I have a Cunning Plan

By: Matt | March 25th, 2009

As mentioned in my last post I have come up with a dastardly devious plan to bring in some better staff to Shrewsbury without having to pay huge termination costs. If I want to be taking the team to new heights I can’t underestimate just how important having good backroom staff is. Unfortunately I can’t afford the crippling costs of paying out compensation to my current bunch and so it looked like I was stuck with them until either a) I had a lot more money in the bank, or b) their contracts expire.

Then I had a bright idea.

I’ve offered each of my staff members an extra £50 a week wages which they have all gratefully accepted. They didn’t notice however, that I have reduced the length of their contracts to last until the end of the season. Hopefully that means that come April/May when I decide to bring in better Staff I should be able to get shot of the old ones without paying as much because they’ll only have a couple of months left on their contracts. Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

I currently only have one Scout and so I’ve brought in two more to take me to my Board maximum of three. Neither will rock the world with their stats but they have 11/12 for Judging Ability and Potential and they were the best I could bring in so they will do for now.

Next a quick run through my pre season friendlies. We had a couple of matches against Premier League teams and whilst the guaranteed sell outs would boost my bank balance I wanted to get a run of good games to boost our confidence for my first season in charge.

Bognor Regis v Shrewsbury

Bognor Regis 2 : Shrewsbury 7
Goals: Walker (15) Holt (43,45+2) Barlow (OG 51) Madjo (pen 54) Hibbert (66) Cansdell-Sherriff (81)

I honesty don’t know where my strengths lie and so I asked John McMahon, my assistant manager, to pick the best eleven and set them out in a standard 4-4-2.

I’m pleased with the resut. Bognor Regis are obviously a small fish and I expected us to win but the margin is greater than I thought. Grant Holt scored two and I’m expecting big things from the guy as he is currenty earning £3,000 a week. That’s the sort of money very good players earn in League 1 never mind League 2! If he’s going to earn his money each week I’m expecting big things.

Montrose v Shrewsbury

Montrose 0 : Shrewsbury 0

I started tinkering around with the tactics for this match and ended up with a 0-0 draw. Arranging friendlies against lower opposition can be a double edged sword. On the one hand demolishing a team and letting a few of your attacking players get some goals on the board can do wonder for confidence and morale, but on the other hand the fans and the board are expecting you to win by a big margin so not getting a good result can cause you a lot of hurt.

Another sore point is Almerares getting injured during the first half. The hidden gem I thought I’d found last post may not be that shiny after all. (I’m not too sure what that metaphor means either).

Shrewsbury v Oxford

Shrewsbury 2 : Oxford 0
Goals: Davies (14) Hadji (54)

I wanted a win against Oxford to claw back a bit of confidence. I’d asked for some quick short passing against Montrose and, in short, it didn’t work. It seems my players don’t have the skill to play a quick game and so I’ve slowed the tempo and moved to a more direct style of play. It seems to be working but I’d like my Strikers to bag a couple before the close of the pre-season.

Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic

Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic 0 : Shrewsbury 4
Goals: Devineau (4) Holt (9,19) Syrnes (63)

Yeah I don’t know who they are either. The tactics seem to be working a bit better and I’m pleased that Charlie D scored his first screamer. I’ve been rotating the team at half time to try and get everyone match fit. Syrnes bagged a goal which hopefully will raise his profile enough so that I can offload him in the near future.

Donegal Celtic

Dongeal 0 : Shrewsbury 5
Goals: Almerares (13,38) Holt (55) Davies (58) Madjo (68)

Another strong performance the pick of the goals being a 40 yarder from Madjo. The jury is still out on him, he seems to be very inconsistent and I don’t know if I’ve got room for a player who may put in a stellar performance on a good day but will be taking up a vital position on a bad day.

Shrewsbury v Peterborough

Shrewsbury 0 : Peterborough 0

Peterborough have just been promoted into League 1 and so were a good final test for my pre-season. They’ve got a couple of high value dangermen and so to keep them to a 0-0 I’m quite pleased.

We’ve had a decent set of results and confidence and morale seems to be where I’d hoped. I’ve also decided on a set formation (with a couple of more defensive and offensive tweaks when times dictate) along with a starting line up so all in all a decent first pre-season.

Up next I’ll give an overview of my starting eleven and the tactics and then onto the start of the season!