New role for Fleetwood academy boss

Murdoch, 61, managed Wimbledon from 2002-04 and was at the helm when the club controversially moved from the capital to Milton Keynes and were renamed MK Dons.

The Scot later took on a caretaker manager role at Bournemouth in 2006 with spells behind the scenes at Southampton and Gillingham before taking on the academy manager role at Town.

Now Murdoch has been given the newly created role of director of player development which will support those on loan in the club’s development pathway.

It is a role he has been undertaking in recent months with a large number of Fleetwood players like Ricardo Kip (SC Cambuur) and Declan McManus (Raith Rovers) loaned out to clubs across the UK and Europe.

The new role will see Murdoch monitor their progress and help build relationships with clubs around Europe.

And Murdoch says he will still be at the club on a day-to-day basis.

He said: “It’s about ensuring that the players are making the progress that we want them to.

“What is important to us is that we are able to find pathways for players from the ages of 16 to 23 and how we make that as smooth as possible for them to progress into our first team squad.

“We will be building links with clubs who we know can get the best out of our players when they go out on loan. I’ll be still around the club on a day-to-day basis.”

Fleetwood are now in the process of recruiting an academy manager to replace Murdoch with applications now being welcomed by technical director Gretar Steinsson.

Steinsson said: “We are looking for someone to take the role of leading the operations of our academy.

“The role involves driving the cultures which we have set at the football club into the academy from the ages of eight to 18.

“Fleetwood Town is a forward thinking club which wants to become the most dynamic in the country.

“We want our staff to share our vision and values for the future, and to help develop this.

“The role of the academy manager involves overseeing the whole academy and ensuring the progression of talent from there eventually through to our first team squad.”