Leighton Town boss Reed excited by Reds rebuild

Leighton Town have lost just two league games since Reed's arrival. Photo: Andrew Parker.

Leighton Town boss Paul Reed says the task of rebuilding the club mid-season is a challenging one – but that he’s confident he can help take the Reds forward on and off the pitch.

Reed arrived as manager in November, replacing Gary Flinn who left the club after a poor start to the campaign – head of football Guy Kefford having taken the team for a seven-game interim spell in between.

And the 37-year-old told the Observer that it was more than just about changing things on the playing side.

He said: “It’s gone really well. We had to rebuild certain elements of the club, not just on the pitch. So that meant a new management team and head of football and then aligning it all together.

“If everything works well off the pitch then it can only help things work on the pitch too.

"We’ve had lots of players come and go already. The ones that left were good lads but we couldn’t promise all of them minutes and they rightly wanted to play football.

"On the recruitment side, it’s difficult trying to rebuild a side during the season because players are attached to other clubs and you have to do things properly such as putting in the seven-day notice requests and so on, but I also have certain types of players I want, not just in an ability sense but also as people too.

"I implemented a new training programme which the players weren’t used to. You’re basically trying to do the things you do in pre-season, but in the middle of the campaign.”

In terms of results, it’s been a mixed start. Going into the weekend’s game at Thame United [December 21] Leighton had won two, drawn two and lost two of Reed’s games in charge, also being beaten by Real Bedford in the County Cup.

And Reed says that whilst patience will be key in terms of the medium to long-term project, he knows that results matter from the off.

He said: “It’s a results business at the end of the day.

“Results long-term will become more consistent, but the priority initially has to be to stay in this league so we can’t let ourselves get dragged into a relegation battle.

"If we can stay up, then I’m keen for us to build further and have a really good go next season, but there’s a lot to do before that as if you lose too many early on you’re very quickly under pressure.

"There is a very different personnel here to four or five weeks ago but I hope the fans see what we’re trying to work towards. Ultimately we want to play the best football we can but the reality at step four is that the pitches don’t always allow that, so we’ll adapt accordingly.”

Reed’s background is predominantly in academy football, having been heavily involved full-time in the youth setup at Luton Town and more recently at Tottenham.

With that in mind, young players having the chance to come through Leighton’s own pathway is something he wants to see, whilst also ensuring a good balance when it comes to the kind of experience needed in a team to cope with the rigours of step four football.

He said: “We’ve got an U18s side and a development squad at step six and if players in those sides are ready and in form, they can feature for the first team. But there are factors you have to consider. If they come into a side winning games, it’s a great environment for them in which to grow. If you’re not winning it’s harder for them.

"My coaching staff and I have lots of contacts within local professional academies as well as local non-league, so we’re confident we can get a good blend and balance.

"It doesn’t matter if a player comes from Leighton academy or Luton’s, or if they’re older, we’ll do our utmost to sell the project to them and show there is a potential pathway to the higher levels either with us directly, or by moving on if they do well here. Just don’t over promise and then under deliver.

"No matter what age, we only want to recruit the right players. It’s person before the player – we don’t want any disruptive influences and they need to be someone I feel I can make better. The budget here isn’t the biggest and isn’t the smallest either, but if you’re going to get blown out financially by other clubs then you have to be able to go down a different avenue when you attract a player.

"Overall, this is an exciting project and there’s a great fanbase and support network around the club, so I hope we can build together and see where it takes us.”