Assistant Boss reflects on his first year at Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town Assistant Manager Chris Doig has reflected on his first-year at the club.
Doig joined Town boss Paul Hurst in making the move from Grimsby Town in October 2016 and has been a vital part of the club’s success over the last year.
“I look back on it with a bit of pride to be honest”, Doig told ShrewsWeb.
“It was obviously a big task, when we came, to avoid relegation, but we managed to do it and things have obviously progressed this year more than we might have anticipated.”
“We obviously knew that things weren’t going to be great. You’re not bottom of the league after 15 games and think things are going well, there’s obviously problems somewhere, but you’ve got to be confident in your own ability.
“I was always sure that over a period of time we would get a reaction and I think we did very quickly. I think the lads bought into what we asked for and what we set out very quickly, so all-in-all it’s been a successful year.”
Town were bottom of League One and six-points adrift of safety when Hurst and Doig took over. For many, it looked an impossible task, but Doig always felt they were capable of turning it around and so it proved.
“We were always aware that we would have to make changes, but I was always pretty confident coming in that we would get a reaction from the players that were there”, Chris said.
“I know how we work, I know the environment the Gaffer likes to create and I think regardless of who was here, they would enjoy what we were doing, so I was always confident that things would change and fortunately for us they did.
“I think it (League One survival) goes overlooked because of the start that we’ve had this season. I think we were six points adrift when we came in, but because of everything we experienced when we first came in, it was actually a bigger task than we thought.
“There were times where we weren’t sure whether we were going to be able to do it or not, but fortunately we did and there’s a huge sense of pride and satisfaction that we managed to keep the club up.”
Despite League One survival, many pundits fancied Town for the drop at the start of the season, but a 15-match unbeaten run at the start of the campaign has seen them head to the top of League One. Sadly, that run came to an end last Saturday against Peterborough United, but Chris is now looking for a reaction from the players.
“We wanted to keep the run going”, admitted Doig.
“I think it was inevitable that it was going to end at some point and it’s never nice when it happens, but it’s not really about the loss, it’s about how we react to it now. It’s important that we keep the lads smiling, enjoying their work, working hard and try and make amends for it this Saturday.
“Every club will have their ups and downs, it’s just about how you respond to that and how you go about it. Just because you lose one game doesn’t mean you are a bad team. We’ve got a good group of lads, a good team spirit and they will be fine.”