Charlton Athletic appoint new individual performance coach as they make switch from Birmingham City

Charlton Athletic have appointed James Brayne as their individual performance coach.

Brayne has left Birmingham City, where he had been head of coaching and player development (U15-U21).

Brayne had a spell as head of academy performance analysis and U21 performance analyst with the Blues before joining Manchester City as U15 and U16 performance analyst in 2013.

He had nearly 18 months as an academy coach before returning to Birmingham, initially as U11 and U12 cell lead coach in May 2016.

“I’m really pleased to be at Charlton,” Brayne said. “The football club’s got a fantastic, rich history in developing young players and that’s something that I’ve had success with at Birmingham City. I want to continue that here.

“My conversations with Andy Scott, Nathan Jones and all of the staff so far have been really positive. Everyone’s been really welcoming and everybody sees the value in the role – trying to help individual players get better, help the team improve and ultimately everybody develop. That’s what I’m here to do and that’s what I’m excited to get my teeth stuck into.”

Technical director Andy Scott said: “James has worked with some elite players at Birmingham City, who have had a number of players that have come through their academy and into their first-team. They’re well respected for that, so we’re delighted to bring him in and secure his services. He fits in really well with what Nathan is doing with the first-team.

“We’ve got a lot of players that have come from the academy into the men’s first-team and we want to make sure that the individual development programmes that they’re currently undergoing in the academy are carried on and actually cemented so that they can improve in the areas that they need to work on.

“James will be a good link between the academy and the men’s first-team. He’ll work closely with individuals and small groups of players across the U18s, U21s and first-team. His purpose is to make sure that the players are getting the development that they need, rather than just jumping into the first-team and expecting them to be the finished article.”