Shrewsbury Town debrief: Wycombe point small consolation after damaging week

But surprisingly, in a way they couldn’t at Birmingham City at the weekend, they rallied, and while at times it was not always convincing, they came away from Buckinghamshire with a point. 

That point was new head coach Michael Appleton’s first in charge of the football club after being appointed last week.  

Rode their luck

It was a steady performance from Shrewsbury, but there is little doubt they rode their luck in the clash at Adams Park. 

The home side had 33 shots on the Shrewsbury goal over the 90 minutes, and there were so many moments when you thought ‘they should have scored there’. 

But equally, the fact the Chairboys could not put the ball in the back of Salop’s net is not their fault. 

There were also moments of bravery from the Shrewsbury defenders where they put their bodies on the line and made vital last-ditch interventions. 

That is not something Town fans have seen from their side at various stages of this awful campaign. 

Weird atmosphere 

Town have done well in their last three visits to Adams Park - winning two and getting a draw on Tuesday. 

But the atmosphere inside the stadium was very strange for a side that has aspirations of finishing in the top two. 

Given the fact Salop are bottom, the takeover had just collapsed, it was the travelling fans who had the right to be despondent and disappointed - but Wycombe were then booed off at full-time - and their manager Michael Dodds had an angry exchange with a fan by the tunnel. 

During the game, it was very quiet inside the stadium - to the point you could almost hear every word the players were saying to each other. 

Attempts to play 

Appleton said on Saturday that he wanted his team to play more, and they tried to do that. 

In the opening 15 minutes of the clash, they passed the ball more than they had done in the last three matches combined. 

There is still work to be done on turning that passing into an attacking threat, when they did break through into Wycombe’s final third, they just lacked that bit of composure needed. 

But after watching Town play in a really direct way for the last few months, it was a noticeable change of style - the boss said after the match they will continue to do so. 

Players rallied 

There won’t have been many worse weeks in Shrewsbury’s recent history. Gareth Ainsworth was the bit of x-factor, but after he walked out on them, and then their takeover collapsed, it felt like Town were falling apart. 

So credit to the players. They are not idiots. They will have been following what has happened in recent days and seen the turmoil the club is going through. Fairplay to them for giving the Shrews fans at least something to smile about. There certainly isn’t much else to be optimistic about. 

They now have another game, which is much more winnable, this weekend when Cambridge come to the Croud Meadow.