It may have been Town’s 125th birthday but there was nothing to celebrate on Friday, writes Shrewsbury Town blogger James Pugh.

The fact that we never looked like scoring during 180 minutes against Torquay in the play-offs says it all.

Torquay won the tie comfortably – not because they showed a lot more quality than us, but the fact we conceded two sloppy goals in the first leg, that they showed more hunger than us and they worked their socks off right up until the final whistle in both games.

What was even more disappointing was that at home, in front of a packed crowd, we rarely threatened the Torquay goal and gave fans nothing to cheer.

Question marks have also got to be raised over Turner’s tactics. Ainsworth, who has been largely disappointing this season, should not have started, especially playing as a second striker.

And at half time, with Town in desperate need of goals, we should have gone 4-3-3 with Collins and Bradshaw on. At the end of the day it was worth taking the risk.

At the start of the play-offs and on paper we should have comfortably got through to the final and then won promotion. But when we needed it most the players didn’t perform and they need to learn from this experience.

All in all it’s been a disappointing season. We were one of the favourites to get promoted and on paper had the team to achieve this.

So what went wrong?

I don’t think Turner should receive too much criticism. His tactics have been generally good and has always had success at wheeling and dealing in the transfer market.

What the problems have been include the inconsistency showed by some of the players, especially Ainsworth, having no natural goalscorer, and the awful run of form we had in January.

We also cannot forget or forgive the officials for allowing the goal that never was against Wycombe.

If that had rightfully not been allowed things could have been very different.

This is how I think Town’s players have fared this season:

• Ben Smith – Reliable performer who has made the goalkeeping spot his own.

• Chris Neal – Talented and a good player to have in the squad.

• Ian Sharps – Captain Marvel and player of the season.

• Shane Cansdell-Sherriff – Reliable and formed good partnership with Sharps.

• Dave Raven – Good player, but has been unlucky with injuries.

• Mat Sadler – Mr Consistent and I would love for us to sign him permanently.

• Jermaine Grandison – Talented but a lot to learn and not sure right back is his best position.

• Connor Goldson – Expect to see more of him next season.

• Kevin McIntrye – Lost his place in starting eleven and time for him to move on.

• Craig Disley – Lost his place in side but think he still has a lot to offer.

• Mark Wright – Lost a bit of form towards end of season, but has been a key player and without his goals we would have finished mid-table.

• Nicky Wroe – Good signing by Turner but needs to score more goals.

• David Davis – Very talented with lots of energy and would be more than happy to get him on loan for another season.

• Sean McAllister – Had injuries but good squad player.

• Lionel Ainsworth – Chipped in with some crucial goals, but by and large has been disappointing and needs to show more hunger and consistency.

• Steve Leslie – Inconsistent and time to move on.

• Jon Taylor – Find of the season whose goals have been added bonus.

• Tom Bradshaw – Exciting prospect with a knack of scoring goals. Will only get better with age.

• James Collins – Potential to be a very good player and expect to see him score lots more goals next season.

• Matt Harrold – Good squad player but will never be prolific in front of goal.

• Nathan Elder – Been unlucky with injury but time to move on.

So now it’s time to move on and prepare ourselves for another season in League Two.

With Town only just missing out on promotion I expect only minor changes to personnel in the summer.

We need to keep hold of our better and talented players, the likes of Sharps, Wright and Bradshaw. And we need to get rid of the dead wood like Elder, Leslie and McIntyre.

In terms of bringing players in we need to secure a long term left back, whether it’s Sadler or somebody new.

We need to bring in creativity in the centre of midfield and more importantly we need to sign a 25-goal a season striker.

Money should be there and someone who is going to score you goals consistently throughout the season is essential for any team serious about getting promoted.

With young strikers Bradshaw and Collins at the club we need someone with more experience to complement them.

What changes would Town fans like to see during pre-season?