Steve Wigley

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Steve Wigley (born October 15, 1961 in Ashton Under Lyne) is a former professional football player for Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, Birmingham, Portsmouth and Exeter. He is the former manager of Southampton F.C.

1 Playing career
2 Coaching career
3 Manager - Southampton F.C.
4 External links

[edit] Playing career

In his playing days Wigley earned a reputation as a tricky winger, jinxing his way through defences and dazzling crowds with his skillful ball displays. It was this that attracted Brian Clough who promptly signed him for Nottingham Forest. After making his debut as a 21 year old, Wigley played 82 times for Forest before moving to Sheffield United in 1985. Unfortunately, he never found success at Sheffield and moved to Birmingham City soon after, where during a spectacular display against Portsmouth F.C., Pompey manager Alan Ball was persuaded to sign him for the club. After spending four years of mixed fortunes on the South Coast, Wigley moved to Exeter to finish his playing career before taking on his first managerial job at Aldershot.

[edit] Coaching career

Wigley had three years at Aldershot before David Platt persuaded him to return to Nottingham as assistant academy director. In his time at Forest, Wigley moved up the ranks to become first team coach before short-lived Saints boss Stuart Gray lured him to Southampton as academy director in the summer of 2001. At the same time, David Platt, now England Under 21 boss, asked Wigley to help out with coaching the young internationals. During Gordon Strachan's reign at Southampton, Wigley moved to focus more on the first team than the academy players. So, when Strachan left the club in 2004, Wigley was asked to step in as caretaker boss. Wigley clearly felt ill at ease in charge of the Saints so after two games in charge, Paul Sturrock was brought in from Plymouth Argyle. During the rumoured player disputes with Sturrock Wigley stepped in as an intermediary and helped solve differences at the club. When Sturrock left the club on August 23, 2004 only two games into the new season, Wigley was a natural choice to take over once again as caretaker boss. Currently, Steve is the 1st team coach for Manchester City. During his first season at City, Steve guided City's reserve team to third place in the Premiership North Reserve League.

[edit] Manager - Southampton F.C.

On the 24 August 2004, Rupert Lowe revealed that Wigley had been appointed full time boss of the Saints and not just caretaker. This announcement was probably designed to avoid fans and the media stirring up trouble over the possible return of Glenn Hoddle, who Lowe was rumoured to want to appoint.

Opponents of Wigley claimed that he was not yet ready for Premiership management; with only three years in charge of Aldershot Town, a non-league club. However, some fans were happy with the appointment as it meant that Hoddle, widely reviled by many Saints fans could not return. The more cynical fans said that Lowe has appointed Wigley knowing that he would fail allowing Hoddle to return. The presence or otherwise of his FA Coaching Badges was alleged by Steve to be a source of constant speculation, hindering his rapport with the media.

Wigley's first tenure in the Premiership ended prematurely - he was dismissed by Southampton on 8 December after just 14 matches, the only win coming in the local derby against arch-rivals Portsmouth. To the surprise of many, Wigley was replaced by former Pompey boss Harry Redknapp. Wigley resumed duties with the club's young players but finally left St Mary's later in the season. He now coaches at Man City.