Following changes to a number of men's first-team staff roles, Andy Scott sat down to discuss the incomings and outgoings.
Curtis Fleming will now work as Nathan Jones’ Assistant Manager following the departure of Paul Hart.
“We brought Curtis in when Michael [Appleton] was here,” said Scott. “I’ve known Curtis a long time - he’s an excellent coach. He’s worked with Nigel Pearson and a number of managers in the Championship. He’s highly experienced and fantastic with the players - he has a really good rapport with them.
“He’s shown that when Nathan came in. He stepped up, Nathan’s seen the qualities in Curtis and was very keen to ensure that he was his Assistant Manager for this season, which we’re all delighted with as well.”
James Brayne has been promoted to Set Piece and First-Team Coach following his arrival as Individual Development Coach earlier this year.
“We already knew he was a very, very good coach. His attention to detail is outstanding. His presentation, his analysis, the way that he deals with players. Nathan was very keen for him to be involved in the first-team,” Scott explained.
“However, as a Board and as a senior management, we felt that there was an opportunity to really identify a key area that we haven’t concentrated on ever at this football club, which is a Set Piece Coach.
“Having had numerous conversations with James and Nathan about how he would approach that and what he would do, how he would implement with the players, we decided that he would be an excellent choice to be Set Piece and First-Team Coach. He will step into the first-team environment and be responsible for attacking and defensive set plays - throw-ins, free-kicks, corners and restarts.
“He’s a developer of players, he’s detailed, he’s excellent. He’s worked in the academy, so naturally that becomes something that you have to be good at."
“We’ve also brought in Luke Sanders from Luton Town, as our Head of Sports Science,” Scott continued. “He replaces Josh Hornby who goes the other way to Luton after 12 years of service at Charlton.
“[He’s had] another real big impact on the football club. He came through as an intern, into the academy and into the first-team so we wish Josh well - he’s been a really valuable servant to the club. We’re sorry to see him go, but we believe we’ve replaced him with Luke who is another really professional operator.
“He knows exactly how Nathan works. He knows what he wants from the training sessions and the training load,” said Scott. “He’s a confident guy. He’s got on really well with the players, they’ve accepted him straight away.”
Finally, the club have appointed a new Strength and Conditioning Coach, who, like Sanders, arrives from Luton Town. “Connor Derbidge, who joined us from Exeter a few years ago, has moved on to Plymouth as their Head of Sports Science,” explained Scott.
“He’s been replaced by Elliott Plant. We did a thorough interview process on that and had numerous really good applicants for that. Elliott came out on top, so he will be our Strength and Conditioning Coach for the first-team.
“A lot of changes, along with all the other changes we’ve done on the recruitment side and analysis side. It’s a group that is functioning really well. We wanted to get most people for the pre-season. We’ve done that and they’ve worked very well and hit the ground running. There are targets for every group and every department - we’ve got to make sure that we hit those targets and keep improving.”
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