please log in to view this image ............................................... please log in to view this image Shrewsbury Town.................... vs .................... Swansea City Greenhous Meadow Shrewsbury Tues 23/8/11 7:45 PM KO Referee Paul Tierney For travel information to the stadium and ticket information, click HERE Welcome one and all to the match thread for todays game against Shrewsbury Town FC. This will be a game which will split opinion for a number of reasons, on both sides of the fence, and it will be interesting to see what kind of lineups are on display tonight for both teams. Swansea make the trip east in what I believe to be our first trip to your new stadium, which, from what I can see, has just been christened with a new name. How are you guys liking the new stadium? I had a serious soft spot for Gay Meadow... what's become of that? Tonight's match is the second round of the League Cup, and as such is a chance for the Swans to chase some silverware, and the chance for the Shrews (realistically) to embark on a cup run and aid their coffers by accruing some much needed television/ticket/prize money. For clubs plying their trade in the lower leagues, these games (and the ones they lead to) can prove infinitely useful as the financial margins many teams operate within are perilously narrow... so any extra income is a welcome boost. Believe me, as Swans fans, we know what it's like, which is why I like to think we'll always respect every team we play. We won't take anything for granted, and I'm expecting for the Swans to be given a good game tonight. Shrewsbury come into this game on the back of their first league win. The Oxford manager Chris Wilder said after their recent game âThey're a good side and will definitely be up there at the end of the season in the top two or three.â Will Graham Turner use this game to give his first team another chance to find a winning touch? Will he rotate and play a team heavily made up of fringe players and youth? These questions can also be asked of the Swans but you get the sense the Shrews are somewhat hopeful of a âcupsetâ. Their recent upturn in fortunes against Crewe will surely give rise to doubts in Turners mind about rotation, in as much as a consistent team will start to bond and put results together. The Match; For Shrewsbury, the lack of clean sheets is becoming more pressing. Graham Turner was fairly blunt when analysing his teams last match, stating they cannot afford to go on shipping goals. Granted, the opening goal on the weekend was a screamer, but by all accounts the other could, and maybe should have been avoided, so he'll be looking for more coherency at the back, even if a favourable result isn't achieved. This game will give Turner opportunity to assess some players not currently featuring in the starting lineup, as well as giving those low on match fitness and form to âplay their wayâ into readiness for the league campaign. The Swans have stated that they will not be taking a flippant attitude towards the cup competitions this year, as we may have been guilty of in the past. Brendan Rodgers expects to name a changed, but competitive lineup which may well include youth players such as Daniel Alfei and Lee Lucas. How youth-orientated the team is remains to be seen, but it's nice to see local boys getting back into the team. Prior Form; (most recent at top) Shrewsbury Town 2 â 0 Crewe Alexandra Npower League Two Oxford Utd 2 â 0 Shrewsbury Town Npower League Two Burton Albion 1 â 1 Shrewsbury Town Npower League Two Derby County 2 â 3 Shrewsbury Town League Cup Shrewsbury Town 1 â 1 Plymouth Town Npower League Two Swansea City 0 â 0 Wigan Athletic Barclays Premier League Manchester City 4 â 0 Swansea City Barclays Premier League Team News; For the Shrews, Trivia; - Courtesy of BBC Formerly the "Completely guessed lineups" but now the "Very much the official starting lineups"; Swansea City 21 José Filipe da Silva Moreira 34 Joe Walsh 5 Alan Tate 2 Ashley Williams 35 Daniel Alfei 8 Andrea Orlandi 27 Mark Gower 24 Joe Allen 18 Leroy Lita 19 Luke Moore 10 Danny Graham Shrewsbury Town 25 Ben Smith 6 Shane Cansdell-Sherriff 3 Joe Jacobson 2 Jermaine Grandison 5 Ian Sharps 7 Mark Wright 8 Nicky Wroe 16 Lionel Ainsworth 4 Sean McAllister 10 Marvin Morgan 24 Terry Gornell Analysis; At first glance, this should be fairly cut and dried. Swansea are lauded (below Premiership level, anyway, for their footballing style, while Shrewsbury are hoping recent fortunes are reversed, and their new Greenhous Stadium propels them upwards onto bigger and better things. This is not, however, a game which the Swans will be treating as a formality. For one, the Swans ARE likely to rotate their team, even if the quality of replacements is higher than that of most of the Swans players up to this point in my life! Every one of these players will be busting a gut trying to prove a point, and to get a shot at playing in the most watched league in the world. Players like Andrea Orlandi, Mark Gower and Jazz Richards featured last year, but have so far been out of the side, so if selected expect them to try and grasp this opportunity with both hands. Shrewsbury, meanwhile, will be looking at the Swans thinking âif they make changes, they'll at least be rustyâ, and they will probably be right. For them to have a chance in the game, they will have to take a leaf out of Wigans book, sit deep and compact, and break at pace especially late in the game when we may tire. If the Swans can get their feet on the ball and control possession as we normally do, then I fancy us for a win. However, if Shrewsbury disrupt our passing game and get in our faces (we could be lining up with a fairly short, physically diminutive midfield; Joey, Gower, Dobbie?), then they could well be in with a chance. Either way, both teams will no doubt make a few changes from the teams that lined up last weekend, and as it's still early in the season it's a good chance for the managers to really get an idea about the strength in depth of the squad. Brendan Rodgers before the game; Graham Turner before the Swansea game; Scottswan's famously biased and ill-fated prediction; Shrewsbury Town 2 - 4 Swansea City Safe journey to all those travelling, and good luck to Shrewsbury for the coming season. I hope that your stadium ends up being a catalyst for you. propelling you up the leagues, as the Liberty Stadium has done for us. Scott
Nice work Scott. Couple of points though - not sure, but I think our "new" stadium may be slightly older than yours. It's close anyway (and I remember getting soaked a couple of times at the Vetch watching rugby league). Our team seems likely to be as per Crewe on Saturday - Grandison for Regan, Sherriff for Hazell, Jacobson for Sherriff, McAllister for Richards and Gornell for Collins. Your team's already been announced apparently. We were great at Derby and should have won by more. We've been less impressive in the league though. Looking forward to an entertaining game tonight. I enjoy the Carling Cup as we tend to play better against footballing teams that are a bit less in your face than some in L2. That said I expect Swans to be looking for some goals and a win to get them started. Didn't really expect to win at Derby and same tonight - but you never know. Good luck in the Premier League anyway.
what an excellent thread. if i was to criticise, it would be the lack of a mention of town's win of the century at derby in the last round , which in my opinion is the key to the result of the encounter tonight, especially if the swans play a weakened team. i take shrews to win 2-1 and thanks scottswan for showing us how a good pre match thread should be written. well done. good luck to the swans premier career, hope they soon recover from tonights result!
great thread scott. i think we will be too strong for them tonight going for a comfy 3-0 for the swans
Thanks for the comments. I apologise for not mentioning the Derby game! I'll be totally honest, work has been mental and I forgot we were playing until 2pm this afternoon so had to do it in between bits and bobs for work! I also apologise for not knowing how long you'd been in your new stadium for, I had completely missed you moving grounds, so when I heard you'd moved from Gay Meadow I assumed it was a recent thing. Do you like your new ground? The Liberty is good when full, for experience value though I'll always prefer small terraced grounds. That's football for me. I've got a stand out memory of Darren Currie tearing us to pieces at the Vetch one year. You guys got anyone standing out at the moment?
...and is bordered by Arthous... which has nothing to do with "art" but is, in fact, owned by a dude called Arthur?
Teams are in; Swansea City 21 José Filipe da Silva Moreira 34 Joe Walsh 5 Alan Tate 2 Ashley Williams 35 Daniel Alfei 8 Andrea Orlandi 27 Mark Gower 24 Joe Allen 18 Leroy Lita 19 Luke Moore 10 Danny Graham Shrewsbury 25 Ben Smith 6 Shane Cansdell-Sherriff 3 Joe Jacobson 2 Jermaine Grandison 5 Ian Sharps 7 Mark Wright 8 Nicky Wroe 16 Lionel Ainsworth 4 Sean McAllister 10 Marvin Morgan 24 Terry Gornell
so far 58% possession with no shots on target, shrews 42% possession and 5 shots on target, 2 goals both scored by shrews..
Currently 1-1. Pressure from Graham leading to our goal, before Morgan with a tap in for you guys! Norwich two down at home to MK Dons, and QPR drawing one down to Rochdale at Loftus Road. Tough day for the Premiership newcomers so far!
We are again struggling to convert possession into quality opportunities in the box .... smacks of a lack of creativity. Quite frustrating.
Sorry ... but we have a habit of playing "beautiful" football between our midfield, defense and keeper ... but this means we do not create strikes on goal that we should. The Shrews on the other hand are making the most of their lesser possession - a lesson to be learned.
Great pre-match write up, well done. Now please excuse the following.... 'Saaaaaaaaaaalop, Saaaaaaaalop, Saaaaaaaalop'!
As I write we go 2-1 down. They should be ashamed. Btw, Alfei, according to commentary, nearly gave a penalty away with a push in the back. He did the same thing against Bolton reserves and did concede a penalty. He's obviously allowing his man to get goal side of him too often. Shrews broke at pace to get their second - we should try that sometime!!
