Ollie Westbury on Shrewsbury loanee Tommi O'Reilly and how key he is for Salop

Shropshire Star

Jonny Drury and Ollie Westbury talked Tommi O'Reilly on the latest episode of the Shrews Views podcast. O'Reilly was an unused substitute in the defeat to Charlton - to the confusion of many Salop fans. On the new episode of Shrews Views, Jonny and Ollie discuss the tactical reason Paul Hurst gave for leaving the playmaker out. Ollie also looks at the confusion around the move and whether he expects the Aston Villa loanee to feature against Mansfield Town on Saturday.

Transcript

00:00Tommy O'Reilly because that is a, or his sort of not featuring on Saturday was a really big

00:06talking point. I know you talked to Paul Hearst after the game. What did you make of all that,

00:12Ollie? Obviously Tommy O'Reilly is someone who's excited to be fans in the opening weeks of the

00:16campaign, following his loan move from Aston Villa. Someone who clearly can, you know,

00:22find holes in the opposition and have that little sprinkle of magic as to some of the other

00:31loanees that Shoesby have. I know Paul Hearst said it was tactical reasons and etc, etc. But

00:37what have you made of that and what have you made, because there has been a little bit of a,

00:40not backlash, but I know fans have been speculating over whether something's happened

00:44behind the scenes. But is it just the case of Paul Hearst felt tactically Shoesby were

00:49better without him? Yeah, I mean, I don't want to attempt to justify it for him because I must

00:56admit, when I wrote in that analysis piece, it did seem a little bit strange that, well,

01:01it seemed strange that you're chasing the game, you're looking for a goal, you're looking for a

01:05way back into the game. And perhaps the player who has probably shown that he's got that bit of

01:10X-factor, the Shoesby player that really does feel like he's got that bit of something that

01:15might be able to cut the opposition open, to be able to put something on a plate for one of his

01:20teammates or score himself, did as seem like the Aston Villa loanee, Tommy O'Reilly. So it all

01:28seemed just a little bit odd that he hadn't come on. It's not like Shoesby have been in great form

01:36and they're struggling. And he was left out of the game at Wrexham, which was also potentially

01:49slightly strange too. But having said that, Tom Bloxham got the nod that game and he was probably

01:56town's best outfield player and he was certainly their most attacking threat from open play. So I

02:02suppose in that sense, especially in the first half, he kind of came off shortly after the break.

02:07But in that sense, I suppose that selection was justified because he actually did pretty well.

02:13And then Tommy O'Reilly didn't come on in that game until they were three nil down and the game

02:17was just gone by then. It was damage limitation and they could have lost by more. So yeah,

02:25it seems strange. Yeah. And I suppose Paul said that, you know,

02:31that wasn't the way he was thinking when he was bringing the substitutes on.

02:36And to some degree I can sort of understand that because he's saying

02:42that last time out when he brought Tom Bloxham on, he came on, he scored a brace. Well, that's

02:48the impact that he wants from a sub. And he went on to say that he doesn't believe that Tommy

02:53O'Reilly has quite made the impact off the bench. Ultimately, he's the manager, isn't he? He's the

03:00manager. He's the head coach. He will live and die by his decisions. You know, it's his call to make.

03:06He's the one that, you know, he said so himself, doesn't he? He says, if it works, then you get,

03:12well, he says, if it doesn't work, then these questions are asked. And he kind of understood

03:17that to be fair. He's very polite, isn't he, Paul Hurst? He's very chatty. He's a really,

03:21really nice chap. So he kind of understood the questions because obviously it was asked of him

03:28after the game by Stuart Dunne from BBC Radio Shropshire. But then they kind of tried to dig

03:33into the situation a little bit deeper to try and, so I was asking, because obviously Alex Gilead

03:38played on the right side of midfield on Saturday. So I was kind of trying to understand what the

03:44reasons were and whether, you know, it's because he does his defensive duties or,

03:49or, and he said that he likes Gilead's versatility and the fact that he played in three different

03:53positions over the course of 90 minutes and various other things. And yeah, probably as a

03:58maturer player and a more experienced player, you know, he probably understands the game

04:02slightly better than a Tommy O'Reilly would. And ultimately he will live and die by those

04:09decisions. He will be, obviously it was, it felt like the talking point of the afternoon, didn't

04:15it? You know, that, that, that Tommy O'Reilly didn't play. I don't buy into the falling out

04:23stuff. Well, I understand that that is absolute, that's not the case. So yeah, you can kind of put

04:31the kibosh on that one. I don't think there's anything more to it than, like you mentioned,

04:35that tactically Paul Hurst felt that, you know, at that time that, that, that that was the best

04:39thing and he's the manager and to be quite honest, Paul Hurst knows a lot more than me about football.

04:43So there would have been some, there was, there was some form of reasoning for it, you know,

04:50whether we agree with it or not. Well, it doesn't really matter because, you know, we're not, we're

04:55not the ones that pick the team. But, but I will agree with the fans in a sense and say, it does

05:01seem a little strange that someone who has shown quite a lot of promise, you know, in his short

05:06Shrewsbury career so far couldn't get on and probably I would have liked to have seen him.

05:11I think I wrote in the live blog, 65 minutes and still, still no sign of Tommy O'Reilly. So yeah,

05:18and, and, and they didn't really, as the game went on, you know, the last 10 or 15 minutes,

05:23actually they, they didn't look like scoring. It wasn't like they were banging down the door

05:27and looking as if like they're, you know, like a late onslaught to try and get back into the game.

05:32It didn't feel like that, to be perfectly honest with you, Johnny. It, it, it, it,

05:36they kind of, Charlton kind of managed that game out relatively easily. So perhaps there

05:43was an opportunity for, for Tommy O'Reilly to come on, but he didn't. And yeah, I fully expect

05:49Tommy to be involved at Mansfield in some way, shape or form this weekend.

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