Crawley Town manager Scott Lindsey talks about the League Two game with Wrexham on Saturday, VAR following the Tottenham v Liverpool debacle and being linked with the Gillingham job following Neil Harris' departure
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00:00 Scott, thank you for joining us. A very exciting game to come this weekend against Wrexham.
00:05 Can I just get your thoughts as we approach that one?
00:07 Obviously a very tough game. They've got some very good players. They've got some attacking threats obviously.
00:18 Watched them at length yesterday in two or three games, or two and a half games.
00:24 Got a real measure of what needs to be done against them.
00:28 But yes, it's going to be a tough game obviously. They're a lot talked about.
00:33 They've come into the league having got an incredible amount of points last season in the National League.
00:41 Started this season kind of indifferent in many ways, but they're a very, very strong side.
00:48 We're going to have to be completely focused and completely at it in order for us to get anything from the game.
00:57 I suppose it's a testament to us that they're probably sitting there saying very similar things about Crawley.
01:02 We spoke a lot about how at the start of the season they would have been one of the ones predicted to win the league.
01:07 But currently we sit above them in the league. So I suppose that's a testament to the players' hard work as well as yourself.
01:12 Of course, yes. But like I've said before in previous interviews, it is just a start.
01:16 It's my job now to make sure that we maintain that start.
01:21 Obviously off the back of a poor result at Doncaster, we've had a real positive day today.
01:27 Good meeting with the players, good debrief session. We know what we've got to do moving forward.
01:32 So yes, we're in a good place. We've done incredibly well.
01:36 Good start to the season, but like I say, it is just a start.
01:39 After the result at Doncaster, do you think this is the perfect game to get our team stuck into a real tough test?
01:45 And what is going to be in front of a sell-out crowd as well?
01:47 Yes, of course. We always like our games at home.
01:50 We do well at home. We back ourselves against anybody at home.
01:54 So it's a good game for us. Like I say, I watched them at length yesterday.
01:59 They have some real threats, but also we think that we can hurt them as well. So let's see how we go.
02:05 Yes, we've spoken a lot about how this is a tough place to come.
02:08 I'm sure Phil Parkinson sitting there with his squad and saying that that is exactly what it's going to be.
02:12 It's going to be a tough test and I suppose the crowd can have a big impact on that, especially considering it is a sell-out.
02:17 Yes, it will be good to walk out and see the fans again.
02:22 There will be a good voice hopefully. Well, there will be. I know there will be.
02:26 Hopefully we can give them something to sing about at the end of the game.
02:30 We are looking forward to the game. We want to play our style of football against a real strong side.
02:36 We are not going to change just because we are playing Rexham.
02:38 We will continue doing what we do and hopefully do it as well as we can do.
02:41 If we are our best version of ourselves, then I'm sure we will get something from the game.
02:46 How is the squad looking? Obviously we saw some changes made on Tuesday night but unfortunately we lost Liam Kelly at half-time.
02:51 What is the squad fitness looking like for the weekend?
02:53 Yes, really good. In terms of the players rested, we will benefit from that on Saturday.
03:02 We obviously missed them but we will see the benefit of that moving forward.
03:09 It's one of them where we could have potentially played all three
03:13 but then there is a chance that we then have them missing for large parts of the season which we don't want.
03:19 We would sooner have them players available for 85-90% of the season as opposed to 60%.
03:24 I have got to pick and choose my moments and my times to rest.
03:28 I'm pleased with the squad. I think it was clear to see, forget the result,
03:34 I think it was clear to see that the players who come in are just as strong as the players that left.
03:41 We go after performances here and performances are key.
03:47 The result is just a by-product of how we performed.
03:50 I thought we performed really well in large parts of Tuesday night's game.
03:53 The first goal was a moment we didn't defend very well and there were other moments we didn't defend very well.
03:59 The penalty wasn't a penalty in my opinion.
04:02 We probably didn't create as much clear-cut as we wanted
04:06 but in all fairness I think the boys done alright.
04:11 The boys done okay. People are saying to me it's a bump in the road and it's a blip.
04:16 It's not a blip, it's normal. It's normal to lose football matches.
04:19 A blip is when you lose 3 or 4 on the bounce and probably even more than that.
04:25 But this isn't a blip, this is just normal.
04:28 We just have to make sure we react properly going into Saturday's game.
04:32 One thing I suppose we didn't mention was the return of Kellen Gordon.
04:35 It's obviously great to see him back after he got injured in the NK Don's game
04:38 which seems like an age ago now.
04:40 So it must be good but then also he's going to have a hard time getting in
04:43 because Ronan Darcy has been putting in some splendid performances at right wing back, isn't he?
04:46 Yeah, Kellen's worked really hard to get back to full fitness
04:49 and I think he's been chomping at the bit to be part of the squad.
04:52 I think it's one of them where the squad and the side have done so well
04:58 that we couldn't shoehorn him in.
05:01 Of course when I left three players at home on Tuesday night
05:04 it was an opportunity for him to be part of it
05:06 and then obviously he got on the pitch as well so I'm pleased for that.
05:09 So yeah, we'll see and look at Kellen going forward and see how we go with it.
05:16 But yeah, we're desperate to get him back in
05:18 but at the moment the boys who are playing are playing really well and doing well.
05:22 And I suppose we've just learned that the Morecambe game is going to be called off
05:26 due to them having international call-ups.
05:28 Is that good news for you?
05:29 What is a good amount of fixtures already in October?
05:32 Is it nice to have a weekend where you can go,
05:34 'Right, that's a week that other than the senior cup game that we've got
05:37 we can get some more minutes into the leagues'
05:39 or is that going to be an inconvenience down the road
05:41 when it inevitably gets rearranged?
05:42 Yeah, I see it as an inconvenience.
05:44 I would have sooner have played the game if I'm honest with you,
05:46 especially with the way we're playing at the moment.
05:50 I would have liked to have gone and continued that.
05:55 But it's a break and we take it, it is what it is.
05:58 It's not ideal but we'll use it as an opportunity for us to have a weekend
06:06 where the players can go and see their families,
06:08 the ones who live away, and to rest a little bit.
06:11 Because it's been tough, we've had some real early mornings and late starts,
06:16 late travels and getting back.
06:19 I think we got back, I walked through my door at four o'clock in the morning
06:22 from Doncaster on Wednesday so the players would have done the same.
06:27 There's been a couple of long ones like that.
06:29 So we take it as an opportunity to rest the players.
06:33 I'll make no changes in terms of what I was going to do for the Sutton game
06:36 next week anyway.
06:37 I still want to give players game time for that game anyway.
06:42 Scott, Rexham, they're a side, like you say, that has scored a lot of goals
06:46 but have also conceded quite a few goals.
06:48 When you're preparing for a side like that,
06:49 is there an element that you focus more on stopping their goals
06:52 or are you trying to score more goals when you prepare?
06:55 We always look at everything, if I'm honest with you.
06:58 I watch them at real depth.
07:01 I remember watching their game when they played Crewe yesterday.
07:08 I watched the first 20 minutes of the game and the first 20 minutes
07:11 probably took me nearly an hour and a half to watch
07:14 because I want to watch their movements, their detail in how they play,
07:18 how can we press them.
07:21 I strategically look at it and with a tactics board next to me
07:25 I think about the detail of how we can stop them.
07:30 Then I also look at, on the flip side of that,
07:33 where the gaps are, where the spaces are, where we can hurt them.
07:36 It's done over a long period of time, a 90-minute game for argument's sake,
07:43 it could take up to four hours to watch properly
07:45 in terms of stopping it, clipping it, rewinding it,
07:49 watching it again, pausing it, writing notes down,
07:52 looking at your tactics board and really thinking about
07:56 how we can stop their threats but also how we can hurt them.
08:01 So both really.
08:03 Great question.
08:05 Obviously Wrexham are a team that garner a lot of publicity.
08:10 They've got the Disney+ documentary.
08:12 There is going to be cameras here from them on Saturday.
08:16 Players will notice it.
08:18 How hard is it to keep your squad focused on the job in hand
08:22 because there might be a distraction of the side?
08:25 My players won't notice any of that.
08:27 I can guarantee you that.
08:28 We will just be focusing on playing a game of football against a good side.
08:32 We need to make sure that we're fully focused on that.
08:34 My players won't notice any of that, neither will I.
08:37 Have you watched Welcome to Wrexham?
08:38 No.
08:39 What's your favourite Ryan Reynolds film?
08:42 I don't watch films, so I'm a bit bored on that.
08:45 Fair enough.
08:46 We've seen today that Neil Harris has been sacked from Gillingham.
08:50 Mark Hughes was sacked from Bradford yesterday.
08:53 Are you surprised that there are changes happening this early in the season
08:57 and a second prong?
08:59 You are currently 2-1 with Victor for the Gillingham job.
09:03 You keep saying it's a start with how Crawley started this year.
09:06 Your journey with Crawley has just started, hasn't it?
09:08 Yes, of course.
09:10 I'm fully aware of what happens in football.
09:14 If the results are not right or if the owners of that football club
09:18 see that they're not right, then they make changes.
09:20 Unfortunately, I think that's just the industry that we're in.
09:26 I'm no different, I suppose, in many ways.
09:30 You feel like every game you have to win
09:34 because that is just the industry.
09:38 We have to win, we have to play well.
09:42 If you don't perform, there's a big chance that -
09:46 there's an old saying in management
09:48 that you're only five results away from being sacked.
09:52 It's unfortunate for Neil and for Mark.
09:55 They're both good people.
09:57 I've always got on with both of them.
10:00 But I'm sure you'll see them both back in the game.
10:02 Obviously, with the job you're doing here,
10:05 defying all the odds, all the predictions,
10:07 your name is probably going to be linked to a lot of jobs going forward.
10:11 Again, similar to the question about players being distracted by cameras,
10:15 is it going to be hard to keep out that noise for you?
10:18 Not hard at all. Just focus on my job.
10:21 That's why I'm in this job, in my opinion.
10:24 It's because I'm fully focused.
10:26 I work extremely hard in the job that I'm in.
10:28 I'm committed to the job that I'm in.
10:31 I won't listen to anything outside.
10:34 I don't go on social media.
10:36 I don't listen to anything anyway.
10:38 I'm quite single-minded. I'm quite headstrong.
10:41 I know what I've got to do.
10:44 Again, I understand the industry.
10:47 When you're doing well, as well as when you're doing bad.
10:51 When you're doing bad, you get the sack.
10:53 When you're doing well, there's people showing it,
10:57 or clubs will show an interest.
10:59 That's normal. That's a normal thing to happen in this industry.
11:03 Like I say, I'll be just focused on what the job is.
11:06 That's to keep performing the way we're performing
11:10 and hopefully keep winning as many games as we can.
11:13 I've just got to go back to the penalty on Tuesday night.
11:17 Obviously, VAR has been in the news this week
11:20 because of the Tottenham Liverpool incident last week.
11:22 What is your view on VAR?
11:24 Would you welcome it at an elite team?
11:27 Yes, I think I would welcome it.
11:30 I know there's been mistakes made with the VAR.
11:34 But I also think there's a lot of good come from it.
11:38 I think looking at Tuesday night's penalty,
11:43 I'll stand by what I said after the game.
11:46 I watched it back at home.
11:48 I watched it back cold, with no emotion.
11:52 In my opinion, Will gets pushed really clearly.
11:55 What disappointed me with it was I went in to see the referee after the game
11:59 and spoke to him about it.
12:01 He said that he wasn't focusing on that kind of action.
12:06 He was focusing on the ball being crossed.
12:09 As he turned, as the ball got crossed,
12:11 he then saw Will bring him to the ground.
12:13 So I thought, "OK, so you've actually missed the first push."
12:17 So he said, "Yes, I was focusing on the ball."
12:19 But when I watched the video back,
12:21 the referee's looking straight at Will as he gets pushed.
12:24 So either he didn't realise what he's done or he's lied.
12:28 Either one, I don't know.
12:30 So disappointed with that.
12:32 But I also think, looking back at the Grimsby one as well,
12:34 I don't know if you remember the Grimsby one
12:36 where Dan Orsi gets pulled down in the box
12:38 and the ball bounces up in the air.
12:40 So after the game I went to see the referee after that game
12:43 and he said that in his opinion, he did get brought to the floor,
12:48 but the ball bounced that high
12:51 that Dan Orsi was never going to challenge for the ball.
12:54 So it was an easy catch for the goalkeeper in a way
12:58 and Dan Orsi was never going to get the ball.
13:01 So my argument to that was,
13:03 "You can't just bring somebody down because he's not going to get the ball."
13:07 He said, "What if the goalkeeper would have fallen over at that moment?"
13:10 "Then Dan Orsi's there to tap it in."
13:12 Or, "It's an easier catch for the goalkeeper if Dan Orsi's on the floor."
13:17 So if Dan Orsi's not on the floor because he's not being brought down
13:20 and he's now running towards the goalkeeper,
13:23 the goalkeeper's half got one eye on the pressure
13:27 and half an eye on the ball.
13:28 He might drop it again.
13:29 Dan Orsi taps it in.
13:30 So in my opinion, it is a penalty.
13:32 This morning I got an email back from the assessor of that game
13:38 saying, "Yeah, I agree with you. It was a clear penalty."
13:41 So at least we do get feedback.
13:43 I put a report in every Monday about what we've seen
13:48 and detail of incidents that have happened and what I'm not happy with.
13:52 They always come back with feedback in all fairness.
13:55 A lot of the time they kind of agree with what we're saying.
13:58 - Thanks, Scott. - Thank you.
14:00 Go Ash.