“Everyone is really buzzing to get started – there has been high energy and enthusiasm since I’ve come here, they are all loving the fact that we want to play attacking football,” Folan said.
“I am really proud and itching to get at it. We’ve got big ambitions as a club.
“I want to improve not only the football but also the life as well.”
Folan grew up in the small Scottish seaport town of Greenock, just outside Glasgow, where he had a season ticket to support Celtic FC.
He said Scottish managers such as Bill Shankly, Matt Busby and Jock Stein, otherwise known as the Three Kings, had inspired him in his coaching career.
“I’ve been brought up watching attacking football, high pressing, high energy, and that is the kind of team I want to build as well,” Folan said.
He started at Greenock Morton Academy before an offer to join Petone FC in Lower Hutt where he worked for six months as a member of the academy and first team coaching staff.
He contributed to the club being promoted to the National League Championship before he took a role at Melville United AFC in Hamilton.
“It was a good experience, obviously having just got into the country it was all a bit new to me but it was really enjoyable going around the country and coaching in such a high league – the standard was really good,” Folan said.
“I just thought it was time for me to branch out and take a job of my own. Whanganui got in touch, there were good conversations from the start.
“I really like the club. It kind of resonates with me in terms of the working class background and wanting to play good attacking football so it made it really easy for me to come in.”
Folan wanted to provide stability for the future.
“It’s the start of a journey for us, we want to go as far as we can and be successful – I thought it was the ideal start for me,” Folan said.
“They’ve got an academy already set up here so my role as the director of football is to come in and try and professionalise the club.
“My role is to put a plan in place. Instead of each individual team having their own identity and playing a certain way, it will be a club identity that we are going to use.”
There would be a focus on areas such as training the current coaches, bringing in new coaches and educating players on how to sleep, eat and drink better in the hope that it would translate to better performance and results.
Club president Bruce McGhie was excited to see what Folan would bring to Athletic.
“It was a decision based on mutual benefit really,” McGhie said.
“I think moving forward, based on what we know about Aaron, he’s going to bring a bit more stability to the team dynamic. He has some new ideas, he has got a really good track record which impressed us.
“The club is 100% behind what he has proposed. As a board we need to make sure we back him up with everything he needs to do the job.”
Folan was not looking too far ahead in terms of aims for the season.
“I don’t really like to look, set goals for the season and say ‘this is what we want to do’ because every day is different,” Folan said.
“I want to be as successful as we can with a great identity and style of football that packs the stands up, packs the clubrooms, to get people proud of Whanganui again.”
Pre-season has started, with the first team getting into competitive action on March 29.
