firstly we start importing a ruck of young midfielders in with very little experience, and the next thing GT is announcing that we have clubs climbing out of the woodwork for our best players...i think January will turn out to be a very interesting time and i can see some big changes afoot...although he's(GT) denying players will leave, i think when big clubs come in there is not a lot a manager or club can do to stifle their ambition to play at a higher level and neither they should do so....and i also believe deals have been done already,and certain players will be leaving us no doubt...lets hope the players GT is looking at now are going to be as good as the ones that will be leaving...
Ainsworth is out of contract in the summer, if a bigger club want him they could either pay a nominal fee in January or wait for a cat fight to get him in June. One 'rumour' on B&A is that they are in negotiations with him now to extend his contract. I personally think that Ainsworth should sign a new contract as GT gave him a good chance, but maybe that might not be what Ainsworth's agent is thinking.
Such weird arguments....and some are even half true! Young players make a name in lower divisions (stay 1-3 seasons) and move up .....clubs have no long stayers. Old players, some ok, most journeymen, move down a division or two at the end of their careers....clubs have no long stayers. Other players are very average. So lower Div 3 and all Div 4 sides (none of this 1 & 2 rubbish!) either have short stay old or young players with some journemen (who turn up when picked for a wage above the national average). Good managers, as GT will prove, make the most of this but how often do these sides ever make it to top of Div 2 or even Div1 (none of this 'Championship' rubbish)......very few. Chairmen and boards nowadays either preside over bankruptcy or reasonably successful SMALL businesses.....so should we just be pleased to have a solvent club and the odd cup scalp of a big team? Maybe even the odd trip to Wembley (Old Trafford would be nice)....win or lose!!! We can all dream, but not many dreams come true, that should not stop us but a dose of realism is welcome now and then. Fifty plus years of watching Town (none of this 'not much in the last four years' stuff for me!!) has been a roller coaster ride but I am happy to take the good and bad 'cos I love the Shrews. Good and bad managers, great, good and crap players have all come and gone but the craoc and banter in pubs, at work and now on t'Internet all makes it worth while. Smile and enjoy the beautiful game. Get rid of bad officials (the only thing that really pisses me off!). ...and keep the turnstiles clicking.
.....and I forgot the effect of loanees. Clearly, by definition, they don't stay long. Can you even remember that great one we had five years ago? Of course you can't! But they can help get a team 'up' and fulfil the true need of filling a gap when one has injuries. No really top teams have any, in fact they farm them out......so we become helpful in training them, testing them etc. So we could be considered as sorts of feeder clubs and residues for old and young players moving up and down be it on a short term basis. Sic transit gloria mundi.
Football players are forever in the shop window & they're always leaving clubs. That's football for ya! Jeez... But some people aren't happy with that. Someone's gotta be responsible for this revelation at our club. We can't have players coming & going. Nor can we have players of a certain age. That's just plain daft, eh? I mean, you can't win anything with kids, can you? We should sack GT & whilst we're at it RW & the Board can go too!
Nice to hear some other realism! Observation: By definition.....Really top clubs keep good young players, lower clubs can't (and perhaps shouldn't)
i agree this is when a good manager shows his true colors, when he can build another good team out the ashes of one that has been broken up by player's wanting to progress in their futures and move on....i think we will be in good hands with GT, but a little honesty wouldn't be a bad thing from the board either..
hooray for some realism, yes if rowland banks £100 of £1000's next summer, then graham will go buy /loan some more. it is like the old story- donald duck did some muck upon the kitchen floor, mrs duck, she wiped it up and donald did some more. boom boom now some advocate sacking rowland and graham, most people walk/kick balls with their feet not with their mouths. a good article and in L2 there will always be comings and goings, after all we are the flotsam and jetsom of higher leagues awaiting a bite. graham has three trays in, out and lbw in the meant time rowland watches the cash roll in, and just now and again, rarely though, graham is left with a team of wriggling sperms who succeed in getting promoted, i stress it is very rare, and there are so many hurdles, injuries, predators and that ruddy awful pop art lennie the lion badge. most clubs are ambitious, some are wealthy and ambitious most are losing money but still have ambitions. but every club is awaiting a tickle or a hook from the river bank or as we know it L1 or above. floreat salopia
A lot of clubs live on payday loans from their local loansharks in the hope that the money they spend will get them promoted where there are immense riches believed to be had. Slight exageration, but Leeds was a classic fall from grace when ITV digital went t*ts up and clubs had already spent the money.
its trying to get that fine balance between going for promotion and spending a bit, or hoping you can pick up players on the cheap, the only trouble is you get the short term cash rich clubs the likes of Darlington Crawley and Fleetwood etc who last about five years then bomb, but it doesn't help our cause one bit....it just pangs me slightly on how much could RW put towards team building and not jeopardise our future, its just over the last few years we have had some very healthy crowds, and a lot of corporate stuff going on plus concerts, but no money spent on players....and how much did we get for Harrold?...i would like to know, if its only to wind the gas up!!
it is also a fine balance between administration and a healthy bank balance. i applaud roland and the board for wisely running such a great business, and i also applaud a great manager who has crafted a useful squad out of very little. as for january all our players are in contract i believe, but i would not be suprised to see bradshaw go to cardiff, they allegedly wanted him in the summer. if gt cannot persuade ainsworth to sign, then he may go in january as well. i assume if anyone is sold they may be replaced by loanees, as gt may not wish to spend until he and the chairman can see where town are in may, with league one in mind hopefully or another season close to the top of L2 if i was to be provocative. either way floreat salopia and 6 concerts in the summer please
We might see the last of Ainsworth too, he is out of contract in the summer and I don't know whether to believe the rumour (yes only one) that he is stalling on signing. I hope this rumour is not true and we keep his services, however having three loanees that can keep him and Taylor out of the starting squad is a bit of an eyebrow raiser!
i suspect both want regular 1st team appearances, which they are not getting at present, unless gt rests a few ever presents
the gas have subsided from a glitter ritz club of the 1950's and 1960's to a plain journeyman load of tinpots rooting round the basement of league 2 for any crumbs of comfort discarded by that great little club at the top shrewsbury town. we do not profess to be massive or huge. we let our footbal speak fot itself, pre season, carling cup, fa cup and way up the league. oh gas where is thy sting, irene have you been on they paracetamol again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think Turner has been very clever in signing players who are above average for this league but not so good that they are obviously going to be snapped up by bigger clubs - Ainsworth has played very well for us overall but, in my opinion, he dose not quite have the class of someone like Ben Davis and would struggle at a championship club. Turner has great contacts within the game and his young loanees look a cut above any we have seen at the club for years - he will knit them in without upsetting the basic framework of the team. I predict we will see little change in January (no more than one or two signings) and that this is the year when we will assume our rightful place in the third tier of football that is now called League 1.
