CEO speaks about the search to replace Paul Hurst
The search has begun for Shrewsbury Town’s next permanent manager.
Paul Hurst left the club on Wednesday to join Ipswich Town on a three-year deal, after 19-months in charge at the Montgomery Waters Meadow.
CEO Brian Caldwell is the man charged with finding the new boss and he admits that his phone has been non-stop over the last couple of days.
“It’s been pretty manic to be honest with you”, admitted Brian.
“I’ve had calls, even last week, telling me that Paul was going this week, so it’s been pretty non-stop since the news broke on Monday night.
“I took five minutes out last night when my wife told me to eat my dinner and not answer the phone, and in the five minutes it took me to eat my dinner I had nine missed calls, so I think it’s going to be pretty full on.
“That’s football and that’s why we are in it. We will have agents contacting us now to put different manager’s names in front of us and usually you will get some that come from two or three agents, so you are sifting through and trying to find out who actually represents who.
“The Chairman and I had another chat this morning, we had a chat yesterday about it, we are going through things, we both have ideas in our heads, and to be fair to the two of us we’ve got 45 to 50 years’ experience in us.
“We obviously did well with the Paul situation, by bringing Paul to the club and being successful, and we will do our best to do our own due diligence and get the right person for the football club.”
When Paul Hurst arrived he was relatively unknown to most Town fans but was very ambitious to move the club forward and Brian is looking for someone with similar ambition this time around.
“I’m quite open to what’s out there and which ones have impressed myself and the Chairman over the last year-and-a-half”, said Caldwell.
“I think with Paul having been linked with so many jobs you are always conscious of a plan B and looking at who’s doing well. Sometimes a manager can be doing well and then hit bad times, or vice-versa, so you are always keeping an eye on the market.
“I think we are open to what’s best for the football club. You want someone who is ambitious, you want someone who is hungry, you want somebody who can deal with a budget, because let’s be honest we aren’t one of the top end budgets in League One.
“Without an ambitious manager you might not perhaps have the success that we’ve had this season, so you are looking for someone that’s ambitious, that has done well and could perhaps settle in quickly and take on what are very good foundations.
“In Paul’s time we’ve invested heavily in the Training Ground and tried to make sure that is fit for purpose, and I think it’s a really good addition and had certainly helped in the success story of the 2017/18 season.”