Crawley Town boss Scott Lindsey following Sutton United win
Crawley Town beat Sutton United 3-0 to go joint top of League Two. Here is Scott Lindsey's full post match press conference
Transcript
00:00 Yeah, you can kick off.
00:01 How did it go?
00:02 My thoughts were really, really accomplished performance.
00:06 Obviously a good result, some good goals.
00:09 You know, they ask a lot of questions of you Sutton.
00:11 I know they're down the bottom of the table, but there were moments in the first half where they put us under immense pressure.
00:22 We didn't manage the game that well in them moments, but we learned from that
00:27 and I thought we were outstanding in the second half.
00:30 So yeah, really pleased with the performance and obviously with the result.
00:34 A clean sheet, is that one of the more pleasing elements of the game for you?
00:38 Yeah, we mentioned that before the game today.
00:40 We said, look, you know, in order for us to get where we want to get to,
00:44 you probably need to keep around 20 clean sheets a season.
00:46 That's only our second one, which in my opinion is not enough.
00:50 You know, we want to improve on that.
00:54 Since the start of the season against Bradford, that was our last one.
00:58 That was our 10th game today.
00:59 So, you know, we need to do better at that.
01:01 So really pleased with that aspect of the game.
01:04 And Corey, when he was called upon today, didn't have loads of it,
01:07 but when he was called upon, he pulled off a couple of great saves.
01:09 Yeah, he was very good today, Corey.
01:11 I've kind of done a lot of work with him this week and spoke to him about certain things
01:16 and I thought he was outstanding today.
01:18 Yeah, and the two of the goals, well all three goals, really good team.
01:22 Were they really satisfying to watch as they saw the plan coming together?
01:25 They were brilliant to watch.
01:26 You know, the first goal was outstanding down the right side.
01:28 You know, Gladwin doing a one-two with Darcy and great ball into the box
01:34 and an unbelievable finish from Adam Campbell.
01:37 Second goal, again, you know, good work from the whole team.
01:40 You know, a real good, fast-flowing attack.
01:44 So yeah, you know, all three goals were great goals.
01:47 Yeah, and I mean, we've talked about Liam Kelly a lot this year already,
01:50 but what else can you say about him?
01:52 He was outstanding against Liverpool.
01:53 He can play anywhere on the pitch as well, you know.
01:55 I don't know if you noticed, but I bumped him a little bit higher towards the end of the game
01:58 when Aaron Henry come on, bumped him a little bit higher
02:01 because I felt that I wanted to go and score more goals.
02:03 You know, I wanted to be greedy today and I wanted to score more goals
02:05 and I know Adam's got goals in his locker when he has played higher up the pitch.
02:10 So yeah, yeah, he's brilliant.
02:12 He's a good player, you know.
02:13 Listen, he's one of the best in the division, in my opinion.
02:16 I've said it before in previous interviews, I think he's outstanding.
02:19 Yeah, and because of other results today, you're now joint top.
02:22 I mean, it's quite incredible, isn't it, really, considering where we were last season?
02:26 It is, but we're kind of mindful that we have to keep being professional about how we do our work.
02:33 We have to be mindful that it is just a start.
02:37 It's 10 games in.
02:38 We've got a long way to go.
02:39 But yeah, we're obviously delighted about how we've gone about our business so far.
02:44 Yeah, excellent.
02:48 Scott, it's 10 games now.
02:50 You've made it clear it's just a start, but it really couldn't have gone any better, really.
02:58 I know you're keeping your feet on the ground and that's the message to the players.
03:02 But when you think about last season, it's just so incredible that you had the worst season and now the best start.
03:10 Yeah.
03:11 It's just amazing.
03:12 Thank you.
03:13 Yeah, it is.
03:14 But it goes down to hard work on the training ground, hard work behind the scenes to get the right players in,
03:23 which the owners have done that brilliantly, with myself, obviously.
03:27 We've kind of got rid of a lot of experienced players that I felt were…
03:37 We needed a freshness.
03:39 I think that was clear to see that when we made these changes, whilst a lot of people kind of got disgruntled about that,
03:46 we kind of felt that we knew what we were doing.
03:49 And the way that not just myself, but my coaching staff as well have coached the team and coached the individuals
03:58 and how we debrief games, how we debrief set-piece meetings, how we do everything, the work that we put in.
04:07 It's a lot of work and you only get to where we've got to by working hard.
04:12 As my dad used to say, you only get out of football what you're prepared to put into it.
04:15 And we've put a lot of effort in, so long may that continue.
04:20 Anything Scott?
04:22 Scott, you want to go?
04:23 Me?
04:24 Yeah.
04:25 Okay.
04:26 Scott, congratulations on today's win.
04:28 I just want to harp back to a point that's already been made, because we're 10 games into the season now
04:32 and Crawley sit joint top of the table and that's got to be beyond any of your wildest expectations when the season kicked off.
04:39 Not really, no.
04:41 I think that we felt that we could do what we've done.
04:44 We backed ourselves to be really competitive this season.
04:49 We quietly went about our pre-season.
04:53 We signed what we signed and got rid of players that we felt probably needed to move on.
05:00 And we coached the team to play in a certain way.
05:04 A lot of detail has gone into that, a lot of hard work.
05:08 We expect good results because of the work that we put in.
05:13 Whilst probably a lot of people would be scratching their head thinking, 'How the hell are we where we are?'
05:23 I think behind, or certainly in the four walls of the dressing room, we felt that we could do what we've done.
05:30 Managers have said to me in the past, Scott, that it's round about the 10 game mark that you start to have a little look at the table
05:35 because before then it's all very tight and it's still very tight at the moment.
05:39 If you had to grade this Crawley side on their opening 10 games, if you had to give it a little bit of a half-term report as a school report,
05:45 what grade would you give Crawley for the moment?
05:47 Well, A, because they've been brilliant. We've been good attacking-wise, we've scored a lot of goals.
05:55 I think that's 20 goals now in the last six games, is that right?
05:58 Yeah.
05:59 20 goals in six games, so we'll always score goals in my opinion.
06:03 This group of players will always score goals.
06:05 We do need to be stingier at the back, we've mentioned that in previous interviews.
06:08 Obviously we've got a clean sheet today, so I'm really pleased.
06:11 Against a side that really put us under pressure, by the way, and fantastic on set pieces.
06:15 Corners, throw-ins, free-kicks, they put it right on you.
06:18 So the fact that we have come away from the game today unscathed in terms of goals against is really, really pleasing.
06:27 But no, I'm proud of the players. I'm really proud of the players.
06:30 They've bought into what I want fully and really committed to the cause, so yeah, really happy.
06:37 You're unbeaten in all competitions throughout September
06:40 and it's the first time in five and a half years that the side has won four consecutive league games,
06:46 with two tough ones to come in the coming week.
06:48 But that sort of thing must absolutely delight you.
06:51 And within the commentary, we're running out of superlatives of trying to describe the way that the side are playing at the present time.
06:58 Thank you. It's really nice for you to say that and it's very nice to hear that.
07:05 But we do realise that football's got a nasty habit of kicking you in the teeth when you're not expecting it.
07:11 So we've just got to make sure that we remain really professional and really hard-working throughout our work that we do.
07:18 And every day we turn up and we're never going to get complacent. I won't allow it.
07:23 At the end of August, when we stood on the pitch at Swindon and you just lost 6-0,
07:28 we keep saying in the commentary, it's incredible resilience and an incredible turnaround
07:33 to now have gone the whole of September unbeaten.
07:35 Because I think a lot of fans were then sort of thinking, "Oh, cruelly started well, first couple of games were alright,
07:40 and then suddenly they've fallen away."
07:41 The turnaround and, like I say, the resilience, the commitment, the professionalism, the performances,
07:46 everything about what the players are doing, it's just incredible.
07:49 Yeah, I think that that probably comes with, you know, we've got a young side and the football that we're playing,
07:56 every now and then it can go horribly wrong. It can.
07:59 You know, you saw Brighton today, one of the best footballing teams in the country,
08:04 go up to Aston Villa and get absolutely popped and lose a game, was it 6-1?
08:09 6-1.
08:10 So it happens when you're a footballing side, a young side.
08:13 You know, I saw Southampton a couple of times get beat by big numbers, but they're a footballing side.
08:18 When it goes wrong, it can go horribly wrong.
08:21 Just so happens it was my old club, which was disappointing for me, you know.
08:26 But we never, you know, after the back end of coming out of the Swindon game,
08:32 we never felt worried at any point.
08:34 We just felt that we need to wipe our mouth with it and move on and that's what we've done.
08:39 And on to Doncaster on Tuesday night, you've got that win chalked up now, on the road this season.
08:45 You will surely go to Doncaster with huge amounts of confidence and a huge amount of morale within the side.
08:51 For sure, yeah.
08:52 You know, we might have to freshen things up a little bit in terms of the squad.
08:58 But you saw today the players who've come on had a real impact.
09:01 You know, they showed a real desire and a freshness about them.
09:05 And I think when they do make changes, it doesn't weaken the side in any shape or form.
09:09 So we may have to do that.
09:11 I'll have to look at it.
09:12 I'll have to sit with the medical team and the coaching staff
09:15 and really strategically look at how the team looks for what's going to be a tough game against Doncaster on Tuesday.
09:23 Thank you.
09:24 Thank you.