Shrewsbury Town chief executive Brian Caldwell is not a happy chappie today, after the news broke that Ipswich had made contact with The Shrews boss Paul Hurst. Caldwell explained his dissatisfaction with the way the whole drawn-out saga had been conducted. “I got a call from Paul’s agent yesterday morning, saying he’d had an approach from Ipswich. In the meantime, he had spoken to Paul, and Paul had intimated he’d like to talk to Ipswich. We found out after that – and I’ve got to be honest, that’s actually an illegal approach,” he explained to BBC Radio Shropshire.
It might sound like sour grapes on the part of Salop but there is no doubting the frustrations aired by their chief executive who continued, ” I’ve got to say I was disappointed, and I told Ipswich that yesterday. To get a call from the agent instead of Ipswich yesterday morning was disappointing, but that’s football for you. We had to release the news at half nine last night as Sky were going to run it.”
It appears that some communication had taken place earlier with Shrews chairman Roland Wycherley but Caldwell was unaware of it and he said that their goalkeeping coach Danny Coyne and physio Chris Skitt were also oblivious to it, until they read about it through social media outlets.
This may be a bit of a storm in a tea cup but after waiting two months and more to appoint a new manager at Portman Road, it does seem to be an extraordinary set of events; as we were all lead to believe that any dealings with Shrewsbury Town had been conducted in an honourable and professional manner. Perhaps this is indeed the case, and Ipswich Town football club are aware of the above remarks and will make a statement on the subject in due course.
What is perhaps more unfathomable than even this, is why owner Marcus Evans chose to interview so many potential candidates in advance of this appointment and sometimes on more than one occasion? Jack Ross and Frank Lampard must have both quickly decided after their second set of interviews that they were not going anywhere fast and to move on, which makes this process seem like a bit of a pointless exercise.
I can only assume that this was by way of an insurance policy, in case Hurst turned Town down but because the procedure was so very long-winded, it seemed inevitable that the other candidates would eventually look elsewhere.
Oh well, it looks as if Marcus Evans has finally got his man and only time will tell whether this is a shrewd move or not?
F.W. – editor of Vial Ipswich
