In the first part of a long interview with Glyn Price*, co-presenter of the Shrewsbury Town podcast Salopcast, we heard about what he calls the ‘massive’ community pride in the club and the highs and lows of supporting a lower league side (don’t expect a Salop fan to thank you for a ticket to see the team at Wembley – they always lose there). Now on to Glyn’s thoughts on Sunderland and his scoreline prediction for Saturday…
Salut! Sunderland: What did you make of Sunderland’s sharp decline ?
Glyn Price: Frankly, not much. You’re not the first club to collapse in on itself and won’t be the last. Being a League One team we see these teams come down to our level and either regroup and go on or fade away further.
Portsmouth, Bolton, Wigan, Blackburn…. All big proud clubs fallen down the pyramid. Not being harsh but don’t really view Sunderland any different. Mismanagement and poor performance always bites clubs on the a*** eventually be they big or small.
Other thoughts on SAFC – the club, the fans, the city and region, Jack Ross?
I have never been to Sunderland. We played once in the cup a fair few years ago on a week night but to be honest that is a right slog.
That said I will be doing the away game this year and look forward to it. You always here about how good Sunderland fans are so hopefully it’s a game with an atmosphere.
My thoughts on you this season are, you should p*** this league if you have anything about you, but have not been shocked to see you get a bloody nose early on this season. Same thing happened to Sheffield United, Wigan and Blackburn.
Eventually they all figured out the formula to League One is slightly different and found a way to put the extra quality they had to effect and walk out of the league.
I would be ultra shocked if you are not top two at the end of the season, particularly having seen 12 of the other teams this season and no one stood out as being all that good!
Jack Ross was a name on our list too in the summer and there was a connection with our CEO I believe but understandable he would go to you boys.
On the region, well I know about Sunderland as a place is what I have listened to on Athletico Mince, particularly the Sunderland songs. I looking forward to a pint of Blue Drink when we visit next year….
Hand on heart, where will our two clubs finish this season?
You – 1st. And if you don’t Jack Ross should be hauled out at dawn and shot.
Us – Christ knows really. Anywhere between 18th and 10th. I really still can’t judge it yet. We could go playoffs, we could get relegated. Crazy.
Your assessment of the standard of refereeing in League One?
It’s s***, it always has been and it will continue to be so. That said… it’s WAY worse in League Two so count your lucky stars you only dropped down to this level.
Will VAR help eliminate cheating or is it here to stay?
Absolutely no chance we’ll see VAR at Salop for a fair few years yet. I’m not sure about it yet. I like the goalline technology. Its crisp and clear. VAR still has some error in it as we saw at the World Cup.. lack of consistency. It’s probably here to stay however, though I remain to be convinced. And with the amount of diving you see in the lower leagues, the whole thing will probably break and we will spend 20 minutes every game using it. Shocking stuff… grim.
Will you be at our match? What will be the score?
Will be there in my ST seat I have frequented since the opening day of the new season.
I think you will win 2-0. Should have the quality to see us off, but one thing we are good at is staying in games and not getting hammered. We also play a pretty defensive shape and have a shield in front of our CBS. That said losing 2-0 to you would not bother Salop fans in the slightest. It’s a game we expect nothing from and have to get out of the way to focus on the key games we have coming up.
If we did win however John Askey would be secure as manager for a long while yet.
* Glyn Price on himself: I started following the town as a kid when my parents took me to my first game in the early 90s. Hooked from the start for the following 24 years me and my brother have gone to games together and still sit by each other. My parents sit in the block over. That’s pretty common for our fanbase.
As I set out above, co present the Salopcast, edit the Blue and Amber fanzine @B_and_A_Fanzine and assist the STFC Supporters’ Parliament. I have an office job which helps with all those things. The thing I’m most proud of as a fan is my children are six and eight and last season was their first one doing away games with me. What a first one to have and it’s now got them hooked. It’s brilliant to see the love they have for our club starting to come though.