Read the head coach's full programme column. please log in to view this image Welcome to the players, staff and supporters of Shrewsbury Town for this 2013/14 Sky Bet League One fixture season at Ashton Gate. I understand the frustration of supporters who haven’t had much to cheer about for the last three years wanting to see their team win. We should probably have more points for our performances so far this season. When you break each of our six league games down so far we can all identify missed opportunities and mistakes that have cost us points. We could have won games we’ve drawn – Bradford City and Gillingham stand out – and we could have drawn games we’ve lost – Coventry City and Wolves especially. The fact is we haven’t converted some of the good play and character we have displayed in games into points so we have got what we have got. Losing 3-0 at home is never pleasant. But if we’re going to move things forward, as a team and a club, and improve this year we need the fans to keep showing the patience and understanding you have done so far. The last thing this new team needs is the added pressure of carrying the burden of the last few years’ failings, while they try to improve as individuals and together. I know I’m in danger of sounding like a broken record but I have to keep banging the drum about where our club is in reality, compared to the opinion that remains in some quarters of where we should be simply because of the club’s size. We’re trying to rebuild a team, with an emphasis on developing younger players, and create a whole new identity, with a budget two-thirds of which is taken up by existing contracts. The average age of the starting XI against Peterborough United was 23, if you take James O’Connor out of that it was 22.5. The average age of the squad that finished last season was 27. We are in a massive transition period; we were at the end of last season and we continue to be into this. That is not empty excuses, that is the reality and transition takes an awful lot longer than one pre-season and six games. I said in the summer there was likely to be more pain before the gain, simply because of the overhaul that needed to happen to put the club back on a more even, sustainable keel and to give the supporters a team they could be proud of again. That isn’t negative; it’s an honest, realistic, dispassionate assessment of where the club continues to be at the moment. Change is rarely a pain-free, smooth, ride. And yet I go back to the point that, by and large this season, the boys have played with bravery, produced spells of the type of football we are aiming for them to produce consistently and unquestionably shown a fight and desire to win. There have been an awful lot of positives, and many encouraging signs of the potential this squad has. The three cup wins have demonstrated this. There has been progress so far this season, but what we haven’t had is three points and in most games that has come down to the finest of margins. It always does. I know there will be supporters who disagree with me simply because you’re fed up of not seeing your team win, I do understand that. But we – the players, coaching staff and club - need you to judge us on what happens over this season and support us in what we are trying to do now. We’re all so frustrated at not having picked up a league win yet, but we cannot let that detract from what we have done well and how we’re trying to develop the players as individuals, the team and the club for long-term gain. The mistakes young players make aren’t always obvious things; does a player understand his marking responsibilities or about covering a team-mates’s position if that player has moved? Does he stay with his runner or does he too often leave a team-mate isolated because he’s lost track of where his man’s gone? Does he look after the ball in possession or give it away too cheaply trying something risky in a dangerous position? Ultimately does he make good decisions in possession and out? A young player earns a place in the team for the positives he can bring to it, but you have to accept with their strengths come weaknesses, which need to be worked on. That’s where improvement happens and it will happen quicker for some than others. All we can do is keep trying to put in foundations and improve players; if they improve quickly, we will improve faster as a team. If we improve faster as a team you would hope it begins to convert itself into regular wins; if you win more games you move further up the table. It will be a stepped progression, however quickly people may want it to happen or however frustrating that might be right now. It’s difficult to talk too much about Peterborough without going into detailed analysis of our gameplan and how we did compared to how Crewe did against them a week before, a game that ended 2-2, but that Peterborough absolutely dominated. That in itself would take another 1,000 words and off the back of a 3-0 home defeat people don’t want to hear it. But in terms of our gameplan there were players who deserved a ‘well done’ and when you’re trying to develop players they need that as much as much as they need either guidance or a kick up the backside on the things they need to improve. We’re putting together a group of players I think have already shown they want to do well for this club, even if they are still without the league victory their efforts and play in most games probably warrant. Please keep supporting your local team. Sean O'Driscoll Interesting these notes have come out 24 hours early, it sounds more like a take it or leave it and he now says the word please, " Please support your local team"....Food for thought.. http://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/article/20130916-sodshrewsnotes-1057937.aspx
Its better reading his thoughts than listening to him. Roll on tomorrow night where we get our first 3 points
I'm getting sick fed up with the way every City manager pleads for our patience. I keep on saying on here after 64 seasons supporting City, I don't have any patience left. I know some will call me a grumpy old bastard and they are right! I would just like to see City win a game before I die, whenever that may be.
It's okay to want a win mate, nothing grumpy about that, if they lose tomorrow god knows what will happen to this board, lets all hope for a very desired win...
The notes bring a welcome breath of reality to the situation I think... Cider, this is a new team with a really tough set of opening fixtures - once we lose the EXPECTATION and accept that we will probably not be promoted this year, it will remove the pressure from this board and the team and will make watching the team grow and get better, more enjoyable.
For pity's sake Prem, I never expected us to win promotion this season, but is it not too much to expect that we would have won at least one league game by now? That was my first game on Saturday and it was a bloody disgrace to see the team performing so ineptly as if they had only just met at 2.45pm that afternoon. I cannot see how so many on this site believe that it will get better soon. Mods, perhaps I should amend my user name to Mr Misery. On second thoughts leave it as Cidered Abroad because at this rate, I'll be migrating elsewhere soon.
foot in both camps personally. Yes we are in transition and the signs are good with the youth and quality coming in, and SOD says some intelligent things and gets the team playing football not some kind of Gaelic sport. But right now Sean, we sooooooo badly need a couple of good wins IT HURTS. Another relegation season would be a disaster that this club might not recover from, at least in this century.
Even though I'm desperate for a win and I mean desperate. But what he's saying is correct we are going through a massive change and just because we were a championship team last year we are playing with only a few players from that championship team, it was only three on Saturday. The rest was made up of youngsters or 2 experienced players, Fielding and O'Connor. I know Wagstaff and Jet came from Championship teams but they didn't really feature. We have to go with the rough and hopefully it will click and we come out of it. A few of us said we won't go up or get into the play offs so we need the ones that said we will walk this league and make play offs to stay positive that it will come together. Hopefully Ciderabroad gets to see his win and quite a lot more before he disappears, which hopefully is not for a good few years yet
This sums it up for me...... We are in a massive transition period; we were at the end of last season and we continue to be into this. That is not empty excuses, that is the reality and transition takes an awful lot longer than one pre-season and six games. Too many supporters think we would just run away with the title. "one pre season and 6 games"............
We all have to accept the word transition whether we like it or not, but the length of time needed for us all to see a sustained improvement in fortunes, results, attendances, performances and belief is the only transition and timescale that really matters. When you see little Peterborough (no disrespect to them) splashing £1.2m on Assombolonga to try and get back to the Championship asap and on the other hand we hear SOD saying we enquired about taking him on loan, causes a sharp intake of breath and further questions about the senior management desire at the club. Peterborough got money for Gayle, but we got money for Albert, Davies etc yet the difference is that they bought the guy and we wanted to take him on loan ? C'mon !! A step in the right direction will be a home win tonight and to get the winless run monkey off of our backs. Personally I dont care if it's 1-0 or 10-9, we just need 3 points
Above is a quote from SOD.... Is it just me, or would you not look at the things you've done badly when you get a poor result in order to try and prevent them happening again whilst keeping the things you've done well ?
This is quite an amazing thread in loads of ways, not least some of the negativity in the comments, but I am not going to highlight them as frustration comes in varying degrees from down right negativity to upbeat positivity. A day early, clever move there is a lot of negative booo boy type fans out there on match days, usually with booooming yelps and it becomes infectious. What SOD is trying to do is cultivate a bit of support when things go amiss like a bit of a bad pass or missing passing to a player in a better position. Parenthood..children grand children great grand children some of us may be all 3.... now........ little johnny comes round for tea you give him a book/or piece of paper and pen to play with, he does a few scribbles and says granddad that's you and nanny and that's a tree and that's the dog......... your reaction a)you say what a load of crap don't waste my paper and ink b)you say looking/pointing at the "picture" and whats that..it is just a mass of scribbles that's you granddad with an umbrella because its raining ......you say well done c)you draw a picture of something man dog animal tree and say draw me one.. ....that's very good, try next time to put ...lah lah.....although its a crap picture but is not just random scribbles its an effort to what is asked a picture of a ......and its starting to look vaguely similar to what you asked you encourage and cahjole and it gets better....you CERTAINLY DO NOT get aggravated shout at them take it away....we are like the grandparents short on a bit of patience whereas SOD is the dad and we should all work toward the same thing.............your children dont just suddenly get up one morning and draw an idylicc scene but they do respond to encouragement
'once we lose the EXPECTATION and accept that we will probably not be promoted this year, it will remove the pressure from this board and the team and will make watching the team grow and get better, more enjoyable' Prem's a genius. It's all to do with 'EXPECTATION'. I didn't expect to beat the Posh and he was right - we didn't. I don't expect much tonight, so we'll not win again. We've had it.
I didn't put City v Posh in my "betting" game as it was a win lose or draw game..we might win could be a draw possibly might lose tonight much of the same except we should win, settle for a draw shouldn't lose.
The bottom line was Saturday ten players went amiss,we need eleven players wanting a win so badly. We fans will back a team who loose but give it their all,Saturday was a shambles from start to finish.
Ohhhhh, Gerry Gow How we miss you so SL, buy us a heart for our team, and when you do, make sure they PLAY THE BUGGER
15 league games without a win cant go on forever. Reckon that when the win comes, it wont just be a win, it will be emphatic-Lets hope its tonight.
