Brexit is in a mess, nobody knows exactly what’s happening, and – as things stand – the United Kingdom is still in the European Union. My Football Manager 2019 career appears to be imitating real-life pretty accurately!
It’s now September 2020. Nearly 12 months have passed since I got a message in-game that the UK would be leaving the EU. Since then, I haven’t heard or read anything about Brexit. Either there’s been an unexpectedly lengthy delay, or my save has somehow bugged out, which would be slightly inconvenient. Just like Laura Kuenssberg on BBC News, I’ll let you know if anything big happens.
This month also sees Steven Gerrard begin his reign as England manager, having left Rangers to take over from Gareth Southgate following Euro 2020. I’m sure Stevie will be a huge success, just as long as he doesn’t lose his first home game 6-0 to France… hey, wait a minute!
Meanwhile at Shrewsbury, we’re looking to climb up the League One table after a stuttering start to the new campaign. We’ve got 13 matches to get through over the next two months, but before that, I want to introduce you to a new signing I made on deadline day. Well, when I say ‘new’…
GUESS WHO’S BACK, BACK AGAIN?
Rafa’s back, tell a friend.
Despite scoring 12 goals during his first loan spell last season, I’d never planned for Wolves’ enigmatic winger Rafa Mir to return to Shrewsbury. Then a shaky start to the campaign convinced me otherwise. An early injury to Alex Gilliead, and some disappointing performances from retrained midfielder Jack North, showed that we still lacked quality depth on our right wing.
Mir was still at Molineux on deadline day, so Wolves agreed to let us have him back on loan for one more year. The speedy and skilful Spaniard wasted no time in confirming the deal, which would see him grace New Meadow once again in his old number 24 jersey.
SHREWSBURY TOWN vs MANCHESTER CITY UNDER-23S (EFL Trophy, North Group B – Match 1)
Yes, this was the Pointless Trophy. Yes, we bullied a team of predominantly Under-23s. But any 4-0 victory over any Manchester City side – especially one featuring £33million left-back José Gayà – has to be celebrated, right?
Target man Matt Smith scored his first Shrews goal after just three minutes, converting a penalty after being pushed in the City area by defender Ed Francis. Strike partner Lifumpa Mwandwe then found the net about 15 minutes later, applying a far-post finish to Josh Laurent‘s flick-on from Charlie Colkett‘s free-kick.
From then on, City’s fancy tiki-taka was no match for our old-school direct game. While we created a host of excellent scoring opportunities, our defenders largely restricted the Sky Blues to hopeless attempts from distance.
A couple of Danny Redmond corners killed the visitors off in the second half. The Scouse midfielder had a 67th-minute delivery headed in by centre-back Joe Wright, whose colleague Conor Masterson did likewise in the 82nd. A comfortable victory sent us straight to the top of North Group B alongisde our next opponents Rochdale, who won 3-1 at Tranmere.
That was a fantastic performance – just a shame hardly anyone saw it. It just goes to show how few people care about the Pointless Trophy nowadays.
And this was a shame too. Tosin Adarabioyo broke his arm in training, and thus our best centre-back would be – like Wyclef Jean once sang – gone till November. At least we still had three capable defenders at our disposal, but were anything to happen to any of them, then we really would be in a fine mess.
DOVER ATHLETIC vs SHREWSBURY TOWN (League One, Match 8)
After back-to-back promotions had taken them to previously unscaled heights, Dover had blown hot and cold in League One. This was definitely a ‘cold’ performance as far as manager Andy Hessenthaler was concerned, because we were in scorching form.
Sullay Kaikai put us ahead direct from a 30-yard free-kick in the 20th minute, shortly after a similar attempt went wide. Though Sullay later spurned chances to put us 2-0 ahead, he was probably saving that for another Salop fans’ favourite. When Wright cushioned Richie Smallwood‘s corner to Lee Angol just before half-time, the frontman drove the ball past the sliding Dover keeper Mitch Walker.
Angol’s 50th Shrewsbury goal was admittedly a bit scrappy, and his 51st wasn’t exactly a work of art either. Whites centre-back Jan Simunek beat our striker to a through-ball from Laurent early in the second half… but an underhit back-pass to Walker opened the door for Lee to slide the ball home!
3-0 was how it finished, as our defenders shut Dover out after marking former Shrews flop Robbie Muirhead out of the game. That result propelled into the play-off places for the first time this season!
Less positive news came on ‘Injury Wednesday’, when three players – including Colkett and Mir – were ruled out of our next game at Burton. Alex Rodman came off worst, damaging his foot, though many of our fans would’ve missed the out-of-form veteran forward like a hole in the head.
BURTON ALBION vs SHREWSBURY TOWN (League One, Match 9)
Burton were unbeaten in five league matches before we arrived at the Pirelli Stadium. The Brewers looked set to extend that run at half-time, following a low-key first period in which they had arguably the best scoring chances.
However, they didn’t anticipate a second-half rout from Shrewsbury, which began after 58 minutes. Angol continued his positive start to the season from the penalty spot after David Edwards was pushed by Burton striker Kayden Jackson.
Our leading scorer and our vice-captain would both be involved in our next goal just six minutes later. Lee took Ryan Haynes‘ pinpoint long ball into the Albion box before seeking out Dave’s run from deep. The evergreen 34-year-old rocketed the ball into the net, and we were 2-0 up… but there was still more to come!
Three members of the backline which had shut Burton’s attack out would link up to cause devastation at the other end in the 66th minute. In-form left-back Haynes sent a corner to centre-half Kyle Howkins at the far post. Howkins knocked it across goal from an awkward angle to find his partner Masterson, whose masterful volley effectively won the game.
And then a couple of substitutes made sure they had the final say. Mwandwe outpaced Burton’s captain and right-back John Brayford to chest a killer ball from Redmond and cut it past goalkeeper Mark Gillespie. That completed a 4-0 demolition job – my biggest away victory in charge – and extended our run of clean-sheet victories to five consecutive games!
SHREWSBURY TOWN vs YEOVIL TOWN (League One, Match 10)
And it really should have been six! Yeovil had taken four points from their first nine games and weren’t expected to get a result at New Meadow. They certainly weren’t when Mir scored his first goal back at Shrewsbury, finishing a well-taken Kaikai free-kick midway through the first half.
However, our opponents were made of stern stuff. For starters, on-loan West Ham midfielder Joe Powell almost levelled from a free-kick shortly after Rafa’s opener. At the other end, Kaikai was remarkably unlucky not to double our lead, having two shots saved by Mark Howard and another four blocked by a stubborn Yeovil defence.
As we battled to bolster a slender lead, Glovers boss Michael Flynn made some bold tactical changes that caught us by surprise. Flynn switched to a narrow 4-3-3 late on, and his two substitutes linked up deep into stoppage time to steal a point. Target man Jonathan Obika hunted down midfielder Jordan Flores’ long pass and crossed from the left wing to fellow sub Paddy Madden, whose header maddened our home fans.
A point was still enough to move us into 2nd – three points adrift of early pacesetters Coventry, and just ahead of Charlton on goals scored. Of course, it stung a little that we’d thrown away an opportunity to go further clear of the Addicks. Would that still be playing on our minds when we went to Southend three days later?
SOUTHEND UNITED vs SHREWSBURY TOWN (League One, Match 11)
No chance. After surviving a series of first-half chances for Southend, we turned on the style in the second period to claim another big away win. More specifically, 17-year-old playmaker North lit up Roots Hall with his best performance in a Shrewsbury jersey to date.
North set up the game’s first goal in the 50th minute, dribbling at the Shrimpers defence before drilling a through-ball into the box for Kaikai to finish. Our man on the left wing was on the scoresheet, and nine minutes later, Sullay helped our right-winger do likewise. He intercepted a weak header from right-back Jason Demetriou before hitting a 50-yard cross-field ball ahead of Mir, who doubled our advantage.
Angol couldn’t take any of his chances here, but his mid-half replacement would effectively secure victory on 73 minutes. Jack Clarke was the recipient of his namesake North’s second assist, sauntering past Southend centre-back Harry Lennon before lofting in his first Salop goal.
With the game seemingly secured, I gave 16-year-old defender Sam Moore his first taste of senior action for the closing stages. My decision to bring him on for Wright looked a bit hasty when Spanish winger Álvaro Bustos pulled one goal back for the hosts late on, but we stayed calm and secured a 3-1 win.
A sixth victory in seven league outings kept us in 2nd place and gave us a two-point buffer on Charlton, who had shared eight goals with Fleetwood. Having continued to defy expectations with the Shrews, I was now attracting interest from a Championship club:
Milton Keynes were looking for a new manager after Paul Tisdale decided to take his cravats to Ipswich. Their humanoid snake of a chairman offered me the job, but I told him straight up that I would rather listen to “Baby Shark” for 24 hours straight than manage Franchise FC.
SHREWSBURY TOWN vs LUTON TOWN (League One, Match 12)
Speaking of unpalatable individuals, I hate Steve Evans. It seemed apt that he should come to New Meadow and not only halt my team’s eight-game unbeaten run, but also push us out of the promotion spots. In all fairness, Luton had started the season strongly and perhaps deserved this win.
The whole match could have turned in our favour had an excellent fifth-minute strike from North not come back off the woodwork. Clarke did find the net three minutes later, but he was offside when he buried Kaikai’s deflected cross. We were subsequently too wasteful in front of goal, and that profligacy was punished four minutes from half-time.
Luton’s opening arose when their young winger James Tilley was upended 30 yards from goal by Bryn Morris. Another fresh-faced talent – the skilful on-loan Norwich midfielder Shaun McWilliams – lifted the free-kick over the wall and past a helpless Freddie Woodman.
Luck continued to elude us in the second half, with Edwards and Redmond each hitting the woodwork early on and towards the end respectively. In between, Mwandwe came off the bench to partner Clarke up front, but we just could not break through. Admittedly, some uncharacteristically reckless tackling didn’t help our cause.
More worrying to me was that first-choice right-back Mark Little pulled a calf muscle after an hour, thus putting him on the treatment table for 2-3 weeks. Howkins had to fill in on the right side for the final 30 minutes of this match. As for subsequent fixtures, young Ryan Sears would need to step up and prove his worth, starting at the New York Stadium against mid-table Rotherham.
ROTHERHAM UNITED vs SHREWSBURY TOWN (League One, Match 13)
Well… that was fun. It was tipping it down in South Yorkshire, but it certainly wasn’t raining goals. Indeed, after a 10th-minute volley from Redmond that was saved by Marco Silvestri, we didn’t manage any further shots on target.
Rotherham were rather more dangerous going forward, but they found Woodman to be playing like a goalkeeper possessed. Freddie made no fewer than SEVEN saves, thwarting winger Viv Solomon-Otabor and left-back Dani Pinillos twice apiece.
Both teams continued to defend strongly in the second half. Although Rotherham’s centre-half and vice-captain Kyle Bartley hurt his thigh in a tackle on Angol, he and his colleagues still stopped Lee and our other attackers making an impact. After a narrow late miss from skipper Smallwood, we had to settle for a 0-0 stalemate and a point.
Because three of the teams around us lost their matches, that point actually moved us back into 2nd, though we were now five points adrift of Coventry. Just look at how ridiculously tight the League One promotion race was after a quarter of the season!
We opened up October by hosting Fleetwood – but my arch-rival Joey Barton was nowhere to be seen. He had been sacked the previous week after the Cod Army slipped into the relegation zone. At least Barton could now devote more time to doing what he loved most – quoting René Descartes while mocking Piers Morgan and Neymar on Twitter.
SHREWSBURY TOWN vs FLEETWOOD TOWN (League One, Match 14)
It’s fair to say we didn’t have the best of starts. Left-back Tyler Denton lasted just 10 minutes before he sprained his ankle ligaments and was forced off in favour of Haynes. A different disaster befell Wright in the 22nd minute, when his clearance of Grant Leadbitter’s cross deflected off Marcus Browne, allowing the Fleetwood winger to score.
In the 32nd minute, Wright went from zero to hero by keeping Howkins’ wayward flick-on from Smallwood’s corner in play. A quick cut-back to Kaikai then provided us with a scrappy equaliser, much to the Cod Army’s dismay. The visitors felt even sicker when Angol put us 2-1 up on the stroke of half-time, driving Mir’s square ball hard and low into the net.
We then pulled 3-1 ahead in the 57th minute with a silky passing move. Sears delivered a low cross towards the edge of the six-yard box, where Angol held the ball up as North ran into space. One clever sidefooted pass from Lee later, and Jack was perfectly placed to score his first competitive goal for Shrewsbury!
North was showing remarkable maturity for a 17-year-old, and he helped to finish Fleetwood off five minutes from time. After Town midfielder Kyle Dempsey made a meal of trying to clear another Smallwood corner, our teen starlet knocked the rebound to Wright. Joe then looked to his right and picked out Morris, whose first-time strike left Scott Reed picking the ball out of the net for a fourth time.
Ashley Hunter stabbed in a soft second goal for Fleetwood barely a minute after that, but North made sure he had the final say in stoppage time. To round off a stunning display in which he completed 83 passes, Jack claimed his brace by powering in a follow-up shot after the first was blocked by Cian Bolger. A 5-2 home win was complete, and New Meadow had a new hero!
ROCHDALE vs SHREWSBURY TOWN (EFL Trophy, North Group B – Match 2)
Our Pointless Trophy campaign will continue for at least another round after we made light work of League Two Rochdale. We battered the hosts with shots, and the first to beat goalkeeper Josh Lillis was a delicately-lofted strike from Mwandwe in the 34th minute. From there, we never looked back.
Rochdale didn’t register a single shot on target, and their only effort of any kind from inside the box had come in the 14th minute. Winger Tope Obadeyi’s strike was blocked by Wright, who helped us on our way to another clean sheet. Dale’s woes were compounded when striker James Jennings twisted his knee eight minutes from time, reducing them to 10 men.
We would apply the killer blow in the 89th minute, with Redmond scoring a direct free-kick after Smith had been fouled by home midfielder Oliver Rathbone. Back-to-back victories sent us straight through to Round 2, almost certainly as winners of North Group B. Our final match a month later would be a dead-rubber at home to Tranmere, who conceded a late winner to Manchester City Under-23s and were already eliminated.
SHREWSBURY TOWN vs COVENTRY CITY (League One, Match 15)
Next up in League One was a battle between 2nd and 1st. Paul Warne’s Coventry had stormed to the top of the standings with 31 goals from 14 games. Unfortunately, the Sky Blues scored a few more at New Meadow to break our hearts, just when it had looked like we would go level on points with them.
Our well-oiled passing game caught Coventry off guard in the first half, and we headed into the break leading 2-0. Ex-City wing-back Haynes created our opener by drilling the ball across the penalty area for Angol to powerfully volley it in. Then, after we survived a handful of scares, a trademark Kaikai curler from distance put us in what appeared to be a commanding position.
Warne rallied his troops during the break, and they played out of their skins in the second period. By contrast, our skipper Smallwood had a nightmare start. His 47th-minute slide tackle on winger Jodi Jones only diverted the ball to striker Reise Allassani, who clinically pulled a goal back. Richie had another moment to forget just five minutes later, accidentally turning Allassani’s corner into his own net.
At 2-2, we were back at square one. Thankfully, our vice-captain was ready to step forward and atone for Smallwood’s errors. Edwards was another Salop player who loved a long-ranger, and it was his 25-yard strike from Colkett’s slide-rule pass that restored our advantage after 68 minutes.
However, we soon started to show symptoms of the disease that I’m now calling ‘Shrewsburyitis’. Coventry went back on the attack in the 85th minute, when winger Mickel Miller’s cross was headed into our net by Conor Chaplin. The 23-year-old ex-Portsmouth forward was flagged offside, but he would soon return with a vengeance.
As we adopted a more conservative approach to try and protect our lead, the Sky Blues built momentum. In the fourth of five additional minutes, Allassani broke behind our backline to reach playmaker Zain Westbrooke’s long ball over the top and power in the equaliser. Then, in the dying moments, Jones’ cross caught our defence napping and found Chaplin, whose game-clinching strike left our fans as silent as Charlie.
In a matter of moments, we had gone from 3-2 winners to 4-3 losers – and from drawing level with the leaders to falling six points behind in 5th. How could we respond to such a huge setback?
WALSALL vs SHREWSBURY TOWN (League One, Match 16)
By winning 3-1 at the home of our local rivals live on Sky Sports, obviously! Mid-table Walsall were caught on the hop in the fourth minute, when Haynes’ deep left-wing cross was finished by Gilliead. We could have made an even better start in the 16th minute, but Angol was offside when he scored in a goalmouth produced by Gilliead’s corner.
The rest of the match was as closely-fought as you’d expect from a passionate West Midlands derby. Walsall had their fair share of opportunities, with midfielder Stephen Quinn going particularly close from distance in the 27th minute. Meanwhile, a header from Wright that could’ve put us 2-0 in front before the break hit the woodwork.
Our frustration at not extending our lead would grow when the Saddlers equalised in the 78th minute. Pacey striker Morgan Ferrier got past the last defender to latch onto Kieron Morris’ through-ball. Woodman charged from his goal line to try and claim the ball from Ferrier’s feet, but he was beaten by a brilliant low strike through his legs.
We responded to that equaliser emphatically. Masterson put us back in the lead just four minutes later, heading Kaikai’s swinging free-kick in off the woodwork. It was then up to a former Walsall loanee to finish off his erstwhile team-mates in stoppage time. After collecting the ball from Colkett, Clarke skilfully dribbled around home defender Russell Martin and entered the box, where he scored just his second Shrews goal.
BRADFORD CITY vs SHREWSBURY TOWN (League One, Match 17)
Who would want to work for Bradford chairman Edin Rahic? He released the hounds on another manager after Paul Trollope took seven points from the Bantams’ first 15 matches this season. Paul Jewell was now in caretaker charge, and he fared just as badly against my Shrewsbury team as his four predecessors.
After some early heroics from Bradford’s goalkeeper Jason Steele, we broke the deadlock in the 31st minute. Kaikai continued his blistering early-season form by getting his head to Smallwood’s drifting corner at the far post. Incidentally, was Richie’s first assist for Salop.
Clarke then battered the Bantams twice before half-time to put us in control. His first goal was a fantastic first-time hit from City left-back Joe Riley’s laboured clearance of a cross from Shrews counterpart Haynes. Though winger Tyrell Robinson pulled one back for Bradford shortly afterwards, he was later felled by a crunching tackle from Smallwood, who sent Clarke clean through for his brace.
There would be no hat-trick for Jack in the second period. Our 3-1 half-time lead remained so at the final whistle, though not before 20-year-old Tyrese Campbell wasted a golden opportunity to get Bradford back in the game. It was otherwise a comfortable afternoon for Little on his return from a calf injury, and likewise for Denton, who got a late run-out after nursing a sprained ankle for three weeks.
And now we move on to a massive home game against 2nd-placed Charlton. Win that match, and we would move into the automatic promotion spots at their expense. A loss, however, would leave us four points adrift of Gareth Ainsworth’s side.
SHREWSBURY TOWN vs CHARLTON ATHLETIC (League One, Match 18)
This fixture last season ended with a keyboard losing some of its keys. No computer peripherals were damaged at full-time here, though I was fearing another home loss when midfielder George Lapslie put Charlton ahead after just six minutes. Masterson couldn’t master his clearance from Tarique Fosu’s corner, leaving Lapslie to volley the rebound home.
Another six minutes passed before Kaikai drew us level. An exchange of passes with Haynes ended with the inside-forward skinning Jake Forster-Caskey and slamming a low 25-yarder into the net. Sullay caused the Addicks more problems in the first half, but his second period was cut very short when a firm tackle from Lapslie twisted his ankle.
Losing Kaikai was a concern, but the alarms were ringing out loud in the 69th minute. Another Fosu corner caused panic in the Shrews area, with Wright’s far-post clearance only nodding the ball to Charlton’s substitute frontman Chris Martin at the opposite stick. When Martin headed in the goal that put the Red Robins 2-1 up, the men in blue and amber were feeling all yellow.
Though substitute Rodman wasted a couple of potential equalising shots, redemption came from the feet of another Alex in the final minute. Angol cleverly volleyed Little’s right-wing cross back to Gilliead, who planted a low shot into the far corner and saved us a draw!
Unfortunately, Kaikai’s ankle injury would rule him out of our next few fixtures. Haynes then strained his ankle ligaments a few days later to give me another defensive headache, though Adarabioyo and Howkins were now on the mend.
We thus head into November still trailing 2nd-placed Charlton by a single point, while goal-happy Coventry are a further five ahead. A strong run of form before Christmas should see us in the automatic promotion places, but it’s still so tough at the top that you never know what will happen.
The next chapter will see us conclude 2020 and reach the halfway point of the new season. We’ll also start our FA Cup campaign at home to Newport, which gives me another excuse to wheel out this stunning goal they scored for us in pre-season:
That will never get old.
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