Shifnal to ‘write off season’ after management change

The club’s owner expects new boss Jamie Haynes and his assistant Kevin Sandwith to face an almost total rebuild and said he is willing to ‘write off the season’ in taking ‘steps back to move forward’.

A first challenge for the new management team, appointed in the immediate aftermath of Carter and Carrier’s dismissal on Tuesday, is to gather a squad for today’s Midland League Premier home fixture against Bewdley Town.

Tranter confirmed as expected that the bulk of the squad – who helped Shifnal to a Covid-delayed promotion from the West Midlands League as part of a treble last season – have loyalties to Carter and Carrier and are likely to follow the former bosses out the exit door.

“I know their CVs and what they do,” Tranter said of Haynes and Sandwith’s appointment. “They’ve got a difficult task on their hands as we had a good side.

“They will do their very best for the club.

“It’s a new era. We are starting again. We might have to go backwards to bounce back, but then so be it.

“We’ll have to rebuild. A lot of them were Danny and Cazza’s pals and they are going to follow them.

“It’s starting with a blank piece of paper and moving forward we need to get a team together for today.

“It’s not a simple thing to do, but players move on, managers move on.

“The decision I took was not taken lightly. I had a good relationship with the lads and it went sour, but the decision was not made lightly.”

Tranter explained how Haynes, who previously managed Ellesmere Rangers and alongside Sandwith recently made up Gavin Cowan’s backroom staff at AFC Telford United, was well aware of the scale of task on his hands when appointed.

The chairman – who Carter and Carrier this week accused of sacking them due to not using the Sports Bar in town enough – insists the new management team will be under no pressure and have all the time they need.

Though he did add the club’s aim is to remain in the step five Midland Premier Division.

He added: “I want the club to regroup.

“We knew that (it will be a tough job to rebuild), we know what we’ve got.

“We might have to lose a few matches, we’re prepared to write off the season to look at building a team for next season.

“We know all of that and they understand that. There will be no pressure, they will be given as much time and help as they want.

“The first thing is to try to stay in the league.

“We had a really good bunch of players, no-one can argue that.

“If the team is decimated it’ll be difficult to rebuild momentum, but it can be a couple of steps back to go forward.”