Good Luck today guys. It's gotta be your turn!!! Whatever happens, do it for the memory of Atcham Jack. Give him a bit of kudos up there!! Have a great day out and a happy journey home.
Thank you very much for the support. Plus thanks for remembering AJ, he's surely missed by more than those in here and was a lovely chap in person. Love to be in 2nd tier next season.
Dont think we can have any complaints - we were always chasing the game today and did not create enough to win it. Fair play to Rotherham - they delivered in crucial areas of the pitch, kept Nolan quiet and had more quality coming off the bench than we did. At least those who went had a goal to cheer them up. Overall the lads have been great this season - it just seemed a game too far for them today. Hurst has shown what a 'small' club in this league has to do to be competitive and I am very thankful to him for that even if it is his last game with us. We did not have enough depth in the squad to come up with a Plan B today but I could not find fault with any of the lads for their effort and we did produce a few quality moments. Lets look forward to another good season next year - we may lose a few of our best players but surely there are other rough diamonds out there in the lower leagues just waiting to be polished.
completely agree,,Rotherham bossed us and controlled the midfield ,the only consolation a well worked goal our Achilles heel all season a lack of goals but if you cant win the midfield battle you will always struggle up front. we have have had a fantastic season and this may seem harsh but whilst we will have some great memories of this season, we have won nothing, we are the nearly men good but not good enough i am a pessimist , i dont expect Hurst to be with us next season, so my worst fear is we lose all the best players and prop up the bottom of the table. as i said i am a pessimist and will be very happy to be proven wrong.
You are probably right Zen, we are likely to lose Hurst, Nolan , Nsiala and Ogogo but Hurst has shown us that we can be a force in this league as long as we follow his blueprint of signinghungry lower-league players and getting the team very fit.. I trust Roland to make the right decision on an new manager if he has to. Perhaps Doig might be persuaded to stay as manager as I think he has had a lot to do with our massive improvement. What I would like to see on the management team is a former forward to coach the attack - I remember how Rosenoir improved our attack in the brief spell he had with us under Peters.
it would be nice if we could keep Doig but they seem to be a double act. as you say they have gone for hungry lower league players with potential. i completely agree about getting someone in to coach the forwards. i have the greatest respect for Hurst and Doug but if they are leaving we need to know . it will take time to appoint a replacement and we dont wont to be in limbo in the closed season ,if we need to replace players and hopefully sign some forwards .
If Ipswich want Hurst they will move this week. Remember it looks as if Ross turned them down so perhaps there were some drawbacks (though Sunderland may already have contacted him). Looks like Derby are not interested in Hurst and want a bigger name so I expect it is Ipswich or he stays with us.
the clubs twitter have announced" that club has reluctantly agreed for Ipswich to approach Hurst" not a surprise but still sad
hi what he did with Shrewsbury was take the squad abroad and got them very fit, he brought in players from lower leagues and some players who had played for him at other clubs,got rid of the dead wood and managed to transform a number of players who had under performed at Shrewsbury. he has a big emphasis on team work, team spirit hard work. if he replicates the style of football he introduced here , then it will be high tempo , one touch football , press all over the park with a well organised defence that dont concede many goals . he also expects the crowd to be vocal and get behind the team i cant say i am happy to see him leave as i has hoped he would stay another season but i understand why he is he is leaving .
after Hurst leaving to be honest this is our worst fear , the players are still under contract but that means nothing . so centre back Aristotle Nsiala , midfielder Jon Nolan ( we expected him to go as other clubs have been interested) and a young but very talented ,with pace to burn and tricky winger Abobaker Eisa i hope they all stay but not holding my breath
Nolan is on a long contract and it would take upwards of 2 million to sign him if we for once get what one of our players is worth. He is the one we cannot afford to lose if we are serious about establishing ourselves in League 1 and even mounting another promotion challenge.
It'll be interesting to see what happens with Nolan, he will obviously want to play at a higher level at some point and he is at a peak point of his career. Nsiala might not make it at a higher level apart form at a smaller club as he is prone to some mistakes, maybe I'm being too harsh on him as he is a cracking signing for us!
Ogogo is another key player - there are some rumours his knee injury is more serious than it was initially thought to be. Whilst for his sake I hope he will soon be fit presumably if his return is delayed he is more likely to take up the new contract on offer from us.
Contract or no contract makes little difference these days in football. If a player wants to go no matter what he's on then he will. You cannot afford to put somebody in the naughty locker and just not play them if they make it clear they want out. They know it and so does their agent. It's where I think football goes badly wrong. A player or manager can walk if they want to, ok there is money to change hands if that happens but it still doesn't fill the hole left, but, if they are crap and they can't kick a ball for toffees anymore you can't sack them for being useless. It must be one of the only professions where the employee has all of the power in any scenario. The clubs with money will always win in the end when it comes to getting their man. Clubs with a useful player everyone wants to keep will always sell if the money is right or looks a lot to them. We sell players at the Argyle price just like you do at the Shrewsbury price. We get royally pee'd off as supporters but it is the way of things sadly.
I know what you mean Greeny but I wonder if the appetite for instant success that all supporters seem to have now is also a factor. There is no time for gradual development of players as supporters are constantly calling for another player to be signed if one is going through an average patch of form. The Bosman ruling was inevitable as the old transfer system was clearly against the employment laws but you are right in saying the pendulum has swung in favour of players and their agents though short term contracts are a risky way to earn a living.
