As Town found out their fixtures for the new season, there was worrying news that star player Grant Holt was subject of a bid from Colchester, writes Shrewsbury blogger James Pugh.

Colchester has supposedly offered £250,000 for Holt, but although Simpson didn’t deny the speculation, he said that Town did not have to sell their best players.

Although the large sum of money would be very welcome for a club like Shrewsbury, it would be very unlikely to get anyone as good as Holt who could score 30 goals in a season.

The fact that we are financially stable means we should keep hold of our better players and look to bring in new ones who will improve the squad.

Holt has two years left on his contract and has already hinted that he has unfinished business at Town. Loyal players are very rare nowadays, but I am confident Holt will prove to be an exception by committing his future to the club.

In other transfer news Ben Davies continues to be linked with clubs such as Millwall and Notts County. I would love Davies to stay – he is a creative player that will score goals and I think he could form a good midfield partnership with new signing Disley in the coming season.

However, it seems increasingly likely that he will go as he seems to feel he is at the age where he has peaked and needs to be playing at a higher level. If Town had gone up I am sure he would have stayed, but I can understand if he feels this may be his last chance to further his career.

Reports have also linked us with a possible move for experienced Carlisle United defender Danny Livesey, whom Simpson signed while he was manager there. If we do make a move for him he would be a great addition for the side, although there are other areas of the squad we need to improve first.

I was very pleased when the fixtures for the new season came out last week. Town were given a fantastic home tie against Championship promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town in the Carling Cup. Led by Roy Keane, Ipswich will prove a tough test, but this type of competition is made for giant-killings and Town are certainly due a run in one of the major cups.

In the league, Town also open up at home against newly-promoted Burton Albion, followed by away trips to Barnet and Dagenham.

It’s always good to kick-off a new campaign with three points at home and similarly it’s good to get the less attractive away games out of the way quickly. A lot of focus will be on Town’s game against Burton and the danger we face is that the opposition will want to impress in their first league match.

Congratulations to Town fans who have got their season tickets early, meaning we have already broke last year’s record. Promotion failure could have led to people staying away this season, but instead they have pledged to get behind the team for another promotion rollercoaster.