Best bits from today's unveiling...
New Walsall Head Coach Sean O’Driscoll was unveiled to the local and national media this afternoon.He was joined by Chief Executive Officer Stefan Gamble and Club Secretary Daniel Mole at the Banks's Stadium for today's press conference.
Here are the highlights…
SEAN O’DRISCOLL
On what attracted him to Walsall…
I’ve watched Walsall over the last two or three seasons so I’m aware of the club. I’m friends with Richard O’Kelly and Dean Smith and I’ve always enjoyed watching them play. The culture that has been embedded here and the environment is the attraction. The fact they’re doing so well in the league helps but if I’m honest, and I’ve said this to the players this morning, the attraction is the way they play and the way they do things. It was the right club at the right time for me.
On taking over the team…
The squad have coped really well to losing their manager and now it’s about trying to make sure the transition with me coming in is just as smooth. I’m not coming here to change anything really, maybe tweak one or two things and move it forward. But what we’ve got here is priceless and we’ve got to fight tooth and nail to keep it. I am not going to change anything or suddenly make the team something are not. I am just going to try and keep it going.
On working with the staff and players…
I said to the staff this morning, ‘don’t expect me to come in here and have all the answers because I can learn off you’. John Ward is very experienced, Neil Cutler is highly thought of and Jon Whitney has been here 12/13 years and has vast experience. I think we have to add to the mix. The club has made an environment where the players are learning every day and that’s got to be the same for the coaches because you never stop learning.
STEFAN GAMBLE
On the managerial process…
This has probably been the most difficult decision in choosing a manager that we’ve ever had at the club. When a manager has gone before, it’s probably because we’ve been at the wrong end of the table so we needed a fix. But we were in the opposite position – we had something that wasn’t broken and we needed someone who could come in and fit seamlessly into what we were doing, who had similar values and believed we should play in a similar way. That narrowed down our options. We had close to 100 applicants and they were all of a very high calibre, but once we knew there was interest from Sean, there was only one person we wanted for the job. We’d known Sean through Dean and Richard, and the style and culture of Sean’s former teams was a big attraction for us. We’re really pleased we’ve secured his services for the next 18 months and we feel it gives us the best chance to carry on the good work from the last five years.