We caught up with Crawley Town boss Scott Lindsey on fixture release day talking Exeter away, transfers and pre-season
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00:00Scott, we're here on our fixture release day. First reactions to the fixtures, home game against Blackpool. Must be pleasing to be at home?
00:07Yeah, really pleased to be at home. Big club in Blackpool. Yeah, pleased to be at home. We've spent the last five and a half weeks reflecting on what we achieved, which was obviously promotion.
00:19So it was nice to do that. I think it's important we do that. But now it's all focused on what's in front of us, which starts with, like you say, a tough game in Blackpool at home.
00:28Yeah, and does this make it real today, like what the challenges ahead are?
00:32Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I think that, you know, once the fixtures come out, I think it's important that we look at it and understand it and realise that, you know, it's just around the corner.
00:43I think it's great for the supporters as well because they can, you know, start to plan their season ahead and what, you know, what fixtures they can make and what they can't make and look at the Christmas fixtures and stuff like that.
00:53So it's great for the fans as well. But yeah, it just goes to show that, you know, between season to season, it's not that far. It's not that far. You know, it seems to have gone really quickly.
01:04Yeah, you mentioned it when we did the Q&A earlier. There's a couple of horrible games in there, horrible trips obviously. So Exeter away on Sunday December 29th. Have you got some particular views on that?
01:15Yeah, I just don't understand the 29th one. Between the Boxing Day and the New Year's Day fixture, you know, years ago it used to be just Boxing Day, New Year's Day and they just, you know, seem to shoe on another fixture in between.
01:27And of course it's Exeter away, which is a big journey, but it is what it is, you know. And I think as well, I always tend to look at what Tuesday nights look like. Is there any tough away journeys on a Tuesday night coupled with a Saturday journey away?
01:42I think there's one in January where we were away on a Saturday and away on a Tuesday, but it is what it is.
01:48Yeah, we've already seen a few changes to the squad already. The likes of Laurence Maguire, Will Wright, Nick Samuna, Adam Campbell not coming back next year. Sad to see those go?
01:58Of course, yeah. They were really good players for us, wasn't they? All four played in the final and they were great lads as well, all four great lads. But unfortunately, you know, we don't want it to be a revolving door.
02:14But, you know, there's clubs who have got bigger finance than we have and we can't compete with some of the clubs that they've gone to. And that's just a fact. Whilst we didn't want them to go, money talks sometimes, you know.
02:34Absolutely. I know you've got Charlie Barker and Anthony Papadopoulos in. How excited about those? It seems like you're following the same blueprint as last summer with the signings you're bringing in.
02:43Yeah, the owners are recruiting based on data and a lot of the players that we look for are potentials. That's the way that we work. It was brilliant last season. We obviously did well with that. We'll be going pretty much on the same ilk as that again.
03:03But, yeah, the two players that we've signed are very good players, very good, talented players. Charlie's a good defender who can step in with the ball and make passes from deep areas, step in. He's a very, very good footballer but also a very good defender. Anthony's a very talented player who plays higher up the pitch, can handle the ball. Very skilful player, likes to take players on. Really exciting prospect.
03:29We've obviously got the EFL trophy. You know two of the teams you're playing so far, AFC Wimbledon and Wimbledon. That was an important trophy for you last year because you got to blood a lot of players. Is there going to be another season where you look at that competition?
03:43Yeah, I think so. Because we've got no youth team here or no reserve team as it were, we will need to run with a relatively big squad again. It's great for the players who have not started in the league for them to get minutes. We used it brilliantly last year and we'll be looking at doing the same again.
04:03We've got the Carabao Cup draw tomorrow. Are you hoping for a nice home draw this year because you had Exeter away last year? Exeter away it was, yeah. I've moaned about Exeter a few times today, haven't I? No disrespect to Exeter but whatever it is, it is. If it's home, great. If it's away, no problem. Looking forward to the league.
04:20And the players are back in Monday you say? It's all about fitness to begin with, is it? It's conditioning? Yeah, we're straight away with the footballs to be honest with you. The Monday and Tuesday will be more about testing and then Wednesday onwards the balls will be out and we'll be coaching the team straight away. They can pretty much get their fitness within football sessions as it were. I like to call it disguised running.
04:47We'll be coaching the team pretty much from Wednesday onwards. Excellent. And a few pre-seasons lined up already. Are you happy with what you've got from pre-season games? Yeah, definitely. I think there's a good mix and a good blend. Obviously the Crystal Palace game here as well which was good last year and will be good again this year hopefully. I think it's a good blend. Brilliant, thanks Scott. Thank you.