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Jamie reportedly asked Town boss Gary Peters where his future lay regarding next season, but it would seem the Shrews boss was worried about McClen's fitness levels, Peters telling Shrewsbury Town's official website :
"We've let Jamie go from the club and he's returned back home. We had hoped that Jamie would be getting close to match fitness and his match sharpness would be improving.
"He's done well for us since joining both in training and in the first team games he's played but he wanted an answer as to if we would be offering anything for next season.
"We had to decide whether he had done enough to justify us signing him next season especially as he would need a big package to relocate him and his family from Newcastle.
"I've got to make sure anyone I take on is right for us next season and at the moment I couldn't give Jamie that answer. Jamie has been great since he's been here and I'd like to thank him for all the work he's done during his spell with Shrewsbury Town."
In his United days, despite some useful performances for the reserve side since signing up with Carlisle on the 4th of August, McClen found it hard to break into the first-team. Indeed, he made only one full start in the 2-1 Carling Cup defeat at Burnley in August as well as four brief substitute appearances as he struggled to find a starting berth in a central midfield area where United are overflowing with options.
McClen had been turning out for promotion hopefuls Blyth Spartans in the Unibond Premier League before his brief spell with the Shrews, and it would seem likely that he will once more feature for a local non-league side on his return to the North-East.
Editorial footnote - Jamie McClen did indeed re-sign for Blyth Spartans, joining up with the Croft Park club on the 6th of April 2006.