Sean O’Driscoll appointed new Walsall Head Coach

Walsall have decided to replace former boss Dean Smith with Sean O’Driscoll.

O’Driscoll has managed a host of teams including Bournmouth, Nottingham Forest and Doncaster Rovers and was most recently Brendan Rodgers’ assistant at Liverpool.

Walsall Chairman Jeff Bonser said: “We are delighted that Sean has agreed to join us as our new head coach. We believe he is the right man for the job and will maintain the club’s philosophy of producing young players and playing attractive football.

“Sean ticks all the boxes in terms of the identity, blueprint and ethos that we work towards.

“We believe in his ability to advance the football club, enhance our growing reputation as a progressive, forward-thinking organisation and we look forward to working closely with him, in what we hope will be an exciting new chapter at the club.”

The 58-year-old has managed over 600 competitive matches and achieved promotion with both Doncaster and Bournmouth.

O’Driscoll spoke of his delight at his new job, telling the club’s official website, ““The culture of the club was the main attraction more than anything else and what everybody at the football club have tried to build in the last few years. I said to the chairman and the board of directors that in football it’s very rare that you get to contribute towards developing a culture and philosophy.

“I’ve watched Walsall in the last two or three seasons and I’ve been entertained every time. There is an exciting project here and I’m relishing the opportunity to play my part in seeing that project through.”

The new Head Coach will be thrown in at the deep end in his first game in charge on Sunday against local rivals Port Vale.