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.
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