Ben Herd / Ben Herd / 08 April 2009 / Leave a comment " class="free-bet-btn" rel="external" onclick="javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview('/G4/inline-freebet');" target="_blank">Free Bet

Shrewsbury's right-back on taking a leaf out of Gary Speed's book, the indiscretions of Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor and why the "P" word is back on everyone's lips at Shrewsbury....

'Up dog, down dog' are words that you don't normally associate with football, but this is what our physio, Nathan Ring, was instructing me to do when I embarked on a little bit of yoga with him.

I was recently told that the legend (and former betting.betfair.com columnist) that is Gary Speed attributes his longevity in the game to yoga. Now, I'll be honest, I'm a little bit sceptical about breaking out of my routine, especially when phrases like 'down dog' are involved. However, me being me, I decided to give it a go a couple more times with the physio to help aid what I've learnt is an insufficient core, which apparently was what was causing some grief in the hamstring area.

I suppose being a footballer gives you some advantages that the average Joe may not get, one being the use of a personal trainer at the gym in my case - a bloke called Dan. Basically, I have one session a week on my own with Dan and he works on a series of conditioning exercises, the main one aimed at improving my core strength. I'm willing to work hard at anything that can improve me as a player and Dan certainly puts me through my paces. In more recent weeks, we've worked on more explosive stuff and Dan assures me that in a few months time, I'll be like Linford Christie...minus the lunch box!

Two players that certainly have their tails between their legs are the (former) Scotland skipper, Barry Ferguson, and his Rangers counter-part Allan McGregor. For me, the pinnacle of anyone's career must be to represent their country (message to George Burley: I am a quarter Scottish!) and for these two lads to just toss it away is, in my opinion, a bit of a disgrace. Surely, having been dumped on to the bench because of an all-night bender, you would think they would be on their best behaviour, but oh no...they go and make things 10 times worse by making rude hand gestures like a couple of 9-year-old school kids.

I believe the SFA have probably called this one right; life bans (although probably not for life in reality) from the national team for the pair. This probably means, for someone like Ferguson who is now 31, he has probably played his last game for the Tartan Army. In McGregor's case, anything's possible in football and considering he's a goalkeeper he's young enough to maybe get a second chance.

I was a bit shocked that Rangers seemed to add more fuel to the fire by fining the pair two weeks' wages and suspending them. And it now looks like the pair won't have a future at Rangers either beyond this season. I've always been of the , "what goes on tour stays on tour" school of thought and I think Rangers have taken too firm a stance - after all, these are two of their best players and they are entering the business end of the domestic season.

As we approach the last month of the season, the "P" word - that is the Play-offs - gets banded about.

Currently, we lie in 7th place (the final Play-off position in League Two) but with only six points separating us from one of the automatic spots and teams above us to play in the next week, all is not lost in my opinion. For sure, we've made things harder than they should be i.e. our poor away form, but it is of my belief to adopt an all-or-nothing approach to really go for it in the final month.

The week ahead will be a pivotal one with a trip to Gigg Lane, Bury, on Good Friday, followed by a tough home encounter with Rochdale on Easter Monday. If automatic promotion is to be secured, then in all honesty, these are must-win games. As the Gaffer has previously said, we have to do our job first and foremost, then worry about other teams, because no-one's really grasped the nettle in the last few weeks.

If the Play-offs are to happen for us, then there are a few lads that have been through them previously with Shrewsbury, and know the sinking feeling of losing in them. So they're responsible for reminding us of what not to do.

Speaking of Rangers earlier had me looking at the SPL table and the Betfair market on who will be crowned champions up in Scotland. Rangers are firmly in second place and only three points off Celtic. One of my wishes when I hang up my boots, alongside jumping out of an aeroplane and bungee jumping as I mentioned a few weeks back, is to go to an Old Firm game and experience the great rilvary between these two. People who have gone to watch it say the tension on and off the pitch is unrivalled by any other game of club football in the world.

The Championship crown is going to hinge on the Old Firm game. As I hinted above I believe Rangers have kind of shot themselves in the foot by suspending Ferguson and McGregor, and have effectively gift-wrapped the title to Gordan Strachan's men. For the second consecutive week I see this week's tip as a license to print money so back Celtic for the title at [1.5].