Wellington Phoenix seem confident they have found the long-term replacement for former captain Stephen Taylor, signing English defender Scott Wootton for another three years.
In seven matches since joining the A-League outfit in January, Wootton, 30, has quickly proved a valuable addition to the Phoenix starting line-up, contributing to an uptick in the their improved performance over that period.
"I think we can all see Scott's impact since he's come into the squad," says coach Ufuk Talay. "He's been a leader in our backline, which has helped us get the results that we didn't get previously.
"He's got a wealth of experience from playing overseas and I think that's what we were lacking at the start of the season. He’s a great age as well and I think he's going to be a good prospect for us moving forward."
The Phoenix went unbeaten in his first five appearances, securing their first clean sheets of the season, with Wootton providing the starch that went missing, when Taylor retired just one week after being named club captain last September.
"I see myself as a similar sort of character or personality to him," Wootton says. "I think my attributes probably suit the attributes of the league and the team, and it just seems to have worked."
Wootton arrived at the Phoenix from a stint with English third division side Morcambe 'Shrimps', but his lengthy resume included a handful of games at Manchester United, under legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson, in 2012.
"When I came here, obviously I didn’t just want to come for the end of the season, I wanted to stay," he says.
"I knew very, very quickly after being here with the squad, seeing the quality and how things are done over here that I wanted to stay for as long as possible, so for the club to commit to me for the next three years is something I'm chuffed to bits with.
"I'm really looking forward to paying that faith back and giving my all for the club over the next three years, every day at training and in every game. As a player, that’s how you repay the faith shown in you - keep the standards high every day, and see the team and the club progress.
"I want to help the young players in that period, as well, because we've got some good young players at the club."
