Interview with Les Reed

nobody can resist a dig at moyes

 

Thought so. We all know that player sales are possible and in a strange way I actually find it more reassuring that he's acknowledged players may leave.

 

What did you read into that, was he biting his lip trying not to say other Clubs had been tapping up players and generally rocking the boat? Or do you see it that players had been talking out of turn in public. Intriguing.....

 

or he simply misspoke... probably.

 

That isn't how the Daily Mirror will interpret it!

 

obviously the players haven't spoken out in person (unless you believe the kid on twitter who took a photo of himself from behind with adam)

even then it would have to be extrapolated to the agent's work at their behest.

 

I know that, you know that, but then you see a plethora of tweets peddling total hogwash and the gullible people read it and believe it.

 

do we think Les believes twitter?

 

Good interview to be honest. All sounds promising. Also seems Koeman was in the frame not long after Cortese left. As Potts was not expected to stay longer than the end of the season. The timing of Koeman's announcement to leave Feyenoord at the end of season for a new challenge in England can't be a coincidence? Well it's what i got from it anyway

It's gotta be Koeman, i'm sure of it now.

 

Key Points for those who would rather watch an episode of Bob's Burgers

* Two testing friendlies against European opposition to be announced. One away and One at St Marys a week before the season starts
* St Marys fixture will act as a pep rally to show off the new signings and coaches
* Local fixtures chosen for fans who which to watch and thought it would add a little competitive edge against local rivals
* New training complex (impressive on video) with world class facilities means we can do everything in-house (including Pre-Season)
* Due to World Cup and players returning to pre-season at different times pre-season will be at home
* Saints have been monitoring around 10 coaches who they think share the "Southampton Way" In terms of youth development and playing exciting football
* Lots of applications and enquiries for the Job(including some pranks, no details of pranks. Les just looks into middle distance and laughs)
* Enquires have come from Managers with impressive CVs (International managers, European trophies) Also managers from South America, Asia
* Shortlist of four managers was drawn up, all of whom were part of the 10 being monitored
* Paperwork to be sorted but we're close to getting our 1st choice target and announcement should be sooner rather than later
* Player recruitment is 24/7 from around the world and we have targets in mind and we have made enquires for those players (we tap up too)
* Manager will have final say on all ins/outs as the players will need to fit into his plans
* Bids received on players (fewer than expected)
* Other teams publicly announcing their bids has unsettled our players
* Those players will have to be patient as no decision will be made until the new manager has evaluated the squad and spoke with those players
* All money from player sales will be re-invested into the squad

Worth watching the video for the opening few minutes which takes a mini tour of the new training complex. The remainder of the video looks at Reeds chins from various angles

I have highlighted the key points from my key points if you don't have time to Reed them all

 

That would be Moyesy then.

 

I like this man. He speaks English and he gives thought provoking answers.

 

He probably posts most of them...............

 

I think he said cranks, Andy Awful perhaps?

 

I got up to "have" reading your post. I suspect the rest of it was the usual boring rubbish.

 

For reasons he clearly explained, that made sense

ie, They have all the new facilities at Staplewood to use in pre-season, so don't need to go elsewhere.
A number of players will be arriving back at different times because of the World Cup.

 

Whether the players like Les Reed or not, there is one thing he is very good at, and that's getting the information across with zero bull included. He's very matter of fact and doesn't do management speak. There's not a trace of sending anything up a flagpole to see if anyone salutes it.

And I like it. Well done Les, that clarifies and reaffirms a lot.

 

Yeah, have to agree that interview was excellent.

At the same time, I think we should keep in mind the value of manager speak. I know everyone hates it, but to some extent you are supposed to hate it. When MP and then we were hit with the Lallana, Shaw, and Lambert rumors, manager speak was all we had. Les Reed couldn't have said "We've whittled it down to four managers" or other reassuring things like that. Someone would have asked him what was up with the manager situation and Reed would have had to say "We're just getting started," or "we don't know just yet" and everyone would have been all "How can you not know?!? You're the football guy!!!"

You need a BS'er to deflect questions and buy time for the Les Reed's of the world to actually go out and find a manager instead of doing press conferences.

 

I've always preferred no comment, or that when there is nothing to say, say nothing. Which was why I never called for information during Cortese's era, and didn't mind a bit that there was none. If there was no news, nothing got said. The thing was, when there was news it was usually worth saying and listening to. That's aside from Les Reed of course. He is a very good vehicle to convey the football news simply because he tells it in a matter of fact way. Nothing added, nothing taken away.

 

Good interview.

I loved the bit about Staplewood that the "Players will come back from pre-season to a total new environment". Yep, it's called merseyside