Gavin Cowan opens up on 'passion' to get Shrewsbury Town 'culture right'

Boss Gavin Cowan has underlined his burning desire to ‘get the culture right’ at Shrewsbury Town.

The Shrewsbury chief insisted he is in the process of instilling an “understanding and trust” at Croud Meadow.

Cowan, the former Town defender and AFC Telford United and Brackley boss, is keen for everybody at the club to pull in the same direction and work within a “respect hierarchy”.

Cowan replaced Michael Appleton with Town two points above the drop zone in January and helped the club finish 10 points clear of the drop. Last month he agreed a contract extension until 2028.

“One thing I'm really passionate about is getting the culture right around the football club,” Cowan said. “It needs to be the football club that I remember. It's starting to slowly feel like that.

“People are starting to understand and trust. I call it a respect hierarchy around the place.

“Everybody needs to make sure they stay on the respect hierarchy because when it becomes a power hierarchy, that's when things go wrong.

“From my perspective, I think Dave (Edwards, assistant) sees that. He sees the shift in the culture that we're trying to create.

“The reason we do that is because the fans want to see the best team on the pitch.It's not always the best team, but it's the team that gives the most heart, gives the most energy, gives the most attitude and application.

“From my perspective, that comes from what happens off the pitch.”

Cowan sees a route to success as clear if everybody involved at the club are “aligned”.

The Town boss kickstarted business in his first summer at the helm with the well-received news of a new contract for the influential Josh Ruffels.

The experienced and versatile defender, 32, played a key role in helping Shrewsbury to safety in the fourth tier.

“If you can get it right off the pitch with all your staff aligned, the players aligned, everybody around the football club aligned, all of a sudden that transfers onto the pitch, which is why I'm really passionate about that side of it,” the head coach added.

“We can do our bit to make sure that their (the club’s) decision to employ us is a good one.

“Maybe that's been lost a little bit, so everybody on one agenda as opposed to their own is going to be a really good way to move forward.”

Cowan’s management team of hometown hero Dave Edwards and the boss’ long-term lieutenant Jamie Haynes also committed their future to the Meadow last month by agreeing extensions.

Essex-born Cowan, who continued to call the county his home after his playing days, underlined a need for responsibility to be taken.

He said his task is to focus improving performances, which should bring positive results.

“From my perspective, being united and everybody working on one alignment, I just feel that people need to take responsibility for their job,” Cowan added.

“For me, I have to be responsible for picking a team, for getting the team to be high in terms of performances, which then you hope will lead to results.

“My job is to get emotional around performances that I think bring results. If I get emotional about results, I'll probably tear my hair out by the start of the season.

“You've got to try and bring a bit of reason and logic to it.”