The Midlands Fergie - A Karl Robinson Story

[robbo9292]

Chapter One - Introduction

Born in 1982 in West Bromwich, Karl Robinson would go on to have a playing career in the non league system; however Karl was never able to reach the football leagues before his career ended at the age of 26. Robinson played for Tipton Town, Tividale, Pegasus Juniors, Kidderminster Harriers and then returning to Tipton Town where he saw out his career. Having to retire due to injury, Karl began studying his coaching badges which saw him coach at his local team, Tipton Town before moving up the ranks to Kidderminster Harriers. While coaching the Kidderminster Academy, Karl was then approached by Hereford United to begin his management career, however Karl declined hoping a bigger job would come in the future.​

 

[robbo9292]

Chapter Two - The Change

Chapter Two - The Change

View attachment 440133


On the 6th of July 2013, Walsall Football Club announced the mutual termination of the contract of Dean Smith. The club wished him luck in the future following his guidance of Walsall to their highest ever finish in the past five years. With Dean Smith leaving the club, Jeff Bonser and Stefan Gamble ran down the list of potential candidates to take over the reigns with immediate effect. With names such as Richard O'Kelly, Sean O'Driscoll, Richard Money & Steve Burr. However having seen how hard working Karl Robinson was with the Kidderminster Academy he was immediately approached by the Saddlers Chairman and Director. With Walsall being Karl Robinson's favourite team he decided to take up the interview.

Jeff Bonser: Welcome to Walsall Football Club; after the previous regeime we would like to know what you think you could bring to the club?


Karl Robinson: As this would be my first step into football management i'm not predicting that i can take the team straight into the Championship, however i've drawn up a five year plan which would hopefully see the team challenge for promotion to the Premier League.


Stefan Gamble: With a team that club has grown to love would you make any drastic changes to the backroom staff or any of the players?


Karl Robinson: The only changes i would make to the team would be ones that can hopefully benefit the club in the long run.


Jeff Bonser: With the club having an academy that has produced such players as Scott Dann, Troy Deeney and Matty Fryatt to name a few, can we expect that you will continue to bring players through the academy system?


Karl Robinson: Of course, having come from Kidderminster's academy i believe that the future lies in the academy system while buying or loaning players can help with players development.


Stefan Gamble: As Walsall are going to be celebrating the 125th year as a football league club having been set up in 1888 can we expect you to hold up traditions of the football club, where do we expect to see Walsall finish this season?


Karl Robinson: As my first season in charge i'm hoping to challenge for a strong position in the league between a play off place and a strong mid table position.


Jeff Bonser: Well we think that you have ticked all the right boxes, so if you'd like to just sign this contract we can officially announce you as the new Walsall manager.

With the interview concluded Karl Robinson was announced as the new manager of Walsall Football Club and immediately met up with his staff and players to discuss their futures and his plans which immediately began with planning for the first friendly against Woking.
​

 

[robbo9292]

Chapter Three - First Press Conference

Chapter Three - First Press Confrence
View attachment 440114View attachment 440113View attachment 453062 View attachment 453065

To introduce Karl Robinson to the fans the Walsall Director, Stefan Gamble set up a press conference with local and national media outlets.

Peter Amadi - BBC WM (Radio): Do you feel that any ambitions you have for the club are matched by the chairman?
Karl Robinson: I do yes. Our discussions are often creative and there are a lot of good ideas floating around which promise good things for the future of the club.

Andy Griffiths - The Birmingham Post (Newspaper): Do you feel that any of the expectations asked of you this season are fair and realistic?

Karl Robinson: If we as a club are to progress forward to the highest reaches of the game we all have to be ambitious and aim towards these goals. Hopefully this is what we are going to be doing in the coming season.

Nicky Todd - The Birmingham Mail (Newspaper): Some managers are very hands on with the running of their clubs and the treatment of the players others have more of a reserved manner, how would you say your management style is?

Karl Robinson: I believe that the players as adults should act in such a manner and if there is any problems they can come to me with those problems. However if there is any distrust in the ranks or any player attempts to be bigger than the club then they're not going to last very long here.

Paul Banks - The Football League Paper (Newspaper): It is often said that different managers will favour one competition from the others, will you primarily be concentrating on getting results in the Sky Bet League One?

Karl Robinson: I think it would be wrong to prioritise one competition from the other at the moment, i'll take each game as a step forward towards my long term goals.

Peter Amadi - BBC WM (Radio): With there being any chance of agents reading your comments is there any area of the squad that you are looking to strengthen?

Karl Robinson: I'm not going to discuss any potential transfers. If there is no more questions i'd like to thank you all for showing up as that concludes the press conference for the evening.

Following the press conference Karl Robinson gets a call from Bobby Roberts who has signed a contract as the cheif scout for Walsall Football Club as the club has been without a scout. In the following days Karl Robinson made calls to sign Chris Sulley & Al Stewart as coaches for the first team.​

 

[robbo9292]

Chapter Four - The Next Step

Having bought in a few new faces to the backroom staff, Karl Robinson was ready to begin planning his team for the forthcoming season. This exact team included the additions of Goalkeeper, Jason Brown; experienced defender, Pascal Chimbonda and signing from Huddersfield, Liam Ridehalgh as cover for Andy Taylor. With these new additions came changes from the youth system seeing Tevin Shakespeare, Matthew Preston & Reece Flanagan who Robinson wishes them the best of luck in their future careers.

View attachment 440042

As you can see in the image above the friendlies saw three good results against three different strength teams. The win at Woking was a godsend as the team went 1-0 down and fought back hard for the victory. Having taken the lead in the match against Morecambe to let one goal in was slightly disappointing and drawing against a strong Stoke team was a hard fought battle which either team could have won.

With these friendly results Karl Robinson looked to take the current tactic into the forthcoming season with hope that more victories or even draws would come along helping out in his first season in charge.

View attachment 440041

Karl Robinson was delighted to kick off the season with a win especially against Tranmere who are one of the favourites for promotion. This then followed with a win against Scunthorpe in the Capital One Cup 1st Round where youngster, Danny Griffiths sealed the match for Karl Robinson's Saddlers. Unfortunately a loss to Oldham Athlethic away wasn't the best result but it sure did fire the team forward in the next match which saw the team come back to 3-1 only to let in a late goal leaving a 1 goal difference.

A similar sort of situation happened in the next match which saw Andy Butler score an own goal, however Troy Hewitt was able to pull something out of the top drawer to score a sensational hat trick for Walsall pushing them up the Sky Bet League One. Following that match it was a hard fought match against Cardiff City in the Capital One Cup 2nd Round however an Andy Butler own goal (again) was the only thing to separate the sides. The team then welcomed Preston North End to The Banks's Stadium which saw a very entertaining match in which Walsall fought hard to pick up a 3-3 draw with young midfielder, Kieron Morris scoring the late equaliser for the team.

Walsall FC Player of the Month

View attachment 440040
Troy Hewitt

Player of the month has to go to Troy Hewitt as if it wasn't for Hewitt scoring plenty of goals right now the Saddlers wouldn't be doing as well as they are in both the league and other competitions.​

 

[robbo9292]

Chapter Five - Keeping Up Appearances

Chapter Five - Keeping Up Appearances


View attachment 439960
With a decent start to the season kicking Walsall into 4th position in the league it was hard to suffer a penalty defeat the Tranmere at home especially having beaten them at the stat of the season in the league. However being out of the Johnstone's Pain Trophy allows more focus in the league. Which saw a hard fought battle against Crewe for a 2-2 draw. It was then a struggle against Wolves which saw ex-Saddler, Jamie Paterson score for the Wolves while Kevin Foley scored our only goal, against his own team. Walsall then put in a wonderful performance against Rotherham to win the match 3-1 before there was a draw against struggling Leyton Orient.

View attachment 439959
Luckily this meant that Walsall was able to retain the 4th spot in the league going into the upcoming busy periods which we will hope for some consistency with plenty of squad rotation to keep the opposition on their toes of who could feature against them.

View attachment 439958
It's good to see that one of the Walsall players wasn't far off being player of the month especially with it being the league's top goal scorer, Troy Hewitt.

Walsall FC Player of the Month
View attachment 439957
Troy Hewitt

The player keeps on performing for the team and putting in top performances which is why he is featured as the lone striker. Also seeing him come 3rd place in the league player of the month shows why he deserved the Walsall player of the month for a second month.​

 

[tony100]

This is a great story and is coming along nicely mate. Keep it up!!!

 

[robbo9292]

Cheers Tony my game annoyed me as its crashed however i keep the saves copied so when i sort out the problems i can jump straight back in

 

[robbo9292]

Chapter Six - The Long Way Down

Chapter Six - The Long Way Down


View attachment 439652
The following months saw a few tests which included losses to Colchester, Swindon and Coventry. However the team fought hard to win against Bradford, Stevenage, MK Dons, AFC Wimbledon, Crawley and Port Vale which secured a nice finish in the league before December.

View attachment 439653
With these results the team were lying in 3rd place only 4 points off leaders and local rivals, Wolves and 2nd place rivals, Shrewsbury.

View attachment 439654
The results in November secured a manager of the month award for Karl Robinson proving how hard he fought to get victories in all matches.


View attachment 439655
December was a month full of should have won matches but there were plenty of disappointments which ultimately lead to Walsall's poor form.

View attachment 439656
With these poor results comes a drop in the league table. Having not secured many points during December Walsall finished the year in 7th with hope that the new year would change their fortunes.

View attachment 439658
And just that it did. 6 draws, 5 wins and 9 losses meant that Walsall finished lower than expected.


View attachment 439657
With hope of a mid table finish in his first season in charge, Karl Robinson ended up guiding Walsall to 16th in the league. Much lower than the previous season under Dean Smith who went on to manage Forest Green Rovers.​

 

[robbo9292]

Chapter Seven - The Rise of the Saddler

Chapter Seven - The Rise of the Saddler

After a battling first season and being rewarded a new contract around December, the building of the squad continued into the new season. Bringing in players such as Oliver Turton, Gary Sawyer, Cauley Woodrow on loan from Fulham, Chris Long on loan from Everton, Rowan Vine on a free transfer, Louis Garner, Ben McLaughlin on loan from Everton, Nathan Tyson on free, Wes Fogden for ?27.5k from Bournemouth and John Lundstram on loan from Everton with many more free transfers. With these transfers a strong start to the season was hopeful, however i only told the board i expect to finish in the top half while telling the players we'll finish either mid table or in the top half.

[TABLE="width: 90%, align: center"]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Date[/TD]
[TD]Time[/TD]
[TD]Opposition[/TD]
[TD]TV[/TD]
[TD]Venue[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Result[/TD]
[TD]Competition[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Wed, 16/7/2014[/TD]
[TD]19:45[/TD]
[TD]Aston Villa[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]1-3[/TD]
[TD]Friendly[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Mon, 28/7/2014[/TD]
[TD]19:45[/TD]
[TD]Everton Under 21s[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]4-1[/TD]
[TD]Friendly[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 2/8/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Gillingham[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]2-1[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Tue, 5/8/2014[/TD]
[TD]19:45[/TD]
[TD]Shrewsbury[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]e 1-0[/TD]
[TD]Capital One Cup 1st Rnd[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 9/8/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Swindon[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]1-3[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 16/8/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Burnley[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]3-1[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 23/8/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Carlisle[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]2-0[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Tue, 26/8/2014[/TD]
[TD]19:45[/TD]
[TD]Hull[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]4-1[/TD]
[TD]Capital One Cup 2nd Rnd[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 30/8/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Tranmere[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]1-3[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Wed, 3/9/2014[/TD]
[TD]19:45[/TD]
[TD]Rochdale[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]2-1[/TD]
[TD]Johnstone's Paint Trophy N 1st Rnd[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 6/9/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Chesterfield[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]1-0[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 13/9/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Portsmouth[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]1-1[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 20/9/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Crawley[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]3-0[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Tue, 23/9/2014[/TD]
[TD]19:45[/TD]
[TD]Millwall[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]2-1[/TD]
[TD]Capital One Cup 3rd Rnd[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 27/9/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Blackpool[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]2-3[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 4/10/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Bolton[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]4-1[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Tue, 7/10/2014[/TD]
[TD]19:45[/TD]
[TD]Tranmere[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]3-0[/TD]
[TD]Johnstone's Paint Trophy N 2nd Rnd[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 18/10/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Peterborough[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]1-3[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Tue, 21/10/2014[/TD]
[TD]19:45[/TD]
[TD]Brentford[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]1-1[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 25/10/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Sheff Utd[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]2-0[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Tue, 28/10/2014[/TD]
[TD]19:45[/TD]
[TD]Man Utd[/TD]
[TD]TV[/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]0-1[/TD]
[TD]Capital One Cup 4th Rnd[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 1/11/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Oldham[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]1-1[/TD]
[TD]FA Cup 1st Rnd[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Tue, 4/11/2014[/TD]
[TD]19:45[/TD]
[TD]Bristol City[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]0-1[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 8/11/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Shrewsbury[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]2-0[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Wed, 12/11/2014[/TD]
[TD]19:45[/TD]
[TD]Oldham[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]3-2[/TD]
[TD]FA Cup 1st Rnd Rep[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 15/11/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Bradford[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]3-1[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 22/11/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Notts Co[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]4-1[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Tue, 25/11/2014[/TD]
[TD]19:45[/TD]
[TD]Sheff Utd[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]p 1-1[/TD]
[TD]Johnstone's Paint Trophy N Qtr Final[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 29/11/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Portsmouth[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]2-2[/TD]
[TD]FA Cup 2nd Rnd[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Tue, 2/12/2014[/TD]
[TD]19:45[/TD]
[TD]Fleetwood[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]3-4[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 6/12/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Preston[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]0-3[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Wed, 10/12/2014[/TD]
[TD]19:45[/TD]
[TD]Portsmouth[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]3-1[/TD]
[TD]FA Cup 2nd Rnd Rep[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 13/12/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Crewe[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]3-2[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Tue, 16/12/2014[/TD]
[TD]19:45[/TD]
[TD]Carlisle[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]0-4[/TD]
[TD]Johnstone's Paint Trophy N Semi Final[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sat, 20/12/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Leyton Orient[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]1-1[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Tue, 23/12/2014[/TD]
[TD]19:45[/TD]
[TD]MK Dons[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]3-2[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Fri, 26/12/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Swindon[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]1-2[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR="bgcolor: #EEEEEE"]
[TD]Sun, 28/12/2014[/TD]
[TD]15:00[/TD]
[TD]Gillingham[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]H[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]2-1[/TD]
[TD]Sky Bet League 1[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


As you can see with the results the team did well to get to the Capital One Cup 4th Round with a home tie against Manchester United which was won by a late Rio Ferdinand goal. The team made the Johnstone's Paint Trophy North Semi Final however a 4-0 loss to Carlisle isn't what we wanted. Having made it through two FA Cup replay's the team now face Barnet in the 3rd round; and with plenty of points clocked up in League 1 the team are sitting comfortably in 5th place with 42 points on the clock.​