New signing Phoenix Patterson sat down with the club after signing on Monday afternoon and talked us through how the move happened and what to expect from January onwards.
Patterson, who was at Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur until the age of 19, has been prolific in front of goal for Waterford in his 58 appearances in all competitions as he has 40 total goal contributions, 28 of those being goals and the other 12 being assists.
Here's what he had to say in his first interview with the club:
On the move to Fleetwood Town…
“I’m very happy to have signed here; I’ve always wanted to come and play football in England so I’m happy that Fleetwood has given me this chance to come and test myself in League One, I can’t wait to get started in January. The connection between Waterford and Fleetwood helped this move, I was just trying to play the best football that I could.
“The owner [Andy Pilley] and some of his staff came over to watch some of the game last season and I’d been doing well, scoring a few goals, it’s great that the people in charge of Fleetwood thought that I could add something to this group. I’ve got a few weeks now to build my fitness back up because I’ve had a break after the Irish season, so my focus now is being ready for January.”
On the accolades, he earned in Ireland last season…
“I’m proud of the accolades I earned last season; none of them was in my head at the start of the season, I just tried to get Waterford promoted and aimed to help them push as far as they can in the cup, but when you get towards the end of the season having scored the number of goals that I had, and the way the side was playing, these accolades start getting thrown around.
“You start to think about it in the back of your mind a little bit, but you know that you have to concentrate on the games that are coming ahead of you. I was just happy to be nominated for these awards, especially from the players that you play with week in, week out so each moment was a proud moment for me and my family.”
On the welcome, he received from the players and staff…
“I’ve settled in well as the boys have been very welcoming; you can tell they are a good bunch, so it’s been easy to come in and be myself in training. It’s been good training under Scott [Brown] and his staff so I’m looking forward to putting my all into this move and hopefully, playing under them in the near future.
“The manager just told me to bring what I was doing at Waterford over here, I’m a player who wants to excite the crowd, score goals, assist goals, and be effective at the top end of the pitch. If I can bring the form that I had at Waterford over here, it would be great.”