With the season over the Gaffer is looking at how to improve his squad for League 1
Town manager Micky Mellon is down to hard work of planning for next season’s Sky Bet League 1 campaign and improving the squad to deal with the challenges ahead.Talks are ongoing with Jermaine Grandison, Andy Mangan, Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro and Jordan Clark about new contracts at the club, while Aaron Wildig has been told he won’t be offered a new deal with Town.
The rest of the squad is under contact and Micky and his staff are looking at the best way to continue the improvement which has been shown this season.
We spoke to Gaffer this morning to try and answer a few of the questions that have been knocking around since the final whistle against Plymouth:”We have got a fair few under contract but we need to add to the group as it’s about trying to get the best players possible for the money you’ve got.
“We are working hard to put that together as we all know we need to continue to improve the levels of the squad by bringing in quality and experience.
“We are talking to the players out of contract and they are looking at their options but once we know where we are with finances then we should be able to close some things off.”
Finances will have a bearing on the changes that Micky can make to his squad and he is hoping that he will hear today what that budget will be. Once that is all confirmed the hard work to improve the squad can start in earnest:”It is a big step up in quality, there is obviously a step up in what you need to pay for that and we need to get that right to be competitive in League 1.
“There isn’t that much more money coming into the budget and the challenge for us is that there are many bigger clubs with bigger resources than we have.
“We need to find a way of being competitive on the field by doing things a little differently on the recruitment side of things.
“We believe Shrewsbury is an attractive club to be part of and our aim is again to put together a team that the fans will enjoy watching.”
Talks are already on going with a number of new faces that the manager is considering bringing in to add to the squad. Like last season though it will be a case of brining in the right type of player to add to the group:”We are out talking to players and I’ve probably already spoken to half a dozen players and to countless agents.
“We are organised and well on our way too getting the right players we want to compliment the group.”
The likes of Connor Goldson and Ryan Woods have shown their development over the season with both picking up a number of awards. Talk on social media seems to have some Town fans believing that the pair might move on. Micky though is hoping they will stay and continue their development with Town in League 1:”We want to try and build a team, not to dismantle it but to add to what we have got.
“Of course in the business if something like that happens and it suits all parties then that’s part and parcel of it.
“As of the minute I’ve not had any indication other than to build on the players we have got to make us better.
“For Connor and Ryan the challenge is now can they make the step up as the challenge in League 1 will be more and it will help their development as they will come up against better players.”
Everyone at the club would like to wish Aaron Wildig the best of luck for the future and thank him for all the hard work during his time at the club.