Shrewsbury season review: Every last drop squeezed out of Salop

Here, we look back at the ups and downs of the 2022/23 campaign.

Success

For the team to achieve its second-highest finish in the last 33 years, it was undoubtedly a successful campaign for Steve Cotterill and his players.

Their form throughout January and February saw them win six League One games in succession for the first time since 2015, and it propelled them to within a touching distance of the play-offs.

The 12th-placed finish was down to good recruitment in the summer and smart use of the loan market.

Cotterill and Shrewsbury’s players repeatedly said you would not know who was a permanent member of the squad and who was on loan. And every single one of those loan players – Carl Winchester, Taylor Moore, Rob Street, Christian Saydee and Killian Phillips – all impressed during their time in Shropshire. The permanent signings were equally good as Chey Dunkley, Tom Bayliss, and Jordan Shipley all made positive contributions.

Luke Leahy had an outstanding campaign. He was made skipper before their curtain-raiser at Morecambe and revelled in his role as a leader – ending up with player of the season for the second successive year.

Failures

In a season with so many positives, it is hard to pick out too many negative things.

The injuries to George Nurse and Dan Udoh – both season-ending – after the ruptured anterior cruciate ligaments was a bitter pill for both the players themselves and also their team-mates.

To get one ACL injury is bad luck, but to get two within three weeks is almost unheard of.

Perhaps Town will come to regret leaving themselves short in the January transfer market.

They allowed Julien Dacosta to return to Coventry and let Aiden O’Brien go to Gillingham on loan both on deadline day.

They had brought Phillips in earlier in the window, but with them being so close to the play-offs, some reinforcements could have propelled them into the top six.

Instead, at the back end of the campaign the thin nature of the squad was exposed, and they were unable to kick on when they had a gruelling fixture list which saw them take on all the big-hitters around the same time.

In the end, 12th place felt a harsh reflection on the season. Salop had been better than that for the vast majority of it, but with the injuries they were unable to hang on to a top-10 spot.

Manager

You will not find many Town fans who have a bad word to say about Steve Cotterill.

And despite all the injury problems the boss had to navigate his way through, to spend the season looking up the table rather than over their shoulder is perhaps the most comforting thing for Shrews fans.

One thing is for sure, Cotterill squeezed out every last drop from his Salop players – no passengers were allowed – and as he so often said players had to be ‘all in’. It is safe to say that by the end of the campaign, they had nothing left to give.

From a footballing perspective, they were well organised and hard to beat – but adaptable too, with the manager very rarely getting outdone tactically by his opposite number.

Players often spoke about the boss’s attention to detail and how everything they did was thoroughly thought through.

It was a shame that the small nature of their squad caught up with them towards the end of the season.

Off the field

Perhaps the majority of the on-field success has been overshadowed by the events that unfolded at Montgomery Waters Meadow in the final week of the season.

Brian Caldwell, who had been the club’s chief executive for more than seven years, left the club.

The departure was completely unexpected, only being announced two hours before the kick-off of the last home game of the season against Bristol Rovers.

It seemed strangely timed as it was evident the team had been extremely successful on the pitch and Caldwell – along with Cotterill – had played a big part in creating that.

Further upheaval followed. Head of recruitment Keith Burt left the club on the morning of their final game against Lincoln. And Cotterill’s future also looked in doubt as the club made an approach for Micky Moore and created a new football board without the manager being informed.

The situation, which saw an emotional Cotterill address the media saying he was uncertain about the future, has still not been resolved more than three weeks later.

What next?

On the field, Shrews’ new director of football Micky Moore has some work to do to build a squad to compete in League One.

Matthew Pennington is likely to move on. He was brilliant for Salop during his time at the club, both in his own box and in the opposition’s with his six goals last season.

Christian Saydee was good all campaign – until he picked up an injury towards the end of the season.

His link-up play will be missed, so they will need to ensure a number nine comes in – although if Dan Udoh is back that is like a new signing in its own right.

The engine room in midfield will need some work too.

Leahy was excellent and will be in the heart of midfield next season, but Town will need to find replacements for Carl Winchester and Killian Phillips after their loan spells came to an end.

The elephant in the room is the future of Cotterill – with the manager’s future still uncertain. The first thing Moore is going to have to sort out is who is in the dugout.