Defiant manager Gary Peters today responded to Shrewsbury Town’s local derby disappointment by insisting: “We’re getting better.”Town suffered their seventh home defeat of the season on Saturday as the division’s away day specialists chalked up their 11th victory on the road with a 2-1 triumph at Oteley Road.
That result sent Shrewsbury down to 14th place in League Two, and means they have now collected just six points from their last 11 games.
But Peters is confident he is seeing signs to suggest his side are heading in the right direction.
“I know that we are in a results business and we have to win football matches,” said Peters. “I’m a results man. That is all that really matters and that’s why I have had 11 promotions.
“But I look at the performance and anyone coming to our games knows we are getting better.
“We have got to get results but we are in a transitional stage. We have come into a new ground not knowing what to expect and started off winning games and playing terribly.
“We have gradually worked out what we can do here and now we are playing better football. We are a young side and our young players are getting plenty of games.
“We are playing better football and have better players in the squad.”
In the aftermath of the defeat, Peters launched a stinging attack on Hereford’s policy of loaning players throughout the season.
“They had the quality in the final third - but they are not their quality players,” Peters said on Saturday.
“They have got seven players on loan from Championship and Premiership clubs and they are all going back.
“Were we playing Hereford or an amalgamated team of Championship and Premiership players?”
And Peters today insisted loanee Sherjill MacDonald - from West Bromwich Albion - proved the difference.
“If we had played any other team in the League we would have been beaten them with the way we played and if MacDonald had not played for them, we would have beaten them,” he added.
“But I was happy with our performance. On the whole, the individual performances were good and we passed the ball better.”
28 Comments
Yep heading in the right direction…for conference football.
Get this clown out now!
Unfortunatley Peters is a salesman with a threadbare CV.
How many times are we going to see headlines like that - or variations on it?
Six points from 33 is a total embarrassment.
Absolute tosh, we have good players who are going backwards under gary.
It’s like telling a load of atheists to keep the faith !
THATS THE SEASON OVER PETERS ,THANKS
Peters should be top of the bill at the comedy club.
Sid> Your CapsLock….please, it’s annoying.
You have to back up Peters and the players, if not please consider to back up another team. The lads, the gaffer and the club needs fans to back them up. A true fan will always back his team up, even if they play in the Ryman League.
Look I think GP has had some bad luck and we just have not had the rub of the green. I expect in the end he will go but I do not believe it is all down to him.
The more we winge the greater pressure we put on GP and the team.
I think now is the time to stop all the talk on GPs side and our side and get behind the team.
If GP does not keep us up then at the end of the season he probably should go. For now we should support him not destroy him.
GP said “We’re getting better.”
When are they going to put him on stage at Salop Music Hall?
GP makes me loff so much it hurts!
Only 13 games left, we need at least 54points to stay in the league 2, weve only got 40points so that means we have to now average apoint a game.wake up Mr Peters.
i think you’ve got sour grapes mr peters. you’ve been out thought and out classed by a far better manager (graham turner) . come on board lets get rid of peters otherwise season ticket sales will go down for next season but with graham turner as manager they would go through the roof .
We are getting better at what Gary? The only thing we are getting better at is media spin and talking rubbish. Maybe we can say that we beat Hereford over the first 10 minutes!!!
Heading in the right direction?
If we are heading in the right direction we need a new navigator!!
season ticket sales will be down next year peters must go for the benefit of the club this can not go on.
Are the STFC board going to act soon before it’s too late???
I went to see Shrewsbury play after a 10 or 12 year absence and was surprised at the quality of the football by both teams. Having seen only premiership games on TV I was expecting kick and rush tactics but not so.
GP is a few years into blending a team of youth and experience with very little financial backing like some. Graham Turner has been a long time at Hereford building his side and many of those are on loan signings.
Rome was’nt built in a day.
I agree with Brian.
Just because Town have a bad season, would not mean that all things have to be changed.
There are ups and downs in football and it´s foolish to sack a manager og players in panic.
I wonder how all the critics tacle their own problems in their life when they have a down period - act in panic ?, thats not the solution.
I don’t think there is too much need to panic just yet. The seasons not been good but the likes of Wrexham & Mansfield will have to go on a great run of form to get to 40 points, nevermind 54 points.
As for season tickets I don’t see too much of a problem either. Should the poor run continue Peters would probably go at the end of the season and we’d have the whole of May to appoint a new boss before season tickets go onsale - the “feel good” factor of a new boss would help generate ticket sales, and to be honest I think most season ticket holders are loyal enough to the club to renew their ticket regardless of who the manager is.
I wish people would stop saying Graham Turner should return. Look it won’t happen he owns Hereford and fully committed to that club.
If you want to make suggestions be realistic not pie in the sky ideas.
1) Graham Turner wouldn’t come. He’s about to get a team promoted - why would he?
2) There is no better manager than Peter’s who would want, or take the job. ie. Peter’s is the best man for the job.
3) GP has the full backing of the board and a lot of fans - they see what he is doing and are giving it the time and patience it needs. You may as well just accept it and make the best of it - I beleive it will come good - or just don’t come back! I don’t want to hear you whining in my ear every time a pass doesn’t make it’s intended destination!
4) Get behind the lads! There’s some talent there and they need supporting!
In 2003, when manager at Exeter, Peters used the same ‘were getting better’ line a few times- they were relegated to the Conference with STFC and are still there!
John Larson - “The lads, the gaffer and the club needs fans to back them up”.
We have backed them during games & will continue to do so, but they are paid well to do a job, which they are simply not doing. Therefore they should be prepared to receive criticism after the event.
Brian - “I went to see Shrewsbury play after a 10 or 12 year absence”
Unless you have a good reason, i.e. illness - I don’t think you’re in a position to lecture fulltime fans about Peters.
“GP is a few years into blending a team of youth and experience with very little financial backing like some”.
This is the third or fourth squad he’s built only to dismember and he has recieved excellent financial backing compared to most at this level. E.g. Rochdale, Hereford, Morecambe - who are all well above us.
Denis - “I think GP has had some bad luck and we just have not had the rub of the green”.
We’ve got all we have deserved this season and some of the points we’ve won we should not have.
“If GP does not keep us up then at the end of the season he probably should go”.
Probably!? He should go anyway - relegation or not.
Any pressure Peters is under is magnified by his increasingly ridiculous comments, which are annoying and alienating everyone. He’s called us “failures” and “ignorant” this term and still you like the guy. Unbelievable.
i believe town have turned the corner, the fourth corner sadly
Sacking the manager is definitely the way to go, look how well it has worked at Newcastle.
People are entitled to their views on Peters, but it does get annoying when they start saying “everyone” is alienated by Peters. This season hasn’t gone as expected but is no disaster and the club has a very positive future with or without Peters in charge.
I’m not aiming this at people who have posted on here but some fans are on Peters and the teams back even before games start at the moment and its of no benefit to the team and is causing arguments at games.
Claims everyone wants Peters out are wrong
Personally I think major progress in the team is needed for Peters to keep his job, but at the end of the day the board gave him five years to get us promotion and its up to them to judge him on that basis, not on the basis of unrealistic expectations from us fans.
Peters has had the biggest budget of any Town manager in history and still manages to fail miserably.
At the start of the season we were told that automatic promotion was the target now a top half finish would be considered wishful thinking.
Anything less than 7th is abject failure this season and Peters should go as we are going to get nowhere near that now.
As for the chap who said ” alot of fans still like Peters” I don’t know who you speak to but the overwhelming majority that I know want him out and soon!
I have been to every game this season, home and away, and cannot remember such an abysmal year, even under Ratcliffe we lost playing good football, now we are slipping in the same direction but still playing negative football.
Sorry Graham. On points 2 and 3 you are in cloud cookoo land. There is some talent in the players we have but it’s not being brought out with Peters in charge. If results don’t go our way in the next couple of games I can forsee Ratcliffe style demonstrations outside the stadium at some stage. Peters should go and go now! I don’t think that Roland and the board realise the strength of the increasing numbers of supporters who want Peters gone.He has now got to the stage at Shrewsbury that he was in at Preston when he left there.He can go no further at STFC.
MacDonald wasn’t the reason why we couldnt break down THEIR defence Gary. He was a great attacking threat which we coulnd’t handle, pity your team didnt cause Hereford similar danger.
Concentrate on our problems, not them, especially as the game has passed.
To think that that was a better fooballing performance from us shows just how far we have regressed this season.