Simpson seethes at ‘rubbish’ Town
Monday 21st December 2009, 11:30AM GMT.
Furious Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Simpson has launched a scathing attack on his squad, questioning their desire and admitting: “I’m sick of making excuses for them.”
Town’s slump in form over the last two months continued on Saturday as they crashed to a 4-0 defeat at League Two leaders Rochdale.
It means Shrewsbury have managed just seven points from their last eight League matches, and have failed to score in any of their last three outings.
And it produced an angry response from Simpson as his side failed to take advantage of a raft of postponements elsewhere in League Two to push themselves further up the table.
“It was an absolute rubbish performance and I feel severely let down by a group of players who we have put trust in,” said the Town boss.
“It was a well below par performance and we can’t get any worse than we have shown.
“They have let me down, they have let the supporters who travelled down and that’s not something I normally say because normally the workrate is there.
“The players out there are more than capable of producing better performances than that.
“I’m actually sick of making excuses for them.
“You trust in people and I wonder whether we can trust them or not.
“There has to be some serious thinking and looking into it going on.”
Simpson admitted he could have had no complaints had the margin of defeat been greater.
“We were outplayed by a good side – but we were torn apart by them and that is a massive let-down,” he added.
“We came up against a side that has worked harder than us and that’s about desire.
“I said before the game, this should be the easiest team talk for any manager or coach, coming up against the top of the table.
“That (desire) is a personal thing. It’s something every single footballer should have.
“If you don’t have it, you shouldn’t be in it and maybe if you don’t have it you won’t be in it for very long.
“It would be an insult to our supporters if we tried to be positive about anything from Saturday.”
l Former Town boss Gary Peters was among the crowd at Spotland on Saturday, the first Shrewsbury game he has watched since leaving the club.
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So nothing to do with you then, Paul?
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I would like to ask Mr Simpson what has changed since the game at Notts Co. – the Team played superbly and gave us confidence that we could compete with the best in the league. Now the Team look like relegation material – Mr Simpson these are your players, you brought them to the club and therefore it is your responsibility – rubbishing them in the media will not help the situation – it is quite evident that some of the players you brought in are not good enough (or no better than the ones you inherited)- the recent perfomances & results demonstrate that – the players do not appear comfortable on the ball – every one of the Rochdale players on Saturday did. I would therefore wish to understand how Mr Simpson will turn things around and get the Town back on track?
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Strange that, I thought the role of the Manager was to inspire and motivate his team.
If the team are not performing, then surely the Manager has to accept more that a share of the responsibility.
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I don’t think its the players as much as the manager… is Darren Ferguson still out of work
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he can only do so much until they walk over the white line
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matt2 said:
“Dec 21st, 2009 at 13:04 he can only do so much until they walk over the white line”
That’s why he sits in the dugout to inspire, motivate and organise the team from the touchline (or should do!).
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Said it before and I will say it again, they start the season with a “blinder” and having got a reasonably good position with a fair few points, the rot sets in almost overnight. The same thing happens season after season, it is almost as if the club don’t want promotion, prefer to stay in League 2 and work the team tactics to that end.
Look back over the years and see if the same situation hasn’t occurred time after time. This is not coincidence in my book, more like “design” by the club itself. The players are just a means to an end.
If it is not down to this, then Simpson should be given the chop because the only other reason for this poor showing is down to him.
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If they haven’t started asking questions already I think the board should quickly demand improvements and put PS on notice. It all seems too cosy an arrangement at present and maybe PS will respond to a bit of a kick from them. At the end of the day I agree with Andrews comments.
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If they haven’t started asking questions already I think the board should quickly demand improvements and put PS on notice. It all seems too cosy an arrangement at present and maybe PS will respond to a bit of a kick from them. At the end of the day I agree with Andrew’s comments.
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Some interesting comments about possible conspiracy theory that Salop don’t want promotion, ie – can’t afford / wont afford ??
The faces change but each season seems to follow a similar pattern. We start off well and then drift mid-season before rallying late on with a drive toward the play-offs or away from the drop (in a bad season).
We are League 2 stalwarts and maybe that is all we can be under the financial situation at present.
For me PS needs an assistant and Roland needs to tell him to get one PRONTO !
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Read all the adove comments……… agree with most but you have to question the clubs board aswell as the manager. There seems to be a problem behind the scenes. Town wont layout money to get good players or pay the ones they have got .Sorry did have.The team is full of soso players.No one in the town squad at the moment will get you off your seat! they are dull!!Mr Simpson cannot manage or motivate the players and slagging them off every week is not going to help.Since GP left we have not progressed any and have let players go that had a bit of flair. This is Mr simpsons squad he hand picked them so the blame falls on his plate. Sort it out quick or we will be in a relegation fight! But saying all that……I shall still be thare on Boxing day!
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I am with Dave Plim regarding the financial issues.
Our average gates have been consistently among the highest in League two for the last three seasons and we have sold players for much more than they were bought.
Where has the money gone?
The board should start to answer the question, if Simmo has not been allowed to sign players this summer he cannot be blamed when the ones we have do not perform.
Other than Nathan Elder, who I accept appears to have been a poor signing, all the others were free.
This after selling Grant Holt for a reputed £450,000 and James Constable for a reputed £50,000.
People should remember that we lost Ben Davies our most creative player and Holt our top scorer in the summer, neither have been replaced.
The off-field activities at Oteley Road were supposed to bring even more money into the club so either money is being lost somewhere or someone is re-distributing it elsewhere.
Which is it?
For people to blame Simmo is harsh, his signings have been alot better than those of his predecessor Peters who signed around 80 players in 3 and a half seasons, only Tierney, Langmead, Davies and McIntyre could be said to have been successes.
Look at Simmo’s record in the transfer market:-
Grant Holt, Graham Coughlan, Paul Murray, Dean Holden, Luke Daniels and now even Terry Dunfield is fulfilling his potential.
Craig Disley and Lewis Neal show promise but have been injured for much of the season, all in all Paul Simpson has got more signings right than wrong in my view.
We have the basis of a good squad and only need a couple of good signings to make the difference.
If the Chairman and board have tied his hands you can’t blame Simmo if we fall short.
People have short memories and forget just how bad life was under Peters.
Give me Paul Simpson over him any day of the week.
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I cannot understand why subjects like this get so much comment, I never knew care in the community was so widespread.
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@ Norman, commenting on a comments page you have no interest in is ever so sad…
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Agree with Stuart its getting to be a monotonous routine with the Town! were is the ambition?
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As ever, STFC fans are totally up themselves. They’re lucky to have such a high-calibre manager. I’d be questioning the Board of Directors, not the manager.
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