Shrewsbury Town Season Preview: Encouraging Signs for Salop

Shrewsbury Town are preparing to move into a new era under a new manager and a somewhat overhauled squad, and there seem to be plenty of reasons for optimism.

Salop finished 12th in League One last season, a marked improvement over their previous finishes of 18th and 17th in the two seasons prior.

Despite this, manager Steve Cotterill was moved on and replaced by former Walsall boss Matt Taylor, who had been out of work for slightly over a year.

This is Taylor’s second job in senior football after presiding over just nine wins in 36 matches at Walsall, but he will be joined by experienced coach Marcus Bignot as his assistant.

While his record at the Bescot Stadium was unremarkable, Taylor was largely positively regarded by fans for trying to implement a positive style of play, even if he came up short.

Transfers

Players in: Carl Winchester, Taylor Perry, Morgan Feeney, Jason Sraha, Michael Parker, Tunmise Sobowale, Nohan Kenneh (loan), Elliot Thorpe (loan), Joe Anderson (loan)

Players out: Matthew Pennington, Rekeil Pyke, Charlie Caton, Kade Craig, Josh Barlow, Jaden Bevan, Luke Leahy, Tom Bloxham (loan), Aiden O’Brien (loan)

Salop’s transfers so far have had a common theme of bringing the age of the squad down with a couple of sensible upgrades mixed in.

The only new arrival aged over 24 is 30-year-old Carl Winchester, with the midfielder signing on a permanent deal after a successful loan spell last season.

22-year-old Taylor Perry has also come in to replace the outgoing Luke Leahy after the former Wolves starlet impressed on a pair of loans with Cheltenham in recent seasons.

Defender Morgan Feeney has been drafted in to replace Matthew Pennington fresh off winning an unlikely promotion with Carlisle last season.

The only departure who is yet to be replaced is forward Rekeil Pyke, but the Shropshire Star reported on Wednesday morning that Salop are considering a move for experienced striker James Collins.

Collins would represent a huge upgrade on Pyke, with the Irish international being a consistent goal scorer in League One over his career, scoring 56 goals in 154 games in the division.

Liberian international Nohan Kenneh also represents an interesting loan signing after he got a season of Scottish Premiership experience under his belt with Hibs and Ross County.

Joe Anderson and Elliot Thorpe will be looking to make an impression in senior football after playing only bit-part roles throughout their careers so far.

Performance

Shrewsbury have had an underwhelming pre-season on the surface, failing to win any games, but there are green shoots in there.

They scored in every game they played, hinting at important progress after struggling for goals last season.

Fleetwood, Exeter and Burton all scored more goals than Salop last season despite finishing directly below them, while relegated Morecambe only scored five fewer goals.

Losing Leahy, who was their top scorer with 12 league goals, is a blow but drafting in Collins should more than replace those goals.

Pre-season also saw the reintroduction of Daniel Udoh after a serious ACL injury alongside creative full-back George Nurse.

Combined with the positive style of play that Taylor prefers, Salop should be good for another strong showing this season.

Prediction: Upper mid-table