Shrewsbury Town had lost in the League One play-offs three years in a row before the 2020/2021 campaign. This time, I was even more determined that we would be celebrating promotion to the Championship come May. As it transpired, Salop were involved in one of the most dramatic finishes to any EFL season.
As with all my season reviews, I’ll start off by taking you through our results in League One and the cup competitions, before looking through various awards and statistics. This will inevitably be another long post, but I would appreciate it if you read until the end.
Oh yes, and if you’ve not gone through Part 8 yet, then PLEASE read that first. I’m honestly not exaggerating when I say it’s THE most important chapter in this story.
LEAGUE ONE
Unlike in my previous two seasons, we started off rather slowly. Failure to clinch victory against Wimbledon from 3-1 up on the opening day was galling, as was a late defeat at Portsmouth. Hull also prevailed in our next away game, though we had beaten Bury 2-0 beforehand to get a much-needed win on the board.
It was then that our typical early-season surge began, as we recorded five successive shut-out victories, including a second-half demolition of Burton. Subsequent form was patchy, with Lee Angol‘s inconsistency up front giving me a mild cause for concern. At least Sullay Kaikai was firing the goals in, getting eight on the board come Halloween.
We ended October in 5th place, thanks to some impressive away results – and a couple of horror shows at New Meadow. Both Luton and Coventry beat us on our own patch, with the Sky Blues scoring twice in stoppage time to turn around a 3-2 deficit. On the plus side, we did put five goals past a Joey Barton-less Fleetwood, and Alex Gilliead‘s late equaliser spared us from defeat against high-flying Charlton.
The free-scoring but fragile Shrews continued to bewilder our fans in the middle part of the season. In one game, we squandered a 2-0 home lead against Mansfield; in the next, we were seeing 19-year-old Lifumpa Mwandwe bag a hat-trick at Peterborough.
A run of three straight wins saw us conclude 2020 in 3rd, only to then start 2021 with three successive DEFEATS. The last of them – against Oxford – was actually a replay, after I had inexplicably exited the game when the U’s won the first time around. That incident made me seriously question whether I should continue the save. After consulting my readers, I decided to continue, though not before letting Oxford have their win.
The very next match revitalised my love for this story, at least momentarily. 17-year-old midfielder Jack North starred in a thrilling 5-3 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. That was followed by a late Dover equaliser at New Meadow, although – as you’re about to see – it didn’t halt our momentum.
We turned on the style in February, with four straight wins earning me Manager of the Month and propelling us towards the top two. Our comeback at Luton was especially impressive, angering manager Steve Evans so much that he left for Hibernian a few weeks later!
After leaping above Coventry into 2nd with another victory (against Rotherham), a 4-0 thrashing at Fleetwood brought us back down to earth. Even so, we rebounded with victories over Walsall and Bradford, which put us four points clear of 3rd place with just six games to go. Promotion was ours to lose…
…and boy did we lose it. Our attack suddenly went AWOL in April, failing to score in four out of five games (the exception being a 3-0 win over already-relegated Scunthorpe). Portsmouth moved up to 2nd ahead of the final day, when we had to better their result to go up automatically.
After coming from 2-0 behind to draw 2-2 with Colchester, we awaited news from Bradford, where Pompey were trailing 2-1. Then we heard that our rivals had scored twice in injury time to win 3-2 and clinch a Championship place at our expense. For the fourth season in a row (the third under my stewardship), the play-offs awaited us.
Missing out on 2nd in such heartbreaking style wrecked our spirit, and our Play-Off Semi Final was an unmitigated disaster. Luton – now revitalised under Keith Southern – romped to a 3-0 win in the first leg at Kenilworth Road. Louis Sibley’s late goal in the return leg at New Meadow then secured a Final place after our vice-captain David Edwards was sent off. Having seen us squander promotion once again, I stepped down and ended my three-year tenure at Shrewsbury.
FA CUP
The first two rounds were surprisingly straightforward. After putting four goals past Newport at New Meadow, we repeated the trick against another League Two side. Swindon were torn apart by a four-star display from loanee forward Jack Clarke, whose season-long stint with the Shrews was generally hit-and-miss.
We were drawn against Ipswich in Round 3, and after Angol gave us an early lead, it looked like we would scalp the Championship strugglers. However, a couple of own goals from defenders Tosin Adarabioyo and Tyler Denton sent the Tractor Boys through without registering a shot on target! By then, we were becoming regular visitors to the Heartbreak Hotel.
EFL CUP
I’d rather not go into too much detail about our latest EFL Cup horror show. It was a dreadful game against League Two Lincoln, who shocked us on penalties after a goalless stalemate.
EFL TROPHY
At least we fared rather better in the EFL Trophy. Manchester City Under-23s were smashed 4-0 in our opener, with Rochdale and Tranmere also being brushed aside with minimal fuss. Having won our group with nine points and no goals conceded, we then took care of Doncaster in Round 2, albeit only because of a second-half double from substitute Matt Smith.
Manchester United’s Under-23s awaited us in Round 3, and a Quarter Final loomed when youth starlet Nathan Beard put us ahead after 61 minutes. However, United fought back late on to force a penalty shoot-out, where they whitewashed us 3-0 after three kicks apiece. It was that match in particular which made me seriously question my side’s composure under pressure.
AWARDS & STATISTICS
Shrewsbury have a new fans’ favourite. Kyle Howkins took the Player of the Season award after continuing to put in some consistently strong performances at centre-back. Howkins has been £90,000 very well spent, and with some Championship clubs drawing admiring glances, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Shrews made a big profit on him.
Two-time fans’ award winner Colkett narrowly missed out on a hat-trick, though the creative playmaker was named as our Young Player of the Season again. New Salop boss Tim Sherwood has not given the 24-year-old a new contract, so I fear New Meadow has seen the last of him.
Angol was 3rd in the voting, having once again emerged as our main marksman, though 18 goals was quite a low haul compared to his previous two seasons. Surprisingly, Lee’s 16 strikes were enough to rank him joint-top in League One’s goal charts with four other players. The Golden Boot eventually went to Bury’s Joe Adams, who made fewer appearances than the other contenders.
Two north-easterners earned recognition at our awards night. Gilliead – another player who’d been at Shrewsbury throughout my reign – received the Goal of the Season accolade for his 25-yard scorcher against Sheffield Wednesday earlier in the season. New captain Richie Smallwood was our Signing of the Season after proving to be the answer to our recent defensive midfield blues.
Goalkeeper Freddie Woodman also deserves a shout-out after a fantastic second season at New Meadow. Having single-handedly earned us so many points with his shot-saving heroics, Freddie was named in the PFA’s League One Team of the Season. The Shrews might struggle to keep hold of the highly-coveted custodian in the summer, though, now that his £5million non-promotion release clause has become active.
I was rather pleased to see 12 Shrewsbury players – mostly in defensive roles – get average ratings in excess of 7.00. Howkins and left-back Tyler Denton were our best performers, averaging 7.15 each. You may be surprised to read that our second-choice left-back Ryan Haynes was the 6th-best performer in League One, averaging 7.13.
We conceded 52 goals in the regular League One season, making this our best season defensively under my management. Only five teams had their defences breached on fewer occasions, and a lot of credit had to go to Woodman in goal. Freddie’s 17 league clean sheets were bettered only by the 21 that Connor Ripley kept for champions Charlton.
Denton was one of our most frequent tacklers, with Smallwood topping that particular table. Our captain’s pass completion of 91% was the second-best in League One, placing him just behind Portsmouth’s Ben Close. Edwards was also in the league’s top 20, while the team led the way overall by completing 81% of all passes. Despite that, our largely counter-attacking nature meant we were only 8th on average possession.
Thanks to his prowess from corners, Richie registered an impressive total of eight assists. Once again, though, Colkett was the Salopian who received most thanks from a celebrating team-mate after setting up 12 goals – two more than last season.
Only two Shrewsbury players scored 10+ goals last season, but that tally was doubled this time around. Trailing our runaway leading scorer Angol were three other enigmatic forwards in Clarke (12), Mwandwe (11) and Kaikai (10), while Gilliead only just missed out on 9. Mwandwe averaged 134 minutes per goal – fewer than any other League One player who featured in at least 23 matches.
We scored 103 goals in all competitions, and nobody surpassed our 84 in the league. Despite that, we didn’t look overly clinical in front of goal, achieving a conversion rate of 11% (5th in the league) and getting only 45% of our shots on target (9th). None of our strikers had a shots-on-target ratio below 54%, though, so I shan’t complain too much.
Discipline was much more of an issue this season than last, when we were the cleanest team in our division. This time around, we were mid-table for yellow cards, collecting 45 in total. Despite that, former loanee Conor Masterson‘s red card at Pompey in August was the only one we received until Edwards lost his cool during the play-offs.
SEASON ROUND-UP
After last season’s misstep, Liverpool returned to the top of the Premier League under new manager Pep Guardiola. The Catalan lost just his third match in charge at Arsenal, but the Reds didn’t slip up again and eventually took control of the summit. The title was wrapped up with two matches to spare, and Liverpool eventually finished 10 points clear of the 2nd-placed Gunners.
Thanks to some excellent displays from PFA Player of the Year Virgil van Dijk and goalkeeper Alisson Becker, the Reds possessed the meanest defence in England. That was especially telling when they avenged their EFL Cup defeat to Manchester United by pipping the Red Devils to the FA Cup. England right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold’s extra-time winner secured a famous league and cup ‘Double’ for Liverpool.
It was a generally forgettable season for United, who sold their star playmaker Paul Pogba to Real Madrid for £159million over the summer. Despite raiding former clubs Internazionale (for Mauro Icardi) and Chelsea (for N’Golo Kanté and Jorginho), José Mourinho could not build a team capable of retaining their title. After finishing 3rd in the league and missing out on the FA Cup, Mourinho was told to check out of the Lowry Hotel and leave Manchester.
United’s local rivals City secured a long-awaited return to the Champions League after finishing 4th. They also won the Europa League by prolonging Benfica’s so-called ‘curse of Béla Guttmann’, thus lifting a first continental title since the 1970 European Cup Winners’ Cup. (If you’re under the age of 27, the European Cup Winners’ Cup was a European cup for domestic cup winners. European trophies actually meant what they said on the tin back then.)
This season also saw the so-called ‘Big Six’ return to the top six, where they will likely remain forever more. Chelsea were 5th despite changing managers again and losing several top-class players (and David Luiz). Tottenham finally lost patience with Mauricio Pochettino but still came 6th, with Harry Kane picking up another Golden Boot after netting 23 goals. To be fair, most of them were scored against teams that weren’t much better than Tunisia or Panama.
A captivating battle for 7th place (yes, that’s a thing now) saw Southampton claim the final Europa League spot ahead of Newcastle and Leicester. Meanwhile, sacking Sean Dyche was suicidal for Burnley, who shipped 83 goals and dropped into the Championship. Following them down were Norwich and Fulham, both after one season back in the top flight.
The West Midlands enjoyed a renaissance in the Championship, with both Stoke and West Brom going up automatically. Sheffield United will also be back in the Premier League – for the first time in 15 years – after overcoming Cardiff 3-2 in the Play-Off Final. The Blades might actually stay up for a bit longer this time, especially now that Neil Warnock and Carlos Tevez have both retired.
Juventus ended their long wait to win the Champions League after stunning Barcelona on penalties at Camp Nou! Paulo Dybala’s 83rd-minute equaliser took a four-goal thriller to extra-time and then a shoot-out, in which Antonio Conte’s Bianconeri prevailed 4-1. Kylian Mbappé and Anthony Martial – who cost Barça a combined £224.5million – proved that money can’t buy everything by missing the decisive penalties.
PREMIER LEAGUE
| CLUB | MANAGER OUT | DATE | MANAGER IN | DATE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leicester | Raúl Valbuena (to Valencia) | 1 Aug | Brendan Rodgers | 11 Aug |
| Watford | Javi Gracia (sacked) | 30 Nov | Phillip Cocu | 12 Dec |
| Chelsea | Tata Martino (sacked) | 4 Dec | Ernesto Valverde | 18 Dec |
| Brighton | Chris Hughton (sacked) | 13 Dec | Sean Dyche | 27 Dec |
| Southampton | Michael Laudrup (to Alavés) | 17 Dec | Aitor Karanka | 1 Jan |
| Wolves | Carlos Corberán (sacked) | 18 Dec | Slavisa Jokanovic | 1 Jan |
| Burnley | Garry Monk (sacked) | 21 Dec | Marco Silva | 3 Jan |
| Everton | Marco Silva (sacked) | 26 Dec | Maurizio Sarri | 9 Jan |
| Fulham | Slavisa Jokanovic (to Wolves) | 1 Jan | Mauricio Pellegrino | 9 Jan |
| Norwich | Aitor Karanka (to Southampton) | 1 Jan | Chris Hughton | 9 Jan |
| West Ham | Manuel Pellegrini (sacked) | 20 Feb | Şenol Güneş | 4 Mar |
| Tottenham | Mauricio Pochettino (sacked) | 3 Mar | Jürgen Klopp | 18 Mar |
| Bournemouth | Nuno Espírito Santo (sacked) | 6 Mar | Javi Gracia | 24 Mar |
| Man Utd | José Mourinho (sacked) | 16 May | Luciano Spalletti | 31 May |
| Leeds | Juande Ramos (to Real Sociedad) | 16 Jun | Michael Laudrup | 26 Jun |
CHAMPIONSHIP
| CLUB | MANAGER OUT | DATE | MANAGER IN | DATE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ipswich | Paul Lambert (to Celtic) | 19 Aug | Paul Tisdale | 5 Sep |
| MK Dons | Paul Tisdale (to Ipswich) | 5 Sep | John McGreal | 25 Sep |
| Nottm Forest | Chris Wilder (sacked) | 31 Oct | Tony Mowbray | 17 Nov |
| Birmingham | Oran Kearney (sacked) | 31 Oct | Dean Keates | 19 Nov |
| Sunderland | Roberto Di Matteo (sacked) | 21 Nov | Michael Appleton | 8 Dec |
| Blackburn | Tim Sherwood (sacked) | 21 Nov | Alex Neil | 9 Dec |
| Aston Villa | Dean Smith (sacked) | 24 Nov | Barak Bachar | 11 Dec |
| QPR | Jaap Stam (sacked) | 28 Nov | Nestor el Maestro | 18 Dec |
| Preston | Alex Neil (to Blackburn) | 9 Dec | John Coleman | 22 Dec |
| Bolton | John Coleman (to Preston) | 22 Dec | Gary Bowyer | 4 Jan |
| Middlesbrough | Steve McClaren (sacked) | 28 Dec | Paul Cook | 10 Jan |
| Wigan | Paul Cook (to Middlesbrough) | 10 Jan | Dean Smith | 23 Jan |
| Brentford | Míchel (to Athletic Bilbao) | 12 Jan | Mark Hughes | 20 Jan |
| Crystal Palace | Alan Pardew (sacked) | 22 Jan | Sinisa Mihajlovic | 31 Jan |
| Bristol City | Steve Bruce (sacked) | 9 Mar | Ben Wilkinson | 28 Mar |
| Nottm Forest | Tony Mowbray (sacked) | 4 May | Paul Warne | 5 Jun |
| Sunderland | Michael Appleton (sacked) | 11 May | Ryan Garry | 24 May |
| Derby | Lee Johnson (resigned) | 1 Jun | Daniel Stendel | 13 Jun |
| Cardiff | Daniel Stendel (to Derby) | 13 Jun | Steve McClaren | 21 Jun |
LEAGUE ONE
| CLUB | MANAGER OUT | DATE | MANAGER IN | DATE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colchester | John McGreal (to MK Dons) | 25 Sep | Lee Stratford | 24 Oct |
| Fleetwood | Joey Barton (sacked) | 26 Sep | Nigel Pearson | 13 Oct |
| Scunthorpe | Simon Grayson (sacked) | 6 Oct | Chris Powell | 31 Oct |
| Bradford City | Paul Trollope (sacked) | 10 Oct | Leigh Downing | 24 Oct |
| Burton | Jos Luhukay (sacked) | 17 Oct | Thomas Frank | 4 Nov |
| Bristol Rovers | Nigel Adkins (sacked) | 17 Oct | Paul Trollope | 4 Nov |
| Oxford | David Adams (sacked) | 24 Oct | Stuart Pearce | 20 Nov |
| Hull | Scott Parker (sacked) | 31 Oct | David Moyes | 20 Nov |
| Sheff Wed | Nathan Jones (sacked) | 8 Nov | Frankie Bunn | 26 Nov |
| Walsall | Dean Keates (to Birmingham) | 19 Nov | Jack Lester | 8 Dec |
| Oldham | Frankie Bunn (to Sheff Wed) | 26 Nov | John Sheridan | 10 Dec |
| Bury | Michael Appleton (to Sunderland) | 8 Dec | David Nugent | 21 Dec |
| Rotherham | Phil Parkinson (sacked) | 16 Dec | Nigel Clough | 28 Dec |
| Southend | Mark Warburton (sacked) | 28 Dec | Neil Aspin | 10 Jun |
| Mansfield | Gary Bowyer (to Bolton) | 4 Jan | Tony Pulis | 14 Jun |
| Yeovil | Michael Flynn (sacked) | 13 Feb | Tommy Elphick | 2 Mar |
| Oxford | Stuart Pearce (sacked) | 27 Feb | Scott Parker | 18 Mar |
| Walsall | Jack Lester (sacked) | 6 Mar | Kevin Nolan | 2 Apr |
| Luton | Steve Evans (to Hibernian) | 16 Mar | Keith Southern | 30 Mar |
| Scunthorpe | Chris Powell (sacked) | 2 Apr | Nathan Jones | 14 Apr |
| Shrewsbury | Christopher Fuller (resigned) | 12 May | Tim Sherwood | 17 May |
| Bradford City | Leigh Downing (sacked) | 12 May | Darren Moore | 26 May |
| Burton | Thomas Frank (resigned) | 1 Jun | Richie Wellens | 14 Jun |
| Sheff Wed | Frankie Bunn (resigned) | 1 Jun | Brian McDermott | 12 Jun |
| Coventry | Paul Warne (to Nottm Forest) | 5 Jun | Frankie Bunn | 17 Jun |
LEAGUE TWO
| CLUB | MANAGER OUT | DATE | MANAGER IN | DATE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accrington | Ian Culverhouse (sacked) | 26 Sep | Mick McCarthy | 22 Oct |
| Port Vale | Paul Hurst (sacked) | 17 Oct | Kenny Jackett | 9 Nov |
| Wycombe | David Artell (sacked) | 24 Oct | Liam Bramley | 21 Nov |
| Plymouth | Gary Rowett (sacked) | 7 Nov | David Livermore | 21 Nov |
| Lincoln | Darren Moore (sacked) | 10 Nov | Dave Reddington | 25 Nov |
| Morecambe | Jim Bentley (sacked) | 14 Nov | Andy Wilkinson | 11 Dec |
| Carlisle | John Sheridan (to Oldham) | 10 Dec | Danny Wilson | 29 Dec |
| Forest Green | Mark Cooper (sacked) | 12 Dec | Karl Hooper | 26 Dec |
| Leyton Orient | Justin Edinburgh (sacked) | 13 Feb | Darrell Clarke | 8 Mar |
| Stevenage | Billy McKinlay (sacked) | 6 Mar | Marcus Stewart | 24 Mar |
| Blackpool | Neal Ardley (sacked) | 2 Apr | Richard O’Donnell | 25 Apr |
| Grimsby | Kevin Nolan (to Walsall) | 2 Apr | Mark Cooper | 16 Apr |
| Cambridge | Lee Bullen (sacked) | 12 May | Paul Terry | 26 May |
| Rochdale | Mark Robins (resigned) | 1 Jun | Joey Barton | 16 Jun |
| Northampton | Richie Wellens (to Burton) | 14 Jun | Danny Cowley | 24 Jun |
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Promoted: Bromley (1st), Notts Co (Play-Off winners).
Also in Play-Offs: Billericay, Barnet, Ebbsfleet, Salford, Fylde.
Relegated: Macclesfield, St Albans, Chester, Guiseley.
NATIONAL LEAGUE NORTH
Promoted: AFC Telford (1st), Stockport (Play-Off winners).
Also in Play-Offs: Boston Utd, Harrogate, FC Halifax, Southport, Barrow.
Relegated: Halesowen, South Shields, Kettering.
NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTH
Promoted: Maidenhead (1st), Woking (Play-Off winners).
Also in Play-Offs: Chelmsford, Welling, Kingstonian, Brackley, Dulwich Hamlet.
Relegated: Gloucester, Hampton & Richmond, Canvey Island.
Promoted to National League North/South: Basingstoke, Bradford PA, Chesham, FC United, Folkestone, Truro.
ENGLISH CUPS
FA Cup: Liverpool 1-0 Man Utd (aet).
EFL Cup: Man Utd 1-0 Liverpool.
Community Shield: Man Utd 2-0 Bournemouth.
EFL Trophy: Man Utd Under-23s 1-0 Charlton.
FA Trophy: Boreham Wood 2-1 Dag & Red (aet).
EUROPEAN COMPETITIONS
Champions League: Juventus 2-2 Barcelona (4-1 penalties).
Europa League: Man City 2-0 Benfica.
Super Cup: Arsenal 3-0 PSG.
Belgian Pro League: KRC Genk (1st), AA Gent (2nd), Club Brugge (3rd).
Dutch Eredivisie: Ajax (1st), Feyenoord (2nd), PSV (3rd).
French Ligue 1: Monaco (1st), Marseille (2nd), PSG (3rd).
German Bundesliga: Schalke 04 (1st), Bayern München (2nd), Borussia Dortmund (3rd).
Italian Serie A: Juventus (1st), Inter (2nd), Napoli (3rd).
Portuguese Primeira Liga: Benfica (1st), Sporting CP (2nd), Porto (3rd).
Russian Premier League: Spartak Moscow (1st), Zenit (2nd), CSKA Moscow (3rd).
Scottish Premiership: Celtic (1st), Rangers (2nd), Aberdeen (3rd).
Spanish La Liga: Real Madrid (1st), Barcelona (2nd), Atlético Madrid (3rd).
Turkish Süper Lig: Galatasaray (1st), Fenerbahçe (2nd), Beşiktaş (3rd).
INTERNATIONAL & GLOBAL COMPETITIONS
Club World Cup (in Tunisia): PSG 1-0 Corinthians.
2021 UEFA Nations League (in France): Portugal 2-0 Italy.
2021 Africa Cup of Nations (in Ivory Coast): Ghana 3-1 Cameroon.
2021 Confederations Cup (in Australia): Argentina 2-2 France (4-3 penalties).
2021 Gold Cup (in United States): Jamaica 2-0 United States.
SERIES REVIEW
And now we’re at the point I hoped we wouldn’t reach until much, much later. It’s time to review my three-year reign at Shrewsbury, starting with a look at what the game reckons is my best Salop XI from 2018 to 2021.
They’ve got Woodman spot-on in goal, as he was a Championship-quality keeper who excelled in League One. Howkins was one of my favourite players from the series and is rightly partnered in central defence by Tosin Adarabioyo, who had two fine seasons on loan from Manchester City. Left-back Haynes stayed with me all the way, and Mark Little was a solid third-season signing on the right flank.
Veteran Anthony Grant – who spent two seasons with us before being relegated at Yeovil – was picked in defensive midfield. Ahead of him were another experienced campaigner in Edwards, and our beloved little creative genius Colkett. (Incidentally, the real-life Charlie can now be found playing for Östersunds in Sweden’s top division.)
There’s no disputing that Gilliead should be at right-wing after providing so many goals and assists over the years. However, I am a little surprised to see Arthur Gnahoua get the nod ahead of Kaikai on the left. Sullay certainly scored more goals during his two years with us than Arthur managed in his, though the latter was perhaps a little more consistent… and that’s saying something.
And who else should be up front than the star of the series? In 124 appearances for the Shrews, Lee Angol scored 64 ‘Angoals’, emphatically putting my misfiring Fiorentina strikers from my previous story to shame. If Lee knew how to handle big games, that tally would surely have been even more impressive, and this tale would surely have continued. Regardless, he’s now a Football Manager icon as far as I’m concerned.
I do wish I had the motivation to continue this save, and one day take Angol and Shrewsbury into the Premier League. Sadly, as I said in the previous chapter, three years of play-off agony have done me in and killed my desire to battle on.
I inherited a team that had just lost a Play-Off Final to Rotherham. Despite finishing 4th, 5th and then 3rd in League One under my stewardship, we’re still no closer to the Championship than we were in 2018. We also made little progress in cup competitions, meaning I will leave Shropshire just like I left Florence – empty-handed.
So where did it all go wrong? I think my dealings in the transfer market played a big part. Though Woodman, Howkins and Colkett were all bargains, there were also quite a few wasted signings. Centre-back Sean McLoughlin would make a hopeless poker player with his ‘composure’, Kaikai disappeared in crucial matches far too regularly… and Robbie Muirhead? What a waste of wages he was.
Though I managed to build a pretty solid 4-1-4-1 counter-attacking system over my three year reign, I never figured out a viable Plan B in case the tried-and-tested didn’t work. That was usually the case at home, where – our first season aside – we could be horrifyingly erratic.
My 4-4-2 was more adept at stopping goals than scoring them, while my 4-2-3-1 had the opposite problem of leaving us too exposed at the back. It wasn’t until very late in the season just gone that I experimented with a narrow 4-4-2 diamond. If I’d continued for a fourth season, I might have put more work into that, even if it would have left me in a tricky situation regarding Gilliead.
Financially, we’re in a little bother. Spending more on wages in our failed bid to reach the Championship has seen Shrewsbury go over £200,000 in debt. That will affect next season’s transfer and wage budgets, though the club can still make plenty of money from potentially selling Woodman and/or teenage midfielder Jack North.
There is significant potential in the youth ranks. I almost sold striker Nathan Beard to West Brom in January, but I’m confident he’ll soon establish himself as Salop’s new number 9. Midfielders Richard Evans and Danny Hughes have also come along nicely and may develop into first-team regulars in the future.
Alas, the responsibility of realising that potential – and taking Shrewsbury up the leagues – is no longer mine. My race is run.
After thinking things over, I’m sad to say that I will not be continuing this save game. I will detail my future plans for Football Manager 2019 – and for this blog – some time next week. Be sure to hit the ‘Follow Fuller FM’ button on the sidebar and/or follow me on Twitter @Fuller_FM to keep up to date.
Thank you very much for reading “Floreat Salopia”. I’ll be back soon.
Fuller FM 
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