‘Put the swim shorts away!’ - Gavin Cowan questions mentality after Shrewsbury Town’s third straight loss
Gavin Cowan suggested some Shrewsbury Town players were mentally “already on the beach” during their heavy defeat last Saturday.
Salop suffered a third consecutive League Two loss and their heaviest home defeat of the season against Crewe Alexandra.
Having pulled clear of the relegation zone during their revival under Cowan - and now sitting 11 points above danger - the head coach believes some members of his squad may have felt their job was already done.
He said: “We are still working towards a culture…towards getting this club back to being connected.
“It’s now that you find out about people, whether that's the players - we're going to have to ask questions of them - the staff, myself and Dave (Edwards), Jamie (Haynes) and Steve Parrish. It's the supporters as well.
“I get it - they're disappointed. But when I try and take the emotion out of it, the other teams have lost. We would have taken it at this stage.
“I don't want to make too many excuses about the suspensions and the injuries.
“I always want to be accountable. The players on the pitch have been more than capable.
“But I do think there's a mentality where some people think we're checked out and we're already on the beach for the summer.
“Let me just tell you, that's definitely not the mentality for myself and my staff. We're trying to drive standards and make sure that we finish the season like the fans deserve.
“We're playing catch-up from having a particularly poor season. So we want to now finish off with the next seven games and certainly be better than what everybody saw.”
Town made a nightmare start, conceding twice inside the opening eight minutes to leave themselves with a mountain to climb.
They now travel to fellow strugglers Newport County next Saturday looking to end their losing run, with Cowan demanding a response.
He added: “It’s a game that we want to go and certainly win, and get back to being the best version of ourselves. That's what the players need to do.
“They need to maybe put the swim shorts away and get the boots back out ready for training.”
Cowan watched from the directors’ box while serving a one-match touchline ban after picking up a third yellow card - two of which came during his time at former club Brackley Town.
Asked how he found the different vantage point, he said: “It’s always important to be honest, it's important for the players. They need a focal point.
“Dave and Jamie did an ample job of doing that. I don't think it's going to have a definitive on the game.
“I'm quite animated and active there, and able to get my messages on probably a little bit more in a progressive, fluent way. So, yes, it wasn't ideal.”
