I saw he left southampton earlier this months after 8 years of basically running the club from top to bottom behind the scenes.

he always seemed to be the constant brain behind the club a few years ago when they were the small PL club that other teams were looking up to, there was always a plan, a pilosophy a contingency in place when players & managers left for greater things.

it seems that this ethos has changed somewhat in recent years, you see mark hughes as manager and no home grown players being used anymore.

i would really like to see him added to our infrastructure, as his experience, contacts & scouting knowledge could really help us finally look like we have a solid plan moving forward rather than fighting fires.

over his career he has been there, seen that & done it...

‘Football isn’t instant coffee. You have to work at it. You must grow the bean, grind it.’ Ian Holloway

Southampton’s recruitment system is designed to minimise impetuosity and chance. Les Reed was one of a group responsible for monotoring the shortlist of players, the others being Ross Wilson (Current Director of football operations) and Bill Green (Chief scout). Players are brought through a consultative process.

Les Reed was one of the inner circle with permanent access to Southampton's 'Black box' which is the centrepiece of the club’s forward planning. The black box contains a live database of data and video highlights from European leagues that the club monitor. The idea is to allow Southampton to identify suitable players to sign.

Les Reed had a range of football responsibilities.

Edited by Willo (22 Nov 2018 6.06pm)

No less than the incumbent strikers we have

He was sacked for a reason

I remember reading an article about Southampton after Pochettino left and they were asking how they replace a man of his calibre. The answer was along the lines of 'it's not a problem because they always know who their next manager is as they have data on all of the appropriate candidates that would fit straight into the S'oton way'. Admittedly they've lost their way a little - maybe too much confidence in their production line of talent being able to replace the many players they've cashed in on over the years. Either way they did a heck of a lot right for a lot of years and LR was instrumental in that.

The media are speculating that Reed was sacked so that he wouldn't stand in the way of the board sacking Hughes. General opinion of Saints fans seems to be he is responsible for their failings in recruiting decent players and managers over the last two seasons, despite a previously good record. Not sure we want to inherit someone else who can't recruit decent players!