It may surprise many when they see the size of Fleetwood Town FC – with crowds of 4,000 in a town of just 28,000 people – to find Steven Pressley both excited and happy to be the club’s new manager. But some journeys in football management prove both unexpected and stimulating.

It eight months now since Pressley was removed, after some success and much off-field chaos, as manager of Coventry City. In the summer he was poised to move to another medium-sized English club but that deal fell through. Many eyebrows were thus raised when Pressley threw his hat into the ring, and duly strode with characteristic conviction, into the Fleetwood job. But Pressley himself says that surprise is due to people’s ignorance of a club that has become a growing force in the foothills of English football.

“Obviously, in the grand scheme of things, Fleetwood is a small club,” he says. “But it is a very ambitious club, and with an infrastructure that would dwarf anything you’d see in Scotland outside of the big two. Yes, and I include Hearts and Hibs.

“As a manager I felt ready to go again after my Coventry experience. The one thing you want as a manager is ‘the right fit’ and I feel I’ve got that at Fleetwood. I’ve got a technical director here, a chief scout, and other scouts that all report to him. So there is a support mechanism in place which allows me to get on with what I think I do best, which is developing young players, preparing players on the training ground, and hopefully producing an exciting young team.”

The rise of Fleetwood Town from non-league obscurity to the elite 92 clubs of senior English football – they have enjoyed six promotions in 10 years to reach the Sky Bet League One – is down to one man. Chairman Andy Pilley is a 45 year old local to the north-west of England, who loves his area and loves his football club, and whose millions plied into Fleetwood has raised the club up from its non-league roots.

The club’s Highbury Stadium boasts gleaming new stands and there is a soon to be completed state-of-the-art training complex, which is manna for a manager with Pressley’s worldview. That being said, change is in the air. Pilley wants to make his club self-sufficient, rearing its own talent, which is why Pressley is excited by the challenge of taking over a team which was sitting second-bottom of the league.

“The Fleetwood story is all down to Andy,” says Pressley. “He has invested heavily in the team, which has allowed it to climb through the divisions, and he is also now giving us this fantastic training facility. But now he wants to create a sustainable football club, and that means trying to create from within, bringing through our own young players.

“That is where I fit in to his plan. This is the perfect fit for me. I’m very happy to try to create from within the club, rather than go out and buy in. I enjoy that aspect of football management. That said, if we find we cannot make it happen, then of course we will go out and buy. At the moment there is no recent history of goals in the team – I’m very aware of that. But I am very happy to be asked to persevere with what we’ve got, to try to bring improvement.”

In Scotland, had he wanted to, Pressley could have pushed his case for the recent Dundee United job. It was a vacancy that many felt fitted him right down to his boots. But Pressley has been adamant, for different reasons, that England would remain his locus.

“I made the decision that I wanted to stay and work in England. It was partly to do with family life – I did not want my children to be uprooted yet again and going to a different school – and partly to do with my own career development. I believe I have a decent reputation in England as a coach who can improve young players and improve teams. So I want to develop my career here. Regardless of opportunities that might arise in Scotland, I definitely wanted to stay down here and make it work for me.

“But it had to be the right fit for me, and I think I’ve got that at Fleetwood. It is an excellent club. There are many examples in England, if the building and recruitment is right, of small clubs climbing through the divisions. Bournemouth are a perfect example. If you are ambitious enough, you can make giant strides forward.”

You have to hand it to Pressley. He is often accused of being arrogant or of having a healthy self-regard, but this job appears to be in a more humble setting, and is certainly anything but safe. Fleetwood’s recent results had stalled their progress prior to Pressley’s arrival, and he is essentially being asked to fix things with the squad he has inherited.

“I think I have shown, both at Falkirk and Coventry, that I have a history of developing young players and improving teams. I’m not being big-headed – I just believe I can do it here.

“But I know I have to get results. Results, ultimately, are everything. I know that and the chairman knows that. But, right now, we will try to create from within and create a sustainable football club that does not always rely on the chairman’s money.

“There is a transition going on here, from buying in to producing our own. Graham Alexander, the previous manager, did a terrific job, leading Fleetwood out of League Two into League One. But the club then suffered in this transition period, so this is where I fit into the equation. I think they believe that I can help them.”

And what of the future? What of the Pressley who once said: ‘My ambition is to work at the top of English football.’?

“Of course I am ambitious – that won’t change,” he says. “If I am good for Fleetwood, and Fleetwood is good for me, then we both benefit. In the medium-term I am very, very happy to be at this football club. I am finding this a really exciting challenge.”