Darrell Clarke Confirms the Reasons Behind Three Upcoming Departures Darrell Clarke Confirms the Reasons Behind Three Upcoming Departures

Darrell Clarke Confirms the Reasons Behind Three Upcoming Departures

Walsall manager Darrell Clarke has spoken to the local press and confirmed the reasons for three of the Saddlers' upcoming departures, as he continues to prepare for the as-yet-unconfirmed return to action.
Following the decision to curtail the 2019/20 League Two campaign Clarke confirmed which players he is keeping along with who will be allowed to depart.

Among the list of players set to leave for pastures new were defenders Shay Facey and Kory Roberts along with young striker Mitchel Candlin, with the manager offering various reasons for their upcoming departures.

Former Manchester City prospect Facey made seventeen appearances during an injury-hit spell at the Banks's and Clarke admitted that the decision to release him was both a football and financial one with the right-back likely commanding a healthy weekly wage.

Speaking to the Express & Star's Walsall correspondent Liam Keen, Darrell said; "I thought Shay was playing very well towards the back end of the season when he got himself fit. He had a bit of a stop-start.

"He’s a great lad with a great attitude and it was a little bit of a mixture of both to be honest. He’ll probably have no trouble finding a club and we wish him all the best."

Academy graduates Kory Roberts and Mitchel Candlin will be joining the search for a new club at the end of the month with the manager admitting that the duo needed more match minutes with the Mansfield-born boss going on to praise their attitudes.

Darrell continued; "They’re great lads with great attitudes but they’ve been at the club a long time and sometimes you get to the stage when you’re not playing regularly and the change does the players good.

"As well as being good lads, they wouldn’t have played as many games as they would have liked to have played. Kory was coming back from a serious injury and we wish him all the best. Hopefully they both find new clubs."

As mentioned in a recently published post, Roberts had already proved he was capable of performing for the first-team when called upon - the Birmingham-born defender making twenty-four appearances in 2017/18.

And, were it not for the serious injury he suffered during the Saddlers' pre-season clash with Stoke City, we're confident Kory would already be an established member of the back-line.

Mitch Candlin, however, is a different tale, watched by scouts from clubs up and down the leagues, and even enjoying a loan spell with Blackburn Rovers, Mitch failed to make the breakthrough into the first-team with various managers agreeing he had plenty of talent but was missing something which would see him force his way into the matchday side.

As with Kory, the Stafford-born striker now has the opportunity to go and prove himself elsewhere, and with his undoubted ability, should finally be able to secure some regular first-team football.
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