(No, this is not an April Fool! This really is a new chapter in my “Floreat Salopia” story on FM19!)
My tenure as Shrewsbury Town manager is having a bit of a Groundhog Day feel about it. For two seasons in a row, we have stayed primarily in the League One play-off places, only to falter in the Semi Finals. Another campaign like that, and we might have to adopt “Heartache Avenue” by Birmingham one-hit wonders The Maisonettes as our official club anthem!
Having consistently proven ourselves as one of the best teams in our division, surely we’ve got to take that next big step into the Championship sooner rather than later. Rest assured, I’ve been hard at work in the transfer market, looking for lower-league bargains who can turn this group of nearly men into… well, men.
So let’s not waste any more time. Here’s what we’ve been up to over the summer…
TRANSFERS OUT
Three of last season’s loanees moved on to pastures new. Left-back Brendan Galloway was released by Everton and is now at Birmingham, earning far more than we could have afforded to pay him. Right-back Kane Wilson was farmed out again, this time to Fleetwood (urgh), while I chose not to extend winger Rafa Mir‘s loan from Wolves for a second season.
James Collins confirmed his retirement aged 36, while seven other players were released. The only two to have found new clubs as of the start of the new season were attacking midfielder Sam Jones (now at Cambridge) and centre-back Christos Shelis (who’s fallen upwards to Aston Villa).
Target man Aaron Amadi-Holloway was nowhere near consistent enough to earn an extension to his Shrews stay. Fejiri Okenabirhie was a younger, pacier and more technically-gifted striker who still had some potential to fulfil, but he was a victim of circumstance. On another FM save, Fejiri might have emerged as my frontman of choice instead of Lee Angol, whose 46-goal haul in the last two seasons blew him completely out of the water.
Arthur Gnahoua was an underrated left-sided inside-forward whose productivity belied his modest attributes (a bit like Valentin Eysseric in “Shades of Deep Purple”). However, we needed proven quality to make that next step up, which Arthur sadly lacked. I also let go of reserve goalkeeper Cameron Gregory and defender Zak Jules, along with a bunch of Under-18s players.
Looking at the list of players who’ve left on cash deals or gone out on loan, there is one name that immediately jumps out.
Oh captain, my captain. Omar Beckles has jumped ship to Hull after they gave us an offer we couldn’t realistically turn down. The Tigers initially offered £350,000, while I wanted £1million, but we eventually struck a deal at £800,000.
I think we’ve done well there, considering that Omar is 28, has below-average concentration, and probably won’t get better than he is now. As good as Beckles was in my first season, the captaincy seemed to be a burden on him last term, and maybe the time has come to upgrade. Even so, he leaves with my best wishes and my sincere gratitude.
Anthony Grant also moved on, shortly after his 33rd birthday. While he’s not a terrible holding midfielder, his ‘Tries To Play Out Of Trouble’ and ‘Runs With Ball Often’ traits were often counter-productive last season. We needed a younger, less risky anchor to shore up the defence. Yeovil signed Grant for £50,000, though you can pretty much halve that fee because we had to agree to keep paying a portion of his wages.
We then made £37,500 from the sale of Robbie Muirhead – which is £37,499 more than he’s worth, if you ask me. The Scottish target man failed to make an impact at New Meadow before going on loan to non-league York, where he scored three goals in 19 outings. Muirhead has now moved all the way south to newly-promoted Dover, who are banking on his goals keeping them in League One. Yeah, good luck with that…
After a couple of encouraging displays in pre-season, midfielder Ryan Barnett was sent away on a second season on loan in the National League. He will spend this campaign at York, while defender Ryan Millington and midfielder Ryan Grosvenor were loaned to Chester and Woking respectively. As far as our fourth Ryan was concerned, Ryan Sears would be staying put as my backup right-back.
Those last three loanees are all Under-18s squad members who’ve been chosen to get senior gametime in the National League North. Right-winger Joshua Whitfield went to Kettering, while defender Pat Cahill and forward Steve Gordon joined newly-promoted Halesowen. I’ll be interested to see what impact that has on their development.
I’ll quickly mention Nathan Beard now, because we very nearly lost our leading youth prospect over the summer. The 16-year-old striker clearly had something about him, because Middlesbrough and Swansea each offered him professional contracts. Thankfully, Nathan stayed loyal to his hometown club by signing a pre-contract agreement on an £875-per-week deal, which will take effect on his 17th birthday next March.
TRANSFERS IN
10 players have moved to Shrewsbury this summer. You’ll surely have noticed two familiar faces from last season, as well as a third ‘returning Blue’. I’ll write a bit about those three before moving on to our freebies, our only cash signing, and our loanees. There’s also a bonus signing who’ll be arriving in January, and I’ll get to him right at the end.
My first confirmed signing was goalkeeper Freddie Woodman, and boy am I delighted to have him again! I offered our former loanee a two-year, £3,000-per-week deal at the earliest opportunity, which he was happy to sign once it emerged that nobody else was interested. That was a pleasant surprise, as Craig Brewster reckons that Woodman could have got into most Championship line-ups.
As you can see, Freddie wasn’t exactly a cheap acquisition, and his agent insisted on inserting a couple of release clauses. Mind you, if we still can’t get promoted this season, and another club wants to buy him next summer, then £5million would still represent great business.
We’ve also got Tosin Adarabioyo back on loan from Manchester City for a second season. The 22-year-old centre-back was one of our standout performers last season, and he earned his first two senior caps for Nigeria over the summer. League One strikers, beware.
Shrews fans will also be familiar with Alex Rodman, who spent two years at New Meadow from 2016 to 2018, ending his first stint by scoring in the Play-Off Final. After a couple of seasons away at Bristol Rovers, the 33-year-old inside-forward has returned to lend his experience to our younger attackers. While Rodman’s coach reports suggest that he’s merely a League Two-standard player these days, I reckon he can still do a job for us.
Our central defensive options were further bolstered by the arrival of Joe Wright from Doncaster. The former Wales Under-21s international is a brave fella for sure, and a tall one to boot at 6ft 4in (the same height as me, as it so happens). As well as his obvious aerial ability, I was also attracted to Wright by his passing ability and his stamina.
Protecting our backline will be Shrewsbury’s new captain – a no-nonsense Yorkshireman by the name of Richie Smallwood. The 29-year-old has bags of Championship experience with the likes of Middlesbrough and Rotherham, and he most recently made a handful of Premier League appearances for Blackburn.
Smallwood is a robust defensive midfielder who will fearlessly dive into tackles, so yellow cards will be a work hazard with him. As long as he can keep us ticking over and provide much-needed leadership on the pitch, I won’t complain.
Matt Smith is another old-school footballer who thrives in the lower leagues. Formerly of Leeds, Fulham, QPR and Doctor Who, he is an imposing 6ft 6in target man who can be absolutely deadly in the air. Scottish Championship defences found that out to their cost when Smith scored a league-best 16 goals on loan at Dundee last season. If he can replicate that form in England’s League One, I’d be very happy.
Now, while I was looking for a left-back, I discovered that a certain Fábio Coentrão was potentially interested in signing for us. The Portuguese international’s contract at Rio Ave was expiring, and at 32, he still had a few good years left in him. I made an ambitious bid to bring this former Real Madrid defender to Shropshire… but his wage demands were just a little too steep. Not to worry, as I was already lining up somebody else:
24-year-old Tyler Denton is not quite on the same level as Coentrão, but I feel like he can be an excellent mid-term signing. Denton came through Leeds’ youth academy and spent two seasons on loan in this division with Peterborough and latterly Portsmouth. While his marking and positioning could still be improved, I already like his athleticism and work rate.
When I came round to signing a new right-back, I plumped for the experience of 31-year-old Mark Little, who cost us £54,000 from Reading. The Worcester-born journeyman possesses exceptional natural fitness and has very solid wing-back attributes across the board. Little also used to be Eddie Large’s comedy partner on Soccer AM, so he should hopefully keep team spirits high.
Keeping Angol on his toes up front will be England Under-20s starlet Jack Clarke, who’s arrived on a year-long loan from Leeds. He spent the second half of last season on loan at Walsall, for whom he scored 12 goals in just 16 appearances, including one against us at New Meadow. Imagine what the pacey teenager could be capable of in a full campaign at this level!
My third and final loanee (for now) is Liverpool’s 22-year-old central defender Conor Masterson. The determined Irishman is strong and has great anticipation, as well as a fair amount of pace. I only plan to have Masterson on loan until the end of January, when he’ll be replaced by this gem from the League of Ireland:
Sean McLoughlin will cost us a fair bit in wages when he completes his free transfer from Cork City in the new year, but I’m sure he’ll be worth it. His heading and positioning attributes are excellent for this level and should hopefully make up for his relative lack of height.
You can probably guess what I found most attractive about McLoughlin, though. He’s one of the few ‘Model Citizens’ in FM19, which implies that he has very high personality attributes across the board. Getting Sean to mentor our defenders won’t be quite as effective as the glorified cheat code of tutoring in previous FMs, but he should still be a very positive influence on the squad. I can’t wait to work with him.
BACKROOM STAFF
It was more a case of evolution than revolution in the Shrewsbury backroom during the off-season. I pondered replacing Brewster as my assistant manager, but as there were no obviously better candidates available, I decided to keep him around. Besides, Craig’s fitness expertise is second only to Mr Motivator’s.
I did, though, hire a new Head of Youth Development. That’s not to say I didn’t like Richard Money, who’d done a decent enough job over the past two years, bringing through exciting talents such as Beard and Danny Hughes. I just felt there was a better option elsewhere in the Midlands.
Say hello to John Pemberton, who’s joined us from Chesterfield. The 55-year-old has previously had a series of coaching roles at some pretty big clubs, including spending four years as Bristol City’s assistant manager. Pemberton is a more well-rounded coach than Money and also has a resolute personality, so I can forgive his slightly worse judgement of player ability and potential.
Also joining our youth set-up were two new coaches. Former Hearts midfielder Andrew Driver – who ended his playing career aged just 30 a couple of years ago – arrived as an attacking coach for our Under-18s. Appropriately enough, Driver has a ‘Driven’ personality. And then there’s this guy:
Yes, it’s former England striker, robot, beanpole, alternative music DJ, Daily Mail columnist and supermodel’s husband Peter Crouch! Having taken a year out of football following his retirement, Crouchy is now taking his first steps in coaching. He will be our Under-18s’ assistant manager for at least a season.
Lastly, there was an overhaul to our scouting set-up. Lee Arnold, Tom Stratful and Marvin Shortman (no relation to Crouch, obviously) were mediocre scouts at best and were unceremoniously let go. Taking their places were Steve Hetzke (ex-Swansea), Ian Nicholson (ex-Cardiff) and Jamie Pilley, who’s the son of former Fleetwood owner Andy Pilley. Maybe Jamie can give me some tips on how to exact revenge on Joey Barton’s mob.
PRE-SEASON REVIEW
We enjoyed another unbeaten pre-season campaign, winning all five of our away games and getting a couple of home draws against stronger outfits. However, the results don’t tell the whole stories.
We made heavy work of National League North side Leamington, only putting them to bed after scoring three goals late on. After that was a three-game tour of Wales, which began with us leading Port Talbot 5-0 at half-time… and 5-0 at full-time. We then visited League Two Newport, who gifted us the first goal of a hard-fought 2-0 win with this absolute beauty:
If Mark O’Brien and Dan Butler aren’t nominated for the 2020 FIFA Puskás Award, then something’s very wrong with modern football.
Our last match across the border was also a bit of a struggle, though our pacey 17-year-old playmaker Jack North thrived in a new right-wing role against Carmarthen. He and Angol were both on target before our Welsh Premier League hosts grabbed an injury-time consolation to blotch our hitherto impeccable defensive record.
New Meadow then opened its doors to Championship sleeping giants Aston Villa. Right-back James Bree put them 1-0 up in the first period, but it was his mistake that gifted our winger Alex Gilliead a second-half equaliser. After grinding out a 1-1 draw, we then did the same against Frankie Lampard’s Geordie Army™, as you’ll see here.
Teenage striker Yannick Touré sent Newcastle into a 1-0 lead, which was erased early in the second half by an excellent corner from ex-Magpies trainee Gilliead. His delivery was headed in by Smith, who was controversially sent off just two minutes later for clattering into Fabian Delph. Despite being down to 10 men, we somehow held on for another admirable draw, thanks partly to some excellent goalkeeping from another erstwhile Newcastle youth in Woodman.
Lastly, we hit National League side Macclesfield for six, with our direct 4-4-2 making a mockery of John Askey’s fancy strikerless formation. Teenager Lifumpa Mwandwe kicked off the scoring before strike partner Clarke helped himself to a first-half hat-trick. A headed corner from centre-half Kyle Howkins and an Angol penalty completed the rout after the break.
It was great to see Angol hit the ground running with a club-best three goals over pre-season. Our number 9 has again been named as the bookmakers’ favourite to win League One’s Golden Boot, having come 3rd and 2nd in the previous two seasons. No pressure, Lee…
You might also have noted that Gilliead appears to be back to the stunning form he showed a couple of years ago. Incidentally, Alex appears on my new title image with the experienced David Edwards. (I might need help with next season’s image, though, so if you’re a graphics designer, don’t be surprised if I get in touch with you soon.)
SEASON EXPECTATIONS
The media are slowly beginning to take note of Shrewsbury’s performances over recent seasons. After three successive finishes in the top six, we are predicted to end up just outside the play-off spots, in 7th. Mind you, we have been rated as high as 5th in recent weeks, thanks largely to the signings we have made.
As far as the board are concerned, they now see the play-offs as a minimum expectation, rather than just a bonus. Roland Wycherley has reassured me that my job will likely be safe if we just miss out this time around, but in the cut-throat world of EFL management, you can never be sure. Just look at Bradford, whose German owners have fired more managers than Lord Sugar over the last few years.
We will kick off the season at home to Wimbledon. The Dons will be in high spirits, having moved into a new stadium at their spiritual home on Plough Lane after narrowly avoiding relegation last term. After that will be a trip to the south coast to play Portsmouth, followed by a home game with newly-promoted Bury.
Having fallen at the first hurdle in the EFL Cup for three years running (two under my management), we really want to make it fourth time lucky this time around. Having been drawn at home against Lincoln from League Two, I will fancy my chances of finally meeting my board’s expectations by getting into Round 2. In terms of the FA Cup, we’re again expected to reach Round 3, having just fallen short in my previous two seasons.
I will also look to qualify for Round 2 of the EFL Trophy and make up for last year’s shambolic collapse at the Group Stage. We are in North Group B, where we will come up against Manchester City’s Under-23s, along with a couple of League Two sides in Rochdale and Tranmere.
If the previous two campaigns were about us consolidating ourselves in the upper reaches of League One, then this is about us pushing on towards the Championship. I feel like we need promotion – or a lengthy cup run at the very least – to avoid stagnating. It won’t help my motivation if we stay around the same level for too long.
Right… I think that’s set things up nicely for the 2020/2021 season. I hope you’re excited for it as I am. There will be an updated squad report later this week, when I’ll also have reports from our first few games.
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