Ex-Walsall head coach Mat Sadler takes assistant role at Lommel SK | OneFootball

Former Walsall head coach Mat Sadler has joined Belgian side Lommel SK as assistant coach.

According to ExpressAndStar.com, the 41-year-old links up with head coach Lee Johnson on a one-year contract and starts immediately.

Sadler spent three years on Walsall’s coaching staff before succeeding Michael Flynn in May 2023, and his first season ended with an 11th-place finish in 2023-24.

In his second campaign, Walsall opened up a 12-point lead at the League Two summit and set a club record of nine straight league wins. They also reached the League Cup third round for the first time in nine years in 2024, but their promotion bid collapsed and they lost 1-0 to AFC Wimbledon in the play-off final at Wembley.

Last term they led the table again by Christmas, but form tailed off. Sadler was dismissed in March after two wins in his final 14 league games, and the team eventually finished 13th under him and interim head coach Darren Byfield.

He took charge of 161 matches with a 41.6 per cent win rate, recording 67 wins, 42 draws and 52 defeats, and was Walsall’s longest-serving boss since Dean Smith, who spent nearly five years at Bescot. Lommel are owned by City Football Group, who also own Manchester City, and returned to the Belgian top flight last season via the play-offs after a 23-year absence. This is Sadler’s first role abroad in his playing or managerial career.

Source: ExpressAndStar.com