Football Season Guide

Shrewsbury enjoyed a strong season last term. However, the reality was that it was mainly a 2-month spell (December-January) in which 8 league wins were achieved that saved the team. Looked in trouble for the first few months of the season. Suddenly, shot up the table when the good form hit. From a place in the relegation zone moved up to be sitting just outside the top 6 at the end of January. The short burst of form ran out of steam after that. Combined with many injury issues the small squad struggled late in the season again. Once the campaign finished a summer of changes began. The long-serving manager Cotterill left after falling out with the Board over the sale of Leahy and Matthew Taylor is now stepping in as the new Shrewsbury boss. This was just the tip of the iceberg though with 7 players leaving and 9 new arriving already. Captain Leahy has left the club and his departure leaves a massive hole. He was also Shrewsbury’s top goalscorer last season so replacing him will be a hard task. The Shrews got in trouble last season because their squad was very small and late in the campaign they had 4-5 important players missing injured at all times. It seems to address that this summer they are shopping youngsters by the bucket. Creating depth is a good thing but it is questionable how many of these low-profile new signings can play important roles. Many more changes as the season progresses can be expected. The big question will be can Shrewsbury survive the drop without Leahy and Cotterill leading them.