Next Shrewsbury Town Manager Odds: Six Replacements for Gareth Ainsworth

Shrewsbury Town have abruptly been left managerless following the shock departure of Gareth Ainsworth for Gillingham in the division below.

EFL pundit Gab Sutton looks at what's next for Shrewsbury Town, putting forward six potential replacements for Ainsworth.

Shrewsbury Town need a manager.

Manager is the operative word, here, because if the Shropshire club recruit a head coach, they will be more reliant on the overall structure of the club.

And, right now, that’s deeply in question.

The Shrews have an 81-year-old owner in Roland Wycherley, who seems to be somehow clinging onto power, despite having served his primary purpose for the club now, and approaching the end of what he can offer, whether that’s financially or anything else.

They do seem to have a good CEO in Liam Dooley, who has provided some transparency at a difficult time, but the standard of the footballing operation is up for debate.

DoF Micky Moore got fond reviews from his time at Cheltenham, and helped deliver one of their most successful eras along with Michael Duff, but the perception of the Brummie at Shrewsbury has been less kind.

Moore got the appointment of Matt Taylor wrong in 2023, and whereas that summer he seemed to put his stamp on the recruitment process, 2024’s captures carried a greater whiff of Paul Hurst picks, thus suggesting more of a background role - and possibly again in January, when Hurst’s replacement, Gareth Ainsworth, reunited himself Dom Gape and David Wheeler.

The model that Moore was brought in to implement in the first place was scrapped within six months, and unless it’s reinstated this summer, it’s possible that the DoF will either depart, or continue to assume a backseat role.

In either case, Shrewsbury need somebody who can manage a team, whilst also maintaining a steady hand on the club as a whole.

Talented coaches plucked from elite youth football or a higher-end backroom staff might have an extremely advanced tactical understanding of the game, and have perhaps the highest ceiling of possibility if you get everything right.

However, they also come with the greatest range of possible things that could go wrong which, at a club that’s already suffering a relegation, and has to answer some big questions, it’s probably not the right match.

Whereas, managers who are either experienced in the Football League, or have worked their way up through non-league, might have varying levels of super technical insight, but they all know very clearly how to apply their ideas to senior football as a number one, especially on a modest budget.

And, if meanwhile, they know what a successful club looks like behind the scenes and can impart their operational skills and wisdom, then that could help stabilize things as well.

So, as Shrewsbury head towards the inevitability of League Two football next season, realism and pragmatism is the order of the day.

This isn’t about hiring a head coach who suits where they should be as a club, rather hiring a manager who suits where they actually are.

Ainsworth might not be here to do it, nonetheless this is about overseeing a clear-out, a cultural reset, and stripping things back to the raw basics. 

Next Shrewsbury Manager: Six Candidates

1. Rob Edwards

Shrewsbury’s 1st-team coach, Sean Parrish, just so happens to be Rob Edwards’ cousin.

And so, BBC Sport Shropshire have reported that there could be a short-term deal in which Edwards joins Parrish to assist until the end of the season.

However, it’s dubious how much Shrewsbury would gain from having somebody in the dugout between now and the end of the season, who won’t be involved next season.

It would be preferable for the manager they appoint in the summer to have had some of the remaining eight games in charge as part of their preparations for the summer, helping them work out which players they would like to work with next season and which they wouldn’t.

So, yes, Rob Edwards comes with pedigree, having been a Premier League manager within the last 12 months, a Championship promotion-winner and a former England youth coach.

If he doesn’t want the job for longer than a few weeks, though, then what really is the point?

2. John Coleman

John Coleman’s record at Gillingham, of two wins in 14, shouldn’t be a mark against him, because the club seemed to have some deep-rooted issues that Mark Bonner, a strong culture-setter himself, was unable to address.

In fact, the Gills had suffered 10 defeats in 15 before Coleman took the reigns, and it could be argued that he stopped the rot somewhat, with just five losses in his tenure, and some improved performances to boot.

On top of that, Coley’s record at Accrington Stanley stands to be seen, with two spells at a combined 23 years between 1999 and 2024, in which four promotions were won, culminating in five seasons in League One, including back-to-back top half finishes - they even finished one place below Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich in 2021-22.

A perfectionist with high standards for himself and for his team, Coleman believes in attacking every game with the intention of winning, regardless of the opposition, whilst being flexible in how he goes about doing that.

Extremely passionate about helping young footballers scale the heights he may have deserved to but didn’t have the opportunity to as a player himself, the Liverpudlian doesn’t hold a grudge against people, which allows him to show his players where the line is today, yet still hit the reset button tomorrow.

So, when he works with a core of experienced culture-carriers along with a group of exuberant up-and-comers, his teams can consistently defy the odds.

3. Jon Brady

As somebody who’s delivered success in each of his three full seasons in EFL management, Jon Brady feels he’s earned a job at an ambitious, upward-looking League One job.

What he feels he’s earned, and what he’s likely to get, though, aren’t necessarily the same thing in a sport in which opportunity can be dictated largely by profile and perception.

So, circumstance may tip him into the attainable category for Shrewsbury, to whom parts of his career may appeal.

Firstly, Brady executed a successful post-relegation rebuild at Northampton and, crucially, the Aussie knows what that looks like, which means he can bring some of that experience to Shropshire.

His 2021-22 Cobblers side was a rock solid outfit that missed out on promotion by a solitary Bristol Rovers goal on the final day, through a strong collective work ethic, sturdy defensive resolve and set piece proficiency, as defenders Jon Guthrie and Fraser Horsfall grabbed 17 league goals between them.

The following season, Brady built on that template by making them a better footballing side, helped by signings like playmaker Marc Leonard on loan from Brighton, and that template saw Teyn win automatic promotion that season, then finish safely in League One’s midtable on a bottom-end budget.

If Brady can model what he’s achieved at Northampton, in challenging circumstances with injury crises, Shrewsbury would be thrilled.

4. Matt Gray

Matt Gray’s main selling points are his achievements at Sutton United.

A functional, efficient 4-4-2 outfit that liked to play long from deep to Omar Bugiel, but could also play some great football once they got into the opposing half, with quick wide men and a potent threat from set pieces, the U’s enjoyed the most successful period in their history under the 43-year-old.

The South Londoners won the National League title as a part-time club in 2020-21, over Stockport, Notts County, Chesterfield and Wrexham, who each dominated the division in subsequent seasons with multiple times the U’s budget.

Sutton missed out on the Play-Offs on the final day of their maiden Football League season in 2021-22, and the following season, were in the top 10 up until a dead-rubber last three games.

The following season was something to a hiding to nothing, with wingers Enzio Boldewijn, David Ajiboye and Will Randall leaving, with other key men in Ali Smith and Omar Bugiel also departing, and prospect Kylian Kouassi going to Blackpool.

Meanwhile, midfield fulcrum and captain Craig Eastmond suffered a damaging injury, likewise goalkeeper Jack Rose, plus centre-backs Louis John and Ben Goodliffe, left-backs Sam Hart and Rob Milsom, and forward Scott Kashket.

The recruitment in summer 2023 could have been better, perhaps in terms of replacing the profiles of those departing, but any solutions would have been sub-optimal in difficult circumstances – and Gray has since had 18 months to reflect on things, learn one or two lessons but also hone his methodology that’s delivered one of the most successful tenures in English football, pound-for-pound, over the last decade.

Gray would be somewhat out of his geographical comfort at Shrewsbury, which may make it harder for him to bring close associates like assistant Jason Goodliffe and scout Terry Bullivant, and his local non-league knowledge would be comparatively rusty in contrast with the scene in London and the south-east.

If the recruitment’s strong, though, Gray has proven he can build a team that can compete above the sum of it’s parts.

5. Chris Millington

Having been assistant to Pete Wild at Halifax, during his successful reign of two Play-Off finishes in three seasons, Millington stepped up to replace his colleague in 2022.

Since then, the Shay have continued on a similar pattern, and look set for another two top seven finishes in three seasons, on a bottom-end budget.

Millington’s knowledge of the non-league scene in the north-west could be advantageous to him at Shrewsbury - the 49-year-old knows a prospect when he sees one.

Likewise, his ability to work a small, tight-knit squad to his benefit, and develop talent, without needing a significant influx of players.

6. John McGrath 

John McGrath earnt rave reviews for his work at Mickleover Sports (later shortened to just ‘Mickleover’ - the ‘Sports’ bit was widely presumed on grounds of them being a football club).

The former Burton midfielder won a Northern Premier League Division One South promotion with the Derbyshire outfit, among many seasons of continual progress in a vastly successful eight-year stint, whilst developing numerous players who went on to go higher like Andy Dales.

So, it’s no surprise that this season, his Buxton side are challenging for the Play-Offs on a middling budget, having assembled a squad of exponential potential.

If Shrewsbury wanted to take the chance that McGrath could translate his skillset, that he’s repeated season in, season out, a couple of levels higher, he could achieve something special.

Most clubs don’t look to non-league for managerial talent, but Stuart Maynard, Danny Cowley, Andy Woodman, Pete Wild, Andy Whing and Simon Weaver have all done enough to suggest it’s possible to find people in that scene who can deliver results at higher levels.