'It could be club of the month' - Gavin Cowan hails team effort after award

Cowan has overseen an incredible revival since taking charge in late January, leading Salop to five consecutive wins during February.

He became the first Shrewsbury Town boss to win the Manager of the Month award since Steve Cotterill in December 2020.

Cowan said: "It's hard to process. People keep asking me if I'm enjoying it at the moment, and the truth is I haven't had a chance to just to take a breath. But, I'm really proud. 

"Obviously, the whole thing about coming into the football club is to get the club safe when it was in a bit of a dark place. We're well on the way to doing that - we haven't achieved that yet, there's still work to do. 

"But I'm really proud. It's just a recognition that the staff have really bought into what it is I'm trying to do, as well as the players. Everyone's played their part. 

"I know they say Manager of the Month, but for me,  we could have got the fans as well and everybody attached to the club. It could have been 'club of the month', because it's been a big collective effort. 

"I feel a little bit embarrassed to take a single award. But I do thank everybody for being so involved and for playing their part, because it's been everyone. It's been a privilege to lead it."

Salop became the most in-form side across English football's top four divisions during February, beating promotion-chasing sides including Notts County, Swindon Town, and Salford City.

Asked about the buy-in from his players, Cowan added: "There's a lot of detail with what I bring, it's very intense. I think the players were perhaps yearning it from what they're telling me.

"The big thing is just to make sure that they stick to it. We don't want to start getting ahead of ourselves and doing anything different. We obviously want to evolve at some point and we want to get even better. 

"But for the here and now, we just want to stay connected. We want to make sure that we're adhering to the process of what we do. 

"I'm just really thankful that I'm able to lead it and really thankful for the players for their buy-in, because they seem to be enjoying themselves.

"That's what wins bring, but I like to think a lot of the analysis that we do, that what we're doing is by design. There's no sort of fluke around it. 

"It's good to be able to show the players that as well."