Walsall boss Mat Sadler responds to calls and chants for him to go, and fans issue an open letter expressing their concerns.
Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat to Barnet extended their winless run to five games, while it’s just one win in their last 10 games in all competitions, leaving them 7th in League Two, having been top on Boxing Day.
Is this another season of the Saddlers bottling it? Last season saw them blow a 12-point lead at the top of League Two, only to win just once out of their last 14 games before a defeat in the play-off final.
The Trust has submitted our statement to the club; we are yet to receive a response.
Whatever their stance, @TrivelaGroup’s silence is only worsening an already difficult situation.
Open communication was once a strength in the post-Bonser era.
— Walsall Football Supporters’ Trust (@WalsallSupTrust) February 10, 2026
I’ve more time for Sadler than most but I think that’s it. There’s only one way this is going.
Whether you’re Sadler in or Sadler out, there seems to be a general acceptance that something has to change.
The poor crowd, atmosphere and general apathy said it all. pic.twitter.com/LBUC7PgzT5
— Matt Vale (@MattDVale) February 7, 2026
Walsall Supporters’ Trust Statement
This statement is made in the interests of clarity, accountability, and the long-term health of Walsall FC.
At Christmas, Walsall were top of League Two and widely regarded as one of the most defensively organised sides in the division. Since then, the club has slipped to 7th, with form and confidence deteriorating at a critical point of the season. This is not a marginal change in fortune but a clear and measurable decline.
Crucially, this mirrors last season’s collapse. When the same structural issues re-emerge — loss of control, limited attacking ambition, tactical rigidity — it ceases to be a temporary dip and becomes a pattern. At that point, responsibility cannot rest solely on form or fixtures. The direct, long-ball experiment of the last two years has failed.
This is not a call driven by emotion or a single result. It is a conclusion based on league position, performance data, tactical outcomes, and repetition of failure. The Trust therefore believes that decisive action is now required, and that this must include considering a change of head coach.
Alongside on-field issues, there are growing concerns about ownership strategy and communication. Trivela Group have remained silent, and that silence is increasingly difficult to separate from decisions being made behind the scenes. The transfer policy, in particular, raises legitimate questions: a number of players have been recruited by Walsall FC only to be loaned out to Drogheda United. We have also relied heavily on loans and younger recruits stepping up from the National League. That approach may offer financial flexibility, but twice in two seasons it has failed to provide the depth, physical robustness, and consistency required to sustain a League Two promotion challenge.
At this level, development projects and group-wide asset management cannot come at the expense of competitive balance and ambition for Walsall FC. Without clearer communication and a transfer strategy demonstrably aligned to League Two realities, supporters are entitled to question whether the club’s immediate sporting objectives are being subordinated to wider ownership priorities.
Supporters do not expect miracles. They do expect ambition, accountability, leadership and value for their hard earned money in and around Bescot Stadium.
🗣️”I’m disappointed as much as anyone else. Any of that is just words and we need to put that into action.”
Mat Sadler reacts to Walsall’s 3-1 defeat to Barnet, and questions over his future, after calls from the home fans for his sacking.#Saddlers
— George Bennett (@gbennett1997) February 7, 2026
Walsall head coach Mat Sadler has put supporters’ calls for him to go down to an instant gratification culture.
— BBC Birmingham & Black Country (@bbcwm) February 9, 2026
“Unfortunately we live in this world now where everyone wants something straight away,” Sadler said, per BBC Sport.
“That goes with media sucking that kind of rhetoric out there and that goes with supporters’ dissatisfaction.
“Unfortunately we’re not top of the league by 20 points, we’re in the play-off positions at the moment. It’s certainly not a poor season but we’re going through a spell that we need to come out of quickly.
“We’ve got brilliant people working for this football club and who own this football club, and steady people that have been around the block in the same way that I have in this game and see how it changes quickly.
“So we have to remain positive the changes will happen in terms of we’ll get back on that front foot, and we’ll continue and get going again in the way that we play.”
“There was that little bit of fear out there and that’s not us,” Sadler told BBC Radio WM.
“That’s not how we play or how we’ve proved we can play over the last couple of years.
“Of course when you go through these little spells, and everyone goes through them throughout a season, it’s how quickly you can come out of them.
“We haven’t got over the line in the way we would have wanted to over the years, but that can’t be what frames our mindset going forward.
“It’s a completely different group and we have to keep thinking forwards.”
Here’s how social media users reacted after the Walsall boss responds to calls for him to go, and fans issue an open letter expressing their concerns…
@wednesbury_road: “Supporters do not expect miracles. They do expect ambition, accountability, leadership and value for their hard earned money in and around Bescot Stadium.” Absolutely this. That’s the bare minimum we expect. @TrivelaGroup and @bensadler12 have some questions to answer.
@WeYamtheMods: What is the identity of Walsall FC anymore? That’s the issue with multi-club ownership, it gets diluted. Trivela failed to act after Barrow last year, well today was that game this season. Have Trivela learnt from last season, well will find out in the next few days!
@_thehoodedclaw: 🎶 It’s all gone quiet, all gone quiet, all gone quiet over there 🎶
@dabugsta: 8 years in L2. Just saying. Top of the league, scraped the payoffs and then never showed up at Wembley. Now wim 7th. Just saying.
@jreece76: What a joke we have not had a promotion in 19 years. I think Walsall fans have been very patient. Sadler has had 3 years and his team is going backwards thats much longer than most managers get
@martkey1982: I don’t think there’s any coming back from it now unless he gets us up and that’s going to take some work.
@adisaddlers_Ian: Been supporting Walsall 50-odd years so yes I’m used to disappointment; but this season I honestly believe we’ve signed players good enough to get us promoted. I just don’t think Mat Sadler has the experience and football brain to take us to a higher level
Here it is, a pod all about Mat Sadler and if his time as Walsall boss has come to an end
We chat about why we think it is time for him to leave, but also some of the reasons he may stay
As ever, let us know your thoughts on what we speak about below
— Yellow Ribbon Podcast (@ribbonpodcast) February 9, 2026