New Head Coach Matthew Taylor expressed his excitement at joining the Saddlers and is looking forward to the new season.
Taylor was officially unveiled at a press conference on Tuesday 1st June after his appointment two weeks ago.
The 39-year-old is keen to bring an identity to the club and can’t wait to get to work ready for the new season.
“I think to say I’m excited is an understatement,” Taylor said.
“I’m under no illusions it’s going to be hard work. There will be bumps along the road, as there always is in football.
"That smooth ascent to the peak is never quite that way and as a player for 20 years it was never like that. What I do know and can guarantee the fans is we will give 100 per cent as a group of staff and the players will echo that because it’s a non-negotiable if you want to play in a team that I’m Head Coach of.
“As a group of staff, we will leave no stone unturned in our pursuit of success at this football club.
“When you look at the stadium and look at the training ground, it’s not a League Two football club, albeit at the moment that is the case.
“My ambition is to coach as high as I possibly can do and I see this as a fantastic opportunity to gain some valuable experience but let’s not look at anything other than trying to win football matches at the moment.
“My idea is to bring an identity at the football club that the fans can resonate with, that they can be excited to see their team play and I must reiterate, it’s their team. It’s important for me to be able to connect with them and try to deliver good performances from good players on the football pitch.”
Taylor is hoping he can begin his Walsall career with fans inside the Banks’s Stadium and is already focused on building a squad for the 2021/22 season.
He will be working with Technical Director Jamie Fullarton and feels their relationship is important as they look to identify the right players for their plans.
“Alongside Jamie, I think our relationship is key in terms of recruitment of new players into the football club,” he explained.
“It gives me the opportunity to sign players that can fit within the style of football we want to play, that was a key factor into me wanting to come here.
“When you look at the size of this football club, take the recruitment of players away from it, the opportunity is huge.
“This is a proper football club, I’ve played here a few times, I remember playing here 20 years ago and the stadium impressed me then and it impresses me now. My job is to try and get good footballers into the football club and get the fans coming back and excited to see a brand of football from a group of players that represent them.
“Please come and support us, please give us an opportunity to embed a style of football that they can be proud of, whilst trying to deliver results on the pitch.
“Fans have been away from football for a long time, it’s been difficult. I haven’t been able to go and watch football, it’s been really tough.
“The fans are the heartbeat of this football club so I would urge them, if they can, to come back in their numbers.
“If there are any questions, I’m sure during the season there will be, we’ll be available for those. It’s just a case of trying to reconnect with football fans because for the first part of the season when we do have fans back in, it will probably seem a bit odd because we’ve been so used to watching games of football and being able to hear everything on the pitch.
"It’ll be nice to hear the fans singing again and hopefully we can bring them a positive start to the season.”