KLOPP CALL HAS COST US £½m
Shrewsbury boss Sam Ricketts sad at missing out on £500k Cup jackpot
PERHAPS it was the protective strength of the river severn or the well- preserved town walls, but the gentle rhythms of shrewsbury life did not seem to have been thrown into disarray by Jurgen Klopp’s holiday plans.
One trader was unloading commemorative Fa Cup T-shirts, foam hands and jesters’ hats from the back of his van, although he was not expecting to be knocked over in the rush. This is not a footballing hotbed and yet something is stirring. Local newspaper the Shropshire
Star was giving out souvenir posters ahead of the big match and flags were on display in the windows of shops such as philpotts sandwich bar in Butcher row in support of sam ricketts and his team.
Over at New Meadow, however, fans were trickling in to collect tickets for tonight’s replay at Liverpool with 8,000 salopians expected to make the 70-mile journey north to anfield for the first time in the club’s history.
at the sundorne Castle training ground, players were practising penalties and juggling with emotions ahead of a fixture which has been causing tremors in the Fa Cup since Klopp promised to send out the youth team because he and his first team were taking the week off.
It is a decision which could cost shrewsbury a windfall of as much as £500,000, according to ricketts, and potentially stop the League One club securing a lasting legacy from their Cup exploits.
‘It’s huge,’ said ricketts. ‘ Let’s say we walk out with £150,000 off the back of this replay. But if it was a full-on game, you’re looking at half a million and another £72,000 from television.
‘That’s a massive difference for a club like ours, where every penny counts. Can we make the training pitches a bit better? Can we get one extra player in maybe?
‘That’s probably the biggest disappointment, the fact we’re lacking revenue from the replay. It’s an opportunity for a club like this to build something which lasts for 15 years and provides a real legacy.’
Liverpool have slashed ticket prices and this reduces the gate receipts, which are split between the clubs. BT sport have opted not to broadcast the game live, which would have been worth £72,000 per club.
Klopp had a long conversation with ricketts after the initial tie at New Meadow, when the League One team fought back from 2-0 down to draw thanks to a double strike from substitute Jason Cummings.
‘We had a chat for 20 to 30 minutes and he was very open,’ said the shrews boss.
‘he told me they’d planned this break three months ago. so for him to rip it up and tell the lads they’re not having a break was nigh on impossible.
‘he explained his thinking and I understand it. playing at that level is incredibly hard.
‘They’re fighting on all fronts and it’s not just physically but mentally (tough). In every game you go into, you are there to be shot down. he said he didn’t want it to overshadow the game — and he was very honest and said a draw was the least we deserved — but his decision to honour the winter break is one which made the headlines.’
Klopp has railed against the Fa for interrupting the winter break, which is ironic when you consider it was the Fa’s idea to introduce the break and all clubs were told at the start of the season that a replay in the Fa Cup fourth round would curtail it.
his decision to withdraw the first team fuelled a feeling that the wealthiest clubs in the country were campaigning to end replays at a time when powerful european clubs wanted to expand the Champions League, which is so much more lucrative to them.
For those inside smaller clubs, the Fa Cup — a competition which involves 736 teams and can have a transformative impact on so many of them — was under attack from those at the top of the english football pyramid.
Inside the shrewsbury dressing room, however, the sporting instinct of the players has eclipsed any financial implications.
They are 16th in League One and have lost twice without scoring since the draw with Liverpool. But they know there is a better chance of beating Neil Critchley’s youth team than Klopp’s premier League leaders.
‘We’re still the underdogs but it gives us a better chance to progress,’ said striker shaun Whalley, who was born and raised in Liverpool.
‘They’ll have brilliant players but not as good as the first team, 22 points clear in the premier League and unbeaten all season. I wouldn’t give us much of a chance against that team. But we have got a chance.’
Whalley, 32, cheered on the reds from the Kop and he added: ‘For a lot of Liverpool fans, Klopp can’t do any wrong and that’s how I see it. I’m glad he’s playing the young lads. If he thinks the lads need a week off they can have a week off.
‘I’ve never seen Liverpool win the top division. I’m more in the camp thinking they won’t throw it away, but I know friends who are still praying and saying, “We’ve not won it yet”.
‘It will be an unbelievable party if they do it.’
and if shrewsbury storm the fortress of anfield to end Liverpool’s long unbeaten run and make it into the last 16 of the Fa Cup against Chelsea, they will be partying on the cobbles of the medieval market square.