Shrewsbury Town closing in on ex-QPR and Wycombe Wanderers boss | OneFootball

Gareth Ainsworth is in pole position to become the new Shrewsbury Town head coach.

Shrewsbury Town are closing in on securing the services of Gareth Ainsworth following the sacking of Paul Hurst last week.

This is according to Shropshire Star's Ollie Westbury, who believes that Salop are set to sign the former Queens Park Rangers and Wycombe Wanderers manager in the coming week.

Shrewsbury have made a dreadful start to the 2024-25 campaign, with eight points from 15 games. During that period, they have only managed to score a goal in six games and have conceded the second most in the league, with 27 goals conceded.

This led to Hurst's departure, and now the hope is that Ainsworth can step in and guide the club back on track, revitalising their season. If able to guide them to safety, it would secure Salop an 11th straight season in League One and would allow the club to rebuild from a position of strength in the third tier.

Gareth Ainsworth set to head Shrewsbury Town

As stated above, Ollie Westbury places Ainsworth in pole position for the job at the Croud Meadow.

Having been sacked from his previous job at QPR in October 2023, the 51-year-old has been biding his time, but must now see an opportunity at Shrewsbury Town.

Although nothing has been finalised yet, it’s understood that the remaining hurdle is securing the arrival of Ainsworth's long-term assistant, Richard Dobson. If this aspect of the deal is resolved, Shrewsbury will likely secure their new manager in time to prepare for their next match against Birmingham City.

According to reports, the primary reason for targeting Ainsworth is his impressive track record at Wycombe Wanderers. During his tenure with the Chairboys, he guided them from the lower reaches of League Two all the way to the Championship.

Shrewsbury will be hoping Ainsworth can deliver a similar turnaround, especially with local owner Roland Wycherley currently in negotiations with a potential buyer for the club. This could signal exciting times ahead for Salop, both on and off the pitch.

Ainsworth edges ahead of Dino Maamria and Andy Mangan in Shrewsbury manager race

If it is to be Ainsworth for Shrewsbury, then they would have selected him over some other interesting candidates.

Outside of the ex-Wycombe boss, it was revealed last week that Dino Maamria and Andy Mangan were two other potential options.

Maamria, who most recently managed Burton Albion, has proven his ability to get sides out of difficult situations, but if Shrewsbury are looking long-term, then he is still yet to prove himself.

Meanwhile, Andy Mangan is very inexperienced, having not led a team full-time as yet. However, Carlo Ancelotti was looking to add him to his backroom staff at Real Madrid, before a work VISA issue denied him the opportunity to move to Spain.

For Shrewsbury fans, they will ultimately be delighted if Ainsworth is appointed. The noise around the club has been negative for 18 months now, ever since Steve Cotterill departed in May 2023.

Ainsworth could prove the ideal figurehead for an unsteady ship and if he was to keep them up, he would have done a stellar job.