Clubs like Wycombe deserve success for keeping the faith – Steve Cotterill
Steve Cotterill has heaped praise on chairmen and owners of clubs punching above their weight and sticking with their managers.
Shrewsbury welcome Wycombe to Montgomery Waters Meadow this evening. The Chairboys spent last season in the Championship, the highest level in their history.
Popular manager and former Wanderers player Gareth Ainsworth recently celebrated nine years in the top role at Adams Park and has guided his side from League Two to the Championship in recent season.
The Chairboys were relegated at the first attempt, but appear to have stabilised and recovered in their attempts to battle it out at near the summit of League One again with four wins from their first eight.
Cotterill believes, as is the case with other examples at a similar level, there is reward in allowing manager time to build a successful team and squad.
The Shrewsbury chief said: “I think there are clubs over the years that have gone to the Championship, and gone from League Two to League One, then have a few years and then there’s a little struggle.
“Burton Albion with Nigel Clough in the Championship (is another). The common denominator there is Gareth has been in charge of Wycombe a long time.
“Nigel Clough was in charge of Burton Albion for a long time. Paul Warne, no matter they’ve got promoted or relegated, has been at Rotherham for a long time.
“It’s a big well done to the chairmen of those football clubs, when they think they’ve potentially got somebody, that they want to stick with them no matter what’s gone on.
“I think those clubs deserve a lot of credit for stability they have grown within their clubs.
“And any club that gets up there from League One, even if they end up coming back down, the continuity they’ve had and built has stood them in good stead.”
Town’s only fitness concern ahead of this evening is star midfielder Josh Vela, who limped off with a knee problem in Saturday’s win over AFC Wimbledon.
The hosts can make it back-to-back league wins for the first time since early February.
Visitors Wycombe – who are able to travel to the match despite concern around the ongoing national fuel crisis – have defender Anthony Stewart available after a ban was successfully appealed. Nick Freeman is likely to be their only fitness absentee.
Cotterill said of the visitors: “They’re good from set-plays, Joe Jacobson’s got a wonderful left foot that he’s showed over the years.
“He’s 34 and what a fantastic pro. He’s been around a good few years and has done really well.
“They’ve got good players there, Gareth McCleary who I had at Nottingham Forest, is a really good player who’s done very well for me.
“Akinfenwa, my teams have played against him for years now, Sam Vokes I know very well. David Stockdale I know from Birmingham, I’m looking forward to seeing a few good lads.”
