‘Bad run will make us stronger’
Friday 18th January 2008, 12:05PM GMT.
Gary Peters will tomorrow attempt to avoid the worst losing sequence of his Shrewsbury Town reign – but declared: “I will be a better manager for this run.”Shrewsbury entertain Morecambe at Oteley Road desperate to avoid a fifth successive defeat and revive some life into the play-off challenge which has been flagging badly in recent weeks.
But, despite a testing sequence of results, Peters believes he – and his squad – will emerge from the recent trough stronger for the experience.
“You never know what can happen in any individual games but I’m confident, in the long term, we will get back to winning ways,” he said.
“It has been a tough time, but you probably learn more from tough times than you do from winning games.
“I will be a better manager for the last four games and the players will be better players for it as well.
“We have probably been caught between two stools. At Gay Meadow we knew we had to play long ball and we accepted that.
“Over the last few weeks we haven’t been playing great football all the time and we haven’t gone long all the time.
“We have made changes because the first half of the season hasn’t been good enough and our midfield will be different to what it was because we are determined to play better football.”
Peters must decide whether to hand an immediate debut to midfielder Asa Hall who signed on loan from Birmingham for the remainder of the season earlier this week.
Striker Guy Madjo and non-contract midfielder Keith Briggs could both be in contention for first home starts, but new defender James Meredith won’t be considered as he is troubled with a hamstring injury. Leading scorer, Dave Hibbert remains a doubt with an ankle problem.
Morecambe arrive at Oteley Road attempting to break into the League Two play-off positions, but will have to seek their sixth away success of the season without Stewart Drummond.
The former Town captain will not feature for the Shrimps as part of a gentleman’s agreement between Peters and his opposite number Sammy McIlroy when Drummond returned to his former club for £15,000 earlier this month.
That could pave the way for another Town old boy, Neil Sorvel, to return to the Morecambe squad.
Coaches will be running from Wem, Telford and Oswestry for Shrewsbury Town’s home clash with Morecambe.
Places can be reserved by contacting Chris Smith on 01952 604742.
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gary, how right you are and good luck to the team tomorrow. to see the strength in depth of the club is illustrated by the excellent run in their cup by our youth squad. it is no disgrace to lose 4-o to chelsea. let town score 4 tomorrow. the season starts here gary, floreat salopia, from deepest devon
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Not sure I follow the logic – !
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I’ve read the headline but I refuse to read the story.
I am bored of GP, bored of his tactics, bored of his style of play, bored of his excuses, bored of having a team of defenders, bored of people sticking up for GP and saying give him more time, bored of the clipart lion and bored of going to a soulless stadium. The latter being because quite simply the football is boring and no one has anything to shout about, there’s more life in a tramp’s vest.
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dear oh dear Mr Pike…
Life must be bad…
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mr pike jump back back into the river .
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you know that plane crash at heathrow yesterday..
i reckon gary peters was to blame for that as well
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Well done Gary,
Keep looking at the positives, I have a really good feeling about the game tomorrow and am looking forward to seeing some of the new boys.
Cant wait to get down to our lovely new stadium again.
Mr Pike, read the story then perhaps you might be qualified to comment, until then please keep your negativity to yourself
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mr Pike, Oh what a happy life you lead. Smile, just look at the rest of the world. It doesnt hurt to look on the positive side of things, just for once!
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Who remembers the old footballing joke?
Q. Which is the strongest team in the football league?
A. Wrexham, they’re holding the other 91 teams up.
Yes Gary, we’ll get stronger by losing. If we lose enough, maybe we could replace Wrexham as the strongest team in the league.
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Mr Pike. Spot on comments! No more to be said! Saturdays game should be fun!For Tony Russell from Devon….The season started months ago and where are we? In the bottom half of the league!
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Mr Pike – If you don’t like the new ground, the manager and the current tactics please stay away and stop runining the games for the rest of us!
I’m fed up of so called “fans” moaning and complaing all the time. Doesn’t anyone remember the really bad times under King, Ratcliffe and Quinn when we were regularly losing 5.0 to teams like Boston, Dagenham and Rushden?
We’ve not had a great season and the footballs not been as entertaining as we expected, but can we please be a bit realistic about our current position!
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Oh dear Mr Peters. How much more of this utter drivel must the long suffering supporter put up with?
We are not all members of some impressionable bunch of teenagers who are able to be bought with your constant spin. You may well be able to enforce your beliefs on the obviously biased Ultras as they are the very vocal minority that actually find something positive from within all of your blurb but for the rest of us who have been following STFC for many many years and will doubtless be supporting STFC long after your reign of negative hoofball has ended we just don’t want to hear any more – More to the point we don’t want you here as manager anymore.
Even some of those supporters with wearing the deepest shade of rose coloured spectacles are coming down off their fences and voicing their concerns, some of those are the very people who may well have vested interests within the club as they sit on recognised supporters groups, fans forums and trusts etc.
Certain elements of the fanbase may well continue to live the dream with Gary Peters at the helm but I’d hazard a guess that the majority of that minority group are impressionable youngsters who really haven’t been fortunate enough to remember better days with only recent league memories of King and Ratcliffe combined with Conference struggles under Quinn as a comfort.
Those who have been there with STFC for many many years have simply had enough of a manager that quite clearly has lost the backing of his playing staff. Come and put yourself amongst some of those who travel to ALL of the games either home or away and see if the majority of the fanbase is behind you Mr Peters – the players have nothing but respect and 110% support but the manager…….
Neil Ashtons comments at Macclesfield earlier this week are enough to convince even the most non believers that there is unrest within STFC – ‘It’s refreshing to come to a club where the manager encourages you to get the ball down and play with some freedom.’
Time to go Mr Peters and time for the board to act, surely anything less than a convincing performance culminating in a resounding victory against Morecambe will be deemed as failure and a further nail in the coffin lid.
Time for the board to dig deep and remove the manager and replace him with Paul Simpson.
I look forward to tomorrows game with anticipation, trepidation and little expectation.
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Stan, Im not a big fan of GP, but, these comments aren’t drivel. In all aspects of life you find out alot more about yourself and others when things are going wrong! As for you quoting Neil Ashton “‘It’s refreshing to come to a club where the manager encourages you to get the ball down and play with some freedom.’ ” Where are Maccelsfield? 8 points behind STFC and a far worse goal difference!! Thats really refreshing !!
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wouid all you negative moaning supporters get off gary peters back and support the team go and follow wrexham
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Why don’t you tell Mr. Peters yourself Stan? Stop being a keyboard warrior and get yourself to the Q & A night and put this forward yourself in person.
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Great stuff Gary – let’s keep losing because it’s good for us.
Why other managers haven’t seen the logic of this I don’t know.
Here’s to losing all our games to the end of the season which will make us even stronger.
Give me strength!!
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Mr Pike – I used to tell my children off for using the word “BORED”. There is no such thing as being BORED. It is the individual who is at fault. The person who enjoys life and gets something out of every situation is never BORED. I feel very sorry for you!!!
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Well said Meadow Matt you are spot on.
Stan Butler, Have you ever thought about supporting Luton, Coventry or Wrexham. Then you really would have something to moan about. please get things in perspective and support the team you say you follow.
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stan
why would paul simpson want to come to us, probably the same reasons mark stallard,glynn hurst, colin mcmennamin and colin cramb only stayed long enough for a cup of tea, as soon as they skew a shot wide or miss a sitter people like yourself start to get on their backs.
I have a very good friend who used to play for us in the 90′s as a goalkeeper, and after a very good career with teams like Huddersfield and scunthorpe he came to us near his peak only to get stick every game just because he kept paul edwards out of the side for a while. obviously this started to effect his performances and even his wife had to stop coming to games.
you moan about glyn garner and ryan essen, you moan about style of play, you moan about the manager and his tactics and you even think that everybody else is wrong bacause you go to more games than most…
why why why would paul simpson come to a club that has fans like you.
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To all the pro-Peters people here: your comments really do sum you all up.
If you think the nonsense that GP comes out with every week isn’t drivel and that the town haven’t become a boring team then you really are a bit simple.
Other than the Shropshire Star it wouldn’t surprise me if you get all your information from reading tabloids and watching ITV sat on your sofa in your council house, what a sad existence that must be.
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us season ticket holders have payed a lot of money at the start of the season i and many are sick of the long ball and want the football on the floor this is gary peters team so he should take the blame face the facts we have lost four in a row a could lose more
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I wish the Shropshire Star would filter out all the repetitive negative comments from the moaners. Stan Butler et al, you all need to introduce some realism into your way out expectations!!!!
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“Bad run will make us stronger”
Reads like “I’m clutching at straws”
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The superb performance at MK Dons in the play-offs ranks as the best dislay i’ve seen superb since the Graham Turner glory days and we were were very unlucky at Wembley with injuries. We were on the fringe of becoming a very good side but the loss of Derek Asamoah was a massive blow for us, does anyone know exactly why he left?
It think GP likes to have it all his own way and he is largely intolerant with players who don’t toe the line or disagree with his tactics. I recall talking to Ben Smith after his move to Weymouth and although he had great respect for GP he was not happy at being played out of position, hence his move. I think GP needs to establish a better understanding and relationship with his players, then we might see improvement on the field.
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desperate dave
Of course GP likes it all his way he’s the gaffer, thats the way it has to be. Brian Clough had everything his own way and nobody said he was wrong. OK I know Brian proved he was right by winning everything so nobody questioned him. Who knows Gary might as well. (perhaps he might start this afternoon).
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Spencer – If you’re happy with the style of football and obvious lack of man management skills, tactical awareness and ineptitude that our current illustrious leader serves up as entertainment week in week out then that is fine, you’re entitled to your opinion.
Are you like me and travel to every home and away match, rain or shine, win,lose or draw – If so then you have obviously witnessed many indifferent performances along the way. Were you at Darlington, Rotherham or Notts County or stood in the horrendous conditions at Accrington? If so then feel free to criticise me but if not and you’re 1 of those who’s been happy with 15minute glimpses of reasonable football against 10men at our own stadium then your observations are very much wide of the mark.
Read my contributions on these pages and very rarely have I criticised players, I can only find fault with Garner who to date I think has conceded something like 34 goals to date when he went on record saying that he’d like to concede no more than 40 all season long, part of the reason for conceding so many surely has to lay at GPs constant tinkering with his defence, squad rotation and players being played out of position etc etc.
It’s not the players that I and many many others are complaining about, it’s the manager and coaching staff and the style of play they have adapted, paying good hard earned money to watch such dross is not my idea of fun – yet still despite being branded a moaner by some on here I still attend every game.
As for realism and expectations – I wasn’t the manager who after the move away from Gay Meadow promised fans a new brand of passing and free flowing football at a new stadium with state of the art innovatative new ideas off th epich being introduced to training methods etc. I didn’t bring in a sport psyhcologist or decide to highlight problems at half time by means of the latest technology on dressing room tv monitors. I haven’t gone on record time and time again bleating about how I gave STFC their greatest ever season/year in 2007 and how I turned things around after the days of The Conference and that result against Histon. Change the record Gary and let actions speak louder than words.
It is a well known, well travelled rumour with substance that GPs employers have been less than impressed with the on pitch performances and more importantly adopted style of play – even they recognise how dour and bland it all is and with it they recognise that their investment relies upon results. Should the present string of performances and/or results continue and GPs reign along with it do you honestly believe that the euphoria of a new stadium and the memories of a trip to Wembley will convince the record number of new season ticket holders to renew their membership next season? Absolutely not, if GP continues and more importantly GPs style of football then the 3rd highest average league attendance will sadly dwindle and with it th eloss of income that allows players to be brought in that are of a higher calibre.
Anti STFC and anti players, most definitely not – Anti Peters, most definitely yes.
And don’t for 1 minute think that a vacant managerial position at Oteley Road would not attract a more eperienced and hopefully more successful manager than the buffoon that we’re lumbered with at the moment. STFC is now a big fish in league2 and with the infrastructure,facilities and fanbase you can guarantee that the club is now a vert attractive proposition for any prospective new manager. Personal choice would be Paul Simpson but the list of quality names would surprise many I’m sure.
For the record I will be at todays game vs Morecambe and for the record I am not a Salopian but I travel a round trip of over 180 miles for each and every home game and I haven’t missed 1 yet so don’t for 1 moment think I am a part timer, keyboard warrior who is content to sit at home and moan.
Enjoy the dross if you so wish but don’t criticise those who can see further than rose coloured spectacles allow.
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At the time of writing there are 128 league managers available who would jump at the chance to manage Shrewsbury Town and take us forward. Talking to present season ticket holders there will be significantly fewer next season because of Gary Peters style of play and acheivment on the pitch. If you support Gary Peters as manager how long will it take you to realise that you have been seriously conned by the lame excuses he trots out week after week. We need a new manager now before its too late! Don’t say where are they? As I have said there are 128 who would love the job! Don’t be conned any more!
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Ah Mr Pike, Glad to see your ignorance has come to the fore, If you cant have a sensible discussion you insult. Bless..
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i didn,t realise it was all about how much money you have mr pike
are you considerably richer than me.
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does the 128 include sir bobby robson? he could partner roy of the rovers up front. i for one am prepared to stick with gp for the time being
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so here we are boo boo boys and fellow doubters 2 new signings each scoring a goal, well done town well done gary. the team have done the talking for gary.now is the time for the negative minds to shut up, over the moon from deepest devon
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Mr Pike – What about the “BORING” match against Morecombe. !!!!!!!
Shame you missed it !!!!!!!!
Still perhaps you were BORED at home instead.
Well done the Town!!
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and well done to wrexham, gave the dons something to chew on, keep it up
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Peters out now
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peters out sounds like a car breakdown just as well gp is revved up and raring to go, keep up the good work gary.
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