SHREWSBURY TOWN
LAST SEASON
LEAGUE ONE 18th FA CUP Fourth Round
LEAGUE CUP First Round TOP SCORER Fejiri Okenabirhie (16)
FANFILE ANDREW GREENWAY blueandamber.proboards.com
The big talking point among the fans is that Mat Sadler, who made more than 200 appearances and captained us to two Wembley finals, and Danny Coyne, a popular goalkeeping coach and caretaker manager on a couple of occasions, have decided to move on. This season will be different because the manager, Sam Ricketts [below] has now had a pre-season to implement his footballing philosophies and bring in the players to suit his methodology. There are no excuses.
Our key player will be young defender Ro-shaun Williams. What a difference he has made since joining in January from Manchester United. Our defence changed from his very first game. He’s a rock at the back, a leader at the age of 20, passionate, talented, powerful, clever and great on the ball. He will be a big difference for us this season. The best Shrewsbury social media accounts are @B_and_a_online and the @salopcast podcast. The player I’d happily drive to another club is Lenell John-lewis.
I won’t be happy unless we show progress in terms of more aggressive, attacking football. Last season, any confident and controlled attacks fell away in the final third, and the team’s finishing was abysmal. The signing of Steve Morison may help in improving our attack... but he’s 36 in August! Save the date for Ipswich away on August 31. They took Paul Hurst, Chris Doig, Jon Nolan and Toto Nsiala from us last term, with the Hurst deal done in the days leading up to our play-off final – which we lost. Rumour has it that Hurst had cleared his desk before jumping on the coach to Wembley. The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is that he’s quite cautious – young and ambitious, yes, but considered in his approach – and still finding his feet. However, I’m hopeful he will turn his safety-first stance into something more attacking once the defence is sorted, and we’ve already brought in some strong defenders. It’s probably not a make-or-break year for him. We’ll finish 14th, in lower-mid-table and safe, building for next season.