Asghar excited to lead Under-21s

"I'm delighted to be here," he said in his first interview at the Staplewood Campus, "it's an exciting time to be joining, it's a club that's not just had a rich history of producing top-level talent but world-class talent and it's exciting to bring that back and push it forward."

The Scotsman made the move down to the South Coast after a successful season as Under-18s Lead with Sunderland, where he guided the Black Cats to a second-place league finish with several players moving up the age groups.

His coaching journey began back in Scotland with Motherwell's youth teams, before he joined the Scottish FA's Performance School Programme.

That role was where Asghar first crossed paths with Saints' current Academy Director Andy Goldie, who joined the club earlier in the summer of 2023.

"[Knowing Andy] was one of the factors but I think it was more the chance to work at a club like Southampton, a place where Academy graduates have prospered not only at this club but beyond, is always going to be an attractive proposition," Asghar explained.

"That alongside the direction of the club under Jason [Wilcox], Andy [Goldie] in the Academy and the First Team Manager, it's an exciting place to be that aligns with where I want to be."

Asghar and Goldie's journey together moved to Dundee United, where the former became Head of Professional Performance at a time when the club's growing Academy reputation was beginning to shine.

He transitioned to a first team coaching role with The Tangerines as part of a history-making season that earned the club's first European qualification, with 16 Academy products as part of the squad - a highly impressive feat for any side.

"It was an exciting achievement to have so many young players at the forefront of that. For any person that's a developer of young talent the ultimate feeling is seeing them step onto the first team pitch, but also make an impact on the first team.

"I think it's important to stress that we don't want to bring players through to tick a box but we want them to be at the forefront of this football club and drive us forward. That's the big challenge we have [at Southampton] but it's an exciting one and, with everyone aligned, we can achieve that."

Alignment is a key component to help Saints' latest crop of young talent make the transition up to the first team, a link that has already shown signs of thriving since Rusell Martin's arrival.

"There's always an alignment [of playing style] that has to be in place to allow players to progress and that's something we're going to work hard at throughout the Academy but especially at the Under-21s phase, being the next stage below the first team.

"There will be a lot of similarities in how we perform, how we review, and how we work on the training pitch and bring an exciting brand of football where we dominate the ball and be aggressive without it, as ultimately that's where the club wants to be."

The ambitious vision for the future was made clear to Asghar upon his arrival, which paints a positive picture for the generations of young talent waiting in the wings throughout the Academy.

"We have to have the best training environment and the best programme not only in the UK but in Europe, that's got to be the objective of what we want to do - driving young talent closer to the Manager's first team is what we've got to try and achieve short to medium-term.

"Long-term we've got to make sure that's consistent so everyone at the club has a talent pool to pick from the club's Academy as quickly as possible, pushing and stretching [the players] to be ready at the earliest possible moment."