The Cederqvist Question

With the transfer window opening on January 1st, many fans thought they would see Par and Geordie at London Road. The fact that registrations couldn't take place until the Monday since the FA was closed left many fans disappointed. Rules regarding the transfer window prevented earlier processing of the paper work. So why weren't the fans told earlier or a short term loan agreement made with the previous clubs.

New journalist Cannock Saddler writes on the feelings of those not in 'the know'

Despite an incredible victory at Peterborough on New Years Day, there is one thing that is bugging myself and a number of other Saddlers fans.

The failure to register both Par Cederquist and Geordie Lyall in time for the game against Posh was both very odd and annoying particularly for people who travelled to London Road in expectation of seeing two exciting new talents. In hindsight we didn`t really need them but the fact that it was only announced on the official site late on New Years Eve meant many travelled unaware of what the situation was.

On the face of it, it does seem like a genuine mistake by someone at the club at a particularly busy time of year but it does seem to smack of the incident involving Anthony Gerrard earlier this season when our appeal against his red card (ironically against Peterborough) failed because Royal Mail supposedly didn`t get the request to the FA in time.

It is also worth considering how long ago the club knew about this as it seemed strange a couple of weeks ago that Cederquist was given his first game in a Saddlers shirt behind closed doors against, that`s right, Peterborough. Surely you wouldn`t play your new star striker in a warm-up match against the team who will provide his first opposition and therefore give them a chance to find a way of dealing with him? Did the club know there was a problem that long ago and if so why were we not told earlier?

This kind of incident only makes the club look unprofessional and as League Two leaders this shouldn`t be the case. I`m certainly not going to start blaming anyone and everyone at the club who could have been responsible and especially not Dickie Dosh who I believe has the potential to become a Walsall legend pushing Ray Graydon as one of our best managers. It just doesn`t seem a lot to ask that the fans be kept as up to date as possible with everything that is going on.

Having said all this, the team have provided a great start to the season, now lets hope we can finish what we have started and get us back where we belong.

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