It’s fair to say that something needed to change at Shrewsbury Town. One win and seven losses in eight games is bad form for anyone, let alone for a team who were a League One side last season.
As is the way in football, Salop’s manager bore the consequences. Michael Appleton took charge on a temporary basis in March 2025 following the departure of Gareth Ainsworth.
He signed a two-year contract at the start of this season, having stated previously that “good times will return” if he was given the job permanently. Unfortunately for the 50-year-old, he was unable to deliver.
Some will question Shrewsbury’s decision to change manager when the transfer window is almost over. I could understand the lateness of their decision if the teams’ performances had suddenly taken a nosedive.
But Shrewsbury’s form has been poor for a while. With this in mind, surely you would want to give your new manager as much of the transfer window as possible to reshape the team in their image.
Shrews CEO Liam Doole said that the switch was made with the clubs’ upcoming fixtures in mind and spoke of how important it was that they “did something now.” Cowan’s replacement was named on Thursday, and it certainly raised some eyebrows.
The man chosen to try and save Shrewsbury from dropping out of the football league is Gavin Cowan. Cowan had been manager of Brackley Town since May 2023.
The very next season, he would lead Brackley to the National League for the first time in their history. Given that they’re one of the few part time sides in the division, many predicted them to struggle.
To their credit, the Saints are comfortably mid table at the moment. Whilst they boast one of the better defensive records in the division, it’s at the other end of the pitch where the problem lies.
Only relegation battling Braintree Town have scored fewer goals than their 24. If Cowan wants to help Shrewsbury avoid the drop, he’ll need to get his players scoring more goals whilst retaining their defensive solidity.
This will not be easy with a Shrewsbury side who have also scored the second fewest goals in their division.
Cowan’s appointment is definitely an interesting one when you consider the fact that the Englishman has never managed in the EFL before. At least him and his assistant Jamie Haynes both know the club well, the former having played for the club between 2005-2007 and the latter playing for Shrewsbury’s youth team.
Cowan’s time at The Croud Meadow got off to a decent yet uneventful start on Saturday as his side drew 0-0 at home against playoff chasing Barnet. The statistics from this game sum up Shrewsbury’s current predicament very well.
Despite being the home side, Shrewsbury only had 23% of the possession. They were only able to create one big chance, which they missed.
Finally, Barnet took twice as many shots, hitting the target 7 times compared to Shrewsbury’s 1. Of course, it’s only Cowan’s first game in charge but I’m sure that Salop fans would’ve been hoping for a greater improvement.
