Southampton shift the accent towards their future

The French lessons are spreading far beyond the first team. Alex Hayes meets the latest back-room import

First they gave us their best players, then they lent us their top managers, and now, 10 years after Eric Cantona first showed England what Gallic flair meant, they are sending us their best teachers. Like any savvy global brand, French football has mastered the art of branching out.

Georges Prost is one of a handful of French technicians who joined Premiership clubs in the summer. Like Francisco Filho, who went to Manchester United, Southampton's new technical director has been entrusted with the task of making England the new France.

It is about time. Following a decade of extravagance, during which vast amounts of money were spent on importing the best (and sometimes not) French players, English chairmen have finally acknowledged the importance of home-grown talent and decided to invest in academies. "In France, we always say that you cannot have a good pupil if you do not have a good teacher," Prost said after Thursday's intense training session with the Under-17s. "I think that same logic is now being followed here in England as well."

The irony is that the clubs who have recruited a French technician already had an excellent academy in place. Manchester United and Southampton are both renowned for producing quality youngsters, and yet both felt the need to change. The Saints' current academy director, Huw Jennings, is well aware of the club's rich tradition in delivering stars such as Mike Channon, Matt Le Tissier, Wayne Bridge, and Alan Shearer.

But Jennings also believes that the success stories of the past have been too few and far between. "We felt that, while the club were always good at producing individual talents," he explained, "we perhaps didn't have the right methodology to produce on a repeat basis. In contrast, if you look at the French, they have created a system that has worked consistently at international and club level."

Cue the arrival of Prost, a vastly experienced 53-year-old coach who has worked with some of the best French talents of the current generation, including William Gallas and Thierry Henry, and was recommended to the club by Arsène Wenger and Gérard Houllier. "My decision to join Southampton was taken very fast," he said, "because I've always been a huge fan of English football. I remember supporting the England team during the 1966 World Cup. There has always been something special about the way you play the game."

Prost's enthusiasm is genuine, and might explain why he leaped from his comfort zone in Marseille into the unknown at Southampton. "The thought of trying to spread the French word appeals to me," he said. "In a sense, my being here is an opportunity to defend France's savoir-faire."

Over the last 10 years, the French have certainly proved that they know how to be the best. "There's an element of luck in all this," Prost conceded, "but the truth is that our fundamentals are right." So how are Southampton's? "Well, there are some things that are good, and others that need work on. If I'm being honest, when I arrived I was surprised that kids between 14 and 16 only had two training sessions per week. It's not the club's fault, but there is a lack of will from the governing body to make it easier for the younger age groups to play."

Prost added: "What I think is sometimes lost on people here is that a good player is formed between the ages of 13 and 16. The work they do after that is tactical and physical, but the basics are already in place. That is not yet the case here, and that is what I want to change."

At Under-19 and Under-20 levels, too, there is still a lot of catching up to do, particularly where basic skills are concerned, but Prost feels confident that his young protégés will soon be a match for their French counterparts. "What has struck me most in the three months that I've been here," said the former Lyon player, "are the kids' willingness to learn and the levels of self-discipline.

"Seriously, French children these days are out of control. During my seven years at Marseille, I spent half my time trying to motivate or discipline the youngsters. Here, it's the total opposite as I'm having to slow them down most of the time. There is a thirst for knowledge I'm sure will lead England to greatness in the next few years."

No wonder, then, that Prost, who is an old-fashioned educator with very modern ideas, says he is in "dreamland" at Southampton. "What I have found is a club who are small but ambitious, and family-orientated but forward-thinking. At Marseille, I never once spoke to Bernard Tapie [the club's managing director last year]. Nor would I have any links with the professional side of things. But here, I chat with Gordon [Strachan, the manager] and Rupert [Lowe, the chairman] on a regular basis. This is a club going places."

It will take several years to witness any tangible results, but you sense that the combination of French teachers and English pupils could provide England with a winning combination in the future. "The other day," Prost smiled, "something happened that leaves me in no doubt that you will be world champions before long. At the end of a training session, some of the kids who were coming off the pitch just thanked me. In 23 years of coaching in France, no one had ever said that to me before."