New manager pleased to be at Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town have today announced that Paul Hurst will become their new manager.Hurst leaves Grimsby Town, where he enjoyed a successful 5 year spell at Blundell Park, securing promotion to League Two last season.
Paul admitted that it had been a whirlwind 24 hours, but was excited to get started.
“I’m delighted,” Paul told ShrewsWeb.
“There was a lot of speculation around myself and this football club, so now I’m here, really looking forward to meeting the players and cracking on with a lot of hard work.
“It’s a lovely ground. It’s League One football. The position in the league isn’t what anyone at Shrewsbury Town wants, but the aim is to come in and improve on that.”
Town current sit bottom of League One, but Hurst is hopeful that he can turn things around on the pitch.
“I think a lot of things are in place, but the important part is what happens on a Saturday afternoon or midweek out on that pitch, winning points and winning games,” said Hurst.
“I’m looking forward to building relationships. That is a big part of going anywhere. You want people to buy into your beliefs and I want to work with good people, honest people, I’m very big on that and hopefully I will get to see that that’s what’s here already.
“I’ve had a quick look over the squad. I’ve had a chat with Danny Coyne about the players, but I’m not going to dig too much, I think that would be a little unfair.
“I think when a new manager comes in some people might show better form, but I don’t want to make too many pre judgements on those players.”
Paul admits that the current situation isn’t what anyone at the club had been hoping for, but is confident he can turn things around and move the club forward in the long run.
“I think first and foremost it has to be about staying in the league,” said Paul.
“It’s a precarious position we are in, but there’s certainly been teams in worse positions and they’ve managed to retain their status. I don’t know whether you call that a short term goal, but that has got to be the main aim.
“Moving forward I want to see how far we can move this football club. It’s extremely early, but I look at a lot of what is here and I’m very impressed.
“Ultimately it’s about creating a squad that is capable and competent. Are these players that I’m inheriting good enough? Time will tell. But, we will certainly try and get everything out of them and hopefully they prove that they are.
“It’s great to have this infrastructure, but a lot of it does come down to recruitment and obviously that’s something that I can’t do too much about in the short term.
“Moving forward I’m sure there will be changes, but the players that are here have got first opportunity to see how many of those changes we do have to make.”
Paul now wants to move forward and has called on the fans to give their full support to the lads.
“I think it’s important to get behind the players,” expressed Paul.
“While there is a lot of frustration around at the minute, we’ve all got to pull together and again that will be the message to the players. We’ve got to come together as a group.
“It will be interesting to see what the team spirit is like at this moment in time. I’ve got to try and pick them up, that’s my job, but the fans can play their part in terms of what’s going out on social media and by getting behind them when they are watching the games, because I will be demanding of them and if they give everything to the cause, I think the fans will accept that.
“It’s maybe when the fans think that they’ve downed tools or they might not be giving their all for the football club that it becomes an issue.
“It’s a new start, it’s a fresh start for everybody and I’m hoping we can have some success sooner rather than later.”