slightly less appalling version of our own, comfortably topping the table before hitting a New Year crisis followed by a sudden plunge down the table. One win in 11 did for Mat Sadler across the first 10 weeks of 2026, with ex-Gill Darren Byfield stepping in as interim boss until the end of the season. 

The head to head is, until 4.50pm tomorrow, sat at 48 wins apiece with 28 draws. Our record at the Bescot is (predictably) awful, with just three wins from 24 visits since the Saddlers left Fellows Park. Our last two wins came back-to-back in 2016 and 2017, but for the highlights we'll go with our only other victory in this particular part of the Midlands, Mark Dempsey with the only goal of the game back in 1991-92.

The travails on the pitch have shown up clearly in home attendances in recent times and it now appears that our incredible away figures are being impacted. Although 909 was still a fantastic turnout at Crawley, even a moderate run of form would have had that end sold out, no question. Our allocation tomorrow is 1135, if we fill more than a third of that, it will be a surprise. Fair play to all those still making the effort. I freely accept my badge of plasticity given it's one of my closer away days at a mere 90 minute drive, but even if I was offered tickets gratis and was on a promise from Frau upon my return, it still wouldn't compel me to attend. Instead, I will eat as much of the Juniors' chocolate eggs as I can without detection and go to the gym where the pain of not running for three weeks will be demonstrably less than watching Gills. 

Safe travels to all those making the trip, regardless of the result, I hope there's something positive to take from the fixture, be it the inclusion of more of the youngsters, a Gills goal or god forbid, an actual point to come home with. 

Enjoy the game, and... 

COYG!!!