Shrewsbury Town v Coventry: Sam Ricketts taking on old club
Sam Ricketts could achieve his first league win as Shrewsbury Town boss against the side where he called time on his playing career.
Town are tomorrow taking on Coventry, with whom ex-defender Ricketts was captain and then retired through injury just over two years ago, writes Joe Edwards.
He does not quite have the inside track on the Sky Blues, as their squad has changed vastly since he was there.
But, even though they have not won since the end of October, the 37-year-old says they will pose a tough test to his Salop team.
“Not too many of this team were there when I was there,” said Ricketts.
“A few of the young lads have stepped up into the first team though and are doing really well.
“Coventry is a massive club, they took between 30,000 and 40,000 to Wembley on their last visit, and they’ve got a great history.
“They’re on the up. That was their first promotion for many years. They’re trying to get back into the higher realms of the football standings so it’s a tough game.
“They’re a side under a good manager, who is trying to capitalise on their momentum from last year – keep it going.
“They haven’t won recently but they’ve been playing well.
“They try to play football, they try to play out from the back and control the game.
“They’ve got some really good footballers, especially in midfield.
“And they’ve got some threats up front, definitely.
“We have to be very organised and ready for what we’re going to face.”
Ricketts was forced to hang up his boots with a knee injury in his second season as a Coventry player. And while retirement is never easy, it did come as a relief to Ricketts – and just thrust him into coaching a little earlier than planned.
“I didn’t have a choice. It was retire or retire,” he said.
“I’m pretty pragmatic. I couldn’t do anything about it.
“I was a told to retire and, in one way, it was a relief.
“I was waking up every morning and wondering ‘can I walk today, run or play?’
“To be told you have to retire, it took a weight off my shoulders.”
Ricketts then coached the Sky Blues’ first team, before sitting under the learning tree of a former Liverpool boss (Brendan Rodgers) and going on to take charge of Wrexham – and then becoming Town chief.
“It just pushed me earlier into coaching,” he said.
“I was way along the lines of knowing what I wanted to do.
“What happened when I did retire was I was able to coach the first team at Coventry.
“I then spent a week with Brendan at Celtic, went to Mark Hughes at Stoke, went to three or four other managers who I know and respect. I watched and learned.”
And while Ricketts would like to get one over his former employers and seal his first league victory, he is more concerned about seeing improvement from his players.
“I’m not so much worried about my first league win, I’m more concerned about making us better,” he added.
“When that does happen, the wins will come as well. We all want to win, don’t get me wrong.
“But I just can’t just say ‘win today’, we have to break down how we’re going to do it.”
