Deadline Day musings

It was Canadian writer Robin Sharma who said “change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end”. I don’t think he had Shrewsbury Town in mind when he penned these thought-provoking words, but there is little doubt that the last two years in SY2 have been both hard and messy. Sadly, we have seen little of the gorgeous.

The biggest change came with the club’s first Director of Football. Life under Micky Moore was certainly both hard and messy. A chaotic game of pinball from one manager to the next, with a succession of squad overhauls and a seemingly inexorable downward trajectory.

Moore’s departure came out of the blue and late in a transfer window when Shrewsbury had again sought to flip their squad in preparation for life in League 2. It left Head Coach Michael Appleton (should we now just call him manager?!) with a little over two weeks to take up the reins himself and seek to effect his own brand of change.

    Storm clouds gathering over the Meadow - an ominous portent?

Over that two weeks, we have seen clear signs of Appleton moving away from some of Moore’s edicts. Gone, it seems, is the rigid adherence to a 3-5-2. In the fortnight that the boss has truly been allowed to be his own man, we’ve seen Town mix it up tactically – playing with a back four, and also with additional wide attackers in a fluid 3-4-3. Gone, too, has been the play it out from the back at all costs mantra, replaced by a more pragmatic approach that I didn’t expect from an Appleton team.

With this tweak to our playing style, has come limited but significant changes to the squad. Appleton said he wanted to add pace and athleticism to his ranks – he has done that with the loan additions of Ismael Kabia from Arsenal and Bradley Ihionvien from Peterborough United. They will give us a different dimension in attack. If there are any funds remaining, he could yet make a further addition or two in the free agent market.

Alongside this, and arguably just as importantly, Appleton also seemed to inject an increased urgency into getting players out of the club that he felt were simply too damaged by last season’s relegation to play an effective role in this latest blue and amber reincarnation.

The boss told us that there were three or four players who needed to leave the club for their own best interests as well as ours. In the games that followed that strong statement, we saw George Nurse, Alex Gilliead and Toby Savin excluded from the squad – the fact that we played the last two games with just six substitutes despite all three of these being available, spoke volumes. Now, only Nurse of the trio remains. Savin has got himself a surprising move to League 1 Wigan, while Gilliead has linked up with old team-mate Morgan Feeney at National League Carlisle.

Gone, too, is Max Mata. The Kiwi striker never got going in Shropshire. Over the summer, I genuinely thought he’d shown he had something to offer. Then he got injured. Again. It is maybe for the best that he gets the chance to go home and have a fresh start. Fans can be guilty of treating footballers like commodities rather than human beings. Mata has had to endure taunts and, at times, ridicule; but I only saw a guy doing his best in a difficult climate. I wish him well.

Deadline Day carried with it so much promise. Local journalists talked of a busy day in store. Social media accounts told us to expect three or more new faces (why do we ever listen to these things?!). Even Appleton himself, in his post-match interview after the Accrington game, seemed to hint that two recruits were likely as a bare minimum.

It didn’t happen, as Ihionvien became the only arrival. And the reaction on Salop social media was predictably apocalyptic. I get it: there are areas of this squad that are clearly still lacking. With Benning struggling and Nurse out in the cold, we certainly lack options on the left. Our midfield arguably lacks an enforcer in the Abu Ogogo or Anthony Grant role. Our centre-backs are experienced, but their lack of pace has been exposed and we seem short in numbers for when injury and/or suspension inevitably hit.

But our means are sadly limited and it was always unlikely we could solve all these issues in one window: and certainly in just two post-Moore weeks.

So where have we ended up? The table below paints the picture of the whole window, which is what the club should be judged on.

Departed the club	New Faces
Jamal Blackman Toby Savin Joe Young Morgan Feeney Aaron Pierre Josh Feeney Leo Castledine Jordan Rossiter Dom Gape Jordan Shipley Funso Ojo Roland Idowu Ricardo Dinanga (on loan – to AFC Telford) Alex Gilliead (on loan – to Carlisle) Vadaine Oliver Max Mata	Elyh Harrison (loan) Will Brook Will Boyle Tom Anderson Sam Stubbs Tom Sang Sam Clucas Tommy McDermott (loan) Anthony Scully Ismael Kabia (loan) Bradley Ihionvien (loan)

A total of 16 players who were here on the last day of last season but have departed now, with 11 players coming in to replace them. The raw numbers tell you the squad is smaller (though we have also added Isaac England and he now seems to be established as a first team player).

But is it better? Well I can see only two players – Josh Feeney and Castledine – who I would happily move from the left column to the right. That tells me that we have improved, on paper at least. Now we need to start seeing that improvement in performances and, crucially, in results.

The truth is that we will not know truly how successful – or otherwise – this window has been for some time. We need to see if Kabia and Ihionvien can indeed transform our attack; whether McDermott can deliver on his early promise and England can emerge as a hometown hero; if our League 2-ready defence can settle after a nervy opening and show the qualities that got them signed in the first place.

If Appleton could share a beer with Sharma, I’m sure he would agree that change has indeed been hard, and that it has been – and could remain for some time – messy as well. We may be waiting a while for that gorgeous ending, but for now I’m going to give him the time to try.