Shrewsbury Town boss Michael Appleton has hinted that his side could see some new additions this week.
Town have made an indifferent start to the season, they managed a 0-0 draw with Bromley, who themselves had a good season last season. The game will be remembered for the Kent based side asking over the tannoy system for a qualified referee though. Bromley boss Andy Woodman was unimpressed by this.
This was followed up by a 4-0 thumping away at Tranmere Rovers on Saturday. Will Boyle did receive a red card, Appleton’s team were already 2-0 down even with a full compliment on the pitch.
The Shrews’ have made eight signing so far this window. This includes Sam Stubbs, Anthony Scully, Sam Clucas and Will Boyle to name but a few.
Unhappy Appleton
Following yesterday’s humiliating defeat, however, Appleton was not mincing his words. speaking to The Shropshire Star, the Shrewsbury Town manager said:
“I think one potentially could happen in the next couple of days or so,”
“You see performances like that, and it makes you wonder how many changes you do need to make and how many signings you do need to make. And I don’t say that lightly, but the reality is, we all have to take responsibility.”
He continued: “I think it’s one of them where, you know, I’ve lost plenty of games in my career. But it is one of them where it is how you lose. That is the disappointing one.
“I think if we had lost that game 2-0 and Boyley (Will Boyle) would have stayed on the pitch and we would have been having the right go and got some momentum, I would have concentrated and focused everything on being positive because that’s what it would have been.
“But I just found too many times, shoulder charges, 50-50 challenges. We were the ones on the deck. We were the ones getting shoved off the ball.
“If I were Grimsby, Colchester, you know, all the teams we play, I’d be going, right, get around them, get physical.”
“The first goal in any game is massive,” he said. “It was clearly a disappointing goal, the second too. Between them, they have gone through three sets of legs.
“So there is an element of good fortune, but I just felt that they earned that good fortune by putting themselves in positions to do that. I didn’t think that we were aggressive enough to get a little bit of good fortune.”
The Shropshire club did lose Josh and Morgan Feeney, Dom Gape and Jordan Shipley at the end of last season. They have recruited well since then as mentioned earlier in the article. Appleton does seem to want more though.
What Next?
Shrewsbury Town now face a tough duo of league fixtures as they host Colchester United next weekend before travelling to Notts County the following Tuesday.
With three weeks of the transfer window remaining it isn’t quite panic stations at the New Meadow but Appleton clearly wants a few more bodies in his squad to bulk it out.
Shrewsbury Town finished bottom of League One last season, with just 33 points on the board. They won just eight games and scored just 41 goals in 46 games and they will be hoping a double relegation is off the cards.
A Shining Light?
It’s not all bad news for the Shropshire club though, highly-rated central midfielder Isaac England signed his first professional contract during the week and was on the bench for the trip to Prenton Park.
Despite being just 17 years of age, the coaching team have seen enough to reward the youngster.
What do you make of Appleton’s comments? Do you think the Shrews’ can get a win soon? Let us know in the comments.
