RICHIE Wellens says the opportunity to restart his managerial career at Swindon Town “just felt right” after officially being unveiled by the club today.

Wellens has been out of work since leaving Oldham Athletic over the summer, with the Latics having provided his first managerial role.

Opportunities at other clubs came and went – some through Wellens’ own choosing – but upon being asked to fill the vacancy at the Energy Check County Ground earlier this week, the 38-year-old felt he and the club were a natural fit.

The admiration Town chairman Lee Power holds for Wellens is clear. He was given the job less than 48 hours after Phil Brown’s departure on Sunday, having also been considered when the ex-Premier League boss was first appointed at SN1 back in March.

That feeling is reciprocated by the former Blackburn Rovers and Blackpool player towards the club, with Wellens a keen fan of the progressive style of play Town teams have tried to adhere to in the recent past.

Speaking at his first press conference since his appointment, Wellens said: “First and foremost, it’s a big club.

“I have been out of work for several months. I had one interview at a League One club and thought that I had it but didn’t get it. I have had an opportunity to go into a couple of other clubs, but it just didn’t feel right.

“The sheer size of the club and the way some of the teams have played over the last six or seven years, so the supporters should be educated in a lot of good football – sometimes you have a feeling about certain things and it just felt right.

“So when I got the opportunity to speak to them, I obviously wanted to take advantage of it.”

Wellens’ first foray into management ended in disappointment as he was unable to save Oldham from relegation from League One last season.

Having taken over a bleak situation after an awful start to the season, Wellens dramatically turned around the Latics’ fortunes and kept their hopes of survival alive until the final day of the campaign.

Wellens believes it would be unfair to judge his managerial credentials solely on the outcome of his reign at Boundary Park.

“I will be labelled as an Oldham manager who took them down, I think a bit harshly so,” said Wellens.

“I took over a situation where we were rooted to the bottom of the league and we had four points from 11 games – we had won one and lost nine.

“To get a group of players who had only won one in 11, straight away you have to give them confidence and belief.

“I am still gutted to this day as my aim when I took over was to get 50 points and we actually got 50 points and still got relegated, so it still hurts.

“I think during my time at Oldham, I showed potential. It’s similar to a young footballer, you get thrown in at the deep end and you show potential.

“Because I have shown potential, that has got me this opportunity and now I need to be successful and get results.”

Coupled with the understandably manic nature of his first few days at Town, there are also new geographical challenges Wellens has to contend with.

All of his 17-season playing career was based at northern clubs, and other than a brief loan spell at Ipswich Town, Leicester City were furthest south of his list of former employers.

Although having to swiftly up sticks and relocate to Wiltshire will mean being apart from his family, Wellens says that will allow him to give his utmost to his new club.

“When you are a football player, you think you are going to play forever and think you are going to earn the type of money you are earning forever, and I never really needed to move south of Leicester,” said Wellens.

“I turned some good clubs down just because I wanted to get home to the family as I am a family person.

“Going into the coaching and management side of it, I am so hungry to do well and I want this to be my life for the next 20 to 25 years.

“I need to put everything into it in terms of work ethic because it is tough. It is very time consuming and you need to be full throttle all the time.

“It doesn’t worry me moving away from my family because I know I am going to be isolated a lot and it gives me a lot of thinking time.”