Shrewsbury Town: Richard O’Donnell outlines realistic expectations for new campaign

The pair were appointed on a permanent basis the day before the final league game of a miserable 2024-25 campaign which saw Shrews drop into League Two for the first time in more than a decade. 

The duo have now begun rebuilding the squad ahead of the start of a new season in the fourth tier of English football. 

Eight players left at the end of their contracts a few weeks ago, while Tom Anderson became the first signing of the summer just last week. 

But O’Donnell, during his interview with the local press, talked about taking ‘stock’ after a difficult couple of years for the football club and was cautious not to raise expectations too high. 

“If you were to speak to any player, they would say they want to win the league,” he said. “We want players to be positive, but as a football club, sometimes you have to sustain and build before you can strive. 

“As a club, we really want to take stock of where we are right now. We understand there are some big clubs in this league with resources which far outweigh ours. 

“What I can guarantee is that we will be really competitive with how we play and what we do. 

“We really back ourselves to outperform. Hopefully, we can give the fans a football club that they can be proud of next season. 

“That they can come and be excited by watching how we play. I think in glimpses towards the back end of the season, you saw improvements in how we wanted to play and how we wanted to do things. 

“There were some great bits of footage that we showed the players that keep believing, keep sticking to the plan, and it will come to fruition.”