Ollie Westbury discusses Paul Hurst interview and summer window

Shropshire Star

Jonny Drury sat down with Ollie Westbury to discuss Paul Hurst's recent interview. They talk about the players offered new deals and Hurst's comments on their future. And they also look at what the summer transfer window could bring.

Transcript

00:00 What are your thoughts on Paul Hurst's return to the team?

00:08 You sat down with Paul Hurst recently to reflect on the end of the season news, the release

00:16 of the retain list and things like that. Obviously we've seen some of the comments about the

00:21 players they have offered deals to, but in terms of the quotes that he gives you, he

00:27 seemed quite buoyant and realistic about the off-field situation and the budgets that he's

00:35 probably going to have to work to.

00:37 He said that a couple of times, he's not come into the job with his eyes shut and suddenly

00:41 found out the situation is as it is and had it thrown upon him. He knew exactly what he

00:46 was walking into, so he's aware of it. He knew what he was walking into when he accepted

00:54 the job. That is the short and long of it basically. It will be a difficult season,

01:02 I imagine. He won't have that excuse to be fair. He will want to be pushing, he will

01:09 want to be competing, he will want to be finding gems from wherever they can find them from.

01:13 They will be working hard on the training field. There's got to be something exciting

01:18 about having a new team, just moulded in a four-hurst kind of... Because there's nothing

01:23 to say that because you've got a lower budget that you can't punch above your weight.

01:26 You can't do that. You've done it before. You haven't been through a pre-playoff final.

01:31 I think there's something kind of exciting. We're in a better position than we are this

01:35 time last year. Everything's a little bit more settled. We've got a manager in place.

01:39 We're not going to do any of that. Obviously we need players, but I do think there's something

01:45 exciting about building a new squad and seeing that shape together.

01:48 Given the solid upheaval in the finances and stuff, does that maybe... I know Paul Cook

01:54 has got a lot of credit in the bank with Shrewsbury fans. Is it a case of getting a competitive

02:00 side together and getting through next season? Obviously the last time he came, he came in

02:07 the midway through the season and kept Shrewsbury up in the lead 1. Then they went on to have

02:10 a fantastic season. That's highly likely not going to happen this time. It's probably going

02:15 to be a case of lowering the wage bill as well as trying to survive the move on.

02:21 Exactly. That's exactly what it is. Lowering the wage bill, trying to get things into more

02:28 of a solid place off the field. As competitive as they possibly can be on it, that's probably

02:32 as much as you'd perhaps expect. If they do well with their recruits. It's all about recruitment.

02:37 It's almost more important. It's the most important thing in football these days. Your

02:41 recruitment at any level. It's all about what kind of players you're bringing in.

02:45 Then probably the second most important thing is how well you're coaching them. But to get

02:51 that player recruitment is going to be absolutely massive. Obviously they've got a decimated

02:54 squad at the moment, nine players. Some of those are players that haven't really played

02:59 that much. So you're probably looking at, you can count on one hand the important players

03:03 that are probably looking at perhaps starting the first game of next season. So there's

03:08 a lot of recruiting and developing that needs to come from the audience.

03:12 Is there more of a spotlight again on the players in the building at the moment? More of a spotlight

03:19 obviously last year they went with a different tact in terms of director of football, different

03:23 way of recruiting players. Didn't work and came in for quite a bit of criticism from

03:27 the outside. Does that put even more of a spotlight on the team this time?

03:31 Or has that taken off a little bit by the fact that they're going to have more players?

03:35 I don't know. I don't know to be honest. I suppose it's just one of those things isn't

03:39 it? Porthurst will be working together with his assistant Chris Doyle, with the director

03:43 of football, Mickey Moore. They'll all be working together. So we're just going to have

03:50 to wait and see how it unfolds. We're going to have to wait and see what players they're

03:53 bringing in. I'm sure we'll find out very soon when they start to make moves in the

Category

Transcript

Recommended