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Manager has worked with great and good but needs quick fix in Sheffield today
Paul Weaver
Saturday December 2, 2006
The Guardian
A boffin barked in the damp east London air this week. Les Reed, the new manager of Charlton, has been portrayed as the epitome of back-room, grey-suited anonymity and he is less than enthusiastic about the caricature.
In these pages two weeks ago the former FA technical director was represented as a small-branch bank manager who had suddenly been offered a prominent position in Threadneedle Street. "I saw that," he says. "I'm a Guardian reader, strangely enough.
"I get fed up with people who don't know what my background is. They make assumptions and that's frustrating. The people who know me know a different Les Reed to the one that's being assumed. People ought to draw conclusions about what I can bring to the job with my experience, not about my weaknesses."
He points out that he has the experience of managing people and big budgets. "Some ex-players who become managers have to go on courses to find out about managing budgets. And I have a decent reputation, I think, not just in England but round the world, of being a very good, highly competent coach."
Reed's background, he supervised England's youth and schoolboy sides and is an expert on computerised football data, may be untypical of Premiership managers but he likens himself to the continental style of coach.
"I've come up through a different route but it's not unlike that taken by Arsène Wenger, Jose Mourinho, Rafael Benítez, Sven-Goran Eriksson and Carlos Alberto Parreira," he says. "It's just unusual in England for someone to have my background who isn't a foreigner. In that respect I'm probably unique. When I was at the FA I was given carte blanche to travel the world. My task was to find out how the best teams in the world won tournaments. I talked to some of the best people in the game and I hope that some of it has rubbed off."
In fact the 53-year-old Reed sounds less bank manager and more a studious man who has learned from the best of football men. "Kevin Keegan had a fantastic way with players, the way he got them on board and motivated them. He kept everything buoyant and lively, so the players enjoyed training sessions.
"Bobby Robson just had this fantastic knowledge of the game, players around the world, how teams played. He was so strong tactically. Don Howe worked with Bobby and they had a fantastic way of analysing games. Don is a good friend of mine and, when he's brought something up, I've taken it in.
"Then there was Dave Sexton. I had a great relationship with him when he was our chief international scout at the FA. Dave is a great one for learning from other sports. In terms of purist coaching you couldn't get anyone better than Dave to learn from. In latter years I've got to know Graham Taylor very well. He was a meticulous planner. At Watford he had a terrific attention to detail. I've talked to him a lot and he's been a great mentor.
"I've also worked in Africa and the Middle East and other parts of the world with coaches no one has ever heard of, picking up bits and pieces. I've been like a sponge. And what you see is an amalgam of those experiences, different pieces of advice, things picked up on training grounds ."
So what is the philosophy of this man who was born in Wapping, whose father played for Arsenal and whose uncles supported Charlton? "Looking at the game all round the world, to get to the semi-finals of World Cups and the Champions League organisation, discipline and athleticism are all required. But those things alone are not enough. What is required at the very top is the ability to pass through and round teams to carve out goals.
"What I want to achieve at Charlton, right through all the teams, is a philo- sophy that encourages players to get the ball down and play open football, with width and quality passing. That's what I tried to bring to the technical department of the FA. We played 4-3-3 with all the teams up to the senior side because that gave us lots of movement, flexibility and interchanging possibilities.
"What I'm trying to do here is play with wide men high up the pitch, so what can look like 4-5-1 becomes 4-3-3. We saw signs of that against Everton last week. It's a slow process but my philosophy is to get it on the deck and play."
The problem for Reed is that Charlton cannot indulge in the luxury of slow processes. Following the defeat at Reading and the draw with Everton the club's position is dire and defeat at Sheffield United this afternoon would make it look hopeless. Given time, his may prove to be an excellent and imaginative appointment. But this most patient of individuals needs immediate results.
The manager authors
Les Reed
Basic Team Coaching, 2004
Plot The FA's official coaching guide to 'success on and off the pitch'. Contains all you'll ever want to know about team strategies, set plays and 'ethics and skills'. Heavy on the inspiring Chinese proverbs
Sample quote 'Ensure players wear appropriate footwear and shinguards'
Amazon sales ranking 5,681
Sven-Goran Eriksson
Sven-Goran Eriksson On Football, 2002
Plot Former England coach's gentle musings on management, motivation techniques and exactly how he managed to sustain his run of undiluted success
Sample quote 'I spend a lot of energy taking the aggression out of my players'
Amazon ranking 282,922
Rinus Michels
Teambuilding: The Road To Success, 2003
Plot Dutch legend, Fifa coach of the century and inventor of 'total football' offers insight into how to win the European Cup even while your players are arguing about the philosophical implications of zonal marking
Sample quote 'Football is war'
Amazon ranking 83,348
Steve Bruce
Striker, 1999
Plot Up-and-coming young manager Steve Barnes battles for promotion while attempting to prove he didn't murder one of his strikers
Sample quote 'The girl was a stunner. Even in an advanced stage of pregnancy when many women do not look their best'
Amazon sales ranking 442,363
Terry Venables
Hazell Plays Solomon, 1974
Plot Grizzled East End detective gets involved in a mixed-up case of baby-swapping in Bethnal Green. Part of series of private dick yarns by grizzled East End football coach
Sample quote 'That bloody ankle! It cost me my career, my marriage and almost my sanity'
Amazon sales ranking 1,176,640
Comments
EAST LONDON
Since when are we in East London thick goddamn journalist