fbpx
Connect with us

Championship

‘Didn’t see this coming’ – Fans react as Albert Adomah speaks on joining League Two Walsall

‘Didn’t see this coming’ – Fans react as the former Championship player Albert Adomah speaks on joining League Two club Walsall.

The Saddlers complete their sixth summer signing in the 36 year old experienced winger on a one-year deal, having been a free agent after leaving Queens Park Rangers.

He comes in bringing a wealth of experience to the side, making 493 appearances in the Championship and 775 in total over his career.

He’s played for the likes of Harrow Borough, Barnet, Bristol City, Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, Cardiff City and Queens Park Rangers in a senior career which began in 2006 and is still going strong in 2024.

Fans and pundits are optimistic about the impact Adomah will have on the team, with many praising the signing as a significant addition for Walsall, of whom he had a brief stint on trial with this pre-season, having fans dreaming that he’d sign a deal.

CLUB STATEMENT:

Walsall Football Club are pleased to announce the signing of former Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest wide man Albert Adomah on a one-year deal.

The 36-year-old becomes the Saddlers’ sixth signing of the summer following his release from Championship side Queens Park Rangers, where he had previously been for the last four seasons.

During his four year stay in the capital, Adomah became the record appearance holder in the second tier of English football, having reached 528 Championship appearances last term.

After featuring 129 times for the R’s across all competitions, including 18 games in the 2023/24 season, Adomah has now played a total of 775 matches throughout his entire career to date.

In the 2015/16 season whilst with Middlesbrough, he featured 48 times, scoring nine goals as they achieved promotion to the Premier League finishing four points behind eventual league winners Burnley.

Adomah enjoyed his most fruitful spell in front of goal whilst with Villa during the 2017/18 season where he found the back of the net 15 times in all competitions, finishing as their top goalscorer that campaign.

In the following season at Villa Park, under the stewardship of former Saddlers manager Dean Smith, Adomah achieved his second career promotion to the top flight as he played a role in helping Villa beat Frank Lampard’s Derby County 2-1 at Wembley Stadium in the play-off final.

Prior to his move to the team he supported growing up, the vastly experienced versatile right-sided player played for Barnet, Bristol City, Cardiff City, Boro, Forest and local neighbours Villa.

As well as playing for the aforementioned clubs, Adomah has also represented the Ghana national team 19 times, including at the 2013 African Cup of Nations and the 2014 World Cup and he scored his maiden international goal in a 1-1 draw against Canada in October 2015.

With the move to WS1 now confirmed, Adomah can’t wait to get going and is hoping to use his vast experience to help the squad throughout the upcoming League Two season.

“Now that I’m officially a Saddler, I can’t wait to get started,” Adomah said.

“I started off in League Two at my local club Barnet nearly 16 years ago so now I’m back in League Two where the journey started.

“I’ve had so many achievements in my career, getting promoted twice from the Championship with Aston Villa and Middlesbrough. Hopefully I can achieve that fate with Walsall, that’s the intention.

“It’s a young group, but with my experience, hopefully I can help the youngsters.”

Head Coach Mat Sadler was thrilled to add Adomah to his squad and believes his past career experiences are going to be incredibly beneficial for everyone at the club, both on and off the pitch.

“I’m delighted Albert has decided to commit this part of his career with us,” Sadler said.

“There were some options that I had in that right wing-back spot that I was considering but then Albert came in and completely changed all of that with the way he’s gone about things, his experience, the person that he is, the way he conducts himself around the group and most importantly what he does on the grass.

“His professionalism and dedication to keep playing and put himself as the best athlete he can be is unquestionable and that delivery and quality in the final third will be a real force for us this season.

“How he’ll help with some of the younger ones as well, his delivery and the way he puts himself about, I’m really looking forward to see.”

The transfer is subject to FA and EFL clearance.

@KamCavanagh has produced a superb thread looking into Adomah, his career, and how he’ll benefit Walsall.

He tweeted: “His 23/24: Adomah spent four seasons at Loftus Road with QPR, with gradually less game time season upon season culminating with his final season in 2023/24 where he made 16 appearances and just two starts. These substitute appearances gave him varying amounts of minutes – some were ~30 minutes whereas other games saw him come on in the final few minutes. This amounted to 361 minutes across the Championship season where QPR stayed up under the guidance of Martí Cifuentes.

“He didn’t score or assist in this time but remained a fan favourite regardless. He was a more integrated squad member in 2022/23, making 12 starts and scoring two goals.

“He has also made 16 appearances for the Ghanaian national team, including a substitute appearance at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

“His stint at Aston Villa: Adomah had an incredibly fruitful spell at Villa Park from 2016 until 2019 where he reached the playoff final in 2017/18, losing out to Fulham, and then eventually won promotion via the playoffs in 2018/19. During that 17/18 Championship season, he scored 14 goals and notched 5 assists, becoming an Aston Villa cult hero in the meantime.

“His stats and profile: A wide player for the majority of his career, Albert Adomah has most recently been used as a wing-back where he can get up and down the flank and deliver crosses into the box for his striker(s) to pounce on.

“He may be 36, but that shouldn’t be a stick to beat him with because he still has the ability and fitness to charge up and down the line whether it is to defend or attack. His stats for last season are so hard to analyse due to the sheer lack of minutes, although one that did stand out to me was five chances created in those 361 minutes – which equates to 1.25 p90 – a decent figure considering the lack of consistency in his game time.

“His fit at Walsall: Mat Sadler has a distinct way of playing, a progressive 3-1-4-2 with underlapping centre backs, goalscoring midfielders, and your classic strike partnership of a target man and a pressing forward. But, one of, if not, the most important roles on the pitch is the wing backs. There is a big onus on them to stay high and wide to provide consistent chance creation but they also need the ability to sit deep in our block when defending the box. Their quality of delivery is so important and this is where we often lacked last season.

“Tom Knowles at RWB, although energetic, didn’t offer that consistency we needed in his end product and often rushed what needed to be a good final ball.

“Connor Barrett has been brought in from AFC Fylde to rectify this but Albert Adomah will have a big role to play both as an impact substitute and as a starter when needed. If we are chasing a game and need that bit of quality, there aren’t many players in the entirety of League Two that you would rather have than Adomah, in my opinion. This adds a new dynamic to our team that we lacked at times last season.”

Fans react while Albert Adomah speaks on joining League Two Walsall, this is what they tweeted…

@UpTheRs: Best of luck Uncs 💙

@avfcbreaking:
Superb guy at a superb well run club!
Good luck for the new season.

@HawkUTV: Guess I now have to keep an eye out for Walsall results – Up the Uncle Albert

@liam_birks: He may be 36, but Adomah will definitely do a job in League 2. He’s still got the touch and technique to add a touch of class to this Walsall side. #Saddlers

@Alstar751: @uncs37 congratulations and have a great season!! Oooooh Albert adomah!!

@nigelcorns1: Welcome to the saddlers Albert 👍

@WFCBagnall: Absolutely fantastic signing 👏🏻

@sweetfawn479255: I will now be paying attention to Walsall results. Good luck legend @uncs37 💙🤍👍🏼

@tom_bowen13: A fantastic signing for the Saddlers. If that’s the level it could be a good season.

@tyler_stfc: Getting older now, but there is no denying what Albert Adomah was and still is capable of. 💪🏼 He’ll do a job in League Two for Walsall, I’m sure.

@ukbronco: Huge experience. Will be valuable.

@SirSebastian20: Albert Adomah playing in League 2 👀. He should be quite useful for them at this level in fairness.

@kathrynxjane: Absolutely massive for Walsall that. So glad he signed.

@poundlandfc1888: OHHHHHH ALBERT ADOMAHHHHH! Getting that new home top now with “Adomah 37” on the back 😍

Related Topics
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

More in Championship