Jamie Tolley: Gavin Cowan will find a way despite Shrewsbury Town's transfer fee embargo

The news of Shrewsbury Town’s transfer fee embargo came as a huge surprise and frustration, but I’m sure the management team will come up with a plan to overcome the challenge.

The fee embargo ties the hands of manager Gavin Cowan and rules out any potential transfer fee they might have had available to pay for a player.

It’s massively frustrating and it makes Gavin and the recruitment team’s job even harder when they’re trying to bring players into the football club. But these obstacles are there to test you, aren’t they?

I’m sure they’ll come up with a plan. Gavin thinks of every eventuality, so I don’t doubt he’ll have been working on ways around it. I’m sure they’ll still manage to get more signings over the line.

They’ve already brought several players in and have probably signed the bulk of the players they wanted. That’s the positive.

I’ve said many times that every club wants that golden nugget - the centre-forward who’s going to score goals. Unfortunately, these days, to get a player of that quality, there’s usually a transfer fee involved.

That’s where the embargo becomes a real obstacle, but I’m sure Gavin is up for the challenge. He’ll embrace it because that’s the situation the club finds itself in, and I’m sure he’s fully prepared to deal with it.

Pre-season preparations ramp up this week with the first outing at Stafford Rangers before the trip to the Isle of Man, and I can’t wait.

In one way it feels like it’s been a long summer, but in another it hasn’t because we’ve had football to watch every day with the World Cup.

Now we’ll get to see the new kit, the new signings and what Gavin, Dave Edwards and Jamie Haynes have been working on during pre-season. I’m really intrigued to see how they want this team to play.

I’m sure the players are desperate to pull on the shirt and get a game under their belts. As much as players enjoy getting back into pre-season, it’s also incredibly tough with all the running needed to get those fitness levels up.

But no matter how much running you do, there’s nothing quite like playing a 90-minute game of football. That’s what really gets your match fitness back and gives you that buzz and good feeling again.

I’ll be looking at all of the new signings to see how they adapt to the way Gavin wants to play. That’s the most intriguing part for me. I’ll be watching to see how quickly they pick it up.

I’m sure they’ll all be buzzing to get out there and show the fans what they’re about. But supporters also need to be patient. You can’t expect them to hit the ground running straight away. It will take a few games for players to settle and build those relationships.

Pre-season is also a clean slate for everybody. It’s a great opportunity for young lads like Will Gray, Isaac Lee and Isaac England to have a really good pre-season and make a real statement that they want to be part of the first-team set-up. If not in the starting XI, then at least on the bench.

I fully expect they’ll relish the challenge. They’ll see these new players coming in and think: “You’ve got to get past me first. I want that shirt.”

Will Gray especially had a brilliant end to last season, and hopefully that has only given him a taste of what he can achieve. I’m really looking forward to seeing how he progresses.