Is Simon Grayson the right man for Fleetwood Town?

Simon Grayson is back in League One following his exit from Blackpool, joining Fleetwood on a deal until the end of the season.

Grayson, 51, left the Seasiders in February 2020 after a run of one win in 12 matches that saw the club slide down the table. This appointment is an intriguing one on a number of levels.

The frontrunner for the job following Joey Barton’s departure was Anthony Barry who is the first-team coach at Chelsea. It appears that the timing was unfortunate for the Fishermen as Barry will look to learn under Thomas Tuchel’s tutelage.

With that being said it was clear that the ship needed to be steadied at Highbury with caretaker Simon Wiles unable to pick up a win in any of his five league games in charge. Is Simon Grayson the man that is going to bring the stability that is required at Fleetwood?

Well, there is no doubt that across his career he has been highly successful in League One, with four promotions achieved with Blackpool, Leeds, Huddersfield and Preston showing his calibre at this level.

In recent years, however, his stock has fallen each time he has taken on a new role. At Sunderland, he took over a club in crisis but failed to steady the ship and lost his job within five months, at Bradford he actually had a relatively okay spell but ultimately did not do enough to gain the job on a long term basis.

Finally, in his most recent spell at Blackpool, the early signs were positive under new ownership but things quickly turned sour and the majority of supporters were relieved to see him depart not long after the 2020 January transfer window.

Grayson will bring a simplified, organised tactical structure. At Blackpool he looked to create width in their play, opening up angles to create crossing opportunities to find target man Armand Gnanduillet in the box.

He does not have a clear identity in his play because he tends to shape his style around what the squad has to offer, it just tended to be the case in his recent roles that a direct, deep approach was what he felt suited his options the most.

You have to expect Grayson to adopt a direct, simplified approach with Fleetwood because he will not have much time to implement his own ideas on their style with games coming thick and fast. You also have to expect some business to be done with the transfer window coming to a close.

Recruitment was one of his biggest failings at Blackpool with only seven of his 24 signings still at the club under Neil Critchley at this point.

The major issue with Grayson’s second spell at Bloomfield Road and ultimately with Sunderland and Bradford alike is that once the results are not coming, there is nothing to watch.

His direct, forced approach in play was effective in picking up results in the early stages but it was one-dimensional and it left Blackpool without a plan B once the threat of Liam Feeney on the right and Gnanduillet in the centre had been neutralised.

It was not pretty on the eye and it left supporters quickly turning on Grayson when it became apparent that the results were only going to continue to slide with the team doing the same things and expecting different results.

Fleetwood are smart to take Simon Wiles out of the firing line. He is highly thought of at the club following his success in the youth ranks and he take the experience of being in charge of the first team but it is evidently too soon for him.

Bringing in a replacement allows the 35-year-old to continue to develop in the background and potentially be a feasible choice for a first-team role in the future.

Grayson started well at Blackpool because he simplified things and played to the team’s strengths. With Fleetwood low on confidence at the moment, there is no doubt their squad, which on paper is a strong one with a match of talented youth and experience, will welcome a simplification to their game.

There is nothing to lose for both the club and the manager at this point. They are nine points off the Play-Offs and nine points above relegation, the encapsulation of mid-table. With that in mind, the expectations are relatively low for Grayson.

If he can coast the team to a solid mid-table finish then he has done what he has been brought in to do and clubs will look to him as a trustworthy source to come in and address a team on the slide.

Expectations will have been exceeded if Fleetwood can go on and push for the Play-Offs and his stock will have recovered from his recent poor showings. Even if the Lancashire club continued to look in a different direction in the summer, as is expected, then other clubs will see that Grayson can still do a good job at this level.

Continue to slide in terms of results and he will not be the person who is looked at as the reason why the poor season occurred, he will simply be someone who was not quite able to turn things around. His stock will be at the same level it was before this role and he will walk away on the same footing.

So ultimately the pressure is off and that will be a motivation for Grayson. This is his chance to reignite his career and defeat the notion that the game is beginning to pass him by. It will be intriguing to see how things go at Highbury, but with experience in the likes of Charlie Mulgrew and Paddy Madden, the 51-year-old will see this as a job he is capable of succeeding in.

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