Our Saints vision – Wilde explains all (From Daily Echo)

Our Saints vision – Wilde explains all

12:28pm Friday 30th May 2008 in Sport By Adam Leitch, Chief Sports Writer

Saints are not just appointing a new head coach but introducing a new culture at St Mary's.

In the end, the decision as to whether to stick with Nigel Pearson boiled down to two things that very much go hand-in-hand - money and the future direction of the club.

This new set-up Saints are employing is going to be radical in English football - after all, they are only the second non-Premiership club to ever employ a Dutch coach.

But it is one they believe best suits their needs and will blaze a trail others in the game in this country will soon follow.

They have three coaches - Mark Woote, David Hockaday and Stewart Henderson - all working under the watchful eye of head coach Jan Poortvliet.

Rather than have separate academy and first team squads, the under-18s will train with the first team, as well as any under-16s if they are considered good enough.

The idea is to get youngsters through to the first team quickly and in the mould of playing the way the more senior heads do.

The idea is to bridge the gap more quickly and to have a uniformed style from top to bottom in the club.

It is the method employed famously by Dutch giants Ajax with regards to their own academy system.

All the Ajax youth teams play the same formation so as they move through the ranks they are familiar with what is being asked of them.

With Saints' current financial predicament , they will have to rely on a lot of young players blended with senior heads.

So to Rupert Lowe and Michael Wilde, it made sense to make this leap now.

Culture

Football board chairman Wilde explained: "The financial restrictions mean we need to depend on youngsters, so this is the perfect time to introduce this culture we're talking about.

"It will be a greater incentive to our academy players that they will be playing within a club that will recognise their talents and give them the opportunities to play whatever age.

"The style of play we are trying to introduce will utilise younger, hungry, fitter players more open and adaptable to this style of play.

"We believe Jan is ideally placed to assist with this with his excellent track record of developing youngsters.

"We see this as part of a long term plan for the future of the club.

"Once it's established, we believe we will be one of the forerunners of this style in England.

"It also pre-empts the possible requirements to have more homegrown players."

Those requirements seem particularly timely to mention as Sepp Blatter today attempts to push through FIFA his much-publicised six plus five plan to force clubs to use more homegrown talent.

But while the idea might be to end the so-called gaffer culture' at St Mary's, somebody still needs to take the tough decisions, face the media and ultimately carry the can for results.

That man is Poortvliet, in his playing days an exponent of total football, and much trust is being placed in him because Saints cannot afford this to fail.

"Jan has extensive experience as a coach, he was a top class player who played in the World Cup final in 1978," said Wilde.

"He played with Johann Cryuff and is very familiar with what has come to be known as the total football style of play.

Extensive track record

"Since his playing career ended he had a succession of managerial jobs predominantly focussed on developing youth and working with clubs under financial restrictions.

"He is joined by Mark Woote who again has an extensive track record of bringing on youngsters.

"Mark has extensive experience of organising academy structures and is a pro licence coach in his own right.

"Whilst they haven't worked together, we have held extensive meetings with them both and they both share the vision of the board for Southampton Football Club.

"They're also prepared to come on favourable terms financially and contracts which are geared up to success rather than inflated salaries, which to us shows their commitment and belief in what can be achieved at Southampton."

The key to all this is the vision.

In fact, if it were a military plan, and so much thought has gone into it it could easily be, it would be called Project Vision SFC'.

Great link

"Training together will allow a great link between the academy and the first team so if players are good enough they will have a structure whereby they will be recognised and brought on," reasoned Wilde.

"We believe there will be long term benefits of this to the academy and Southampton Football Club.

"As capable youngsters get through, that will attract other capable youngsters to come and that will help re-establish the academy as one of the best in the country.

"We also believe our ability to attract young loanees will be enhanced as large clubs will be happy to send their youngsters to a club where they know their own youngsters will be looked after and brought on in the way they would expect."

Poortvliet and Woote have both taken contracts that would be scoffed at by many English managers, but with big incentives for things such as promotion.

Wilde, for one, is clearly convinced by the team he has helped put in place.

"The idea is to develop a coaching structure with four people predominantly involved," he explained.

"We will be looking to utilise the skills of our current staff in David Hockaday and Stewart Henderson.

"Those two working with the existing coaches with the idea being their skills can be married which means they will be able to assess the individual needs of specific players and they can be developed further.

Adversity

An interesting question is whether Saints would have gone this way at this point in time had it not been for the financial restrictions ... or was this always going to be the right time to unleash Project Vision SFC'?

Wilde believes one phrase sums up the whole thing.

"Out of adversity comes opportunity," he smiled.

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