"I needed to get it off my chest" - Michael Appleton reveals half time outburst during chaotic Shrewsbury Town draw
Michael Appleton revealed he ‘ranted and raved’ at his players at half time in Shrewsbury’s 2-2 draw at Oldham Athletic.
Town were lucky to go into the break level after the hosts were denied by the woodwork three times, but showed more fight and quality in the second half.
They twice took the lead before being pegged back shortly after, and while frustrated that his side could not hold on for all three points Appleton was pleased with the reaction Shrewsbury showed after the break.
“The main emotion is probably frustration and a bit of disappointment, but I’m also a realist and I thought we were really poor in the first half,” the Shrewsbury boss said. “We weren’t competitive enough, we weren't aggressive enough and we weren't brave enough.
"I thought we lacked a lot of the qualities that we've been really good at recently, and if it wasn't for Will making a couple of really, really fantastic saves we could have and should have been a goal or two down at half time.
"Second half I thought we were very good and were much braver with the ball, more aggressive and created some decent opportunities.
"I was surprised [about the first half performance] and I let my feelings be well and truly known at half time.
"I didn't say anything particularly technical or tactical to them at half time, it was more just me ranting and raving at them, which isn't always a good thing but I felt that I needed to do it to get it off my chest.
"We knew what time of game it was going to be today and we'd spoken about it all week. We knew it would be a game of basketball from minute one because that's how they play, everything is always really quick.
"That's why I was doubly frustrated at half time, but it's hard to be too negative about the players because of how they reacted and played in the second half.
"The lads are really frustrated and disappointed, but I had to remind them that I'm the one that had to watch them in that first half.
"For as disappointed as they are with how the game ended, I'm also delighted with how they went about things in the second half, and there's a resolute feeling about the group at the minute which probably wasn't there during the early parts of the season.
"We had to dig in today at times, and ultimately we've come away from home and picked up what will hopefully be an important point."
Anthony Scully and Tommy McDermott both netted their first league goals of the season at Boundary Park, but were cancelled out by strikes from Tom Pett and Joe Garner.
