And so we’re back – a bit earlier than anticipated, for reasons that will become clear over the coming days. It’s just as well that I write my blog posts a fair bit in advance, isn’t it?
Anyway, Shrewsbury Town head into the closing stages of 2020 sitting 4th in League One, and with an automatic promotion place on the horizon. This part includes eight league matches, the continuation of our Pointless Trophy pursuit, and – firstly – our FA Cup opener at home to Newport. Let’s hope they’re as generous as they were last time!
(Obviously, if you haven’t yet read Part 3, I’d suggest you do that first before carrying on here.)
SHREWSBURY TOWN vs NEWPORT COUNTY (FA Cup, Round 1)
It wasn’t always pretty, but we made light work of Newport in the first half. That was typified by our first goal, scored after just three minutes. County goalkeeper Nick Townsend stopped Lee Angol‘s excellent header, only to then chase the loose ball and fumbling at it. That allowed Lee to cut the ball back for Charlie Colkett to drill into an unempty net.
Our next two goals also had some good fortune about them. In the 12th minute, Lifumpa Mwandwe nodded Angol’s cross against the bar. A scuffed clearance from Newport’s defensive midfielder Scot Bennett gifted Fumpa another chance, which he gladly took. The hosts’ other holding midfielder helped Mwandwe out eight minutes later, as Remie Streete diverted a long-range shot into his own net for 3-0.
Three minutes before half-time, we sealed the deal with a more pleasing fourth goal. Colkett weighted a 55-yard ball down the right for winger Rafa Mir, whose low cross Angol finished at the near post. That was the highlight of Rafa’s afternoon, which was cut short when Streete’s clumsy slide tackle fractured his toe after an hour.
The second half was a total anti-climax, with hardly any highlights to speak of, but that was beside the point. We had sailed into Round 2, where the FA drawmasters blessed us with another home tie against League Two opposition. Swindon would be next on our hitlist at the end of November.
SHREWSBURY TOWN vs TRANMERE ROVERS (EFL Trophy, North Group B – Match 3)
Speaking of home cup games against sides from the division below, that brings me nicely onto this Pointless Trophy match. Having already secured progression from the group, we were under no pressure to beat Tranmere, but a team of predominantly reserves did that with relatively little fuss.
On-loan striker Jack Clarke scored the game’s only goal midway through the second half. After his initial strike from fellow Leeds youth product Tyler Denton‘s cross was blocked by Rovers goalkeeper Shamal George, Clarke made sure to stick the rebound away. It was just a shame that fellow teenagers Mwandwe and Jack North couldn’t take their chances when they arose.
George was the standout player in an average Tranmere side, almost single-handedly keeping the scoreline respectable. Two quick saves in stoppage time denied our 16-year-old forward Nathan Beard what would’ve been a dream debut goal.
Rochdale followed us into Round 2, having beaten Manchester City Under-23s on penalties after a 1-1 draw in their decider. Our attentions would soon turn to that opening knockout game, which would be at home to… Doncaster. The team who beat us 3-0 at New Meadow at this exact stage two years ago. Brilliant.
A MID-AUTUMN BREAK
Curiously, our weekend game at home to Mansfield was postponed until 1 December because the Stags had several players on international duty. By contrast, we were only missing North, who was away with England’s Under-20s squad.
That meant we had an 11-day gap to fill until our next scheduled fixture at Oldham. It was time to crank up the training intensity and sharpen up our defensive skills in time for a busy pre-Christmas schedule. To help with squad depth, I also welcomed the arrival of a new left-back:
Luke Garbutt was on Everton’s books for over a decade, though he never lived up to the promise that saw him become a regular in England’s Under-21s. After several mediocre loan spells in the lower leagues, he was released by the Toffees at the end of last season aged 27.
Luke first came on my radar during the summer transfer window, but his wage demands were too steep, so I signed Denton instead. Now, though, the hard-working Yorkshireman had agreed to join us on a modest salary to provide cover for both Denton and Ryan Haynes. The latter returned from an ankle injury just as another defender hurt his:
Ouch. Conor Masterson had the highest average rating amongst our senior players so far this season, so to lose the on-loan centre-back for at least a month was quite the blow.
OLDHAM ATHLETIC vs SHREWSBURY TOWN (League One, Match 19)
Clearly the lengthy break had snuffed out our momentum. We were pretty awful against newly-promoted Oldham, who continued their recent rise up the table with a 1-0 win at Boundary Park. From our perspective, defeat saw us lose ground on leaders Coventry and Charlton.
The Latics’ teenage attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers – on loan from West Brom – ran rings around us all game, so it was no surprise that he scored the decisive goal on 24 minutes. None of our defenders closed the England youth international down before he cut inside and smashed a shot in off the woodwork. Rogers got a bit overexcited after that, picking up a booking a minute later for tripping Colkett.
Colkett had our only shot on target of the game about 10 minutes before then, but we otherwise posed very little threat to Oldham’s defence. A combination of sloppy passing and ill discipline contributed to our downfall. The only real surprise was that our hosts didn’t win by a bigger margin, though Rogers came close to giving them that six minutes into the second half.
SHREWSBURY TOWN vs SCUNTHORPE UNITED (League One, Match 20)
We weren’t much more convincing at home to Scunthorpe, but this time, we were on the right end of a narrow victory. North scored what proved to be the winner after just eight minutes, volleying Sullay Kaikai‘s deep cross in at the back post. Despite missing our previous three games through injury, Sullay had picked up from where he’d left off.
Another rising star could have added to our lead just prior to half-time. Mwandwe fearlessly pressed defender Tom Holmes to nick the ball off him, but his shot was just too close to goalkeeper Remi Matthews.
Scunthorpe captain Matty Lund had pulled his groin in an early challenge from Mwandwe, prompting new Iron boss Chris Powell to substitute him at half-time. The visitors struggled without their playmaker, though striker Josh Umerah did put our defence under a bit of pressure. Four of Umerah’s shots were saved by Freddie Woodman, who ensured that Garbutt marked his Shrews debut with a clean sheet.
That victory took us back up to 4th place and put a little extra space between us and those teams outside the play-off berths. Charlton were still some way ahead in 2nd, though we would cut that deficit to four points if we beat Mansfield in our game in hand. Before that, we concluded November by attempting to reach Round 3 of the FA Cup…
SHREWSBURY TOWN vs SWINDON TOWN (FA Cup, Round 2)
…which we did quite emphatically! Swindon were swatted aside by a lethal display of finishing from Clarke, which began with a tidy right-footed finish from namesake North’s through-ball in the 28th minute. It would be a fair while before he really turned on the style, but the wait would be worth it.
Swindon had a couple of chances to draw level two minutes later. A volley from midfielder Martin Smith was kept out by Woodman, who thwarted winger D’Mani Bughail-Mellor shortly afterwards. However, the Robins’ attacking threat was significantly dented when their other winger Stephen Hunt – an 18-year-old loanee from Liverpool – twisted his ankle late in the first half.
Things then went a little quiet until the final 15 minutes became ‘The Jack Clarke Show’. He claimed his and our second goal on 78 minutes, getting his head to substitute Danny Redmond‘s corner and finishing from a tight angle.
Clarke completed his ‘perfect hat-trick’ with five minutes to go, using his weaker left foot to half-volley in an exceptional searching pass from Alex Gilliead. Jack wasn’t finished there, though, because Alex set up a FOURTH goal – again struck with the left peg – only a couple of minutes later! With that, Swindon’s humiliation was finally complete.
The draw for Round 3 was staged a couple of days later. We were the first team drawn out of the pot, and we were pitted at home against…
That’s not a bad draw, to be fair. Though Paul Tisdale had recently led Ipswich out of the Championship’s relegation zone, the Tractor Boys were arguably one of the weaker teams in the second tier. We would certainly fancy our chances of upsetting their fragile defence in the new year, that was for sure.
SHREWSBURY TOWN vs MANSFIELD TOWN (League One, Match 21)
(Shrewsburyitis is a contagious condition which affects professional footballers living in Shropshire. Symptoms include choking on two-goal leads, losing home matches, and bloaty head. There is not yet a cure.)
Buoyed by such a confident victory last time around, we took the game to Mansfield in the early stages. Indeed, Rafa Mir found the net after just 26 seconds, stroking in Colkett’s pass left-footed to make a triumphant return from injury. Clarke then built on his four-star display with a 37th-minute assist for Colkett, who found the top corner from 25 yards out to make it 2-0 Shrewsbury!
That was when the 10th-placed Stags started to buck up their ideas. They cancelled Colkett’s goal out when 19-year-old striker Nick Okoro headed in full-back Matthew Virtue’s cross about 20 seconds from the restart. Another sublime delivery from Virtue continued the comeback two minutes before half-time, with former Exeter winger David Wheeler finishing that one to equalise.
Then came the killer. On 57 minutes, Mansfield wideman David Templeton saw his free-kick headed against the woodwork by Danny Rose (not the England and Tottenham left-back, obviously). Woodman tried to smother the loose ball, but right-back Mark Little accidentally knocked it away to stop Rose scoring the rebound. In doing so, Little left Stags defender Ajibola Alese with an empty net to slot the ball into.
After going from 2-0 up to 3-2 down, we had half an hour to mount a comeback of our own. Alas, Mansfield goalkeeper Thomas McGill made two late saves to keep out Angol and then Kaikai. Sullay had sent several shots off target before then, and he was rueing all those misses when the final whistle blew.
Suffice to say after another gruelling home defeat, I unleashed the Fuller hairdryer on my team at full-time. Having squandered an opportunity to move closer to Charlton, we would be under real pressure to get a result at Peterborough four days later.
PETERBOROUGH UNITED vs SHREWSBURY UNITED (League One, Match 22)
We bounced back with a fantastic attacking display at London Road, though our defence did its best to throw away another big lead. Mwandwe made the most of a rare league start by putting us 2-0 up at the break. The 19-year-old’s early header from Garbutt’s volleyed cross was followed up with a superb strike assisted by Gilliead.
During the interval, I somehow delivered the worst team talk since Brian Clough arrived at Leeds, inadvertently demotivating all my players. That seemed to affect us barely two minutes into the second half, when Callum Cooke was tripped in our area by ‘last man’ Garbutt. Luke only received a yellow card instead of a red, but a clinical penalty from Greg Tansey served as further punishment.
We put that aside in the 58th minute, as target man Matt Smith’s incisive pass sent Fumpa away to seal his hat-trick. Alas, our 3-1 lead would be pegged back to 3-2 just four minutes later. Though Garbutt blocked Siriki Dembélé’s header from Ivan Toney’s left-wing cross, he could not stop Stephen Humphrys giving Posh fresh hope with his 10th league goal this season.
We now had to keep our concentration levels up to avoid another collapse. It was just as well that Woodman did that, making some astounding saves to preserve our lead before we sealed the deal in stoppage time. Gilliead was pulled down in Peterborough’s penalty area by left-back Colin Daniel, which allowed our skipper David Edwards to step forward and complete a 4-2 victory.
SHREWSBURY TOWN vs DONCASTER ROVERS (EFL Trophy, North Round 2)
We built up further momentum with a hard-fought victory over Doncaster in the Pointless Trophy. The 2nd-placed League Two side – now managed by part-time comedian Ian Holloway – didn’t exactly make me smile when they defended doggedly in the first half. By full-time, though, I was definitely having the last laugh.
The half-time introduction of Smith as a deep-lying forward changed the game. Harry Isted had produced some brave stops in the Doncaster goal, but he could do very little about Matt’s vicious 25-yard bullet in the 69th minute. The big man scored again eight minutes later, sealing our progress with another powerful effort, this time from Colkett’s deflected cross.
16-year-old midfielder Richard Evans got a first taste of senior football before the whistle blew on a 2-0 home win. That put us through to Round 3 (effectively the Last 16 stage), and we would host Manchester United Under-23s live on TV in mid-January.
Having scored 17 goals since November 2019, Kaikai had attracted plenty of interest from Championship clubs. Getting the explosive inside-forward on a new long-term contract before the January window was a must, so I was delighted when we agreed fresh terms. Sullay was our new highest-paid player on £3,500 per week, but with our financial situation looking a little rosier, we could afford the extra outlay.
COLCHESTER UNITED vs SHREWSBURY TOWN (League One, Match 23)
To be honest, this result was no huge surprise. Colchester were a mid-table side who’d proven difficult to beat in recent weeks. Though a couple of early shots from their on-loan Swansea striker Ali Al-Hamadi went awry, the U’s looked to be an extra step ahead of us throughout this match.
Our defence held up reasonably well against Colchester’s attack, but one misstep in the 34th minute ultimately cost us. Little took a fair bit of the blame for failing to keep tabs on opposing left-back Kane Vincent-Young, who picked up midfielder Reece Cole’s angled pass and drilled it home from a tight angle.
We then had Woodman to thank again for stopping Brennan Dickenson and later Al-Hammadi from doubling Colchester’s advantage in the second half. His saves mattered little, though, as Kaikai and substitutes Redmond and Mwandwe all failed to convert equalising opportunities. While the statistics suggested we hadn’t played all that badly, we still succumbed to a defeat that left us seven points adrift of 2nd-placed Charlton.
Next on the itinerary was our first visit to the newly-built Plough Lane stadium to face Wimbledon. Though recent results hadn’t been too great for Harry Kewell’s side, the Dons were right in the mix for the play-offs. The stage was set for an absolute classic.
AFC WIMBLEDON vs SHREWSBURY TOWN (League One, Match 24)
After sharing six goals with Wimbledon at New Meadow, we edged an eight-goal thriller here, though not before thrice throwing a lead away! After both teams launched some promising attacks in the opening half-hour, we first moved in front on 33 minutes. Centre-back Kyle Howkins claimed his first goal of the season, heading in another delightful corner from Shrews captain Richie Smallwood.
Wimbledon flew out of the traps at the restart, as forward Joe Pigott converted right-back Toby Sibbick’s cross to cancel out Howkins’ opener within less than a minute. However, we would still hold a lead at the break, thanks to a 36th-minute goal from our vice-skipper. Edwards struck Mir’s square pass was struck with so much power and accuracy that Dons goalkeeper Alex Fojticek was left standing as it flew into his net.
The hosts got back level eight minutes into the second half. Though Woodman kept out an early header from striker Daniel Butterworth, he couldn’t quite get his gloves to midfielder Scott Fraser’s 30-yard free-kick shortly afterwards. That free-kick had been awarded after Kaikai clumsily tripped the Dons’ 17-year-old attacker Aden Dixon.
Undeterred, we edged back in front after 66 minutes. Little’s right-wing cross deflected off Wimbledon left-back Aaron Lewis but still found its way to Colkett, whose powerful finish continued his recent good form. Nine minutes later, though, Smallwood’s foul on Liam Trotter allowed our opponents to score a THIRD equaliser from a second direct free-kick. Lewis did the honours that time, striking the ball with just too much swerve for Woodman.
Clarke then made it 4-3 Shrewsbury with five minutes to go, thundering in Edwards’ sidefooted pass to bring up his 10th goal of the campaign. That wouldn’t have been enough had Lewis scored from ANOTHER free-kick shortly afterwards, but Garbutt’s block kicked off a blistering counter-attack. The Dons’ defenders couldn’t get back in time to stop Mir completing an epic 5-3 away win from Edwards’ cross, allowing our fans to relax at last!
SHREWSBURY TOWN vs PORTSMOUTH (League One, Match 25)
The feelgood factor continued on Boxing Day, when we overtook 3rd-placed Portsmouth by showing that the quality of shooting counted for more than the quantity. Nearly half of Pompey’s 19 attempts on goal were blocked, with Zach Clough – one of the division’s leading scorers – accounting for SEVEN alone.
Portsmouth’s defence looked suspect in the 33rd minute, when Kaikai cut them open. His incisive through-ball picked out Gilliead on the right wing, and Alex followed it up with a fantastic drive into the far end of the net.
We could’ve lost our lead two minutes into the second half, when Woodman had to push Jamie Walker’s long-range effort for Pompey against his post. By the 62nd minute, though, Adarabioyo had strengthened our position by heading in another of Smallwood’s killer corner deliveries.
Portsmouth responded by throwing on Josh Parker, whose double accounted for us at Fratton Park in August. Parker would find the net in the 88th minute, but he was rightly flagged offside after tapping Nathan Thompson’s deep cross in at the far post. We knew at that moment that we would hold on for the win, though visiting centre-back Matt Clarke denied us a clean sheet by scoring a consolation in stoppage time.
48 hours later, we headed to Manchester to take on in-form Bury, who were climbing up the table despite losing manager Michael Appleton to Sunderland. Their new boss Dave Nugent’s first game in charge was just a 6-4 win at Dover, so plenty more goals were to be expected on the England legend‘s home debut.
BURY vs SHREWSBURY TOWN (League One, Match 26)
Bury might have had a glorified kindergarten for a team, but it was our attacking starlet who drew first blood at Gigg Lane after just four minutes. On his final day as a teenager, Mwandwe scored a clinical rebound shot after goalkeeper Robert Sanchez (23) had saved Haynes’ free-kick.
Fumpa’s strike was enough to give us a 1-0 half-time lead, though not before the Shakers shook us up. In the 63rd minute, however, we were very much stirred. Bury’s attacking midfielder Devonte Aransibia (22) fed the ball into our danger area, where Wales Under-21s forward Joe Adams (19) unleashed an unstoppable rocket.
Our redemption would come about seven minutes from time, when Mir was shoved by Bury left-back Ryan Corrigan (20). That set the scene for Redmond to drive the resulting free-kick over the wall and just beyond Sanchez’ reach. The 29-year-old Liverpudlian midfielder was gaining a reputation as a super-sub set-piece specialist, but he didn’t seem to mind as he helped us to another 2-1 win.
We claimed another victory over Bury’s babes a few days later, when Mwandwe beat two of their top prospects to the League One Young Player of the Month award. His hat-trick at Peterborough was no doubt the key factor behind that success.
Fumpa’s development has come on leaps and bounds after an increase in first-team opportunities over the last two months. Though still most at home as a striker, he’s also become a serious inside-forward option on the left wing. If the former 19-year-old can carry his recent form into his early 20s, he’ll surely become a regular starter before long.
MID-SEASON REVIEW
A run of three straight wins lifted us into 3rd as we ended 2020 on a high. Significantly, both Coventry and Charlton had started to wobble, boosting our hopes of climbing into the top two.
Though we’re still prone to the odd off-day (see Oldham and Colchester), we’ve become more ruthless of late. Our 53 goals are bettered only by the league leaders, and nobody else comes close to us.
A key development this season is that our goals are now rather more spread out. With just nine strikes to his name, Angol obviously hasn’t replicated the blistering first halves he had to the previous two campaigns. Thankfully, we aren’t as reliant on Lee’s Angoals as before, now that Clarke (10), Kaikai and Mwandwe (8 each) are pulling their weight.
The improvements to our attack have had a detrimental effect on our defence. We have conceded more goals than anyone else in the top six, and almost as many as 19th-placed Walsall. That is not to criticise Woodman, without whose consistent heroics in goal I doubt we would even be in a play-off spot right now.
Indeed, it’s hard to find a clear weakness in the backline. Our defensive players have generally performed solidly, though Denton is worryingly erratic. Tyler’s struggles have allowed the hitherto underrated Haynes to establish himself as our first-choice left-back, where his endeavour gives an extra dimension to our attacks.
I suspect the defenders could do with rather more protection from Smallwood or Morris in the anchoring role. Richie is not bad as a defensive midfielder, but the captain’s tendency to fly into tackles sometimes leaves us vulnerable if he messes up. By contrast, Bryn is perhaps too risk-averse and will likely never be fully confident in that position. Some food for thought, perhaps, as I make plans for the January transfer window.
‘Model citizen’ Sean McLoughlin is already confirmed to be arriving from Ireland as an extra centre-back. Otherwise, I will likely make only one or two more January signings at most. Another defensive midfielder and an extra playmaker might help us in the middle of the park, though I’m hamstrung by a very modest transfer budget.
As such, I need to free up some wages before going back into the transfer budget. I’ve already decided to get rid of Alex Rodman, whose second coming at Shrewsbury was a comeback on a par with that of the Spice Girls. The fact I now see Mwandwe and Clarke as more viable inside-forward alternatives to Kaikai speaks volumes about how dreadful Rodman has been since returning from Bristol Rovers.
I think I might be finished with Josh Laurent as well, even though he’s still a decent box-to-box midfielder for this level. It’s just that Josh has become so peripheral at Salop that there’s no point keeping him around when I could bring Evans or Danny Hughes up from the Under-18s instead. As much as I like the lad, I can’t let him block our prospects’ path to first-team football.
Oh yeah, and we received an unusual friendly request from a club in the Chinese Super League. Hebei China Fortune – who have ex-Argentina internationals Ezequiel Lavezzi and Javier Mascherano in their ranks – wanted to pay us £75,000 for the privilege. The money sure would’ve been nice, but I couldn’t allow us to be distracted from league matters, so I reluctantly turned it down.
Please join me again on Friday morning for Part 5, as the Shrews attempt to eliminate Ipswich from the FA Cup… before a major development threatens to take my career in a different direction. You will not want to miss it!
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