Why is it all going wrong at Walsall again?

A split fanbase, social media criticism, questions over style of play and no home win since Boxing Day, it has become another winter of discontent at Walsall.

The Saddlers were four points clear at the top of League Two in December but Monday's 2-0 home defeat by MK Dons has left them ninth, 15 points off leaders Bromley.

It has given Walsall fans a horrible feeling of deja vu, with this campaign mirroring the hugely disappointing fall from grace last season when they lost a 12-point lead at the top before finishing in the play-offs, only to lose in the final.

Under-pressure head coach Mat Sadler has said he will keep "fighting and believing" to turn around Walsall's form, which has left them winless in seven matches, but the victories have to start coming soon or they risk dropping out of the promotion picture completely.

Speaking on the Football Daily 72+ podcast, Jobi McAnuff said Walsall had started showing defensive frailties at a time when the goals had dried up at the other end.

In the 10 league games since they topped the table on 26 December, the Saddlers have claimed just two clean sheets - in two home goalless draws - but have conceded at least two goals in seven of the other eight matches.

"I think the defensive side of things has been a strength at times but in recent weeks that's gone out the window, they've been conceding goals for fun," McAnuff said.

"In their last five games it's been at least two goals every game but what do you put that down to? And how hard is that going to be for him to turn around a team that this year is not scoring anywhere near enough when you look at some of the teams they are up against."

Walsall's defensive record is the eighth best in the league, with 35 goals conceded from 32 games, but they are the lowest scorers in the top half with 40.

The pressure is therefore increasing on an attacking unit with an over-reliance on Charlton Athletic loanee Daniel Kanu who has scored 13 - no other player in the squad has more than five goals in League Two.

In the first half against MK Dons, Kanu had just five touches of the ball.

Under Sadler, they are simply not a team that creates a high volume of chances as their 10.5 shots per game ranks 22nd overall in the division.

While not the ultimate indicator of success or failure, as there are a variety of ways to win matches, their lack of ownership of the football inevitably leads to frustration when positive results are not following.

Walsall average just 38.4% possession - the lowest number of any team in the 92 - a number that has fallen even further from the relatively low 43.8% of last season.

"They have a style under Mat that is great when you're winning," said BBC WM commentator Mike Taylor.

"They have a really small share of possession, and possession isn't everything - at one point they had less of the ball than anyone else in League Two and were churning out win after win.

"But as soon as you're not winning that becomes really difficult for fans to tolerate, especially at home."

Is it happening again?

Despite seeing this season as a fresh start, the hangover from last campaign seems difficult to forget.

Walsall, understandably, tried to initiate change to move on from 2024-25, while the general churn that exists in League Two every summer inevitably led to players moving on and new ones arriving.

The Saddlers have brought in 15 new players since the end of last season - including the experienced Aden Flint, who has been a mainstay in defence, and forward Aaron Pressley.

The 12 to have departed over that time were largely free transfers for players who had reached the end of their contract, with the club receiving undisclosed fees for centre-backs David Okagbue and Taylor Allen.

Only four of Monday's starting line-up against MK Dons were at the club last season: Sam Hornby, playing in place of suspended first-choice goalkeeper Myles Roberts, plus Priestley Farquharson, Brandon Comley and Charlie Lakin.

But despite the high turnover and new faces not necessarily scarred from how the last campaign panned out, Taylor said: "It's impossible to divorce last season from this season.

"The fans are feeling it, even when they were still top at Christmas but had one or two dodgy results, you could hear the first murmurings of 'is it happening again?' and they just haven't shaken it."

But is it all doom and gloom? March is on the way and hope springs eternal, with Walsall only three points outside the play-off places with a game in hand on seventh-placed Chesterfield.

Sadler has previously said he believes his team has been overachieving as they are fighting for promotion against clubs with more spending power.

"We're competing with teams that have incredible resources in this division who can go and spend whatever they like, and we are in and amongst all of that," he said in January.

"We'll continue to do things our own way. We'll work hard, we'll create a football club where development counts and it means something."

Taylor said coming so close to promotion had raised expectation levels but it was important to remember Walsall are "not the best resourced club in League Two".

"Having taken people that close you can't go back and say finishing ninth or 10th is probably par for our budget. It might be true but it's a really hard pill to swallow," he added.

• Walsall slump down to execution not tactics - Flint
• We should be lot lower if you go off wages - Sadler
• Walsall wobble not bringing back bad vibes - Matt

Against a backdrop of the board saying it was "aware of the urgency to improve results" and fans unhappy with recent displays, Sadler needs some wins soon and has spoken of the desire to finish the season strongly.

But it will be a tough task as their next game is an away match against the form team of the division, with Shrewsbury on a five-game winning run.

The Saddlers have sold out their away ticket allocation and anything but a win will not be enough to appease and enthuse travelling fans as pressure mounts on Sadler with patience having all-but run out.

They then face home games against Fleetwood and Notts County knowing this run of matches could have a huge bearing on where their season goes from here.