How former Shrewsbury Town favourite played a hand in Luca Hoole capture

Hoole signed for Shrews this summer after his contract came to an end at Bristol Rovers.

Rodman made 72 appearances for Shrews after being signed by Paul Hurst in January 2017 and was integral to Salop’s successful 2017-18 season which ended with Town finishing third in League One.

Hoole and Rodman were team-mates at the Memorial Stadium and remain on good terms.

“One of the big influences was Alex Rodman,” the Wales under-21 international said. “He was at Rovers with me and I am quite close with Rodders and I still speak to him now and again.

“He was a big influence. He spoke to me about Shrewsbury as an area first and foremost, he sold that for me.

“Under the gaffer (Paul Hurst) and Doigy (Chris Doig), he did not big them up but he spoke very highly of them.

“As a player, and the type of player I am, he felt they would be good to help develop me and hopefully become a better player myself.

“He really did speak highly of the club, the staff and the area to be honest, so it kind of sold it for me.”

Hurst was appointed as Shrewsbury boss back in January this year and he helped Town secure League One survival – which confirmed their 10th successive year in England’s third tier. And Hoole said the Town boss is very good at managing different players’ needs.

“I will never talk badly about any other gaffers, but he is a really good boss,” he said about his current boss. “He will pull people to the side a little bit and give them little bits of advice.

“He will call me into the office and ask me how things are going, which is a little bit more personal, which is nice. There is an arm around the shoulder if needed but also a rocket if that is needed too.

“He will use different ways to what other gaffers might do but effective ways in my opinion.

“I think I need a bit of both in terms, my first gaffer was Joey (Barton) and he would be one more likely to tell you off if you were doing something wrong and I kind of grew up with that.

“So I do need that sometimes if I am not doing things right I am expecting someone to come and say hold on a minute what are you doing?

“But also on the other hand it is also nice when you see someone is a bit down so a bit of an arm around the shoulder can help you pick it up.”