Saunders to Hereford?

This one has flown under the radar, hasn't it? Saunders on his way to Hereford? Unlikely, but it's out there, so let's investigate!

My immediate reaction's that the story's unlikely. What, after all, has Saunders done to attract a Football League club?

However, should he turn us around and turn us into a side capable of challenging for promotion he could become an attractive proposition; after all, his name is still worth something in the game, as the interest the likes of Derby County and Nottingham Forest supposedly showed after his brief, bright start suggests.

Saunders is no fool; he sells himself extremely well. He has used this talent, plus his name, to attract players like Joe Allen and Andy Crofts to The Racecourse when they appeared to be out of our reach. A bit of success and he'll be able to present himself as a big name who has turned a club around.

And don't over-estimate the average club owner. No matter how shrewd a business head they might have outside the game, there are plenty who'd be thrilled with the thought of appointing an ex-Liverpool star, once the most expensive player in the UK, and lording it over him.

However, Saunders hasn't reached that point yet; we're at a low point, and his immediate concern is that he gets off to a strong start in order to ensure his job security isn't compromised. It would take a seriously star-struck CEO to appoint him in a higher division, I'd suggest. He hardly has a record of making the most out of limited resources either, and surely that's a key consideration at Edgar Street these days?

The problem with such stories is it's impossible to know where it began. Is its source a well-informed insider? A reporter with an inside line? Or a speculatory piece like this, which appeared last week, predating the South Wales Argus story?

The interesting part of it is the confirmed fact that United are speaking to a Conference manager. Is that supposed to be Dean Holdsworth, who signed a new contract today, or someone else, because the list of possibilities is short. Surely managers are the larger clubs, like Luton, would see Hereford as a backward step; although in a higher division they are surely a smaller club. Managers of the smaller clubs might seem to be unattractive gamble. Saunders, however, could see them as a way out of a job which has certainly not been as easy as he'd hoped when he arrived.

Not that the poll at the bottom of this page suggests Saunders' exploits with us have filled Bulls' fans with enthusiasm!