Reeves outlines ambition to help Southampton regain academy reputation

As he explains, "There is six new pitches here now; the dome has moved, and they've added three different car parks."

Back in the early 2010s, Reeves was trying to make a name for himself in Nigel Adkins' Premier League side.

Now 32, he finds himself on the other side of youth development. He rejoined his boyhood club this summer to act as a mentor and overage player in the under-21s setup.

This is not an unfamiliar role in academy football — nor at Southampton. Fellow Saints youth product Olly Lancashire served a successful stint in the role before graduating to head of player strategy last season.

"I'm not here to block the pathway. I'm here to help push the boys," Reeves admitted when sitting down with the Daily Echo for his first in-depth interview since returning to the club in August.

Ben Reeves returned to Saints this summer as a player mentor (Image: Craig Hobbs/Southampton FC) Reeves first joined Southampton at the age of nine before successfully climbing the ranks at Saints following a successful shift from full-back to attacking midfielder.

He captained an under-21s side containing current skipper Jack Stephens, England international Luke Shaw and James Ward-Prowse, to name just three of his teammates.

The versatile youngster went on to play 13 times for the first-team. He came through during the club's back-to-back promotions into the Premier League and played three times in the top flight.

However, he was perhaps a victim of Southampton's on-field success. Two years after signing his first professional contract in League One, Reeves was released.

"The club bought Gaston Ramirez for £12million and I realised I was going to have to take a step back," he recalled, now able to smile about it 12 years later.

Academy graduate Ben Reeves played 13 times for Saints before being released. (Image: PA)

From speaking to Reeves, his passion for helping the next generation of prospects shines through. Returning to Southampton in some form has been on his mind ever since he left.

He was first approached about a return by former director of football operations Matt Crocker when he was 28.

As he recalls, there was not enough clarity about the role back then. The timing was not right and he instead opted to continue his career in the Football League.

And it was around this time that Reeves crossed paths with current Saints boss Russell Martin at MK Dons.

They spent a brief time as teammates before Martin became MK Dons boss, and have stayed in touch since.

Last season, while playing for local National League side Eastleigh, Martin invited his former colleague back to Staplewood to see how things worked under his lead. Lancashire also welcomed him back into the academy fold.

When the opportunity for a full-time return re-emerged this summer, Reeves knew he could not pass it up for a second time.

"This is my club, the club I spent 12 years at when I was younger. I want to help this club produce players constantly.

Ben Reeves was invited back to Staplewood before returning full-time 

"It's very important, and I want the club to do so well. This is just a big chance to hopefully have an impact on that. I can see a couple that have got a chance here. 

"Our aim is to get what we had before. We want that constant reel of boys that could possibly play for the first team. Southampton were the best club in the country for that.

"We used to call it the Southampton way. Everyone knew, if you were developed at Southampton, you would be a good player and a good person.

"We want to get back to that and I'm sure we will. It's a process, we can't just click our fingers and get that reputation back."

Reeves has not played since September due to a calf injury he suffered while training with Martin's senior team, but that has not stopped him from doing his job.

Although disappointed to be out of action, the knock has afforded him more time to learn from his fellow coaches.

"My role this year is mostly just to be a player and a role model for the boys in the dressing room, setting standards in training and on gamedays is the big one," he explains.

"This injury has given me a good opportunity to be upstairs with the staff and downstairs with the boys on other days. I'm finding the middle ground.

"There's so many moving parts with the under-21s. Fortunately, we've got a lot of staff here that are really good and I can learn from them.

"The gaffer (Simon Rusk) is brilliant for me to learn from. It's helped me to observe sessions and watch the 21s players when they're training up with the seniors."

Ben Reeves is using his time off the field to learn more about coaching and player development. (Image: Southampton FC) The under-21s have a good relationship with Martin's first-team. They train on the pitch next to the seniors and both team's coaches work from neighbouring offices, making collaboration easier.

It is common for youth players to train with the senior team too. Tyler Dibling, Sam Amo-Ameyaw and Jayden Meghoma were major benefactors of the relationship last season.

This year has seen the likes of Joe O'Brien-Whitmarsh and Romeo Akachukwu make their debuts after training with the seniors.

A part of Reeves' role is to get feedback on how senior players felt Southampton's youngsters performed while training up. 

He then delivers those observations back to the under-21s so they can improve ahead of the next time Martin and his staff call them over for a session.

"I've had some great feedback from Adam Lallana and Jack Stephens on how the boys are doing when they go over," he continued.

"They tell me what the boys need to do more of, whether that's football ideas or something to do with personality or character. It's very interesting to get their feedback.

Ben Reeves always wanted to return to Southampton (Image: Southampton FC) "It's so important that we've got that link now. I was fortunate enough to play with both of them, so I know what they're going to want.

"I know how to feed that back to the 21s boys, so when they go up, you can see how they do in their first session is very different to their sixth or seventh session."

Due to a bloated first-team squad, senior players have regularly dropped down to play with the under-21s this season to keep up their fitness.

Reeves revealed some players felt guilty for blocking the pathway, but, as he explains, playing alongside those acquainted with the professional game is invaluable learning.

"It's so good for the 21s boys to play in games with the first-team boys. Charlie Taylor came down and he's played over 100 Premier League games.

Summer signing Ben Brereton Diaz played for the under-21s in a 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace. (Image: Chris Moorhouse / Southampton FC) "It's so important for them to see the standard, and for us to see how they can deal with the pressure of playing with the gaffer (Martin) and Matt Gill watching.

"We have a senior squad who are receptive to players coming up and training, but won't let them get away with low standards. The standards are set high in training. 

"Ads and Stevo are especially good at driving that. They are not going over for an easy rondo session. They have got to try and perform at that level."