New Baffins boss Shaun Wilkinson: ‘Players won’t be coming here for the money, they’ll be coming for the football education’

The former Hawks midfielder was recently given his first-ever managerial role after Rovers decided to part company with Steve Leigh.

He is no stranger to the PMC Stadium, having spent some time helping out Louis Bell prior to Leigh taking over in early 2018.

Armed with a bulging contacts book and a fierce determination to succeed, the 39-year-old is hoping he can be the man to take Baffins into the Southern League - and give a helping hand to any player who really impresses him along the way.

‘I was offered the job when Louis left but the timing wasn’t right,’ Wilkinson recalled. ‘Now the opportunity has come around again, it is the right time.

‘I didn’t have the time before, and I don’t want to do things by half measures. You need full commitment.

‘I’ve known (Baffins chairman) Steve Cripps for a long time, I know the vice chairman Tony Male, I know the board. They are all good people who are in football for the right reason.

‘If I was going to take any job in the Wessex League, this is the only one I would have taken.’

Wilkinson has spent his entire career at a much higher level. He made his EFL debut for Brighton in December 1999 and later enjoyed a good non-league career with Hawks and Weymouth.

His former Westleigh Park boss Ian Baird appointed Wilkinson his assistant at Eastleigh in September 2011, and the following May - with Baird away on work commitments - Wilkinson was in charge when Eastleigh beat AFC Totton to lift the Hampshire Senior Cup.

After a spell out of the game, Wilkinson was appointed assistant manager of Gosport Borough in January 2017. It was a role he only held for a few months.

‘I went to Gosport because I was told I was going to be the manager after a little transition period. Alex Pike was going to move upstairs, but he got his zest for management back and stayed on,’ said Wilkinson.

‘The goalposts had been moved, the club was in freefall and I didn’t want to be a part of that.

‘We were swimming against the tide. I’d called in some favours and brought some players in - I’ve got extremely good contacts, probably some of the best in the south.

‘There were a few problems … I didn’t want my contacts reputation ruined as a result of someone making false promises.’

Having previously been an assistant, Wilkinson added: ‘I didn’t want to be a No 2 again, I’m my own man, I have my own ideas. This is the ideal project for me.

‘I have big respect for Steve Leigh, he did a great job with the resources available to him. I just want to carry on his good work.

‘I know the chairman is ambitious and wants to get to the Southern League in two years, but no-one is pressing a gun to my head. I want to win every game, no matter what level I’m at, and hopefully we will win promotion at the end.

‘This is a tough league, it’s not a gimme. Portchester and Horndean have spent much more than Baffins have, and they’re still here. You can’t just throw money at it because that won’t work.

‘Baffins are a well run club, they won’t over-spend, they live within their means.’

Wilkinson continued: ‘I’m not here to run the Brownies or a social club, I’m here to try and run it as professionally as I can.

‘I’ve played under some good managers - Peter Taylor, Micky Adams and Steve Coppell at Brighton, Garry Hill at Weymouth, Ian Baird at Havant. They have all been successful because they’ve always tried to be as professional as they can be.

‘Players won’t be coming here for the money, they will be coming for the football education they will get. They will be coming for the environment I want to create, they will be coming for the coaching.’

Wilkinson will give last season’s Baffins squad a ‘clean slate’ but also wants to bring in around 10 more players ahead of pre-season starting. He has already signed ex-Hawks keeper Charlie Searle – who helped Steve Claridge’s Salisbury win the Wessex League in 2015/16 - one-time Chichester City defender Ruben French and former Gosport, Fleetlands and Infinity striker Kurt Watts.

‘Everyone will get a fair crack of the whip. I’ll then look to trim it to 18/19/20 and that will be the squad,’ Wilkinson declared.

‘I have intentions to take his club forward, and I want determined like-minded players to help do that.

‘If people want to leave, I’ll help them back their bags. I won’t beg anyone to stay.’

Baffins were a Portsmouth League club just eight years ago. Since then, they have won the Hampshire Premier League twice and spent just one season in the Wessex Division 1.

In only their second Wessex Premier season, in 2018/19, they finished fifth and also lifted the Wessex League Cup.

‘If we can progress as much in the next three years as they have the last three years, there will be good times ahead,’ Wilkinson said.

‘I want us to offer a top brand of football, a good environment, the pitch will be in tip-top condition and we’ll be putting out a side playing football the right way.

‘All coaches would say they’re like Pep Guardiola, playing the beautiful game, but I’m a realist. I went full-blooded commitment, and I want players to apply themselves. I want fast-paced attacking play, but in a winning style. My players will have to be adaptable.

‘I want my players to progress if they’re good enough, I won’t hold them back, I won’t be putting any of them on a contract.

‘If they’re doing the business, I can use my contacts to help them.

‘If someone is playing out of their skin, I can phone up Ian Baird at Havant and tell them they must come and watch.

‘I’ve got a good relationship with all the local clubs

‘I know Miles Rutherford and Graeme Gee well at Chichester, we will dual sign some players and help each other out. My players will know if they play well they could be playing a level up for Chichester.

‘I know Jack Pearce at Bognor, I played with the Worthing boss Adam Hinshelwood, I played with Lee Johnson at Bristol City, I played with Nathan Jones who left Stoke a while ago, I played with Jason Tindall at AFC Bournemouth.

‘If my players apply themselves and do the business for me, I will get people watching them because of my contacts.

‘I can help offer them the chance to go higher - that should be a great pull for players at this level.

‘I’m a good coach, and hopefully I can improve the players to go on to better things. If you can help them to step up, you are doing a good job.’

Wilkinson has kept coach Gary Haynes, who was part of Leigh’s backroom team, and has brought in his former Gosport colleague Danny Thompson as assistant manager.

Thompson guided Infinity to the top of the Hampshire Premier League last season, but resigned after the FA dashed their promotion hopes by null and voiding step 7 football.

‘I will surround myself with like-minded people who know the level,’ said Wilkinson.

‘Danny knows the level, he’s won the league twice, Gary Haynes knows the level.

‘I am in talks to bring in another coach, and they will know the level too.

‘I have known Tommo a long time - he’s a great little coach, so enthusiastic. He will be perfect for me.

‘He got Infinity organised, they didn’t lose a game, and he tried to make them as professional as they could be at that level.’