The weekly look back and forward from Marcus Braddock
Last week was a bit of a busy one for Shrewsbury Town with two home games scheduled, one in the League Cup or the EFL cup as it's now been rebranded. It was also a week when we sent Luke Hendrie on loan to Grimsby until January where he can gain a bit of experience and hopefully will come back ready to push his way into the first team.
The youth team played Tranmere last week and ran out as 2-0 winners after a tight game. Late goals by Jamaine Turner and substitute Archie Elmore complimented a good defensive display. This week the youth team are at home to Lincoln City at the Shrewsbury Sports Village at 11 of the morning clock. There is also a report on the under 12 and under 13 teams visit to Ireland for the renowned Galway Cup. Performances were more than a little pleasing if coach Callum McKenzie's interview is anything to go by.
The first team were in action on Tuesday in the League cup and sadly we didn't progress to the next round. The first half was pretty encouraging with Shaun Whalley scoring an excellently worked goal, it's on the clubs YouTube channel and well worth a couple of looks. I think we could maybe have gone in for the break three goals ahead against a Burton team that didn't seem to do too much other than their two goals, one of which was a soft looking penalty. John Askey's main observation was that they were a little naive which I wouldn't disagree with but there are some excellent signs when we pushed forward. Ryan Haynes and Greg Docherty have impressed me in particular over the last week and I'm confident that, injury aside, we've got a decent squad who will do well when they've gelled fully.
Saturday’s game was another that showed we can play a bit but the important thing was that we had our first clean sheet and our first point after a disrupted start to the season. We kept Blackpool at bay for much of the game and I thought we were the better side but we seem to be lacking a little confidence in front of goal after. That's a shame because there are some great chances that didn't quite get over the line. None of the teams we've played looked particularly good so far and we've only been a goal short of a point or two, so we haven't too much ground to make up.
The one thing that disappointed me last week was some of chanting, obviously I'm not here to tell people how to behave but I do wonder how some of our songs are actually supporting the team. We all get frustrated from time to time and exasperation is understandable but I felt a little embarrassed to hear what I heard in front of Blackpool fans that have had their own well-documented dissatisfaction that should put ours into perspective.
The first team are in action again this Tuesday and travel to Doncaster who have won twice and lost once so far this season in League One. They've also scored an average of two goals per game so far so we'll need to be on our mettle to get anything. Saturday sees us on the road again, this time they're off to Bedfordshire to play Luton Town. They've yet to win this season so a good performance tomorrow night could send us there looking for further positives.