VIDEO: Saints director Les Reed speaks at Global Sporting Innovation Conference 2014

[video=youtube;_IgCPcn2O4s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IgCPcn2O4s#t=537[/video]

Les Reed was invited to be a guest speaker at this annual event.



Les covers the following areas in his presentation:

- Youth Coaching
- The Saints Academy
- Innovation
- Communication
- Scouting
- Categorising
- Databases
- Talent Identification
- Recruitment
- Catchment Areas
- Pathways
- Education
- Learning Methods
- Scholarships
- Staplewood
- Remote control filming of every pitch
- Training Facilities
- Staffing
- Philosophy
- When he joined Saints
- Redeveloping the club
- Markus Liebherr's wishes
- Tactics
- Tactical philosophy
- Managerial succession
- Nigel Adkins
- Mauricio Pochettino
- Ronald Koeman
- Koeman's CV
- Appointing a manager
- How Pochettino was identified
- Dealing with fan reactions
- Why transfers take time
- 'The Black Box'




It's a fairly long video, but I am sure quite a few of the forum members will find this of interest, so here goes!


DTLW

 

Does anyone know what Reed is referring to right at the start when he says "There's always something going to surprise you around the corner. And I've had a few of those in the last couple of weeks"

I'd assume Matt Radcliffe leaving for Man Utd may be one, but any suspicion regards the 'few'. Contract talks with J.Rod/Schneiderlin going well/badly?

 

I think it's more of a general comment about the summer we've just endured, more than anything.

 

May have been referring to our results...even the manager is surprised.

 

Have to say I skipped a few bits, but I did look at a few of the follow-on videos where Reed took questions and they were pretty good too, if a bit short.

 

I think he meant losing to Spurs.
We dropped out of the top two.

 

Just listened to that in full....found it very interesting and encouraging. We know that they say it's the best, state of the art etc at the Staplewood Campus (as we are now supposed to call it), but interesting to hear how they use it and how they recruit youngsters and bring them through. Will be able to tell my friend whose grandson has just been scouted....especially that they keep tracks of kids that don't quite make it and give them further chances if they are seen to progress well with their own teams. I would love it if our new development hub just outside London cherry picks a few players who might otherwise have gone to London clubs.

As Les said the fans were getting worried that we didn't recruit a manager quickly, but important that we got the manager to suit us as we don't believe in bringing in a manager who turns everything upside down. Feeling even more confident about the club...people can come and go, but we have the ability to shake ourselves off and move on. Does explain what was meant when they said the club wasn't panicking internally as much as we were externally.

 

Also like his reference to a metaphorical brand where everyone knows what they are getting from an ex-Saints academy player. I have always advocated an actual brand on their upper thigh, which ( like the Mason's handshake) is a secret sign

 

I'm going to save that for watching over a sandwich at lunchtime (no cheddar cheese, though)

 

Starts slow, till he gets into it, but very interesting.

 

my sarnie or the video?

 

Not your sarnie...I'm off out for lunch. I allow myself tasty food when out.. as everyone knows there is no fat or calories when someone else is buying

 

http://www.thecoachingmanual.com/

Here is the website for our coaching manual...you can't see it in full without signing in, but there is a little 50 sec burst intro.

 

A good listen, I especially liked the ethos of 433 versus 442. The idea that 433 requires players who are more rounded, able to play in more than one position, understanding rotating in midfield etc.
On the down side Marcus's vision of having half the 1st team coming through the academy seems to be have put on hold.

 

Well that was well worth watching. Pretty captivating actually, once you get past Les's rather dry delivery. He really warms up when he's talking about football though. I found myself thinking that if you had just landed from Mars and wanted to choose a football club to support, based on their overall philosophy of excellence at all levels, and regardless of the number of trophies in the cabinet, it would be hard to see past Southampton.

 

Rather call it a hiatus caused by selling Luke, Chambers and Lallana. If you sell 3 in one season, there will be a gap. We'll be back on track in a couple of years.

 

Some probably can't think of much worse than listening to Les talk about databases, systems and networks - but I found it really engaging.

His presentation style isn't the greatest, but if you give him a bit of time to build a 'flow' it's good and easy to follow.

 

Not a great public speaker, but I also find the smooth managerial style grating, so I can't have it both ways. He improved as he got into it as said.

 

Not really. we achieved that a few times last season where Chambers, Shaw, Lallana, JWP, Gallagher and Scheiderlin all featured with Isgrove and Reed on the bench.

This year could see Targett, JWP, Reed, Gallagher, McQueen Isgrove, Schneiderlin and McCarthy in the same squad quite easily. A bit of a debate about Scheiderlin being our product I guess.

 

My favorite part is hearing him talk about Markus Liebherrs wishes. I may be imagining it but i feel like Les is talking a little more from the heart at that point. Les is apparently not a great public speaker but for me it was obvious at what times he agreed and cared about what he was saying as opposed to the times he was repeating company mantra.