The opposition view: Shrewsbury Town

  • by Staff Writer
  • Monday, 8th January 2018

That West Ham are still in the FA Cup is something of a stroke of luck given yesterday's performance at New Meadow. Hear what Shewsbury fans thought about it all in your latest edition of the OV...


"So near yet so far. What a frustrating 90 minutes, only one side in it and yet we didn't win. Keep it up Town, a great effort and we can still win this tie. Well done."
- PÏLCH

"An excellent performance. Strong, well drilled and organised. We were never overawed and passed it well. Sadler won everything, Godfrey was immense and Morris held the ball up superbly. The only diaspointment was that we lost things a little in the final third. Hard to quibble though after an excellent showing, particularly after the anti climax of the Man U game. And if we'd had won, what odds of getting Newport?"
- Stowmarket Shrew

"Summed us up as a team well. Solid, organised, and we made the opposition look poor. A strong West Ham side looked lethargic, uninterested and lacking any cohesion. We didn’t look two divisions below them. Unfortunately we panicked in the final third on a number of occasions, misplacing passes and not getting our shots away. On another day we could have cruised that game. On another note, for what wasn’t a particularly dirty game, there were some pretty bad injuries sustained. Sadlers cut to his head looked quite deep and their lad Cullen lost a tooth in the challenge with Ogogo. Well done Salop."
- vanner

"Javier Hernandez cost them £17million - more than our ground and entire team cost. He has played nearly 100 international games for Mexico, including World Cups yet he didn’t get a shot at goal all match and just moaned and fell over all match. Sums up how ridiculous the Premier League and all its money is."
- mattmw

"West Ham were rubbish on and off the pitch. The game itself was stop-start, and a bit of a boring spectacle truth be told. Zero interest in attending the replay in an athletics ground. A night in front of the TV awaits."
- KL8

"The fact there is a little disappointment in this draw shows just how good this bunch of players are. West Ham got slated and their schedule is mentioned with great regularity, but I think we deserve better than that. We’ve had an extremely hard Christmas with a small squad and just out-battled and out-played West Ham for 90 minutes. We harried, hassled and it wasn’t always pretty, but we also played some nice stuff at times. There were players against us with lots of international caps and they didn’t come close. Salop go marching on."
- shrewswolf


"We wanted it more, we worked harder and closed down well. We restricted West Ham to a handful of chances, the only things lacking were more composure in front of goal and a goal. A great atmosphere today, well done Town and more valuable revenue at the replay."
- zenfootball2

"Excellent effort from the Town. West Ham's poor-ness effected our attacking game. They never had enough ball to commit men forward so there was never any counter attacking opportunities which I thought might be our best chance of scoring. Do they allow tackling in the Premier League? The amount of West Ham players needing treatment was embarrassing."
- salop27

"Boring boring Hammers. We've had more league teams that didn't time waste like that. I don't watch Premiership matches. Wise choice on that showing. They were rubbish. Oh, and what would Man U learn about Henderson, he didn't have a save to make."
- thesensationaljt

"I was amazed at how poor West Ham were. It was obvious before the game they weren't going to be up for a challenge but even then on the ball they were shocking, one of the poorer sides I've seen Shrewsbury play all season."
- yelloweudora

"A decent, spirited performance from The Town, and a marked contrast to the utterly gutless Hammers. It's a massive cliché, but they just really didn't fancy it today - Hernandez in particular was a complete passenger. I felt we benefited from Moyes' bizarre decision not to have any strength on the bench in the second half, when we were visibly tiring and could have been punished by a better team. "
- Bob Rickerton

"I find the attitude of Premier League clubs to the FA Cup odd. Even sides doing ok in the league and pretty sure of staying up put out weakened sides, and don't really seem to be interested in the competition. Back in the '70s and '80s when we beat higher level sides their players seemed totally embarrassed by the defeat, but you got the sense a lot of West Ham players couldn’t have cared less had they lost today. Don’t get why Premier League sides - especially the mid-table ones - don’t really go out to win Cup games and give their fans something to enjoy. Even with a few injuries West Ham probably had about £50million-worth of players on the pitch yet were dull and boring and didn’t want to battle for the side at all. A few other Premier League sides have been like that too this weekend. Must make you wonder why you bother as a fan."
- mattmw


"I thought Town were solid and knocked the ball round well but didn’t really turn the possession into that many decent chances. Very disappointed in West Ham. Like lots of Premier sides they look disinterested in the FA Cup and those players who they did put out spent more time moaning and falling over than trying to play attacking football. Really like the Olympic Stadium and Queen Elizabeth park so will be interested to see how it works as a football stadium."
- mattmw

"I think we did great. I know the focus was on West Ham not turning up but I thought our effort played a part in them not getting into any sort of rhythm. We worked our socks off again as usual. Certainly deserved the draw and perhaps even the win considering the chances we had compared to theirs. I doubt West Ham will be as poor as that down there but even so; we've held a top flight side, more than matched them, given a scare and we'll have a second bite of the cherry down there."
- stuttgartershrew

"The thing that really stood out for me was body language of the West Ham players and the number who moaned or stood there with their arms out. Whether it was a decision which went against them, a mistake they or somebody else made or a decent tackle put in on them which they didn’t like; it was as if they were looking for an excuse for why it wasn’t working for them or to blame somebody else rather than knuckling down and getting on with it themselves. The only players who looked like it mattered to them were the younger lads, Rice, Cullen and Burke. Can only imagine the scenes had Ayew or Hernandez got a boot in the face today."
- greeny

"I was expecting good things from West Ham's support today, and their away following was feeble in comparison. As the game wore on, I actually began to feel a degree of sympathy for the West Ham fans stood en masse in the away end. This once proud club has been uprooted from its real home, and plonked in a soulless stadium which is reportedly devoid of any atmosphere, character or identity. A situation to which we can all, sadly, relate. To make matters worse, their current squad seems lacking in quality, passion and workrate. A manager bereft of ideas. A relegation to the Championship is surely on the cards, and deservedly so. Supporting WHUFC these days must feel incredibly hollow, and for this they have my sympathy."
- KL8

"Just hope that it all goes well for Cullen today at the dentist - terrible shame for the lad, but what a display of courage to carry on playing, what an example to the older members of the team, but did it have any effect?"
- salopiankiwi

"I thought as a football club we were fucking glorious today."
- welshshrew

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