Booing your own players?!

If a player is having a poor game then there is no denying it can be wholly frustrating. It may even get you saying a few choice words after one too many poor passes. But would you ever boo one of your own players while a game is going on?

I should imagine quite a few have howled at the full time whistle after a disastrous defeat, I know that I have done.

But I would never, ever boo one of my own players while they are playing in a game.

The reason for this post is that Mark Wright, who has scored 22 goals in 82 games from the left hand side of midfield for Shrewsbury Town, has come under scrutiny following a few below average performances.

Now, admittedly, Wright can be frustrating and appear to be a ‘lazy’ player. However he is always capable of popping up with a goal and winning the game. Indeed, he was top goal scorer last season with 14 goals and already has 8 goals and 5 assists this campaign.

But a section of Shrewsbury fans have decided to voice their frustrations at Wright and during last weekend’s 2-0 victory over Gillingham, they criticism became blatantly audible.

Wright responded by scoring the second goal and celebrated by cupping his ear towards the vocal minority, something which sparked a debate on the message boards.

There is no evidence that booing a player has a negative or even a positive impact on their performances, but how would you feel to have a number of people barracking you while you try your upmost to do well for the team?

I couldn’t believe the stick Wright was getting during that game, I thought he had a good afternoon and fully deserved his goal which hopefully will get the critics off his back.

Wright has come out in the press and said he knows he will never please all the club’s fans and he will just continue working hard and proving them wrong, a pleasing reaction to what happened.

But can the boo-boys feel proud, justified and satisfied with what they did that day?

This isn’t an issue solely for Shrewsbury Town fans and players; it happens all over the country at games at all levels.

So, would you feel justified in booing one of your own players while a game is ongoing? Let me know, E-Mail sam@addedtime.co.uk or Twitter @sam_morris89

My Top 5 memories of League Two 2011

As the calendar year draws to an end, I look back at 2011 and pick my five favourite moments of the year.

Hearing that Southend had gone 1-0 up against Wycombe on final day of last season

My team Shrewsbury Town needed to better Wycombe’s result in our match against Oxford to secure automatic promotion to League One. We had sold out the ground, there was a real feeling of belief and positivity around the place and it was bouncing. About twenty minutes in, news started to filter in that Southend had taken the lead at Wycombe. I have never seen such jubilant scenes in a football ground without a goal having been scored! People were jumping up and down, hugging each other and having a great time. OK, so the results didn’t stay that way or go the way we wanted them to in the end, but for that period of time that it was going well, it was amazing.

Paolo Di Canio being appointed Swindon Town manager

I have had a soft spot for Di Canio ever since being at the Everton vs. West Ham United game when Di Canio, faced with an open goal due to Everton goalkeeper Paul Gerrard being stranded outside the box injured, caught the ball that had been crossed in instead of scoring. I only ever saw him play once, but I always watched highlights of his teams and when news broke of his appointment at Swindon, I was delighted. I even had the opportunity to meet him when his Swindon side visited Shrewsbury and he was a pleasure to talk to. I know others may not have the same opinion of the man, but for me it is a treat to have him in this division.

 Steve Evans rant on FL Show

 Steve Evans is not the most popular character in the League and his club aren’t exactly flavour of the month. When the Football League Show took their cameras to AFC Wimbledon for their match with Crawley, who knew what they were likely to pick up?! From what we saw, Crawley outplayed their hosts and got a deserved three points. But Evans wasn’t happy, got sent to the stands and at the end of the game as the cameras followed him onto the pitch, he decided to have a paddy and demanded “point your cameras at Terry” for no reason! Crawley officials also declined interviews and just made themselves look childish. Seeing Evans throw his toys out the pram was very funny.

Northampton Town 2-7 Shrewsbury Town

This was just simply unbelievable. Northampton had just dispensed with Gary Johnson and us Shrewsbury fans were expecting a tough game, as is usually the norm when a team changes managers. Within half an hour we were 3-0 up and cruising. A tough start to the second half saw us twitching a bit before a ten minute, four goal spree saw us smash seven goals in a game for the third time in three years and the packed away end was going mental! A great day and one that will live with me for a while.

Seeing AFC Wimbledon in the League

What happened to the old Wimbledon and MK Dons was so wrong in my opinion. I was delighted to see AFC Wimbledon rise through the non-leagues with a strong fan base and was rooting for them to win their Blue Square Bet Premier playoff against Luton Town. When they did, I was ecstatic to see them reach the Football League once again. When they played at Shrewsbury, their fans were excellent. Loud, passionate and happy to be in the league – a real credit to their club.

What are your favourite memories of League Two in 2011? Let us know, E-Mail sam@addedtime.co.uk or contact me on Twitter @sam_morris89

Aidy Boothroyd appointed Northampton Town manager

Aidy Boothroyd has today been confirmed as the new manager of Northampton Town on a rolling one year contract, replacing Gary Johnson.

While it may appear a bit of a coup in attracting a big name to drop to League Two to try and turn around their season, I personally am not overly sure that the Cobblers have made the correct appointment.

When they appointed Gary Johnson, I thought that while it was a good name, he wouldn’t have such an in depth knowledge of League Two as perhaps some of the other candidates. This can again explain my thoughts about Boothroyd.

He did an excellent job at Watford, had a tough time at Coventry but what does he know about the run of the mill League Two game?

I hope for Northampton supporters’ sake he does well, they have suffered for a while now and deserve something to cheer about.

As for the style of football that Boothroyd will probably play, again I don’t think that it will suit Northampton.

A Watford supporting friend of mine said on Twitter: “Let’s just hope the Northampton Town fans have their neck braces at the ready. #hoof”

Now, direct football is not always a bad thing in League Two. However, with Adebayo Akinfenwa up front and arguably their most important player, this will not work. He can’t run, he can’t jump so launching long balls to him will not work for Northampton.

Get the ball to his feet and he is a threat.

We will have to wait and see what tactics Boothroyd adopts and whether he is the right appointment.

Good luck to all at Northampton.

Gary Johnson leaves Northampton

So, Gary Johnson has parted company with Northampton Town after eight months at the helm of the Sixfields club.

The former Bristol City manager was appointed in March but he only managed a win percentage of just under 21%

And the most astonishing thing in all of this for me was that he was given almost a free reign on player recruitment, with a total overhaul of the Northampton squad in the summer. Only four players survived the cull.

But Johnson was already planning a winter exodus, announcing he wanted to axe up to ten players in the transfer window, including players he himself had signed.

Ultimately, this was an admission of failure and once he announced this, there was no doubt in my mind that his tenure was soon to end.

Looking from the outside, Chairman David Cardoza seems a top man to work for, giving his managers decent budgets and giving them plenty of time to prove themselves, but this was definitely the time for Johnson to go.

He had done so well at Bristol City, but then struggled at Peterborough before jumping into the hot seat at Northampton. 

He never seemed to know his best eleven, always appeared to be making excuses and at the end of the day never having any answers.

There is no arguing that he is a good manager, but I think he needs to take some time out of football before taking another job to rebuild his reputation.

As for Northampton, where to go next?

They have tried the route of appointing an experienced man in Johnson and failed; they have also experimented with appointing a club legend in Ian Sampson but again failed.

I don’t think it would hurt to give it to a young, upcoming yet unproven manager. He would have fresh ideas and not be scared to try new things. As for names, I have no idea.

Thankfully, I am not the chairman!

An update.

Firstly, let me apologise for not updating AddedTime too much recently. I have been so busy, with some part time work, a bit of freelance work and also a couple of job interviews and trials.

One of these trials also meant that I had to miss Shrewsbury’s trip to Southend, resulting in no away day review either, so again apologies about that.

Talking of Southend, what a run they are on at the moment. Six wins in a row and sitting top of the league. What has happened at Roots Hall over the summer for this sort of transformation?

For me, I think it is the type of players that Paul Sturrock has managed to bring in. Neil Harris is the obvious one, but bringing in some experience over the summer to play alongside the younger players seems to really be doing the trick.

I was told by somebody that went to the Shrewsbury game down there that Southend’s style is quite direct and not that pretty, but at the end of the day, if it gets you top of the league, does it matter?

Crawley Town have also recovered from their mini blip to move second in the table. There are no surprises there to be honest as I always expected them to be right up there with the players they have managed to buy over the last season or so.

Down at the bottom, Hereford have made an excellent appointment in Gary Peters in my opinion. The man is a real grafter, puts in hours and hours of work and knows how to keep teams up. He did exactly that with Shrewsbury when we were in a similar position to Hereford and he really transformed our club.

I hope Hereford fans give him a chance, what with his connections to Shrewsbury. So far it seems they have and a 3-3 draw away at Swindon suggests he could be starting to work his magic already.

I will be travelling to Crawley on Saturday to watch Shrewsbury take on Steve Evans’ side, so my Away Day reviews will also start again as of this weekend, so please keep checking back.

Ticket prices are too high!

Port Vale away. £20.50. Ouch.

That is how much I have had to shell out to have the ‘privilege’ of watching Shrewsbury in their upcoming game at Vale Park – not exactly the home of football!

Unfortunately, these high ticket prices are becoming the norm, not only in the top divisions of the English football pyramid, but now in the lower leagues too.

There are several clubs in what is effectively the Fourth Division who now charge supporters around the £20 mark, which I find extremely difficult to justify.

Now, if a club had excellent facilities and a great view etc, then you don’t mind paying a little bit extra, but there are now grounds in this league that can boast these, possibly Bradford aside, but even that would be pushing it.

For Swindon to be able to charge £25 for a seat tucked away in the corner of their ground is wrong, while clubs like Southend are also hitting the £20 barrier.

But while there are no rulings on how much ticket prices are, then clubs will continue to charge these prices.

Of course, the fact that people like me and you continue to pay to go to games also means that clubs won’t revise their pricing structures, but they definitely should be restricted on what they can charge.

In my opinion, I do not think that any club in the bottom tier of English Football should be able to charge admission prices over £15 for an adult, a price that is plenty.

This also shows that I am not being biased in my views, as my club Shrewsbury charge £17 for an adult, although we do offer excellent family tickets which are brilliant value for money.

The sooner that limits on ticket prices are implemented, the better for everyone, although I am not holding my breath.

Agree with these views? Get in touch on Twitter @sam_morris89 or E-Mail sam@addedtime.co.uk

League Two Transfer Deadline Day

Despite all the hectic late activity in the Premier League on Transfer Deadline Day, it was a relatively quiet night for most managers in League Two.

But there were a few moves, both in and out of clubs in our division that did catch the eye. Here I take a look at a few of them.

Emile Sinclair Macclesfield to Peterborough for an undisclosed fee

This will be a big loss to Macclesfield. Although he didn’t hit top form last season, a full pre-season and being the main man at Moss Rose seemed to have done the trick for Sinclair as he started the season bang in form, including goals at both Hull City and Bolton Wanderers. A move to Posh was undoubtedly too good to turn down, but will he really play that regularly there? I have my doubts. Although we don’t know the fee that Macc have received, I think it may have been best for all parties if he had stayed for the season before reassessing his options in the summer. 

Matt Duke Unattached to Bradford

New Bradford boss Phil Parkinson was the busiest League Two manager by a long shot on deadline day, bringing in three players. But the capture of the experienced Duke, recently released by Hull was the top one in my eyes. A good solid keeper who will improve competition between the sticks at Valley Parade, Duke will prove invaluable in the Bantams’ quest to move up the table. And all this on a free transfer.

Jamie Devitt Hull City to Bradford on loan

Devitt is no stranger to League Two football, having had two loan spells in the division with Shrewsbury Town and Grimsby Town a few seasons back. While he failed to live up to his reputation while in Shropshire, he impressed many in the Grimsby shirt as he bid to help save the Mariners from relegation. He then went back to Hull and has made a few first team starts at the KC Stadium, but another spell on loan will help both him and Bradford in the long term.

Alex Revell Leyton Orient to Rotherham for an undisclosed fee

Rotherham losing goalscoring maestro Adam Le Fondre was bad news for them, but Andy Scott moved swiftly to replace the Reading bound hitman. Alex Revell will be a decent player at this level, and his pace and trickery as well as his eye for goal will cause several League Two defences some problems this season. Whether he can replace the goals the Millers have lost through Le Fondre’s departure though is another matter.

Stuart Fleetwood Hereford United to Luton Town for an undisclosed fee 

This is possibly one of the strangest moves from deadline day in the bottom division. Although Fleetwood is yet to find the net yet this season for the Bulls, he was one of the main reasons they stayed in the Football League last campaign. He always guaranteed goals, so unless the bid submitted by Luton was an enormous one, I cannot understand why Jamie Pitman allowed his main striker to leave.

Here is a list of the key deadline day transfers that involved League Two clubs.

Player	From	To	Fee
Emile Sinclair	Macclesfield	Peterborough	Undisclosed
Alex Revell	Leyton Orient	Rotherham	Undisclosed
Matt Duke	Unattached	Bradford	Free
Dean Overson	Unattached	Bradford	Free
Jamie Devitt	Hull City	Bradford	Loan
Ahmed Abdulla	West Ham	Swindon Town	Loan
Jordan Brown	West Ham	Aldershot Town	Loan
Jonathan Franks	Middlesbrough	Oxford United	Loan
Jamie Griffiths	Ipswich Town	Plymouth Argyle	Loan
Simon King	Gillingham	Plymouth Argyle	Loan
Andy Little	Rangers	Port Vale	Loan
Ben Swallow	Bristol Rovers	Bath City	Loan
Michael Timlin	Swindon Town	Southend United	Loan
Stuart Fleetwood	Hereford United	Luton Town	Undisclosed

Agree or disagree with any of my views? Let me know on Twitter @sam_morris89

An update!

Sorry for not blogging for a while, it has been a manic few weeks for me! Job interviews, holidays and part-time work all took their toll on my blogging time.

But I am back. And I thought that it was time for a bit of a review of the opening five games of the season and see which teams are doing better than expected and which sides are somewhat underachieving.

We will start with teams I perceive to be doing better than anyone expected.

First up, Morecambe. When Jim Bentley took over at the Globe Arena, I don’t think many people had them down to do anything special, but a start consisting of four wins and one defeat in the cup, as well as a win at Barnsley in the Carling Cup have exceeded all expectations and the Shrimps currently sit second in the league.

I’m not sure how they will fare over the rest of the season once injuries have taken their toll and suspensions start to tally up, but Bentley has made an impressive start so it will be interesting to keep an eye on their progress.

Second up, Macclesfield Town have started fairly well. Although they are only 13th in the League, to have 7 points from the opening 5 games is a decent achievement for one of the clubs who were bookies’ favourites to go down.

They have also had an impressive cup run, beating Hull at the KC Stadium before giving Bolton a run for their money at the Reebok Stadium, eventually bowing out by 2 goals to 1.

And now to move onto some of the underachievers after 5 games.

Swindon Town were one of the favourites to get promotion and return to League One at the first attempt under the guidance of Paolo Di Canio, but after many summer signings, they have only won one of their first five games, losing the other four.

Despite some decent football being played, the team doesn’t look like it has gelled properly yet and there seems to be a lack of confidence once the going gets tough. They sit 21st in the table at the moment, so Di Canio needs to get the problems sorted quickly to turn their season around.

Northampton are another team who I feel are not doing as well as they could be. Having signed players such as Jake Robinson and Adebayo Akinfenwa, they should have the firepower to be able to mount a promotion push, but they seem to have a bit of a problem in keeping goals out, and they sit 19th as it stands.

Gary Johnson is starting to come under a bit of pressure from some sections of the Northampton fanbase, players like Shaun Harrad seem to be on their way out when they could be a useful player for the club and results aren’t going their way. It will be interesting to see if they can turn it round.

Just to finish, I would like to give a quick mention to my own side Shrewsbury Town, who have managed to reach the third round of the Carling Cup, and have drawn a plumb tie, Arsenal away!

Excitement amongst the fans is huge, and everybody can’t wait for the game to arrive! Who knows, the way Arsenal are playing there could even be an upset on the cards!

The Schoolboy error!

Yes, I have committed the ultimate sin!

I am going on holiday during the football season! I like to think I have a decent excuse, one of my close friends is getting married in Chicago, something I can’t really miss, but knowing I will be missing Shrewsbury’s first two games is nagging.

I always try and plan my breaks and trips to coincide with pre-season or during the close season, but it wasn’t meant to be this time.

So, come Sunday lunchtime, I will be on the plane, new Shrewsbury shirt on (they are going on sale Sunday morning, I will be in the queue!) and enjoying a beer on the way to the States.

And on August 6^th, I will be relying on someone keeping me up to speed with the Town game at home to Plymouth, and I will also be missing the Carling Cup trip to Derby on the following Tuesday.

My first game back is Burton away, not a bad one to be back for, as it is usually a decent away trip, so I will be looking forward to that.

So, for those of you who have managed to plan their summer holidays better than me, enjoy the start of the season, and feel free to keep me up to date with Shrewsbury’s results on Twitter @sam_morris89

Pre-season friendlies under way

Football is back!

With players back in training and fans itching for the new season to begin, the pre-season friendlies are now in full swing, with many clubs having already played a game or two.

These games are often played at a lower tempo than competitive fixtures, but the chance to watch some football after months of shopping with the Mrs or playing cricket in the rain of “summer” and see how your club’s new signings are settling in make these games appealing.

So, who have your team played so far? How have they got on? Are there any players you think are going to be key players next season? And do you have any stand out friendlies coming up?

As for my team, Shrewsbury Town, we played our first game last Monday, away at The New Saints of the Welsh Premier League in the Shropshire Senior Cup semi final.

Our manager Graham Turner felt this game came too early in the pre-season programme to send our first team, and coupled with the fact it was to be played on the Saints’ plastic pitch, it was our Youth team with a couple of young pros thrown in who went on to lose 2-1.

Even though I knew it was going to be our youngsters playing, I went as I just wanted to watch some football! Oh, and I was asked to do the match report for our official website, which you can read here.

Get in touch with me on Twitter @sam_morris89 or E-Mail sam@addedtime.co.uk to let me know how your pre-season is going so far.

The plan for addedtime

With pre-season training beginning for many clubs this week, I have been thinking long and hard about what to do on this blog once the real season gets underway.

And now I know!

As you will know if you have read my About Me page, I am an avid Shrewsbury Town fan. I travel to all away games and go to every home game too.

So, what I am going to do is this: For each Shrewsbury away day, I am going to do a review of the whole day, based on a series of categories including the ground, the fans, the food and the prices.

I will give each category a score out of ten, and at the end of the season I will see who was the best away day!

For when Shrewsbury are at home, I will be looking for a fan of the opposition to do the same thing, but for our ground, and then we can see who rates Shrewsbury as an away day and who doesn’t.

So, if you are interested in helping me with this, please E-Mail me on sam@addedtime.co.uk or contact me on Twitter @sam_morris89

I will also continue blogging on aspects of League Two throughout the season, so keep checking back to see what is going on and what I make of the whole thing!

Taylor now agrees to stay!

Twitter is a wonderful thing. Especially when it breaks news like it did today. Connor Goldson tweeted a picture of Jon Taylor putting pen to paper on a new two year contract, despite the midfielder yesterday indicating he was ready to move on.

Taylor announced on Facebook yesterday he wouldn’t be signing, but earlier today he revealed that his head was “chocker” and he didn’t know what to do.

Within hours, he had signed his new deal.

So what does this mean for STFC? Well, we get to keep one of our brightest young talents for the next two years, and we don’t run the risk of losing him for free to a Scottish club!

Every Town fan is delighted with the news that Jon is staying with the club, and hopefully more signings are to follow.

Click here to see the picture of Jon signing his two year contract.

Jon Taylor to leave Shrewsbury Town?

Well, one of the first bit of transfer news at Shrewsbury and it sees one of our most promising performers of last season decide to leave the club.


Teenage winger Jon Taylor has decided that is future lies away from the Greenhous Meadow, after only half a season of professional football.

We will undoubtedly miss the Scouser’s tenacity and never say die attitude, but at 18 years of age it is still unclear how much further he will develop.
Taylor was offered a new two year contract by Graham Turner following the Shrews play-off defeat to Torquay, and it is believed that Taylor wanted to stay if it was improved.

It obviously wasn’t, and he is now off.

Sometimes you are p***ed off when a player leaves the club like this, but with Jon, I think he will leave us with the best wishes of most of our fanbase.

He came into the side, turned our season around, and is now going to move on to a presumably bigger club on higher wages.

The only thing we don’t want to see is him join a Scottish club, resulting in no compensation for us! We have already been through this with the departure of Chris Humphrey to Motherwell a few years back.

Despite Taylor’s impending departure, news unofficially broke of a potential arrival at the club, with former Aldershot striker Marvin Morgan being strongly linked with the club.

If Morgan does arrive, it will somewhat soften the blow of Taylor’s departure and that of Matt Harrold, who left the club earlier in the week to sign for Bristol Rovers.

So, it seems a case of goodbye and good luck Jon, hello and welcome Marvin!

The fixtures are out!

Well, the fixtures are now out, and I can already picture several of you planning your train journeys to your favourite games and booking time off work for those long Tuesday night trips to the other end of the country!

For the new boys in the league, Crawley and AFC Wimbledon, today is an historic day. Crawley will start up with a trip to Port Vale while the Dons will host Bristol Rovers. Both these games will be momentous landmarks for the two clubs and I wish them both well.

As for my team Shrewsbury, we start the season at home to recently relegated Plymouth, before a nice short trip to face Burton Albion the following week. Coupled with a Carling Cup trip to Derby the Tuesday before, that will be two trips to Staffordshire/Derbyshire within a few days.

All our local fixtures against Port Vale and Hereford United have also returned to Saturday games at 3pm after being midweek games last season, but for how long?

I don’t have the copyright to be able to reproduce the whole fixture list on here, but you can find your club’s full fixtures either on the BBC Sport website or your own club official websites.

So, while you are all planning which games to go to and which ones you are missing due to holiday etc, don’t forget to get in touch with addedtime to let me know which fixtures stand out for your teams.

Either E-Mail sam@addedtime.co.uk or contact me on Twitter @sam_morris89

The fixtures!

So, the fixtures for the new season come out on Friday, and I can barely wait!

Even though the football doesn’t start in ernest for another month or so once we know who we will be playing on Boxing Day and when the local derbys are, fixture release day is always a big one on the football calendar.

I always enjoy guessing who will be our opening game of the season, who we will be playing over the festive period and where we will hopefully be celebrating promotion on the final day, but guessing about as incorrectly as possible!

As for Shrewsbury, we know that we will start the season at home due to the Shrewsbury Flower Show being held the following weekend.

With this in mind, coupled with the fact I will be in Chicago for the first game of the season, I am hoping that we get a run of the mill League Two side at home, someone that I have seen many times before so that I don’t miss one of the bigger games!

So, who do you all want first game of the season? Where do you want to finish your campaign? Let me know either by E-Mail on sam@addedtime.co.uk or on Twitter @sam_morris89

The fixtures are released at 9am on Friday and the draw for the Carling Cup First Round is made 24 hours earlier.

Why I enjoy League Two Football

Despite having supported Shrewsbury Town for years and yearning for that elusive promotion to the next level, there is nothing better than being a fan of a lower league club.

Supporting a side at the bottom of the Football League pyramid brings with it a feeling of belonging and meaning. With crowds only averaging a couple of thousand, you really feel a part of the game and that you can have an influence on the goings on, something you don’t get when sat in a 80,000 seat arena watching a Premier League game.

Following a club like Shrewsbury also allows you to build up a rapport with the players. Following them on Twitter, talking to them in the street, even having a beer with them come the end of the season, players at this level always seem to have the time of day for the supporters. Could you really see Ronaldo and Rooney having a Starbucks with you?!

There is also nothing better than a terrace! They are becoming more and more rare in the English game, even in League Two, but there are still a few around! Going to Burton, Accrington, Aldershot or Macclesfield and the like and being able to stand during the game is a real highlight of following your side around the country and is definitely a plus point over watching a game in a modern all seated massive ground.

And more than anything, it is a damn sight cheaper to watch the lower leagues than football at the highest level – something everyone wants, value for money!

So, while we all want our teams to be as successful as possible, me included, I do thoroughly enjoy League Two and the lower leagues, so I wont be too down heartened if we stay at this level for a few more years. The odd season at League One wouldn’t go amiss though!

The Crawley Town saga

Crawley Town are fast acquiring the reputation of being the lower league Manchester City – spending astronomical amounts of money on transfers and wages both last season and for this, their first ever season in the football league.

And all this on crowds averaging around 3,000 – boosted somewhat by walking the Blue Square Premier title last season.

So just where does their money come from?

The simple answer? Not many people know.

The message from the top at Crawley is that they have “a long-term, sustainable business plan.” I wonder if this is the same type of business plan that Munto Finance had for Notts County!

Last season alone, Crawley reportedly spent in the region of £300,000 on striker Richard Brodie from York City and a further £70,000 on Matt Tubbs from Salisbury. This type of money is far beyond that of what the majority of League One clubs could dream of spending, let alone League Two!

Added to this, they signed Sergio Torres from Peterborough United and Pablo Mills from Rotherham United, players who would no doubt be on decent wages.

Now, there is nothing wrong with a club spending money to gain success, especially if they do legitimately have the money there to spend. This may be the case with Crawley, but if it is, then why have they never revealed the identity of the people with the cash?

One of the main reasons many people dislike Crawley is not down to their money, but more due to the fact Steve Evans is the man in the dug-out.

If you know about the affairs of Boston United, you will understand why Evans is a rather unpopular character.

Convicted of fraud and banned from football for a lengthy period of time, Crawley gave Evans the opportunity to continue his career despite Boston suffering two demotions and almost going out of business thanks to the Glaswegian’s antics with the finances.

So, the Red Devils are likely to do well this season, and will more than likely rise up through the ranks while the sugar daddy is throwing money at it, but I and many others are fairly confident the bubble will burst and one day Crawley fans will be shaking their buckets asking for our cash to save their club.

I’m sorry, but you won’t be getting my money.

The moral of the story in my opinion? Don’t compromise the very existence of your club for a little bit of success! Oh, and don’t employ Evans!

My first attempt at blogging!

OK, so here is my first attempt at blogging here on addedtime.co.uk!

The play-offs are done and dusted, Stevenage will be plying their trade in League One next term and Torquay will have another season in the basement division, minus manager Paul Buckle who has moved on to Bristol Rovers.

Despite the season having only finished a matter of weeks ago, several teams have been busy strengthening their squads and re-shaping their playing staff in a bid to improve on last season’s showings.

There have been some notable signings so far, the most impressive in my view being Southend’s capture of “Mr.Millwall” Neil Harris on a three year contract.

Other good signings have been the return of Adebayo Akinfenwa to Northampton after a year at Gillingham and Wes Thomas leaving Cheltenham to join moneybags Crawley Town – a topic I will be discussing in a blog in the near future.

As for my own team, Shrewsbury Town, we have yet to see anyone coming into the club, but manager Graham Turner was known for leaving his recruitment drives to the last minute when he was in charge at Hereford United so I am not overly concerned and expect to see some new faces coming in soon.

Well, that is my first little introductory blog, I will be blogging as often as I can and trying to cover as many different topics as I can.

Until my next blog, stay happy!