Simon Wiles aiming to build momentum and stake a claim at Fleetwood Town

For Fleetwood Town’s interim head coach Simon Wiles, it’s all about making his case for the job on a permanent basis.
Putting people first is the cornerstone of Simon Wiles' approach to management at Fleetwood TownPutting people first is the cornerstone of Simon Wiles' approach to management at Fleetwood Town
Putting people first is the cornerstone of Simon Wiles' approach to management at Fleetwood Town
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Wiles is in his first senior management role as he steps up from the academy at Highbury to replace Joey Barton.

At 35, Wiles is younger than members of the first-team squad but has plenty of coaching experience, having retired from playing at 26 due to injury.

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The former Blackpool player aims to stake his claim to chairman Andy Pilley despite starting with an agonising 3-2 defeat at Hull City in the Papa John's Trophy on Tuesday.

Speaking ahead of that game, Wiles said: “That’s the plan. That’s the reason we’re in the game – we love winning.

“Preparation is absolutely vital for any sort of success and we feel the work we’ve done so far puts us in a good place.We would love to build the momentum moving forward.

“They haven’t mentioned a time frame. They’ve just mentioned that I’m going to be interim manager and throughout this period it will just be about approaching every single day with the best interest of the football club moving forward.

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“If you keep working hard, your work will get recognised and I’m hoping that will have the same impact with the first team.”

And Wiles insists his approach hasn’t changed since stepping up from the club’s Under-18s last week and he believes all the players should be valued as individuals.

“Whether it’s under-18s or first-team players, I’m just me,” he said. “I find that I love working with people.

“I like developing people and I know there are some fantastic senior players in the building.

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“But we’ve got to work on our relationships because they’ve only known me for two days, so previous to that I made some phone calls and got in touch with them all just to see how they were and what their feelings were.

“I told them what I’m going to be bringing to this opportunity.

“I’m a huge believer in the environment, that if you put the person first and get to know the person, the football should take care of itself because you still want to continue to develop them.

“It will be interesting to see how it all pans out moving forward in terms of the performances on the pitch.”

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