Analysis: Shrewsbury Town loss at Charlton overshadowed on sad day for football
Saturday’s disappointing defeat at Charlton was overshadowed by the awful alleged racial abuse aimed at Shrewsbury’s goalkeeper Marko Marosi.
There is simply no excuse for the language claimed to have been hurled at Town’s Slovakian shot-stopper anywhere, in sport or society.
Sadly, this type of behaviour – rare though it is in professional sport – still exists, as highlighted in south east London over the weekend.
As a separate example, there have been easily a handful of occasions this season where sections, however small, of a crowd have booed or jeered players’ decision to take the knee ahead of kick-off asking to end discrimination and for social equality.
The decision to back that notion might not be for everyone, but to voice discontent as others ask to end social injustice is perplexing.
Back to the sad case surrounding Town’s popular keeper Marosi, 28, and it was inferred by boss Steve Cotterill that comments from a ‘a couple of fools’ in the home end behind the goal were centred around his nationality.
Cotterill pointed out the context of the wider world at the moment, as thousands of innocent people die in war-torn nations, but such language is unacceptable anywhere at any time.
Marosi, an extremely jovial character and one of the cheerful voices of the Town dressing room, was clearly distressed at the incident. A pause of 10 minutes in the action obviously suggested something serious.
The rest of the Addicks fanbase chanting derogatory statements like “you’re going to cry in a minute” was pretty sickening, albeit most wouldn’t realise the severity.
It is occasions like this where Marosi, born in Michalovce in his home nation but a Lancashire boy who grew up in Burnley, absolutely did the right thing in flagging the offence and pushing for the individual, or individuals, to be ejected.
It was positive to hear after the match, following condemnation from Cotterill, investigations of the incident are ongoing and being taken very seriously. Hopefully the sad episode will be a lesson learned for many others.
The incident undoubtedly cast a shadow over what was otherwise another disappointing afternoon for Town.
Shrewsbury’s penultimate game of the League One campaign was an opportunity to end a winless run of four, during what has been a testing run of fixtures, and pull themselves closer to their mid-table hosts, themselves who have endured a very underwhelming campaign for the stature of the club and quality of the squad.
And, not for the first time of late, a positive display yielded nothing for Cotterill’s side.
The last handful of fixtures has seen a sloppiness creep into the side in telling areas of the pitch.
Defensively, on the whole, Town could hardly have been any more impressive this term. For large parts of the season their defensive record was only bettered by the division’s top two.
Now, however, after the manager acknowledge a ‘trend’ of ‘soft’ set-piece goals going in against his side, Salop have shipped 11 goals in their winless run of five.
There was a period before Christmas when defending set-pieces was the side’s Achilles heel.
Town, to their credit, adjusted their set-up from dead balls and bucked the trend. Since Christmas the defensive unit has been rock solid and non-porous.
But slack defending has returned. Shrewsbury had been on a run in which they conceded in just one game – at home to Oxford – in seven outings.
Since then, there have been soft goals, particularly for Sunderland, Doncaster and now Charlton.
Cotterill felt his side were the better team at The Valley and created the clearer chances.
The latter was hard to deny and, with the scoreline locked at 0-0 shortly after the interval following a first half in which Shrews were the brighter team, Ryan Bowman and then Josh Daniels were denied by a double save from ex-Town keeper Craig MacGillivray.
Bowman’s chance wasn’t a given but Daniels really should have buried the rebound.
The hosts, meanwhile, did not have to work hard for their two second-half goals, both headers from set-pieces.
Jayden Stockley powered in from a corner after running off Town markers as the Addicks were lifted by MacGillivray’s fine work at the other end.
Chuks Aneke, a Shrewsbury target last summer, came off the bench to head in a late second from a free-kick immediately after the delay where Marosi made his allegation.
The break in play and severity of accusation probably hit Town, who did not reset for the delivery.
Town now trail last season’s points total of 54 by four points with just one game left. With Wigan, hunting the title, to visit on Saturday, it looks like another finish or 17th, or possibly one below, which is a disappointment.
Comparing the black and white of league tables makes progress a tough argument to make. But standing back and assessing where the squad is as a whole, those secured under contract for next season, the club look set to build on strong foundations.
