Shrewsbury Town boss believes squad members 'needed to hear' criticism
Boss Michael Appleton doubled down on the criticism of members of his Shrewsbury squad as he seeks to inspire competitiveness to end the season.
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Appleton was furious with his side's 4-1 defeat at Northampton Town on Easter Monday, after which he described a "softness" that "makes his skin crawl" in the squad.
Town's players had Tuesday and Wednesday off, as in usual following the Easter double-header, and returned to training on Thursday. Appleton, who takes the side to Barnsley on Saturday, admitted his public criticism may not have gone down well with every member of his ranks.
He explained that the truths were for the benefit of the group and club, however, and that they needed to be heard. Town, rock-bottom and relegated from League One, will finish in 24th as they are eight points adrift with two games left.
"Yeah there's been a little bit," Appleton said when asked if he had seen a response in players. "There were a couple of days off which most clubs probably did, the players come in on Thursday and worked ever so hard.
"I didn't feel I needed to speak to them as a group, maybe one or two individually. I think sometimes in those moments or situations you find out a little more about your group after the event.
"There might be one or two who potentially weren't happy with what I said but the reality is I speak from a place of wanting to benefit them, myself and the club. The reality is sometimes people need to hear the truth. They don't want to but they need to hear it.
"Hopefully there will be a positive response at Barnsley. If there isn't then I suppose it works both ways in my favour. If there is a response then great and if there isn't then at least we know."
Town's winless run stretches back to February 8 at Rotherham after previous head coach Gareth Ainsworth had led the side to rare back-to-back victories.
Appleton, 49, boasts an extensive CV but was unable to stop the rot at Crowd Meadow upon his appointment last month with relegation to the fourth tier after a decade in League One confirmed last week.
Asked if the "softness" he referred to was common or unusual among a struggling squad, the head coach added: "I think it's normal, I've had it before. It's like anything in life, whether you're a businessman, in sport, you can end up feeling sorry for yourself when it's not quite going your way.
"It's a reminder to the players that no matter what happens we've got a job to do to stay competitive until May 3. The after May 3 if people want to feel sorry for themselves, feel hard done by or whatever they can do that. Until them I need to make sure we're competitive.
"If we're not good enough to win then so be it, but just to make sure we turn up every week."
Appleton is only under contract until the end of the season - with Town finishing up at home to Crawley next Saturday.
He is keen to extend his spell as head coach beyond the summer and lead the club into a fight back next season.
Chairman Roland Wycherley this week wrote an open letter to supporters vowing that the club will look to show an immediate response to relegation. He also said Shrewsbury remain in negotiations with interested parties regarding the sale of the club.