Bernard McNally: New-boys add fresh impetus to Shrewsbury Town

I was delighted to see two wingers put pen to paper yesterday in Sheffield United loan man Nathan Thomas and non-league youngster Abo Eisa. They join Luke Hendrie and Max Lowe from earlier in the month, who have already impressed.

If you’ve got wingers and full-backs that can get forward as well as defend, it is a great style to have. It’s old-fashioned in a way with full-backs and wingers working as a pair.

Paul Hurst is really setting out his stall and showing where he thinks games can be won. He likes to cram the middle of midfield, leaving all the space down the flanks.

I think this puts Town in a much stronger position than in December. You don’t want momentum to slow down and after Town got back to winning ways so terrifically at Portsmouth, you need that extra boost to push you even further on.

We’ve all doubted them, and I’m one that has said ‘can they keep it going?’ They’re proving everyone wrong. This is a fresh impetus for everyone.

One of the things I learned is that if you’re going to be a good manager or coach then you’ve got to have a great recruitment system and he seems to have that in abundance.

The loan move for the Sheffield United winger sounds such an exciting move on paper – where he is coming from and the form and ability, as well as scoring record, he showed at Hartlepool.

Paul has tried to sign the 23-year-old in two other windows. When you have a manager that rates you like that it gives you that boost to come and play.

If you’ve got a squad of players that want to play for the manager as well as themselves, the club and fans then you have an excellent mentality. Nathan will come feeling on top of the world to come and play for a manager that has courted him so often.

How Paul likes to do things, with the wingers having a great part to play, it’s a very exciting signing. He gives you that fresh boost and impetus.

I’ve talked about strength in depth and about little concerns, but now the players already here – who have done a tremendous job this season – it’s another push for them saying ‘don’t rest on your laurels, we can make another step forward’.

Those are really good signs. Town’s other signing Abo Eisa, brings a different kind of excitement. Paul has these contacts within non-league and, let’s face it, there are real gems out there if you know exactly where to go to find them.

I’m sure it’ll add to Abo’s game to come and sign a professional deal with Shrewsbury, the way Paul wants to play. It’s a dream for young players to come in and have a manager that wants to play football.

On top of that he shows a steely determination and even if his side have a poorer performance they are still able to pull out results.

Players can have bad games – we all had them, every single player. But if Town players suffer a dip in form there are now players that can come on and change the game.

It really keeps everyone on their toes now, in particular Alex Rodman and Shaun Whalley – who have done really well so far.