Ollie Westbury comment: When you think it can’t get any worse for Shrewsbury…it did!

The 51-year-old had only been in position for just over four months, but his short stint in Shropshire is already over, with the former Wycombe man walking out to join League Two side Gillingham. 

The question on every supporter's lips are simple: why is he leaving? And what does this mean for Town’s takeover? 

The search for new investment has been rumbling on in the background since exclusivity was announced around the time of the Ainsworth appointment last year. 

Concerns over Salop’s impending takeover have been raised as the days, weeks and months passed by with no update. 

The radio silence has led to more and more conjecture, and doubt, over whether that sale is going to happen. 

Ainsworth’s departure appears to shroud the club and take in yet more uncertainty - not least due to the comments he made at the Supporters' Parliament at the start of February. 

A fan stood up and said: ‘If takeover does not happen, will you walk?’ 

Ainsworth's answer was less than convincing, and without spelling it out, he left the impression that he would. 

So now, with Ainsworth deciding to leave Shrewsbury, and take a job in the bottom echelons of League Two, many supporters are putting two and two together - he must have doubts over whether a takeover is going to take place. 

This news has caught everybody off guard. It was the back end of last week when Salop were first aware of the interest from the Gills. 

On the initial approach it is understood that Shrews refused as they were reluctant to lose their man, and they fought tooth and nail to try to keep him in Shropshire. 

But once there was an approach, the manager had the right to know, and he went down to Kent to meet with the fourth-tier club over a potential move. 

Town wanted him to stay until the end of the season, but the head coach wanted to go immediately.

Nobody comes out of this situation looking good. 

Shrewsbury have had a disastrous season, and they are going to drop out of League One after a long stint in the third tier. 

They have already had one change of head coach after Paul Hurst was sacked after two wins in 19 games, and now, after 22 matches, Ainsworth has left too. 

Roland Wycherley is under the microscope once more. At the end of their last league game, the 2-0 defeat at home to Burton, there were calls for their long-term chairman to go, as well as director of football Micky Moore. 

Once more, this is another bad look for the club, as the fans, who have had so little to shout about this term, have lost the one ray of hope they had to cling to after a miserable campaign. 

Ainsworth provided a huge surge in positivity, and a reason to be optimistic after he joined Salop, and at one stage, the impossible briefly looked possible. 

But once somebody has decided they want to leave, and there is a release clause in a contract, there is very little a club can do to stop it from happening. 

And of course, there is Ainsworth himself. 

He had spent quite a significant period of his tenure in Shropshire saying how much he loves the place and how he is there for the long haul. He spent more than a decade at his previous club Wycombe Wanderers, and he spoke at length about how he might be able to emulate that at the Croud Meadow. 

On numerous occasions, he mentioned his affection for Town’s chairman. And Ainsworth's assistant, Richard Dobson, who is also leaving, spoke about wanting to build something within the local community as recently as last week. 

It is safe to say the vast majority of what the duo said must be taken with a kilogram of salt. 

Shrewsbury are a club in crisis, they have been for some time now and they are constantly fighting fires. 

Trouble is, once something starts going wrong it becomes so difficult to stop. 

While relegation looks inevitable, Town still have nine matches left to play, with difficult trips to Birmingham and Wycombe to come.

But with this campaign being such a disaster, who says they will do any better in League Two?