Charlton Athletic technical director Andy Scott on not wanting to be ‘journeyman’ boss, shock retirement from playing and rebuilding the Addicks

BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Whether Andy Scott succeeds or fails at Charlton Athletic, the one thing that the technical director is able to promise is an unwavering work ethic.

The 51-year-old, born in Epsom, was appointed as the Addicks’ technical director in late July.

Scott has ticked plenty of boxes in the professional game – winning promotions as a player and manager as well as plotting and planning recruitment strategies.

He represented Sutton United, Sheffield United, Brentford, Oxford and Leyton Orient but was forced to hang up his boots at the age of 32 after being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition which thickens muscle tissues in the heart.

Scott won promotion both as a player and boss with the Bees, the latter from League Two in 2009, before starting scouting for the west Londoners in 2015 following managerial stints at Rotherham and Aldershot Town.

“I had to retire from playing, due to a heart condition,” Scott told the South London Press. “So you get a big wake-up call – in terms of what am I going to do with my life? I didn’t know physically or health-wise what that looked like for me.

“I had an opportunity to go into youth coaching at Orient and took that. I’ve always been very ambitious. Martin Ling and Barry Hearn at Orient were fantastic but I knew after six months I didn’t want to be a youth coach and that I wanted to work with a first-team.

“I had the opportunity to go to Brentford and fell into management because Terry Butcher left. I was either going to be on the dole or I had to take the caretaker job. I’m going to stay in work.

“I did really well and got the job. Eighteen months after retiring I had gone from not considering anything other than being a player to being a manager in the Football League, at a club struggling down the bottom. I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t prepared. I didn’t have the tools. Fortunately I had a really good assistant and staff around me – we won promotion.

“Then we did well in League One and you think ‘this is easy’. Everyone is lauding you as the next big thing. I actually spoke to Charlton around that time, they were looking for a new manager. I think Powelly (Chris Powell) might have got it.

“My whole perception of how my career was going to go was completely wayward. I hadn’t accepted having to retire. I hadn’t mentally processed it or had the opportunity to review what I wanted to do with my life. I fell into management. I did well at Brentford and tried to take it on – it didn’t work and I got sacked.

“I went to Rotherham, which was a mistake. I wanted to prove to Brentford I was still a good manager but I really needed a year out. That job lasted a year.

“At that point I’d been sacked twice. I went through some really dark times when you’re questioning what you’re going to do and I was still processing the condition.

“I got the opportunity to go to Aldershot. I wanted assurances I’d be able to do the job and build my career again. Two weeks after I took over they went into administration! I enjoyed coaching players, finding players and working out how we could beat other teams. In the end it was a case of babysitting players you can afford, rather than ones you actually want. It was a messy ending at Aldershot.

“I didn’t want to be a journeyman. I didn’t want to just apply for jobs. I wasn’t managing because I wanted to manage any more. I was managing because I needed a job – I wanted to work.”

Scott had stayed in touch with Brentford owner Matthew Benham, who owns Smartodds – a statistical-based company which uses data to help clients beat the betting markets. His first role was as a scouting advisor for Brentford and Danish club FC Midtjylland before being promoted to head of recruitment at the former.

“I spoke to a lot of people about going into business, working in the City – using the more managerial elements of what I had learned. But I still loved football and wanted to be involved in that.

“Fortunately I’d still kept a really good relationship with Matthew Benham and he offered me a job.

“We had Rob Rowan there who was miles ahead of his time – he was way above the quality I had. He was going to be the next director of football (Rowan passed away in 2018). We’d had two – Rasmus Ankersen and Phil Giles – who were incredible to work under.

“I knew the job I was in was going to be the job I was always to be in because there were so many good people ahead of me. But I’d learned so much.”

Scott then spent 20 months at Watford, where he was promoted from UK football recruitment director to sporting director.

“I got the opportunity to go to a club in the Premier League,” he said. “I wanted to see if I could do it at that level and I realised that I could. I realised that it’s not as great as you think it is in the Premier League. There are a lot of things that go wrong – that gave me a lot of confidence in myself.

“I was offered another contract to stay at Watford but I chose to leave. I felt I wasn’t going to be able to work the way I wanted to work.

“The turning point was speaking to Trevor Birch, who was the Swansea chairman, and going there as head of recruitment – but with more of a mentorship role with Steve Cooper, who had just come in.

“Our relationship just went from strength to strength. We got in the play-offs twice. Steve left, he didn’t feel the club was going forward, and I left six months later, to join him at Forest.”

Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis dismissed Scott, head of scouting, and head of recruitment George Syrianos after a review of their 2022 summer transfer window business. The club signed 23 players after winning promotion to the Premier League.

Scott had 10 months at Forest.

Now comes the challenge of revitalising Charlton, who have been out of the top-flight for 16 seasons – nine of those spent in League One.

Scott had been a technical advisor to the Addicks when SE7 Partners entered into a period of takeover exclusivity with then owner Thomas Sandgaard.

He left in February when the talks had broken down, only returning when the Charlie Methven-fronted consortium acquired the SE7 outfit.

“I had got another really, really good job that was a fantastic opportunity to travel the world and work with a number of different clubs across it – with a group of owners that were fantastic to work for,” said Scott. “This is the only club I’d have come out of that for – because I knew what it was about and I knew I could effect it and how much work there was to be done.

“What an opportunity. They don’t come around that often. I had been doing all these courses and testing myself, giving myself experiences, so then turning it (Charlton) down would’ve been admitting you’re not good enough or that you don’t want to challenge yourself – and I do.

“I wake up every morning and can’t wait to get to work.

“Now, whether I’m going to be good enough or not – that’s to be determined. What you know is I’ve committed to it and I’ll do everything I can. You’ll get 100 per cent from me – and it will be honest.

“I like to think that everybody who is working here will feel that and thrive off that. I want to encourage them to be the same.”

Scott has been conducting interviews last week and at the start of this one with a view to appointing a director of performance.

While there is pressure on Charlton managers or a head coach, with Michael Appleton’s appointment last month seeing a job title change, Scott will also be judged, analysed and assessed.

“I’m 51, a bit long in the tooth and been in the game since I was 20 – I’ve seen it all,” he said.

“I take responsibility, it’s the way football is. I wanted this role because I wanted the responsibility.

“I will hold my hands up if something goes wrong. I don’t expect to get plaudits. I don’t want to be front and centre – doing interviews. I want to do my job and be judged on how the club performs.

“I understand I have to communicate and from a club perspective I want to be transparent. I want the fans to see I’m working hard and that I’ve got a plan. I want them to challenge me and I want to respond to that – I want the time to put things in place that work. This is a massive operation – huge – that has been neglected over a number of years in a lot of different areas.

“There is no culture here. We have got academy, men’s first team, women’s first team – a huge trust on site – I want to bring it together to feel a part of one football club rather than four. That takes time, we’ve already started that process. But you don’t just try to make it happen straight away because you make mistakes and people lose faith, don’t believe in it.

“You set it out and plan properly. Commit to it and do it. People then take it on board.”