What did we learn from Gareth Ainsworth's first Shrewsbury press conference?

The 51-year-old was appointed as Paul Hurst's successor with Salop rooted to the bottom of the League One table. 

In his first press conference with the club, Ainsworth did not touch on the length of his stay in Shropshire, but that question was put to him by the Shropshire Star. 

"I've signed an 18-month contract," he said.  "I'm pleased to have signed that.

"I think anything less would have been not fair on Shrewsbury because I want buy-in.

"It's not about them giving me a long contract. It's me saying I need to be here for this amount of time for you to see the best of me. I think time is important for football managers. 

"We talk about culture, we talk about identity you can't get either of those without time. But I didn't come here to manage in League Two either. So, you can obviously make your own mind up about what I'm trying to say there.

"I've done the hard yards down there. It's a tough division, as always. I intend to keep this team in League One.

"With talk of what potentially could happen here in the future, there's no reason this club can't be competing at the other end of the table in years to come."

The new boss revealed he has seen quite a bit of the Shrewsbury Town team this season. 

Before his press conference, Ainsworth had been up at Salop's Sundorne Castle training base to meet the players where he watched training and held a team meeting. 

And he says he believes there is some exciting young talent. 

"I want to get to know the players," he said. "I want to know what they're good at, what they're bad at and look to the future of how I can improve them.

"It would not be right for me to speak about the past. I wasn't here. It has nothing to do with me. Sometimes football management goes wrong, believe me. It's gone wrong for me.

"So, I don't want to look back, I want to look forward. And what I will say is there's some really exciting young talent here. 

"There are some experienced heads as well that can definitely help us in the position we are in."

And the new Town boss revealed he has had options since he left Queens Park Rangers but it was about finding the right match. 

"I've had other offers in the year that I've been out of work," he said. "But it was always going to be the right place, right time.

"I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw, you know, the facilities and the way the club's run.

"It's a beautiful place. I went to the town the other day and it was a really nice town. First time I've ever done that.

"I wanted to get back in. And the project is a very exciting one. It's a tough one, but it's a very exciting project and hopefully, we can make it work."