Shropshire Star

Shrewsbury brought their disappointing season to an end with a creditable 1-1 draw away at Rochdale despite yet again not being able to hold on to a lead, writes our Shrews blogger James Pugh.

Overall, the word to describe our season is disappointing and that’s being generous. The club just didn’t meet their standards of last season and didn’t meet the expectations of the fans or themselves.

A final position of 18th and just eight points from relegation was not what fans had in mind and for a time there was a real possibility of us going down.

So where have things gone wrong in a year?

Injuries to Cooke and Davies at the start of the season, too many young players in the squad, and Peters not building on the squad of last season and running out of ideas when things were going wrong.

I could go on and on, but for me these are the main reasons why we have had a disastrous season.

What do fans think of the list of players Simpson has decided to release?

There were no surprises for me and Simpson was bound to get rid of as many players as possible to free up space for new signings. Personally, I would have liked to have given Ryan and Jones a little more time because they have played well in the games they have started, which haven’t been that many.

I wonder whether he would have given them a new contract if he had inherited a better team or more players were out of contract that he could have released.

I thought Murdoch was past his best when we signed him and although he has performed well in some games, he struggled against better opposition and his lack of pace caught up with him. I think Michael Barnes was a bit of a panic buy and it was unfair to expect so much from someone so young, while Martin riley was unlucky with injuries.

I was pleased with his decision to try and keep Hall as I think he has what it takes to be a good player at this level.

Would fans welcome back Ashton and Symes?

I would love us to keep Ashton because I think he is a very good, consistent and versatile player. Whether he would want to come back, with chances of starting many games very small, is another matter.

In terms of Symes he has struggled with injuries, confidence and form, and doesn’t look like he can get back to the form of last season.

And what about other players who are under contract? I would like us to try and sell Madjo, Constable, and Kempson. The two strikers were bought on their goalscoring records in non-league when we would have been better off doing a Hereford and getting players from a higher league on loan.

Kempson on the other hand was bought after playing well against us for Bury whilst marking the mighty Fortune-West.

Congratulations to Tierney for winning the Players’ Player of the Year and Supporters’ Player of the Year awards. Realistically he was the only player that could have won the awards, as he has been our best and most consistent player all season by far. To keep a good player like Ashton out of the team is not an easy thing to do.

And nNow to the future. Good luck for next season, Simpson. Please make some good, sensible signings in the summer, get rid of the players who you genuinely don’t think are good enough, and bring the good times back to the club.

The fans do not want to go through what they have had to this season and deserve a team that is challenging for promotion.