Shrewsbury Town’s longest-serving player Kelvin Langmead insists the squad are firmly behind caretaker manager John McMahon as they strive to get back on track.
Langmead said he would like the Liverpudlian to get the job on a full time basis and that the players would be working hard to try and boost his claims.
But Langmead is also well aware of the outside names believed to be in the frame to succeed Gary Peters and admitted the hotly-tipped Paul Simpson, a man he played under during a loan spell at Carlisle earlier in his career, boasted impressive credentials.
“John can now do things his way and as players we obviously know him which can only help us,” said the consistent central defender.
“We want him to get the job and we want to work hard and play well. We want to progress as a team and as individuals and believe we can do that under John.”
Langmead knows the decision over Peters’ successor lies with the board, but said of the outside names he’s heard linked with the vacancy, it’s Simpson’s which stands out for him, having played under him at Carlisle a few years ago.
“Paul Simpson is a manager who did extremely well at Carlisle,” he said. “I was there unfortunately in the season they went down to the Conference but I had a great experience there.
“I was a young YT and he gave me an opportunity to get among the first team.
“As everyone knows, it didn’t go well for him at Preston, but like with players sometimes it just doesn’t happen. But, right now, John McMahon’s in charge and every player in the dressing room is behind him.”
Langmead admitted it was always an unsettling time for players as they wait to find out who will be their new boss. And he added he felt some responsibility over the departure of Peters, the man who made him one of his first signings when he landed the Gay Meadow job in November 2004.
“He did so much for me, brought me to the club and gave me a chance,” he said. “He transformed my game completely, obviously position-wise, so he was fantastic for me.
“Don’t get me wrong, we had our run-ins, but the majority of the time he tried to encourage me and I’m extremely thankful to him for that.
“At the end of the day you can have a chairman, you can have a manager, but fans run football clubs. Fans are around for ever. Everyone else, managers, chairmen, players, all come and go.
“Some of the fans have got their wish and you have to respect that, and Gary made his decision to leave and you move on.
“It’s a real low in a player’s career when you’ve under-performed and the manager’s paid for it. The guy’s lost his job and it’s tough when you know you’re partly to blame for that.
“But you’ve got to take the positives of what he did for this football club and the progressive years. People soon forget things like Wembley.”
Langmead is under no illusions just how important the next two games are as Town look to steady the ship following a dismal run of just six points from their last dozen games.
Town host Rotherham on Saturday before another Oteley Road outing against Darlington on Tuesday night.
“The next two games are absolutely massive, we understand that,” he added. “We’re playing two teams higher than us who may come here thinking with our run that they can beat us.
“But we’re certainly not going to lie down and die, although we did do that at Barnet last weekend where we were a disgrace.
“It’s two home games against two good teams and we’re really going to give it a good go.”