Brian Barry-Murphy looks ahead to Saturday’s League One fixture v Shrewsbury Town at the Crown Oil Arena…
“I think they’ve done really well. I’m not just going to say how good Sam [Ricketts, Shrews Manager] is for the sake of it,” said BBM.
“He’s a great guy and been a great player who’s played at a much higher level than me for a long period of time. I’ve always admired him and looked up to him with his durability and how well he’s done. He was an exceptional player and he’s carried that into management. I thought Wrexham were amazing when he was there.
“It’s going to be a tough game, they’ve got really strong professional players. But a lot of this week has been about us. We’ve done loads of work on Shrewsbury behind the scenes, but the plan given to the players has been more about what we do. We’ve devised a strategy that we’ll stick to. I don’t want to overburden the players with plans about Shrewsbury, it’s more about what we do, and I’m certain we can produce a performance that will give Shrewsbury a lot of problems.
“I’m not nervous about Saturday. I think the players have been exceptional and I think they’ll perform really well. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I think they’ll perform really well and they’ll get the support of me and everybody at the Club.
“During games in League One, there’s going to be really tough periods, and Shrewsbury are going to be doing exactly same things that we’re doing. I was explaining to the lads that they [Shrewsbury] are allowed to score and do things in games that cause us problems, but it’s just about how we react. We’ve got a plan to do the same things over and over again, and hopefully we’ll be successful.”
And Brian Barry-Murphy says the players are under no illusion about how important the next 11 matches are.
“The players are always conscious of how important games are. One of the advantages I believe I have is that I’ve been in their shoes very recently. I’ve guilty of it myself - you can become fixated on winning. It takes a performance of courage and a real aggression in the way you play, being positive and myself included, to get to that win. We’ve become obsessed with having to win games, and not actually doing what’s required to win the games.
“I’ve just tried to reaffirm to the players what I’ve always believed, which is that we can only control how we train, and our training has been exceptional. I’m sure I can give the players a framework for them to express themselves from. I know I can, and I’m sure they will. We can’t control everything that happens on a matchday but we can control the way we play.
“We’ve got a framework that we believe can be successful in this league. I just want to give the players that framework that they can express themselves from, which will allow them to be courageous and aggressive in their decision making, and everything else will back them. If that doesn’t work then I’ll be responsible because I’ve given them that framework. But I believe it can work and I believe it will work with these players, and we’ll back them all the way. We expect the whole Club to get behind them and I know the fans will get behind them, so it will be good. I think the next two, three, four or five games will be very exciting for everyone.”
Watch Brian Barry-Murphy’s full interview on iFollow.