Holt was last season's League Two player of the year

Shrewsbury boss Paul Simpson has asked fans not to criticise the current squad just because of the summer departure of key striker Grant Holt to Norwich.

He told BBC Radio Shropshire: "There's been animosity towards some of them as we sold a player who'd done very well.

"We could have been stubborn and said 'no', but Holt wanted to play at a higher level in front of 20,000 crowds.

"It's simply a no-brainer. We sold a player who would have been unhappy here - and we trebled our money on him."

Holt - last season's League Two player of the year with Shrewsbury - has been in a rich vein of scoring form for Norwich this season.

We'd suddenly have a key player who's not very happy and doesn't want to be here. So we didn't stand in his way and we trebled our money on him - and that's good business sense Paul Simpson

And Simpson continued: "He said he wanted to go and play at a higher level, he wanted to chance his arm at trying to get into the Championship, and I would guarantee that every single supporter who wanted to criticise us for letting him go - and criticise Grant Holt for leaving - would have made exactly the same decision as we did.

"If, as a footballer in League Two, you have a chance as a 28-year-old to go and play for a club like Norwich, who are getting crowds of over 20,000 and have a great opportunity of getting into the Championship, you're not going to turn it down," Simpson continued.

"And we weren't in any position to stop him, apart from being stubborn, digging our heels in, and saying 'No - you've got another couple of years on your contract, you stay with us'.

"What good what that have done? We'd suddenly have a key player who's not very happy and doesn't want to be here.

"So we didn't stand in his way and we trebled our money on him - and that's good business sense."

Holt started his career in non-League football in his native Cumbria, with Workington and Barrow.

He quickly attracted attention, and after a short spell in Singapore was snapped up by Sheffield Wednesday.

A move to Rochdale paid dividends as he found his scoring touch, and that paved the way for transfers to Nottingham Forest and Blackpool.

Shrewsbury beat off several suitors to sign him from the Seasiders for a club record £170,000 in June 2008 - and last season he hit 20 goals for the Town.

Twelve months after joining the Shrews he was off to Norwich - for a fee said to be in the region of £400,000.

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