On The Road
THREE MANAGERS ARE STILL UNBEATEN — JOSE, PEP . . . AND THE OTHER IS PAUL HURST
ON THE Midlands train service, it was a Shrewsbury takeover. Fans draped in blueand-yellow scarves sang buoyantly. Their team are top of the league and they want the world to know about it.
More than 1,600 supporters travelled to Walsall on Saturday, setting off a smokebomb to celebrate an equaliser, and skipping over the hoardings to roar their team to a 12th unbeaten match of the League One season.
These are heady times. It is 28 years since the club last competed in the second tier and manager Ian McNeill, the Glaswegian who coached the club between 1987 and 1990, passed away this weekend at the age of 85. McNeill was a revered right-hand man to John Neal at Chelsea during the club’s revival in the 1980s.
Current manager Paul Hurst is one of only three unbeaten coaches in the top four tiers of English football. The other two? Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho.
So the fans’ giddiness is quite understandable. For Hurst’s invincibles, Saturday brought a trip to Walsall. The record now reads nine wins and three draws from 12 games but it required a refereeing gaffe to prevent a Shrewsbury victory here.
In the 20th minute, with Walsall leading 1-0, defender Jon Guthrie deliberately handled the ball to deny a goalscoring opportunity. Referee Graham Salisbury gave a penalty but did not send off Guthrie. The official later explained to Hurst that while it was a red-card offence, neither he nor his linesman could identify the offender.
When Hurst, 43, took over at Shrewsbury last October, the club were bottom of the table. First he kept them up, now he wants to take them up.
After a 15-year playing career with Rotherham, he has since managed Ilkeston Town, Boston United and Grimsby Town. He achieved promotions with all three clubs and took Grimsby back into the Football League. He has revamped the playing squad at Shrewsbury. He has an English World Cup winner in Manchester United’s Under 20 goalkeeper Dean Henderson on loan and eight of his starting XI on Saturday have a background in non-League football.
Hurst says: ‘People who have never worked there ( nonLeague) can be very critical and don’t give it any respect. I have seen that side. If someone has not had anything before, it is new and fresh and they want to seize the opportunity. If a player is coming down the other way, perhaps they’ve had better days and seen it before.
‘My lads are appreciative. They don’t say, “We haven’t got this member of staff, or we haven’t got six training pitches or we haven’t got cryotherapy chambers”.’
Asked which managers he admires, he names another with a fierce Yorkshire drawl.
‘Mick McCarthy. If he needs to be blunt, he will be. He won’t dress it up. I do feel there is a lot of rubbish that comes out of managers’ mouths at times. I’m sure I’ll be accused of that myself, though!’
He blends an old- school demeanour with modernising methods. While managing in non-League football, Hurst also worked as a teaching assistant in schools. ‘It is similar at times when you feel like you are wasting your breath,’ he grins.
Preparation is meticulous. The club moved to a new training ground this season. Hurst makes a presentation to his players on the opposition before every game. video clips are available for every player to study.
The fitness levels of the squad have been transformed. ‘We did a week of pre-season in Portugal. It was my first time abroad as a manager. Our wives thought we were off to sun ourselves, but it was very tough. We were up for a fasted run every day at 7am.
‘ We noticed fitness trends through our GPS data. We put that to the players in pre-season and they have seen the change in their bodies. We took profile pictures of their bodies and continue to do so every six weeks.
‘For many of the players it is dramatic progress. Many are young guys and even from a vanity point of view, they are pleased with their bodies. As staff we are often in the gym. If we are all sat there, massively overweight, demanding the guys work hard, it’s not the message to send out.
‘The atmosphere has changed. It all seemed a bit nice, a bit quiet when I arrived and I called on the fans to make some noise. We are proud of our work.’