Jonny Drury and Ollie Westbury discuss Shrewsbury's lack of goal threat and a need for more on this week's Shrews Views podcast.
Salop were condemned to their second 1-0 defeat on the spin on Tuesday night and sit seven points adrift of safety at the foot of League One.
Gareth Ainsworth have made them more defensively solid since his arrival - but as the gap at the bottom widens their need for points grows.
Jonny and Ollie look at their lack of firepower and quality at the top end of the pitch, and discuss where it could come from.
Salop were condemned to their second 1-0 defeat on the spin on Tuesday night and sit seven points adrift of safety at the foot of League One.
Gareth Ainsworth have made them more defensively solid since his arrival - but as the gap at the bottom widens their need for points grows.
Jonny and Ollie look at their lack of firepower and quality at the top end of the pitch, and discuss where it could come from.
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00:00There's no doubt that Gareth Ainsworth has made town defensively kind of solid. If you
00:05go back through, you know, if you take out the 4-1 defeat at Cambridge and the 4-1 defeat
00:12at home to Wickham, sure, the goals against column is down. However, the goals for column,
00:18you know, has always been a concern, still is a concern. I'm just looking back now in
00:22the games that Ainsworth has managed, they've only scored two or more goals on three occasions.
00:29Now he's kept them in games, he's made them more defensively solid, but that's I think
00:35three defeats now from the last four, which we've referenced the gap that's kind of widened
00:41again a little bit, seven points of drift, albeit with a game in hand. My question to
00:46you is, he's got them more defensively solid now. Do they have to, I hate the phrase, take
00:52the handbrake off, but do they have to kind of have a go a little bit and take some risks?
00:59Because the games are kind of running out now, you know, there are a lot, there is quite
01:03a few to play, but as these games kind of continue to run out and the games run down,
01:09you know, yes, you're in games against sides that are up there, Stockport's a good side,
01:13they're at the top of the division, but do they have to maybe sacrifice some of that
01:17defensive solidity to go for it a little bit more and try and nick wins or nick points?
01:22Obviously that makes you a little bit more vulnerable and, you know, Salah are more vulnerable
01:26because they're down the league, bottom of the league for a reason. They haven't got
01:29as much quality as other sides, but do they have to find a tiny bit more of a balance
01:33now because, you know, games are going to run out thick and fast?
01:37Yeah, yeah. I mean, Gareth Ainsworth, I mean, I don't really need to answer that question
01:43because Gareth Ainsworth said it himself post-match. He came out and said, I'm going to have to
01:48let these players off the lead now. He says we need points, we need wins, we need to score
01:52more goals. So the one thing I find he's very good at is he takes ownership for everything
01:56before it ever becomes a problem. So, yeah, I mean, he came out and said it himself. So,
02:02you know, I imagine we're going to see shoes, but it's weird because they've gone in cycles,
02:05haven't they, since Ainsworth came in. I mean, they started off kind of, not pre-scoring,
02:11but they started off like scoring a few goals, but letting absolutely shed loads in and they've
02:18kind of gone full circle to the stage of now they don't let shed loads in. They just let
02:22their solitary one goal in a game, pretty much. But they're not scoring the goals that they have.
02:30I mean, I can't help but think that the Tom Bloxham departure, and I know like it's only
02:34been three games since, so obviously Tom Bloxham went before the Wrexham game. Obviously they
02:39scored two there, but they've not scored against Charlton. They've not scored against Stockport.
02:42I mean, we were there at the Wrexham game. That was Shrewsbury capitalising on two mistakes
02:46from defenders. Wrexham had an outstanding finish from John Marquess. But for me,
02:51it feels as though a little bit since Tom Bloxham was gone, they've lost that attacking spark on the
02:56right-hand side. And I was talking to somebody about it at a game last night, but you watch
03:01Shrewsbury went to Blackpool and they played in a similar way to how they did last night.
03:05You know, they were very organised. They were very resolute. They stayed behind the ball.
03:10But what they had is they had a Tom Bloxham on the right-hand side who would pick the ball up in his
03:16own half and he would run with it and he would carry it forward and he would carry it forward
03:19to the edge of the penalty area and he would make something happen. And Town have lost that now.
03:24You know, they've got a team full of very functional, very organised, very hard-working
03:28footballers that Gareth Haynesworth is getting the maximum out of, but they are lacking the spark.
03:34They are lacking the cutting and that bit of something that's going to create an opportunity
03:39out of nothing. And that's what they've lost since the departure of Tom Bloxham. And it's
03:46the only way you can see it coming from is the transfer window. That's where they potentially
03:53need to go into now to be able to replace that threat that he offered them. Because I suppose
04:02that's the difference. You cannot fault the work rate of the front two. Marcus and Lloyd,
04:06they give absolutely everything. Each time they run their hearts out. And I think that goes for
04:12the same team, the whole team. They give everything, but they're just missing that
04:18bit of X factor that they need that's going to offer them a goal threat because you can't just
04:25camp in and try and hang on because teams are going to have quality like what Ollie Norwood
04:31showed last night where they scored a goal and then Town need to be able to come out.
04:35And like they showed against Blackpool that they can do that because they have got attacking players.
04:40Obviously, a lot of players have gone and they've kind of replaced them with
04:44three lads from the non-league. Don Gape, I thought, did pretty well last night,
04:48especially for the first 60 minutes. He perhaps tired a little bit, but that's probably
04:51understandable. But obviously, from what we can see of Cameron Stewart and Riccardo Di Nanga,
04:56these are development players. They might have an impact between now and the end of the season,
05:00but they're development players. So Shrewsbury have only really got weaker over the course of
05:05January, not stronger. So this next few days until the 3rd of Feb is absolutely crucial for
05:10the future of Shrewsbury's season and for their Ligue 1 status, which is not to be honest, it's
05:15been hanging by a thread since the end of August. But if we're being completely honest, it's now or
05:21never time, isn't it? It's the S word or bust. That's where we're at. That's the stage that
05:28we're at now for Pound. So fingers crossed they can get some really important business done
05:33in the next week or so. Well, it's Monday, isn't it, that the window shuts and they can
05:40get some reinforcements in. They need to be in touching distance, Bob, by the end of this month,
05:44and then they've got some potentially more winnable games coming up. This run's honking,
05:50isn't it? It's a difficult run.