INSIDE THE EFL: How Walsall burst out of a 20-year slump to charge towards promotion, with an American revolution, one of England's best young managers... and investing in Togo

It's been a long time since Walsall supporters have had much to shout about.

Since the Saddlers won League Two in 2006-07, the following 17 seasons have seen one play-off campaign, a relegation back to the fourth tier in 2018-19 and 14 finishes between 10th and 20th in Leagues One and Two.

To be brutal, it’s been a muddle of mediocrity and Walsall have barely flirted with a return to League One in the five seasons since their demotion, with last season’s 11th place finish their highest.

Yet, thanks to the impact of Mat Sadler, one of the best young bosses in the EFL who turned out 113 times for the aptly named Saddlers in his playing days, a previously fractured and disenchanted fanbase has a reason to dream again.

After Tuesday's 2-2 draw with Cheltenham, Walsall are seven points clear at the top of League Two with 13 games left, 10 points clear in the automatic promotion race and in pole position to secure promotion for the first time in 18 years.

They are also the league’s top scorers with 63 goals across 33 games, a figure that ranks second in the entire EFL behind only Leeds' 71 from 34 matches and is only six fewer than they managed in the entire campaign last season.

Mat Sadler has turned Walsall around and broken them out of their 20-year slump

Walsall are flying high and on the brink of a first promotion in nearly two decades

Sadler has been crucial as he emerges as one of the best young coaches in Britain

‘The club was only going one way so we had to reverse that,’ Sadler tells Mail Sport. ‘It was a really tough time and there was probably apathy rather than belief among the fanbase.

'We've had one decent season in the last 20, which leaves a mark. The supporters were desperate for something to hang on to and we've done an OK job with that, but there’s so much more to do.’

The former defender admits he was part of some of those disappointing moments.

He retired in 2021 following the end of his second stint as a player at the Bescot Stadium, but from 2020 the 40-year-old had fulfilled a player/assistant manager role at the club, before he became first team coach.

Sadler’s big break came in the final three games of the 2022-23 campaign when he was appointed as interim boss after Michael Flynn’s sacking and he was given the permanent gig that summer.

Sadler, who joked he only got the job because of the club’s nickname, has won 48 of his 100 games, completely transforming the mood surrounding Walsall.

Figures at Walsall have hailed his leadership, integrity and strong values, and his methods are clearly working.

In truth, the transformation has been remarkable, with some bookmakers having Walsall at odds of 50-1 to win the League Two title in pre-season. The same outlet now has the Saddlers at 1-4 runaway favourites to secure glory, and the manager was handed a new three-and-a-half-year deal last month.

Walsall are League Two's highest scorers and only Leeds have scored more in the EFL this term

The club has been transformed and they are now seven points clear at the top in League Two

Attendances are up, with home crowds often above 6,500 in recent weeks - a marked rise on an average of 5,618 last season.

So, how has Sadler done it and have Walsall’s exploits even surprised him?

‘From December last year, we had decent form and wanted to continue that,’ he says. ‘We managed to keep the squad together as best as we could, which is not the norm in this division.

‘That continuity has been key and we built on top of that so the foundation for us to have a decent season was there.

‘There's going to be loads of big challenges ahead but we wanted to build something and this was the way we wanted to do it.'

The focus on the culture has been crucial and Sadler has aimed to supplement that with his recruitment.

Walsall’s squad has a well-balanced nature to it, with experienced pros like former Aston Villa star Albert Adomah (37), veteran striker Jamille Matt (35) and defender Donervon Daniels (31) complemented by younger talents.

In fact, there has been a drive to utilise Walsall’s position within the West Midlands footballing ecosystem.

Albert Adomah is one of a number of experienced pros who was brought in to boost Walsall

Walsall have had to battle for their brighter days but they are back on the up

While they may sit in the shadow of clubs like West Brom, Aston Villa, Birmingham, Stoke City and Wolves, Sadler has used this to his advantage to bring in young talents on loan. He pitched this idea in his presentation to get the job in 2023 - and it has paid off handsomely.

A prime example was the summer arrival of Stoke's Nathan Lowe, who scored 18 goals in 30 games before being recalled in January - something that hasn’t derailed a promotion push, despite what those outside the club predicted.

Lowe’s Stoke team-mate Tommy Simkin has established himself as Walsall’s No 1 while George Hall, Alfie Chang (Birmingham) and Reyes Cleary (West Brom) are among other local youngsters to sign on temporary spells this season.

‘With myself being from the locality and the relationships that I've got within the area, I thought I could help to strengthen the club,’ Sadler explains. ‘And we hadn't used those links for a while.’

There has also been a push to sign talent from local Non-League clubs. Last season, Jamie Jellis arrived from Tamworth, while Harry Williams came in from seventh-tier Alvechurch - and both are now integral members of Sadler's team.

‘The experienced guys are real cultural architects for us,’ Sadler adds. ‘Added to that we want young, hungry players that are desperate to do well.

‘Previously we had been a window-to-window club that ripped it up at each time and started again, maybe due to the instability that was around.’

That stability has been achieved in part thanks to the impact of the Alabama-based owners Trivela Group, who took over the club in the summer of 2022.

Walsall's American owners allowed the club to buy the Bescot Stadium and get out from their £500,000-a-year rent

Co-chairman Leigh Pomlett will stay for the first four years of the Trivela takeover

There was initial scepticism as to why a US group, which now counts Irish side Drogheda United, Trivela FC in Togo and Danish club Silkeborg among its multi-club portfolio, was investing in a market town in the West Midlands.

But, that suspicion has been quickly replaced with celebration and gratitude. Forget the notion that multi-club networks are only for the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Nottingham Forest, there is value to be had lower down the pyramid, too.

Not only have Trivela helped Walsall to buy their ground - now known as the Poundland Bescot Stadium thanks to a lucrative sponsorship deal - and put an end to the club's £500,000 a year rent, but they have taken to the community.

The previously derelict supporters club next to the Bescot has been reinvigorated, while the Walsall Foundation has been enhanced and Trivela regularly meet with fan groups.

Co-chairman Ben Boycott has spoken about ‘legacy investing’ and using football as a 'tool to do good' while Trivela were attracted to the club by its history and the passion of the community.

They were similarly left impressed by the way the club had been run under Leigh Pomlett, who agreed to stay on as Boycott's partner for four years following the takeover.

‘The owners are fantastic people that believe in the same way of building things,’ says Sadler, who also co-founded a property investment company in 2017 to help him prepare for retirement. ‘They're not here for the short-term to throw money at it and then walk away.

‘They want to steadily improve and when you've got solid and secure people running things that really helps to stabilise things further.’

Stoke loanee Tommy Simkin has established himself as Walsall's No 1

Part of the multi-club model has seen a player pathway develop, with plenty of movement between Drogheda and Walsall.

Defender Evan Weir linked up with the Saddlers in January, while Elicha Ahui and Douglas James-Taylor are on loan in Ireland, with the latter’s seven goals helping Drogheda to lift the Irish version of the FA Cup in October.

Walsall have had limited engagements with Silkeborg and Trivela FC so far, but they did play Drogheda in the aptly named Trivela Cup in pre-season, a tournament that could expand in the coming years.

The project in Togo is still fresh, but the investment aims to boost infrastructure and education levels in the area - and there is an ambitious long-term plan to build the best football club in West Africa.

There is also a desire to unlock the footballing potential of Togo, a country that produced Emmanuel Adebayor, but has only ever reached one World Cup.

Walsall's outstanding season gives them some leeway in the run-in ahead of a season-defining week at the end of March that sees them face promotion rivals Doncaster (currently third), Port Vale (sixth) and AFC Wimbledon (fourth) within seven days.

But Sadler, who signed his new contract amid links to Championship strugglers Plymouth, is fully aware that his job is nowhere near complete.

‘We've done nothing yet,’ explains Sadler, who counts former Aston Villa, Norwich, Leicester and Brentford boss Dean Smith, whose managerial career began with four years at the Bescot, among his coaching inspirations.

Former Leicester, Aston Villa, Norwich, Brentford and Walsall boss Dean Smith is one of Sadler's main coaching inspirations

It has been 18 long years since Walsall last won promotion, when they claimed the League Two title back in 2007

'My long-term ambitions are irrelevant, because we've just got to do everything we can to try and win the next game.

‘You can't take your eyes away because every single week is another challenge.

‘I’m desperate to continue doing well, make people happy, put smiles on faces and give them something to believe in. We've started to do that and we want more of it.’

Harris’ bizarre career arc

It was a sad day for headline writers when Garry Monk left the Abbey this month with Cambridge United rock bottom of League One.

Neil Harris’ second coming at the club began in perfect fashion as the Us beat promotion-chasing Stockport last weekend, yet his return caps a strange 18 months in his managerial career.

The former striker was sacked by League Two Gillingham in October 2023 and arrived at League One Cambridge for his first spell that December.

Neil Harris is back at Cambridge United after Garry Monk was sacked by the League One club

After two impressive months, he was poached by his former club Millwall and helped steer the club away from Championship relegation trouble before he made the decision to leave in December.

Now, Harris is back in League One with the Us, while former Cambridge boss Mark Bonner was announced as their director of football just to add to the managerial merry-go-round.

It will be a tough ask for the club to survive as they remain eight points from safety and Harris could soon find himself back in League Two, but the club have given themselves the best possible chance of a great escape.

What an advert for the EFL

A bitter rivalry, sell-out crowd and late drama between two top teams slugging it out, anyone who watched Sheffield United’s crunch clash with Leeds on Monday saw some of the best bits of the EFL.

It was all played at breakneck speed and was a great advert for the spectacle of the Championship.

The victory leaves Leeds in a brilliant position to return to the Premier League, while Burnley and Sheffield United look set to tussle for the other automatic promotion spot.

But, don’t rule out more twists and turns along the way - Leeds do have a history of late-season collapses after all!

Leeds United fans celebrate after Ao Tanaka put them ahead late on at Bramall Lane

Cleverley’s wholesome touch

There was a wholesome moment at Vicarage Road on Tuesday night, as Watford boss Tom Cleverley and his first team squad turned out in full force for the club’s Under 18 side in the FA Youth Cup quarter-final.

Cleverley and the Watford first-team squad in attendance at the Youth Cup quarter-final

Watford's academy has a proud history, producing the likes of former England and Manchester United winger Ashley Young

And it was well worth the entrance fee as the Hornets won 2-1 against Southampton following a cracking encounter.

Watford won the competition in 1982 and 1989 and while it would be a huge shock if they triumphed this season with the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City also in the last eight, their run is testament to the club’s academy, which has previously produced England internationals David James, Ashley Young and Tim Sherwood among others.

Cleverley, who previously coached the Under 18 side and knows the value of a strong academy having come through under Sir Alex Ferguson at United before winning 13 England caps himself, is doing a fine job, with the Hornets three points off the play-offs after back-to-back wins.

While there has been speculation surrounding his future in recent times, he is building for the long-term and Watford would do well to stick with him.