THE MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE AT ST MARYS

Some interesting facts in this from the Echo website.......

THE head of Saints’ football development and support centre, Les Reed, is expected to be a key player in the appointment of the club’s new manager.

The signs are increasingly pointing towards a successor for Alan Pardew being in place at St Mary’s this week.

And, while the final decision will rest alone with chairman Nicola Cortese, Reed is thought to be an important part of the process.

The 57-year-old, who is understood to be Cortese’s most valued advisor on football matters, will work closely with whoever is appointed manager.

Perhaps more importantly, the Daily Echo understands he will also be on a level footing with the new man.

While a manager would normally expect to walk into a football club and be the most important person there, that will not be the case at Saints, where a new set-up similar to the way clubs are run on the continent is being implemented.

Instead, the first team boss will hold a position of power equal to that of a number of others.

In other words, he will simply be one of the most important people – rather than the top dog.

Saints’ structure sees Cortese on his own, at the very top of the chain of command.

Immediately below him are a number of department heads, who all hold an identical amount of importance.

These include the manager, as well as Reed and the rest of the executive committee.

When Saints appointed Pardew, they made no secret of plans to bring in a sporting director figure, which appears to be a role Reed currently largely fulfils.

But the former West Ham boss came from the typical breed of British managers, who like to control everything on the football side.

Part of the reasoning behind the set-up being implemented could be to ensure that, if there has to be a change of manager in the future because of poor results, you only have to change one person, rather than the entire football set up and ethos at the club.

Cortese’s vision includes a strong integration between the football development and support centre and the first team.

The centre oversees a number of areas, including the academy and scouting.

It is seen as vital under Saints’ system that Reed and the manager work well together.

One of the reasons given behind the scenes for Pardew’s sacking was a supposed failure to co-operate properly with the football development and support centre staff.

Within his remit, Reed has already made some key appointments to Saints’ staff, such as the head of scouting and talent identification, David Burke, and the under-21 coach, Martin Hunter.

Reed is a former technical director at the Football Association, who he initially started working for back in the 1980s.

He was an assistant coach to the England team for more than 20 games, working under former Saint Kevin Keegan.

Reed is the only person to have coached England at every level of international football.

After parting company with the FA, he went on to become Iain Dowie’s assistant at Charlton in 2006, before taking up the reins after the ex-Saints striker was fired.

But a poor run of form saw him last only six weeks at The Valley.

Reed left the club by mutual consent and was replaced by Pardew.

Before joining Saints in April this year, Reed had been running his own sports consultancy business, carrying out work around the globe.

When you look at Reeds time at Charlton then replaced by Pardew it was hardly surprising there was friction and certainly no way Pardew would accept being on a par with Reed.

When you look at Reeds experience at football clubs, as opposed England set up I get worried that he seems to have such influence at the club, no way likes of Curbishly or ONeil would work in that set up and i have always thought that the most important manager at any club should be the manager.

The manager may still be in charge of everything on the playing and transfer front,we only have hearsay and gossip to suggest that might not now be the case.The only person in the media that I don't see slagging anyone off is Mr Cortese.