Walsall 1, MK Dons 2: Match report
SELLING your biggest on-field asset on the eve of the season then losing at home is not the ideal way to open a campaign.
Walsall fans can only hope that enough of the £500,000 the club trousered for Troy Deeney reaches manager Chris Hutchings to enable him to strengthen his team sufficiently to compete, or at least survive, in League One.
If Deeney’s departure was inevitable and the fee pretty good, the pressure is now on the club, and Hutchings, to vindicate the sale.
A pallid opening-day display against MK Dons suggested the manager has plenty to do.
There is much to dislike about the Dons.
The club’s tatty origins are well-documented while, on Saturday, Sam Baldock’s early dive in search of a penalty set the tone for players and manager alike to harangue the officials all day.
But among all the unedifying nonsense they were clearly superior to Walsall. Better, quicker, stronger.
