As 2019 comes to an end tonight, we have asked the Salopian faithful to pick their Shrewsbury Town Team Of The Decade. Due to the number of votes, the formation is 4-5-1.

Dean Henderson (2017 – 2018)

Connor Goldson (2010 – 2015)

Toto Nsiala (2017 – 2018)

Joe Jacobson (2011 – 2014)

Mat Sadler (2010 – 2011 & 2015 – 2019)

Ryan Woods (2012 – 2015)

Greg Docherty (2018 – 2019)

Shaun Whalley (2015 – Present)

Jon Nolan (2017 – 2018)

Ben Godfrey (2017 – 2018)

James Collins (2011 – 2012 & 2014 – 2016)

Honourable mentions go to the following who received a significant number of votes but couldn’t quite make it into the eleven.

Jayson Leutwiler (2014 – 2017)

Jermaine Grandison (2011 – 2016)

Marvin Morgan (2011 – 2013)

Luke Rodgers (2012 – 2013)

Andy Mangan (2014 – 2015 & 2016)

Big thanks to all Town fans, here’s to the next decade.

Daz Carding

“Going Down The Oteley Road”

https://goingdowntheoteleyroad.home.blog/

With the current decade coming to a close this evening we asked the Salopian super fan Bizzy, for his Shrewsbury Town Team Of The Decade.

GOALKEEPER – Dean Henderson – easy choice one of the best keepers I’ve seen in a Town shirt, distribution was second to none a and a major part of our dream season two years ago.

DEFENCE

RIGHT BACK- Donald Love – arguably the best signing of the summer, brilliant going forward.

LEFT BACK- Joe Jacobson – Salops Mr Realiable did his job tidily and with minimum fuss, still performing at the top of League 1 level.

CENTRE BACK’S- Ian Sharps, Toto Nsiala and Aaron Pierre – tough choices these as I wanted to include Sadler but sadly no room. Three leaders on the pitch especially Sharpy, the other two are the best I’ve seen in years down the Meddah.

MIDFIELD – slightly lopsided midfield and there’s probably been better but in turns of excitement and entertainment these would be my pick.

RIGHT MIDFIELD – Jon Taylor – Taylor was mesmeric in his early days as a Salop player took to first team football like a duck to water.

LEFT MIDFIELD – Lionel Ainsworth – Lionel is a controversial choice went missing alot of times but on his day, Derby and Lincoln away for example he was unplayable.

CENTRE MIDFIELD – Mark Wright and Ryan Woods – Wrighty was utter class, his goals to games ratio was superb, another player who got stick from some Salop faithful and I couldn’t understand why. Finally Woodsy one of the most naturally gifted footballers I’ve seen in a Salop shirt, so comfortable with the ball.

STRIKERS

FORWARD – Andy Mangan – the little Scouse terrier, not always first choice for Salop but scored some very important goals, his equaliser vs Chelsea is worth inclusion alone. He had a great rapport with the fans, top lad and top player.

“Love and jollops, Biz x”

Be sure to follow our resident Shrewsbury Town super fan on Twitter @Bizzylad

Bizzy

“Going Down The Oteley Road”

https://goingdowntheoteleyroad.home.blog/

We asked the Salopian super fan, Bizzy refor his thoughts on our League One clash with Bolton.

“Are you still the owd wench with the glass eye and tattoos of Little and Large on each arse cheek??”

“Cracking day yesterday, stopped at the Hare and Hounds in Hindley near Wigan pre game, very friendly hosts and hard to argue that i had my fair share of jollop.”

“Very disappointing game and result looking back, if we are to harbour any play off hopes we should be looking to beat sides like that, very average at best, with a bit more guts to go for games we would have done. A piss poor Bolton outfit were there for the taking even worse that they had 10 men but we still insisted on three centre backs and Norbs as a defensive midfielder, really frustrates you at times does Samuel.”

“One plus point was a start for Ryan Giles he does give you something different, his crossing was wayward at times but decent game overall, to accomodate him though our forward line looked utterly toothless non existent in the first half did improve in the second half. Whalley looking better but another guilty of some woeful passing.”

“The first half was arguably the poorest I’ve seen this sesson, did better in the second period but we were far too deep until it was too late, shud have brought on Fey and Cummings earlier.”

“Man of the match was the returning Norbs, he was quite commanding in the middle. Bolton were starting to look really tired towards the end of the game but we still insisted with the three centre backs, so bloody frustrating.”

“Top day but not a game that will live long in the memory, far too negative from Sam. Bolton were bloody there for the taking. Hard to predict how we will get on against Bristol City, I can imagine them resting key players but have Town got the bollocks to get at them, on yesterday’s offering thats sadly a no but I would snatch your hand off for a replay.”

“Apologies for the lack christmas glee. Love and jollops, Biz x”

Be sure to follow our resident Shrewsbury Town super fan on Twitter @Bizzylad

Bizzy

“Going Down The Oteley Road”

https://goingdowntheoteleyroad.home.blog/

Our young inspirational reporter and massive Shrewsbury Town fan Corbin gives us his thoughts on yesterday’s draw with Bolton.

“My first ever visit to The University of Bolton Stadium but I remember it as The Macron Stadium, a big away crowd for our last game of 2019. Sam Ricketts made changes from the Boxing Day defeat to Rotherham wit Ryan Giles and Daniel Udoh starring with Whalley in almost a front 3, Norburn was back in the middle with Josh and the back five the same with O’leary in goal.”

“We started on the front foot Giles straight away causing problems linking up Golbourne, a mistake at the back the ball fell to Whalley with the whole goal to aim at and with the goalie stranded he smashed it wide, a Norburn shot and a Giles shot were both blocked and a Golbourne header going wide was as good as it got for us. As Bolton grew into the game they started threatening our goal, crossing the ball several times with half chances missing or blocked then a wicked cross headed over the bar by Murphy. Then what we feared Laurent lost ball on half way and the ball fell kindly to their on loan wide player Verlinden who ran onto the ball and with O’leary on edge of the box chipped him, the place erupted Bolton were 1-0 up with 34 mins gone. After the goal the game went a bit scrappy neither team with a decent effort at goal.”

“Second half started with us on top from the off, Pierre wide with a header, a Whalley strike just wide 2 mins later and then on 53 mins a ball into the box and Whalley’s shot was blocked but the ball fell to Udoh who slotted it in 1-1 our pressure paid off. 5 mins later a two footed lunge on Norburn and the ref gave a straight red to the Bolton player. 30 plus minutes against a fragile team with an extra man, surely we had to make it count!!”

“We huffed and puffed spending most of our time in their half, a double wonder save from the Bolton keeper kept out Laurent and the follow up to deny Whalley was the pick of the chances but we had lots and lots of chances either blocked wasted or wide. Bolton were defending deep and we struggled to get that killer touch into injury time. Whalley was flagged offside as he had a goal disallowed when if he had got out of the way of Laurent it might have been a different story.”

“There was still time for Pierre to narrowly miss the target before the whistle blew for a very frustrating draw against a team bottom of the table and against 10 men for 30 mins. Many fans including me thought Sam Ricketts made his subs way too late,Cummings for Udoh on 83 mins and Fejiri for Love in the 91st min perhaps 20 mins too late.”

“My man of the match today was Ollie Norburn, solid throughout and the main threat of most going forward, linking the defence to our attack, survived a vicious tackle and played the full game. Not bad after being ill and missing Rotherham game. Distraction of the FA Cup game away at Bristol City next before back to League duty on 7th January away to Doncaster.”

“The year 2019 is at its end it has been an eventful one for me with some personal memories, some highs and lows for our club. the highlights being staying up last season, the FA Cup win at Stoke and nearly beating Wolves twice! But we end the year 4 points off the play offs which is way better than 3 points off the drop as we were in January.”

“Happy New Year to everyone at Shrewsbury Town, the players, the staff and all you lovely supporters. Here’s to another great year!”

“Love and peace, Corbin.”

Thanks to Corbin for his thoughts on the game against Bolton.

Corbin Davies

“Going Down The Oteley Road”

https://goingdowntheoteleyroad.home.blog/

Here at “Going Down The Oteley Road” we will be speaking to fans of our opposition throughout the season. Ahead of our League 1 game away at Bolton Wanderers, we had a chat with a Trotters fan.

What’s your name?

Jake Sigley (middle in photo)

Where are you from?

I’m from a town called Westhoughton.

How long have you supported Bolton?

I’ve supported Bolton since 2005.

Who is your favourite ever Bolton player?

My favourite all time player, it was a difficult one but I’ve gone for Adam Le Fondre simply because he was just a fan’s favourite and scored lots of goals for the club.

Who is your favourite ever Bolton manager?

The best manager by far for us was Sam Allardyce, in the 2005 season finishing 6th in the Premier League. Buying in older players who still had it like Stelios Giannakopoulos and Jay Jay Okacka.

Who should we watch out for from the current Bolton team?

Player to watch out for is Daryl Murphy, 10 appearances and 6 goals. The target man is proving difficult for the opposition to deal with.

Where do you think you will finish in the league this season?

I’d like to be positive and say we could stay up, but I’m going to keep it realistic with the 12 point deduction for administration and maybe more to failing to complete fixtures this season and last season so I’m going to 21st spot.

What do you know about Shrewsbury?

Well Shewsbury Town boss Sam Ricketts used to play for Bolton from 2009 to 2013.

What do you think the score will be?

My score prediction for the game is Bolton 1 Shrewsbury 0.

Big thanks to Jake, hope you enjoy the game.

Daz Carding

“Going Down The Oteley Road”

https://goingdowntheoteleyroad.home.blog/

Ahead of tomorrow’s League 1 game against Bolton Wanderers we asked fans what they think the score will be.

Ross Jones – “2-1 STFC”

Richard Vernon – “3-1”

Craig Axl Evans – “2-0 Bolton”

Sam Breeze – “4-0 Town”

Scott Lane – “Take a draw, Bolton aren’t no mugs anymore”

Louie Griffiths – “1-0 Salop”

Daniel Bishton – “1-3 Town”

Bryan Draycott – “1-1”

Brian Maddocks – “1-2”

Robert Leah – “0-3 Town, COYB”

Warrick Porter – “Nice to get a win after a bad result boxing day”

Ian Breeze – “1-1”

Will Smith – “0-0”

Alan Painter-Jones – “0-0”

Steve Bowdler – “0-2 Salop! A good load of ale!”

Paul Davies – “5-0 Salop”

Mark Jones – “0-0”

Kaz Andrea Harvey – “2-1 Town”

Bizzy – “2-1 Salop and a bucketload of jollops”

Chris Thomas – “1-0 to the owd Salop”

Alun Lanning – “0-0”

Rosemary Brown – “2-2 draw”

Jason Leonard – “3-2 Salop COYB”

Daz Carding

“Going Down The Oteley Road”

@GDTORsalop

https://goingdowntheoteleyroad.home.blog/

Sam Northwood previews tomorrow’s away League 1 game against Bolton.

After a poor performance on Boxing Day, Town will travel to bottom of the table side Bolton which won’t be as easy as some people will predict.

Last time the two clubs met was in 2017 when Bolton came out 2-0 winners and eventually gained promotion to the Championship. Shrewsbury haven’t beaten Bolton in any competition for 29 years.

Town will be hoping to continue their decent run of away form. With Ryan Sears and Callum Lang back in full training they both will be near to returning after this fixture. Some fans have asked for a change up top. With Fey struggling again on Boxing Day, Cummings or Udoh are likely to be the replacement. Ollie Norburn is still a doubt for the game having not trained as of Saturday.

Bolton sit bottom of League One but only because of their points deduction, had they not had the deduction they’d be sitting outside of the relegation zone. Their main threat will be experienced striker Daryl Murphy who has got a handful of goals this season and will be a nuisance to Town’s back three.

Predicted XI’s

Shrewsbury Town:

O’Leary

Ebanks Landell

Pierre

Beckles

Love

Laurent

Walker

Golbourne

Edwards

Whalley

Udoh

Bolton Wanderers:

Matthews

Emmanuel

Bridcutt

Wright

Earl

Dodoo

Lowe

Murphy

Verlinden

Darcy

Murphy

Score Prediction: Bolton Wanderers 2-3 Shrewsbury Town

Sam Northwood

“Going Down The Oteley Road”

https://goingdowntheoteleyroad.home.blog/

We asked the Salopian super fan, Bizzy refor his thoughts on our Boxing Day League One clash with Rotherham.

“Eight sprouts in his house and he ends up shaggin his mother.”

“Struck down with the owd dreaded man flu yesterday, i was struggling a bit, attempting a couple of jollops i reached the meddah in a state of sobreity and a rather downtrodden semi influenzial state. The football on show in front of a loud 7500 plus crowd didn’t really lighten my mood up either.”

“More frustrated than critical of Salops performance yesterday, wasn’t what i say was a bad performance but in terms of getting the owd creative juices flowing it released the merest single droplets of dribbles.”

“Rotherham came here to out muscle us, frustrate us, stop us playing and when they had the moments go for goal and they succeeded on all fronts. The midfield battle was lost though only Brad Walker can really hold his head up high, Laurent looked tired and couldn’t cope with the physicality of the Millers players. Norbs would hav been ideal yesterday but you couldn’t fault Walkers effort. Edwards another on the edges of the game without doing anything of significance, shouldn’t expect too much from Davey Edwards and love the lad but sometimes he does go missing in games maybe an age/fitness thing. One criticism I do have of Sam is his insistence to play Fejiri has a lone striker, utter suicide yesterday, the Millers had a man mountain of a backline and he just crumbled cant really say its the lads fault, but Fey is only really suited to a starting berth if he had a partner to work off, if we are going to play one up front against such a big back line we may as well have played the Shop at least he would have battled for balls.”

Again despite conceding two the back three were decent, Pierre my man of the match. Hopefully any transfer talk is utter nonsense the bloke is key to Town if we can still linger any play off hopes, Omar did well too proving some doubters wrong. Through the game the main chances of note of note went Rotherham’s way apart from the Beckles miss and an awful header from Edwards going wide luckily saved by the offside flag. Deep in injury time i know, the added minutes caused by Rotherham’s unsavoury diving antics but you got to say it was a deserved winner, what the hell Whalley was doing not clearing the corner i’ll never know, that moment and ensuing winning goal summed up the day of frustration for the ballbag faithful, was a game to forget to be honest.”

“Some of the criticism i read post game was a little ott to be honest, vultures pouncing on any negativity they feed on. The games gone we will bounce back on another day we could have drew or even sneaked a win. Despite their tactics Rotherham will be in the mix come May, too much quality on paper not to be and they’ve got the one thing you need to get out of this division which is muscle and strength.”

“Not sure what to think of Bolton away on Sunday, is it a game we should be looking to win? They drew at Sunderland yet lose 7-1 at Accy. A change up top is needed too its not working with Fey alone upfront, Udoh and Giles looked bright coming on. Would love to give Ryan a starting berth but can’t see him dropping Golbourne and be silly to anyway. If only we could play wingers at times.”

“Regardless Sunday’s going to be a cracking day with some top mates.”

“Love n jollops Biz”

Be sure to follow our resident Shrewsbury Town super fan on Twitter @Bizzylad

Bizzy

“Going Down The Oteley Road”

https://goingdowntheoteleyroad.home.blog/

We asked the Salopian super fan, Bizzy refor his thoughts on our away League One game against Blackpool.

“Early start with me mucker The Whittler on the 6.45 ballbag express to the seaside, normal cracking banter pre and post game, many jollops consumed as per normal, im still recovering now.”

“Massive well done to the 540 Salopian sctotums who made the journey, one of my most enjoyable away games in a long time, the atmosphere was electric, lets not beat about the bush its not slick mesmerising football but we are really starting to frustrate teams they just seem to have a inability to break us down. There were moments of good football though especially in the first half brilliant to see Love in such an advanced role, Salops prodigal son Davey Edwards involved in all of Salops attacks too he seems to have a spark about him but the standout player most suprisingly of all was Brad Walker who came in and looked like hes been there all season brilliant mon.”

“Was a definite Salop pen but surely should have had another one too, rode our luck a bit but god we deserve a bit. The player I was worrying about most was Sullay Kaikai but he hardly had a sniff, how impressive was Aaron Pierre.”

“Fejiri did look isolated at times but Edwards and Whalley were helping him, the latter buzzing about like a Granny after spending her love honey vouchers.”

“The final whistle was blown and I’ve never felt so proud in a long time, there was a real feeling of togetherness Saturday a connection between players, manager and fans alike. I think people starting to believe a play off spot is on the cards, I still feel our lack of firepower may be our wrongdoing but with a defence more tighter than Bizzylads wallet. Who knows where we will end up.”

“Cracking 18 hour jollopfest getting too owd for this nonsense. Man of the match between Pierre and Walker but Brad gets my vote.”

“Pull ya knickers up Mrs Watkins those owd ankles are warm enough now.”

“Love n jollops Biz”

Be sure to follow our resident Shrewsbury Town super fan on Twitter @Bizzylad

Bizzy

“Going Down The Oteley Road”

https://goingdowntheoteleyroad.home.blog/

Our young inspirational reporter and massive Shrewsbury Town fan Corbin gives us his thoughts on yesterday’s victory over Blackpool.

“Another tough game against a free scoring promotion contenders Blackpool, away for our last game before Christmas. Sam Ricketts changed things Whalley, Walker and Beckles starting the only changes from the Coventry game. A new spot for us away fans in the East Stand, the old away end behind the goal now has home fans in.”

“We started the game very slow Beckles hacking at clearances and looked a bit off the pace, too many passes from our midfield were going wrong. Blackpool pressed us down the right early on and their big centre forward trying to outwit our defensive shape, in the early part of the first half Blackpool were on top but for all their pressure Max O’Leary only had one save to make tipping over a goal bound effort after 20 minutes.”

“As the half went on we started to find our passing range and Whalley made things happen with Edwards making some neat one twos. Walker pushing forward in support and Fejiri running the channels. Goldbourne down the left looked dangerous again and Donald Love had a couple of long rangers one from a Goldbourne cross and one from a Whalley free kick, the first he dragged wide tamely and the second blasted just over on the volley. Just before half time we were denied a penalty as Goldbourne again crossing and the Blackpool defender jumped into the ball with his elbow, surely a penalty but the Ref gave a corner. Our players surrounded the referee pleading with him for the nailed on penalty but he refused to give it, there were a lot of annoyed Shrewsbury fans as yet again we were denied a penalty.”

“We started the second half better than the first half but Blackpool had the first chance, a header that hit the post and shortly afterwards we finally got given a penalty, a long ball into their box and it looked like the player punched the ball clear, the ref pointed to the spot. Fejiri stepped up and smashed it into the net 1-0 to the Salop. We started looking sharper and quicker to everything as Blackpool pressed, we attacked their gaps and Shaun Whalley got clean through and should have made it 2-0 but blazed over. For Blackpool their best chances were a header going wide and a Kaikai free kick went high over the bar. We stood firm and made our subs Udoh on for Fejiri on 75 mins ,Goss for Walker and the Shop for Whalley near full time. The board went up for 6 minutes added on but we held on without too much pressure from Blackpool, the whistle blew and we all celebrated singing and dancing with the team jumping up and down at the end. Josh Laurent was the first one to join in, it was strange leaving a stadium nearly empty, the home fans had got out quick with us all singing right to the end. Sam Ricketts with his fist punch at the end was brilliant again and as we walked to the car through the Blackpool fans I carried on singing. We played well today at times we dug in and made it hard for Blackpool, we finally got given a penalty our first League penalty this season. On the balance of play we deserved a point but we got all 3 points to get closer to those play offs.”

“My Man of The Match goes to Brad Walker, hardworking performance coming in for the suspended Norburn, I thought he might struggle being his first start since Leasing.com Trophy. His defensive work was very good and his forward passes all be it with a few going astray were positive, he slotted in like he played every week.”

“Our next outing is Boxing Day at home to another high flying side in Rotherham. Merry Christmas everyone love and peace, Corbin. Up The Town!”

Thanks to Corbin for his thoughts on the game against Blackpool.

Corbin Davies

“Going Down The Oteley Road”

https://goingdowntheoteleyroad.home.blog/