Setanta shuffle on Smith agenda
Thursday 26th March 2009, 12:11PM GMT.
Boss Rob Smith will ring the changes as AFC Telford United head north for tonight’s much-delayed Setanta Shield northern area final at Barrow.
The winning side stand to pocket a minimum of £18,000.
But that is of no interest to Smith, who is having to deal with major fixture congestion as the Bucks challenge for Blue Square North promotion.
The likes of Liam Blakeman, Lee Moore, Matty Lewis and Mark Danks are all set to play a part after sitting out Monday’s 2-0 win at Hinckley.
“We’re going to be making a lot of changes to the other night, and Saturday’s game with Droylsden is much bigger for us,” he said.
“This competition is not exactly on my wish list for next season after everything that’s happened this year.
“I know there is prizemoney to be won, but the play-offs are the be-all-and-end-all for us now, and we can make money out of that.
“The team I put out tonight I still expect to give it a good go, but there are certain players I’m not going to risk because we need them for Saturday.”
Should Telford win tonight, they could find themselves in the unenviable position of having to play five games in nine days.
They entertain Harrogate in the league on Tuesday, April 7, with the Setanta Shield final on April 9.
The Bucks are then scheduled to play just 24 hours later with a Good Friday game at home to Redditch, before travelling to Alfreton on Easter Monday and hosting Farsley Celtic on Wednesday, April 15.
“As soon as we heard when the final would be, it made a mockery of the whole thing,” added Smith. “I certainly won’t lose any sleep if we get beaten tonight.”
The Telford boss revealed he had rejected enquiries to take two of his players ahead of the non-League transfer deadline next week.
“I’ve had enquiries about Jimmy Turner and Steve Jagielka but that won’t be happening,” he said.
By Chris Hudson
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Why is £18k of “no interest” to a club who just came the right side of break-even last year? I find the attitude to this competition puzzling – a chance to win some silverware, make good money AND appear live on TV shouldn’t be taken lightly IMO. Sure, there’s some fixture congestion but this is a chance to take a night off from worrying about maintaining a play-off place and enjoy progression to a cup final.
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To be fair, the shropshire star has reported smith as seeing this competition as of no interest to Telford. Smith is just stating that saturday’s league game is much bigger, which is probably an understatement.
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Dave,
The answer is that promotion to the Blue Square premiership would be worth considerably more than £18,000 to AFC Telford. There are very few football clubs making any kind of profit, so the fact that Telford managed to, (albeit a small one) is a major achievement in itself and down to some excellent management.
In my opinion the Setanta shield or ‘Tin Pot’ shield as it has jokingly become better known is an unwanted distraction. The truth is that the fixture congestion and subsequent injuries that the Setanta Shield has been partly responsible for could well have cost Telford the FA Trophy and possibly promotion this year.
An example of this ludicrous situation is that this month Telford’s much depleted team are due to play 10 fixtures, the equivalent of a match every 3 days – I think Alex Fergusson’s squad would struggle with that!
Add to all this the fact that if Telford do get to the Setanta Shield final it will be played at their opponents home ground and not at a neutral venue – you then start to realise the lack of thought that Setanta put into this competition!
I really wouldnt be surprised if this is the last season the Setanta Shield is competed for. Setanta now have access to much more lucrative fixtures than when the shield was originally devised and they haven’t even bothered to screen any of the preliminary fixtures this season.
It is a testimony to the quality of the management team of Rob Smith and Larry Chambers along with the unwavering support of chairman Lee Carter that Telford are still in with any shout of promotion!
C’mon the Bucks!
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