SWINDON Town head coach Scott Lindsey has brought in former Arsenal and Charlton Athletic coach Carl Laraman as an aid to him and his backroom staff.

Following a lengthy spell in South London with the Addicks, Laraman spent over a decade in various roles at the Gunners before being suspended in 2018 amid allegations of bullying by academy players.

Nothing was ever proven one way or the other, and in 2019 the experienced coach took the director of football role at Chatham Town – the Kent club Lindsey was in charge of at the time.

After resigning from the Isthmian League side following promotion in the summer, Laraman has spent a number of weeks helping Town’s boss on the training ground and more recently on game days.

Discussing the move to bring Laraman to the County Ground, Lindsey said: “Carl is someone I’ve known for a long, long time.

“He’s somebody I trust, and he’s got great knowledge of the game and has been a very, very good coach.

“He worked at Arsenal for around 16 years, he was at Charlton Athletic for around 10 years, I think. So he’s had 25 years in the Premier League.

“He’s got great experience, and knowing him really well, he sees the game in a similar way to me.

“He’ll go under the radar in many ways and give me little snippets at half-time or after a game. He’s a wise man who’s been around good football teams all his life.”

Lindsey admitted he was not sure how long the Laraman would stay around for as he has not officially signed a contract, but the Town boss hoped it would be for the long-term and “as long as the relationship is working.”

“There’s not been an agreement in terms of a period of time Carl will be here with me,” said Lindsey.

“All the time (the relationship) is working, he’ll stay with me. He’s someone I know and really like. We talk a lot, even before he came in I spoke to him a lot, and he’s very good for me.

“It does help having someone close to me who’s just slightly removed from it. That’s why we wanted to bring Carl in, to have someone up in the stands who has a different view of the game – we think that’s important.

“To add to the team and have somebody removed from it slightly can only be good for us, we feel.”

Swindon take on Hartlepool United at the County Ground on Saturday in a double-header with Swindon Town Women. James Lally’s side play Paulton Rovers Ladies in the FA Cup third-qualifying round at 5:45pm.