Dave Edwards: Shrewsbury Town in a painful but necessary process

On the pitch, losing twice to Cambridge this season isn't great whatsoever. The 4-1 loss against them away and then a poor defeat at the weekend which leaves time marooned at the bottom of the table. Relegation is inevitable, it's a case of when and not if.

But there are some small glimmers of hope from watching the game back and watching how Michael Appleton's trying to play football.

It's not necessarily an easy watch at the moment, it's not an exciting watch either, but you've got to remember that Michael Appleton's had no time to work with the players and he's trying to overhaul the style of play.

When you go through that process, it always starts with the defensive third and playing out from the back.

I think there's enough positive signs from seeing them trying to build out from the back, which gives me confidence that it will be successful next season if Michael Appleton's still in charge.

The first phase is already noticeably better. They're trying to create an overload, get past the first wave of pressure. 

They made a mistake for the Cambridge goal at the weekend from a really poor Jamal Blackman pass and Michael Appleton takes full responsibility for that. 

He says the players will make mistakes, but for the long term, it's the right way to go about it.

But, once you get into the midfield third and the final third, you haven't had the time to really work on those phases because it takes so much time and understanding.

That means it breaks down and we haven't got the quality or the technical ability in the team to be able to play off the cuff in those moments and to be able to create something out of nothing. 

You can understand the frustration from the fans who are obviously paying their good money to go and watch town and ultimately not being entertained. That's what football is about. 

I really like the honesty from Michael Appleton in his post-match press conference. He said he wants to play football that people actually want to watch.

That's a really important statement because he understands that football is an entertainment sport and he wants to play it in the right way, that's easy on the eye and fans can get behind. 

He keeps saying it's going to be a process. It's going to be in League Two next season, but hopefully with players that have been recruited for his style.

Hopefully that means we'll have an exciting town team to watch, a successful one, and get fans off their seats and get some cheering in the right way.

It's a long process and it's going to be a painful one, but I do think it's the right process and you've got to stick with the manager in these situations.

Meanwhile, I was lucky enough to be invited to the talks on Monday with the supporters' groups. It was a fascinating insight to listen to the chairman and Liam Dooley and all the guys on the board talk about what's happened in recent weeks and how they've really been let down.

I don't feel the club can take any blame for the situation they find themselves in. They went into an agreement with an investor who has pulled out for reasons not to do with the football club. 

They were in an exclusivity period where they weren't able to talk about it. They weren't able to have contact with them. It was all going through lawyers, through reputable firms, and they had good faith that they chose the best buyer for the football club. 

They got let down at the last minute, so I do really feel for the chairman and the board in this situation because I feel they get a bad rap for the situation they're in, although at every turn they try to do the right thing for the football club.

I take great comfort now in the fact that we still have the chairman in charge, going through this process of looking for another buyer, with how much the football club means to him because it would be so easy now for a chairman to completely pull the plug on any sort of investment, strip the football club dry and make it run on the absolute bare minimum. 

But the chairman won't do that. He'll make sure that a budget is put together next year to the absolute best of their capabilities.

He'll keep putting time, effort and finances into the football club to make sure it's in the best position when the reins are finally handed over to the next person. 

I also take great comfort in the fact that they'll be looking for the right owners, knowing that they didn't take the highest offer on this occasion. They went to the person who was the most reliable, or they thought to be, although they were let down.

You really have to do that and pick the right owners because it's easy for someone to come with a lot of money.

I've supported the club since I was four-years-old and know we have someone who does genuinely want the absolute best for them.