Post by Mark on Aug 13, 2006 17:19:07 GMT
The grass has been cut, the white lines have been painted and the smell of deepheat drifts from the tunnel, yes my friends we are back to the greatest time of the year; THE FOOTBALL SEASON!
It’s a warm welcome to the Gay Meadow for the start of the 2006/07 season, the last to be staged here before our move to the New Meadow where construction work is well underway.
I’ve managed to take in a few of the pre-season friendly matches and have been impressed with what I have seen. In the two home games against higher opposition we held our own and looked comfortable knocking the ball around. Then we travelled to Nuneaton which on a hot evening and certainly ‘different’ playing conditions a new look Town side played some neat football and came away with a 2-0 victory. The Shropshire Senior Cup Final, this year against Telford, is always good for some local banter but I could see where GP was coming from when he talked about his lack of enthusiasm for the fixture. In the past we have seen some of our bigger name players get injured in the game before the season starts so I think GP did the right thing in the team that he put out. With that said it was still great to get a victory and especially nice for Chris MacKenzie to win the game with two fine penalty stops in his old back yard!
I was unable to make the trip to Bristol due to a last minute change of plan at work but from all accounts Town did have a few chances but were outplayed by a better team on the day. This is the thing about pre-season matches that can sometimes give you false hope. If we had of won at Bristol City, giving a 100% record in pre-season, Town fans would have gone into the new season expecting rather then hoping that we will be a success this time around. GP did not seem to un-happy about the result and I think it’s settled players, staff and fans alike down during the last week and getting the focus back on the real action which starts today.
Without a doubt one of the real plus points of this years pre-season has been the form of Andy Cooke. I was really excited when I heard that he was training with us as I remember him banging them in for Burnley a few years ago.
The energy he put into the games against Bradford and Oldham was tremendous and showed that he was willing to fight and win himself a contract. As a fan watching it was such a difference in forward line play to what we had seen last year. He was agile, strong at holding the ball up with intelligent lay offs and certainly has the ability to put the ball in the back of the net. Who can argue with three goals in three games? Cookey for top scorer . . . watch this space!
Since my last article in the Bradford programme Mark Stallard and Colin McMenamin have both left the club to seek a fresh challenge. Mark was left out of the side to face Bradford and after the game it was confirmed that he had left to join up with Lincoln City on a two year contract. It’s fair to say that at the start of last season we never really saw the player that GP had promised us, but from Xmas onwards he was excellent, I remember his performance at Darlington was excellent, possibly his best in a Shrewsbury shirt.
Colin left earlier this week to join up with ex-assistant manager Mick Wadsworth at Scottish League One side Gretna. It came as a bit of a shock to me but judging from the side that played at Bristol City last weekend GP had him lined up to be more of a fringe team play this season.
Colin did a decent job for us last season, its fair to say that five goals from open play is not enough from one of your main strikers especially with the number of games he played. However due to the formation that GP adopted he was forced to play out on the left hand side and not in his preferred central striking role.
Macca goes with our blessing and I will always remember the chat and drinks we had (cheers Hoggy lad!) with him, Herdy and Hoggy at the end of season night. A funny guy who had genuine affection to the football club, and we wish him and Mark the very best of luck with their new clubs.
Enjoy the game and lets start with a victory, its going to be a very interesting season!
Up the Town!
Mark Fielden
www.themightyshrew.co.uk
It’s a warm welcome to the Gay Meadow for the start of the 2006/07 season, the last to be staged here before our move to the New Meadow where construction work is well underway.
I’ve managed to take in a few of the pre-season friendly matches and have been impressed with what I have seen. In the two home games against higher opposition we held our own and looked comfortable knocking the ball around. Then we travelled to Nuneaton which on a hot evening and certainly ‘different’ playing conditions a new look Town side played some neat football and came away with a 2-0 victory. The Shropshire Senior Cup Final, this year against Telford, is always good for some local banter but I could see where GP was coming from when he talked about his lack of enthusiasm for the fixture. In the past we have seen some of our bigger name players get injured in the game before the season starts so I think GP did the right thing in the team that he put out. With that said it was still great to get a victory and especially nice for Chris MacKenzie to win the game with two fine penalty stops in his old back yard!
I was unable to make the trip to Bristol due to a last minute change of plan at work but from all accounts Town did have a few chances but were outplayed by a better team on the day. This is the thing about pre-season matches that can sometimes give you false hope. If we had of won at Bristol City, giving a 100% record in pre-season, Town fans would have gone into the new season expecting rather then hoping that we will be a success this time around. GP did not seem to un-happy about the result and I think it’s settled players, staff and fans alike down during the last week and getting the focus back on the real action which starts today.
Without a doubt one of the real plus points of this years pre-season has been the form of Andy Cooke. I was really excited when I heard that he was training with us as I remember him banging them in for Burnley a few years ago.
The energy he put into the games against Bradford and Oldham was tremendous and showed that he was willing to fight and win himself a contract. As a fan watching it was such a difference in forward line play to what we had seen last year. He was agile, strong at holding the ball up with intelligent lay offs and certainly has the ability to put the ball in the back of the net. Who can argue with three goals in three games? Cookey for top scorer . . . watch this space!
Since my last article in the Bradford programme Mark Stallard and Colin McMenamin have both left the club to seek a fresh challenge. Mark was left out of the side to face Bradford and after the game it was confirmed that he had left to join up with Lincoln City on a two year contract. It’s fair to say that at the start of last season we never really saw the player that GP had promised us, but from Xmas onwards he was excellent, I remember his performance at Darlington was excellent, possibly his best in a Shrewsbury shirt.
Colin left earlier this week to join up with ex-assistant manager Mick Wadsworth at Scottish League One side Gretna. It came as a bit of a shock to me but judging from the side that played at Bristol City last weekend GP had him lined up to be more of a fringe team play this season.
Colin did a decent job for us last season, its fair to say that five goals from open play is not enough from one of your main strikers especially with the number of games he played. However due to the formation that GP adopted he was forced to play out on the left hand side and not in his preferred central striking role.
Macca goes with our blessing and I will always remember the chat and drinks we had (cheers Hoggy lad!) with him, Herdy and Hoggy at the end of season night. A funny guy who had genuine affection to the football club, and we wish him and Mark the very best of luck with their new clubs.
Enjoy the game and lets start with a victory, its going to be a very interesting season!
Up the Town!
Mark Fielden
www.themightyshrew.co.uk