EFL boss walks away from club in relegation battle to drop down a division
Gareth Ainsworth has been announced as the new Gillingham manager.
Ainsworth has dropped into League Two to take charge of the Gills after his shock exit from League One battlers Shrewsbury Town was confirmed on Tuesday.
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Gillingham are 19th in the table, meaning Ainsworth will be tasked with a similar role in aiming to steer the club clear of relegation.
He will speak to the Gills' media team for the first time on Wednesday, ahead of his first game in charge of the Gills on Saturday against Harrogate Town.
In an open letter to Shrewsbury supporters, chairman Roland Wycherley conceded the club did 'absolutely everything in its power' to keep Ainsworth at the club.
But the fact Gillingham met a termination clause in Ainsworth's contract coupled with the 51-year-old's desire to move meant Shrewsbury were powerless to keep him.
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"Gareth’s contract contained a termination clause which the League Two club in question initially refused to meet," Wycherley said in a statement.
"We made clear from that point we would not allow him to leave and that we wanted him to honour the remainder of his contract.
"But Gareth made clear he wanted to leave immediately, despite acknowledging the position the club are in at this moment in time.
"At a board meeting yesterday afternoon, the League Two club had still refused to meet the termination clause.
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"But at 4.41pm yesterday, STFC received confirmation that the club had agreed to pay the full termination fee for both Gareth Ainsworth and Richard Dobson.
"This took any further negotiations out of our hands – and Gareth and Richard once again expressed their desire to leave immediately.
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"A few weeks ago, I sat down with Gareth and offered him a two-year contract extension regardless of our divisional status because, as a club, we were excited about the future with him at the helm.
"Gareth seemed pleased we made that offer and everyone was looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship.
"While we only received the final paperwork from the League Two club this afternoon, I would like to – as much as possible – reassure fans that we are already in discussion with suitable candidates for the head coach role.
"We are working really hard to have someone in place for Saturday.
"Once again, I fully understand why our supporters are feeling frustrated, confused and concerned.
"I can assure you, as a supporter myself, the current situation hurts me more than I can ever express. And with the club still in an exclusivity agreement regarding a potential takeover, we will keep you updated with events as they happen."
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Experienced boss John Coleman has been in temporary charge of the club since Mark Bonner was sacked as manager in January.
Rumours of a possible departure began to circulate last week when Ainsworth was spotted in Gillingham.
He took over at New Meadow in November in what was seen as a master stroke for the Shropshire club.
But he has struggled to make the desired impact having won just five of his 22 games in charge, drawing five and losing 12.
The 51-year-old will become the 44th manager to have been either sacked or left a club across the Premier League and EFL so far this season.
Ainsworth leaves Shrewsbury with the club 14 points from safety with nine games left to play.
League One club Shrewsbury town are to host UEFA Conference League games this season
The Shrews are slumped at the bottom of the table with 28 points from 37 games and having failed to score in five of their last six games
The former Wycombe and QPR boss made a promising start to life at Shrewsbury having overseen a heroic victory over runaway leaders Birmingham City followed by a win against local rivals Wrexham.
But Shrewsbury were unable to kick on and slipped into a spell of poor form that saw them slip to the foot of the table.
It coincided with the sale of star player Tom Bloxham to Blackpool in January.
After the 2-0 defeat to Burton on March 15, Ainsworth said: "There is a fear factor coming in now, I can feel it in the boys, and I have to try and alleviate that.
“They are feeling the pressure, I know that, and I can see it. Some of them have not been in this position as there are some young boys in there.
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“I want to give them the message of no fear and good body language. They have got nothing to lose, but they looked like they were playing a little bit within themselves and a bit careful.
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“As soon as we conceded, the boys looked like they were defeated and that is really disappointing.
“I was giving everything to the end on the touchline and I want them to follow.”