Watch interview with former Arsenal coach Carl Laraman as he joins Crawley Town
Laraman is the former Arsenal Academy and Charlton Athletic coach who helped bring through the likes of Jack Wilshere, Scott Parker, Paul Konchesky, Jonjo Shelvey, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Reiss Nelson and Emil Smith-Rowe. Now, Laraman is at Crawley Town hoping to help Lindsey develop the young talent in the current squad and continue the team’s good start this season. Watch his first Crawley Town interview in full here.
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00:00 first time we've had a chance to properly sit down and chat with you. How have you enjoyed
00:03 your first sort of months as an official member of Scott's coaching staff?
00:07 Well firstly thank you very much and I've enjoyed it to date. We've got off to a good
00:13 start but I'm not sure I'd have done it for anyone other than Scott and my admiration
00:21 for him both as a person and his philosophy on football. So, delighted to be back working
00:28 with him. We've known each other a long time, our beliefs are very similar. So yeah, I'm
00:33 delighted to be here.
00:34 Some eagle-eyed fans may have spotted you at some games last season. Could you just
00:39 talk us through your role last season and how it's changed as we head into this new
00:42 season?
00:43 Yeah, I did a similar role before Scott came at a previous club with him. I think that
00:52 sometimes for Scott it was another set of eyes from a different viewing place. I mean
00:58 it was round the dressing rooms with the team and with Scott but viewed it from a different
01:03 position and we discussed things pre-match travelling if you like and before half-time
01:14 and then at the end of the game and travelling home. So there's lots of discussions and it's
01:18 been like that over the years. We enjoy each other's companies and our thoughts on football
01:27 are, as I say, very similar. So yeah, it's good to be with him.
01:32 How are you finding working with the current bunch of players? Obviously we've seen a lot
01:35 of change from last season but as you mentioned earlier in the interview we've got off to
01:40 a great start haven't we?
01:41 Well I have to say that the recruitment's been great and the lads that have all come
01:48 in added to the lads that have survived, that are still here. It's a good mix of youth and
01:56 experience led by a very good captain who unfortunately is not on the pitch at the moment
02:02 but there's some real talent in the squad. Getting off to a good start was significant
02:12 because it makes the players believe even more in what everyone's trying to achieve
02:19 and we've made a good start.
02:22 How pleasing has it been to see how much the fans have taken, not only to Scott but to
02:26 the players as well? Scott's openly said about his relationship with the fans and how at
02:31 previous clubs he hasn't had that same relationship that he has here so it must be pleasing working
02:36 so close to him to see the relationship that he gets.
02:38 I'm delighted for Scott. He's tactically very astute. I have to say for the fans, they
02:46 have been a breath of fresh air. The ground was buzzing and rocking the other night and
02:52 they've got new heroes. They've got Danny Orzee and Liam Kelly and all the new guys
02:58 playing plus all the existing players that are still here so they've got some existing
03:03 heroes and some new ones and I think that's good for football clubs. The fans have embraced
03:10 the new players really well and the players really respect the fans, the ones that travel
03:16 and obviously the ones that are at home games. It's just been a breath of fresh air. One
03:23 of the reasons why I thought it was quite good for me is that the fans have been really
03:28 good and I'm sure they do know that the singing and the chanting and the support for the players
03:37 and the manager has been outstanding and I think it does get an extra yard. It gets something
03:47 extra from the players because there's a real buzz and long may it continue.
03:53 You've obviously known Scott for a long time, what are his strengths as a manager and a
04:01 coach and did you know from when you first met him that he wouldn't be successful at
04:05 this level?
04:06 I've known him all his adult life. He was a young man who came down to Gillingham and
04:13 signed a professional contract and lived in a clubhouse with a couple of other young guys.
04:22 Normally Sunday roasts. I was just married with two young kids. He came to Dover on loan
04:29 and I was there working with Peter Taylor. I took to him, I just liked him. I liked the
04:36 freshness of his approach and he was a sponge and he wanted to know stuff. He had an opinion
04:44 which was solid and he was not outspoken but he would share. As much as he would listen
04:52 he would share. I had no doubt that there was something in there with regards to coaching
04:57 and management and he certainly has got lots and lots of attributes. He's got philosophy,
05:09 he's got a style, he's got a ship that runs the right way and everyone rows the boat the
05:15 right way. He's got a good relationship with all the staff, with all the players. He's
05:23 a connoisseur of the game. People play with the idea of we're going to be a possession
05:30 based team. He doesn't play with it, he does it. He'll claim, if someone makes a mistake
05:38 he's prepared to claim it and own it which takes a hell of a character. The players got
05:47 a lot of time for him, his staff's got a lot of time for him. I think the way that the
05:52 staff's been put together, there's been a lot of thought going to it. The background
06:01 guys, everyone that's involved with the background, the two guys with us today, Harry and everyone
06:07 else, it's just kind of a good bond and Scott creates a lot of that with how he is. It's
06:16 helped that I've known him all his life and Jamie too, like Jamie Day, we're all quite
06:22 close and we've known each other for many years so it kind of works.
06:27 Obviously you personally, you've coached at lots of different levels and that, rather
06:33 than you've been at Arsenal, what challenge is it coming from a team like Arsenal with
06:39 endless resources, facilities and that and then coming to a League 2 club like Crawley
06:43 Town?
06:44 I think it's always wanting to put something back into the game. The role that Scott's
06:51 given me, of course it's a collective team environment and I work with all the players
06:57 on the back of Scott, Jamie, we all work together on it. But there's a lot of individual work
07:03 that goes on also, little chats and little bits of work, practical stuff on the training
07:09 ground. So it kind of works and it is different because this is a results business where academy
07:18 football is a development business but we see it as both here. With Crawley it's a business
07:28 of three points, yes we're responsible for a playing style but we're also responsible
07:34 for developing young players. So that's good for me because it's what I've done all my
07:41 life and we had a lot of good success at it. I still speak to lots of the boys now and
07:49 continued like a friendship after a professional relationship of coach and player, it's now
07:54 friendships where I can go and watch them play in the Premier League and sit with their
07:59 families or whatever. So it's all changing but now it's three points so I'm aware of
08:06 how important it is to the club, to the supporters, to the owners, to the manager, how important
08:12 the three points are on each Saturday. But we've got a way of getting those three points
08:20 if that makes sense. It's going to be through playing the right way and a possession based
08:27 game so it's really exciting, I must say it's really exciting.
08:30 You mentioned just getting in touch with a lot of players there, I know you've put players
08:34 through like Jack Wilshere etc. Is there any one player that you're particularly proud
08:38 of what you've achieved with them? Or is that too many to mention?
08:43 Without blowing my own trust there's so many. Jack Wilshere, people claim responsibility
08:51 for players and Jack Wilshere was born to be a footballer. I just became his friend
08:58 and someone he could rely on and trust but other people did work with Jack Wilshere.
09:08 I think with all these young players that go through it's not just an individual, it's
09:11 not just one person that does the work, it's lots of people. You've had a contribution
09:18 towards their development and it does make you proud. I used to get goosebumps when they
09:24 were involved with first team training and now they're running out and playing for the
09:30 first team and the goosebumps got bigger and stayed longer. So that was a real buzz seeing
09:37 the players. Now to keeping contact with them as friends, for example I've just gone to
09:42 Ajax from Middlesbrough. Arsenal we had to go away to Greece to get back on track and
09:51 he did it very well. He's come back to Middlesbrough and I've spoken to him. So I keep certain
09:58 boys you're more in contact with that ring or talk to you more. I still follow all of
10:06 their progress up. I still follow it on.
10:10 Hi Carl, I just wanted to talk to you about Jack Wilshere again. What was so special about
10:17 Jack when he was younger?
10:20 I must stress I don't want to claim because lots of people worked with Jack Wilshere.
10:31 Some people are just born to be. Jack was really, really unlucky with injury. Who knows
10:38 back one day he could have been England captain. He was that good. He could run with the ball,
10:43 he could receive the ball, he had a change of pace. He was competitive, he was strong,
10:52 he was will-o'-the-wisp. He could move it and get by people and let the ball run across
10:56 his body and commit defenders. He was probably a little bit unlucky, Jack Wilshere, to get
11:07 the injuries he got because he didn't deserve it. And a cracking fella. By the time we left
11:17 Hay Lend and went up to Llandolconi, Shenley, he was 16 already with the first team if you
11:28 get what I'm saying. So it was a short space of time at Hay Lend where everyone did the
11:33 work. Then he went up there and worked in the youth team and stuff like that. But then
11:38 he quickly made the...
11:40 I promise I won't bring it back to Crawley. You said you had those goosebumps when you
11:47 were watching those players. You've helped nurture them, gone to these pitches. Is there
11:52 a specific game with Jack when you were younger? Because everyone talks about that game against
11:55 Barcelona. Do you remember that specifically?
11:59 Not especially because other people were involved with Jack. I can remember Alex Iwobi getting
12:05 picked to play by Arsene Wenger for his debut against Barcelona. I can remember Ainsley
12:13 making the Niles meet in his first team debut, Rhys Nelson, Joe Willocks, Eddie Nketiahs,
12:21 all the boys that he'd done a lot of, and Nils Smith-Rowe. So all the boys that were
12:27 involved with him, 24 years regular, went over the fence and you'd go, "Oh please,
12:30 I just hope they do well." And as I say, lots of contributions. Liam Brady was...I can't
12:40 tell you what influence he had on my career. He was really good with us, A, as his staff,
12:48 but really good around the kids and obviously knew what it took because he was so good.
12:55 He knew what it took to be a top player and he was an arsehole through and through. Without
13:00 those kind of guys, we're all paling to insignificance, but when you've got a boss like Liam Brady,
13:07 yeah it really helped.
13:09 What do you make of Arsenal these days?
13:10 Oh look, that's for someone else to judge. My days there were long ago, three or four
13:16 years now maybe. Still follow the boys, but...and Mikel, Arteta, we had Tony Adams, Sol Campbell,
13:29 Thierry Henry, Mikel came into the office and came out with us and worked and worked
13:36 on the training ground. So all those guys, top players, right? All came into our office,
13:44 worked with us and took groups away and watched us work and so on. Mikel now is a top, top
13:52 manager in his own right, who's a student of the game, been away and probably worked
13:57 with the best in the world in Pep Guardiola. Arsene too was very good at our place.
14:05 Not too bad.
14:06 Yeah, no, he was very good. We were kind of fortunate in that we had...Arsene gave stability
14:13 and Liam because of the time they were at the club. So Arsene was there 20 years, so
14:18 if you're doing a reasonable job, you get to stay for the duration. We were lucky Arsene
14:25 was that long and Liam too was that long. When they kind of weren't there, it was more
14:33 difficult.
14:34 Back to calling up.
14:35 Yes.
14:35 An incredible start as you mentioned to the season so far. It's funny because Crawley
14:44 and Gillingham at some point last season both fought for renegation, now they're coming
14:47 together at the top of the table. How do you make sure that the players stay level-headed
14:55 heading into a game like this, off the back of such a strong start?
14:58 The manager leads the ship, so we've discussed that a little bit this morning with the players.
15:07 Well, you know it's three games in, so we're very junior in the season. However, there
15:12 are lots of people who would like to have made the start that both ourselves, Gillingham
15:16 and anyone else at the top would have made. There's many driving into work who haven't
15:21 had such a good start. Now we have, but we need to keep it going. We certainly need to
15:30 keep the performances going. If you keep the performances going and the standard of performance
15:34 going, then the rest tends to follow. You may be unlucky in one or two games where it
15:40 doesn't go over the line perhaps, but if you keep the standard, so the work rate, the
15:44 desire, the commitment, the passion, added to the style and class and the philosophy
15:50 and structure. If you keep those things going, generally you pick up more results than you
15:55 don't. So I think the manager is very big on, let's not get carried away by ourselves,
16:00 it's just the start. And if we continue, we'd like a few more games like that.
16:08 Thank you, Colin.
16:09 You're welcome.
16:10 [BLANK_AUDIO]