Gull-Mouth Action podcast - episode 67 | Albion's FA Cup charge, tumultuous week for Crawley Town

Name: Gull-Mouth Action podcast - episode 67 | Albion's FA Cup charge, tumultuous week for Crawley Town
Uploaded: 2025-03-06T12:05:06+00:00
Duration: 36 min 31 s
Channel: SussexWorld

00:00Welcome to another episode of the Goldmouth Action Podcast where we take a look at all

00:04the latest goings-on at Brighton and Hove Abbey and Crawley Town. I'm Matt Pole and

00:08this week I'm joined by Crawley Town expert Mark Dunford, Sam Mourne who covers both Brighton

00:13and the Reds and Sussex Sport guru Steve Bone who also co-presents the wildly successful

00:17Sussex Non-League Podcast with myself. Danny Welbeck scored an extra-time winner as Brighton

00:22beat Newcastle to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals after an instant-packed tie that ended ten

00:27a side. We'll look back at that fantastic win at the Magpies plus we'll bring you the

00:32latest injury news as Abbey prepare to entertain Fulham in the Premier League as well as all

00:36the latest from a tumultuous week at Crawley Town and I think even that might be an understatement.

00:41You can read all the stories we are talking about with videos and pictures online at sussexworld.co.uk

00:45forward slash sport and you can check out other great videos on shotstv.com and freeview

00:49channel 262. You may also be watching on latest TV so thank you very much for tuning in but

00:54we will start at St James' Park where Danny Welbeck was the hero for Brighton scoring

00:58deep and extra-time as Fabian Herzog's side beat Newcastle 2-1 in an FA Cup thriller to

01:03reach the quarter-finals. Newcastle had taken a 20-second minute lead through an Alexander

01:07Isaac penalty but Jankuba Minter levelled just before half-time. Newcastle's Anthony

01:12Gordon was shown a straight red in the 83rd minute for pushing Jan-Paul van Hecken ahead

01:16before Brighton defender Tarek Lamte was then dismissed and added time for a second booking

01:21following a late challenge from Jacob Murphy. The game looked as if it would be going to

01:24penalties before Solly March played in Welbeck with six minutes left and he calmly chipped

01:28homekeeper Mayan Dubravka to send the away fans wild. As we've just seen there, Sam,

01:34breathless game, sum that up if you can.

01:36Yeah, it was an epic win for Brighton really and I mentioned in a chat with Darren in a

01:43kind of previous podcast where it was just kind of a bit unexpected. I think obviously

01:47with Newcastle, they're really strong at home and St James' Park is one of the toughest

01:51places to go and obviously we were all kind of dreading it when the draw came out for

01:56this one, thinking it's a really tough game for Brighton. Obviously they were in a great

02:00run of form going into it so there was plenty of reasons to be positive and they really

02:04did continue where they left off in previous games really and they were brilliant in this

02:09game. There were 36 shots in the match with 10 on target so it was a real kind of lively

02:15one with lots of kind of attacks going obviously in the game so that's obviously a break for

02:22the neutral and that's what it's been described as, a really good FA Cup tie, kind of a classic

02:27FA Cup tie really which was good for the neutral and obviously it didn't get off to the best

02:31of starts as you mentioned for Brighton as they did go a goal down to Isak's penalty.

02:36There's a lot of talk before the game whether he's going to be fit enough to play and there's

02:40kind of hopes among Brighton that he might not be because obviously he's just such a

02:43brilliant player and can make a difference in these kind of games. Brighton recovered

02:47so well from that and it was Jankuba Minter who gave away the penalty but then levelled

02:51the scoring against his old team. Lovely finish it was in the fourth half time and Brighton

02:57actually were the team most likely to score and even more so after Anthony Warden's ludicrous

03:02red card, I don't know what he was thinking really, to push Van Hecken in the way that

03:07he did. Whistle had already gone so he's obviously going to massively regret that as he's going

03:12to miss the Carabao Cup final and he was made to pay on the day as well with obviously

03:16Brighton ended up winning the game in extra time but they did actually nearly lose it

03:20with Fabian Scheer scoring a goal literally right in injury time of normal time but VAR

03:27came to the rescue and it was Brighton that stole the win obviously through Danny Welbeck's

03:30brilliant winner.

03:31Yes, well it was a brilliant winner was it and his goal was his eighth of the season

03:35and he is now only four off his record of 12 at Manchester United which was in the 2011-12

03:40season. Post-match, a nice line from Danny Welbeck who put his renaissance down to the

03:44good genes passed down from his mum and dad but that aside, Sam, what has triggered Welbeck's

03:49rejuvenation this season and could he win an England recall?

03:52Yes, you never know because it really is incredible, the upturn in form. I mean he's been brilliant

03:58ever since he's been with Brighton Bridge, he's been such an important player for them

04:04and his experience has helped obviously some of the younger players coming through the

04:07ranks as well and he's always been described as a real role model in his team but especially

04:13this season he's really just kind of found his career best form. We've said it so many

04:17times but it just seems to be getting better and better and obviously he's had a couple

04:21of injuries and he was without a goal since October when he scored that winner against

04:25Bournemouth but he's just continued where he left off really before those injuries and

04:30he's still such a top quality striker and the quality of the finish against Newcastle

04:35was brilliant and I don't think many players would be able to do it in that way that he

04:39did and it was a brilliant goal and nice that Soddy March was backing out to get the assist

04:44as well. So it was his eighth goal of the season Welbeck and he's now only two behind

04:49two of his Manchester United goalscoring tallies and one at Arsenal and he's four off his record

04:56which was 12 at Man United in 2011 as well and Wayne Rooney was on punitive duty during

05:02the FA Cup weekend and he said Danny was great to play alongside and if he's being

05:06honest he'd like to see him back at Man United because he's better than really any strikers

05:11they have there and they sold him ten years ago so it's pretty crazy when you consider

05:16a thing like that really. So it's great for Brighton, great for Welbeck and he said himself

05:21that he's feeling really good, feeling fit and strong and as you mentioned he thanks

05:25his mum and dad for giving him good genes.

05:27I was going to say with the goal I hate it when people say oh if so-and-so had scored

05:32that goal there'd be massive headlines and that but if someone like Messi, Ronaldo had

05:37scored that goal because it was an incredible finish it was like a roofed dink I don't know

05:41what the phrasing is for a finish like that it was just a brilliant finish and I don't

05:47think he'll get an England call-up just simply because of his age but he deserves it for

05:50the way he's been playing this year and yeah you need a bit of experience at international

05:55level there I know we've got Kane and that but put him in there that's what I say.

05:59Yeah I think you'd probably make a case for quite a few Brighton players but like Jack

06:02Kinsherwood I think and Soli March would have been pre-injury but I guess we'll have to

06:06wait and see really. Brighton have now won five consecutive matches in all competitions

06:11for the first time ever as a top flight club and they're now just two victories from reaching

06:15their first FA Cup final since 1983. Match winner Welbeck said it would be really tough

06:20for Albion to lift the famous Old Trophy but why can't they dream of winning the FA Cup

06:24Steve it seems like the most open it's been in years.

06:27Yeah I disagree with Danny sorry I think they can dream of it I think anybody any team left

06:34in the FA Cup this year because of the way it's opened up can think yeah we've got great

06:39chance getting to the final and actually we've got great chance winning it. I know Mark likes

06:44me to harp back to 2008 when my team Portsmouth won the FA Cup but it's opened up in the way

06:49that did then back then. One of the worst FA Cup finals ever but anyway carry on. You

06:54wait your turn you. 2008 Man Utd and Chelsea were the only two so-called big teams to get

07:00to the quarterfinals and they both lost. Chelsea lost to Barnsley, Man Utd lost to Portsmouth

07:04who went on to win it in case you didn't know. This year Man City are the only so-called

07:09big team left in it. We've lost Man Utd, we've lost Arsenal, Spurs, Liverpool and now we've

07:15lost Newcastle as well. Aston Villa might claim that they're one of the big clubs as

07:19well. They're still in as well but it's just very open and you're already guaranteed a

07:24more interesting final than I think we've had in recent years. No disrespect to all

07:29the big sides but when the final is two from Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea

07:35every season it gets a bit boring and you kind of forget who wins it year to year unless

07:39you're a fan of one of those teams. It goes and enjoys it. So now we've got the prospect

07:45we could have Brighton against Aston Villa final, we could have Preston against Crystal

07:49Palace final. Obviously it's a great shame that Robbie Savage won't be watching it if

07:53it's two small teams. I'm sure the TV people will have to think again next year if Robbie's

08:00not going to watch it if it's not two big teams playing. Now Brighton have got as good

08:03a chance as anyone. We'll come on to their tie in a minute I'm sure. I'm actually old

08:10enough to remember 1983 when they got to the final before, played Man Utd, drew 2-2 in

08:15the first game classic final. Brighton should have won it, the famous Gordon Smith moment

08:19where he had to score and didn't and they then lost the replay 4-0. But no if I was

08:28a Brighton fan I think I'd be more excited about the chance of winning the FA Cup than

08:31about whether they're going to get into Europe again. If they keep focused on it and can

08:38keep injury free and have a strong line-up in that quarter-final, every chance of a Wembley

08:43return.

08:44Well they'll have to get past Nottingham Forest who booked their FA Cup quarter-final

08:48trip to Brighton after a penalty shoot-out win over Ipswich on Monday evening. I'm sure

08:52Albion fans don't need reminding but Forest absolutely thumping them 7-0 at the City

08:56Ground at the start of February. What do you make of that draw for the Seagulls Steve?

09:00It could have been better but it could have been worse I think. Can you see there being

09:03a repeat of that performance at the City Ground?

09:05I think yeah I should say they could have had an easier tie but they're at home and

09:10it's Nottingham Forest and yes Nottingham Forest beat them 7-0 at the start of February

09:15but look at what's happened since then. Brighton have been unstoppable since then. They put

09:19that behind them straight away. I think they didn't make up the goal difference in two

09:23games. I think they won 4-0 and then 3-0 which was quite something and I think it's almost

09:29been a turning point for Brighton actually. I think the manager looked at his tactics

09:34but burned his tactics sheet didn't he at the training ground or something. I think

09:39he's had a reset and a refresh and they've looked very good since. Nottingham Forest

09:44I think after that 7-0 win went and lost 5-0 at Bournemouth quite soon after that. It might

09:48even have been the next game. So I think that is in football terms that's sort of in the

09:54dim and distant past actually and I don't think Brighton need to worry about that game

09:59when they turn out for this one. Different competition, different ground. It'll be a

10:04great atmosphere. It'll be live on TV. All the quarterfinals I think will be live and

10:10Brighton players and fans will be aware of who's left in the FA Cup and they'll be thinking

10:14yeah this is a great chance for us and I would take them to get through.

10:19Well in the here and now this Saturday sees the Seagulls return to Premier League action

10:23as they welcome Fulham to the Amex. The Cottagers who beat FA Cup holders Manchester United on

10:27penalties on Sunday to advance to the quarterfinals sit ninth in the table, a point and a place

10:32behind Brighton. Sam, how do you see this one going? It seems that a lot recently we've

10:36seen we've just said toss a coin really and what's the latest injury news from the

10:40Albion camp?

10:41Yeah Fulham is not a game that Brighton often do well in actually. It's one of those real

10:48bogey teams for them and they'll be looking to avenge that defeat at Craven Cottage earlier

10:53this season. But I think Brighton will be going into it with confidence but I think

10:57just because of the form they're in and I know Fulham obviously will also be on a high

11:01as well coming away from that FA Cup win over Man United on penalties. But when you look

11:07at the table Brighton are actually only one point above Fulham so it's a real big game

11:12in that sense. Fulham can go above obviously Brighton in that race for Europe and cement

11:16they're obviously what is a great season for them as well. So I don't think it's a given

11:19at all that Brighton will go and win this game easily and they might also be without

11:24Karim Matomah which would be a big blow. So he appeared to hobble off as he left the

11:31pitch against Newcastle. It seemed like a problem with his left knee. Hersteader said

11:36that he'd have to wait for a scan to see how bad the issue is and he can then say more.

11:41But hopefully it's not bad and it's just a case of waiting to see how he is really.

11:45If he is out Matomah obviously it would be a huge blow with the quality he has in the

11:49form he's been in. But Simon Odinga is a ready made replacement that can definitely

11:54do a job and I'll be confident enough that he can play well and hopefully help Brighton

11:58get the win. But as we know Brighton are also without Igor due to a hamstring problem.

12:03James Milne is out with also a hamstring issue. Ferdie Cadioglu is still out with a toe

12:08injury. Lewis Stunk I don't think will be ready after his rib injury that he's had.

12:13Jason Steele is out with a shoulder injury. Joel Veltman is out with a foot injury.

12:18Matt O'Reilly we think is still out for illness as well. So plenty of absentees for Brighton.

12:25But as we know they've got such a big squad with so much quality that I think they'll be able to

12:31have more than enough to win this game if they play anywhere near as good as they have been in

12:35the last few games. Absolutely well best of luck to Brighton at the weekend. We will take a short

12:39break now but stay tuned as we'll be discussing all things from a very interesting week at Crawley

12:44Town. Welcome back to part two and Crawley Town endured an afternoon to forget at home to

12:49relegation rivals Cambridge on Saturday. A Kamari Doyle own goal and a Paul Digby effort saw the

12:55youth claim a valuable three points in their bid to stay in League One while plunging the Reds further

12:59into the mire. You were at this one Sam. By all accounts it didn't sound particularly inspiring

13:05from a Crawley Town point of view. It was absolutely dreadful. It was one of the worst

13:09performances I've seen from Crawley and it was such a must-win game as well. It really was poor

13:16from start to finish where Crawley barely created any clear-cut chances. Yeah quite a poor game to

13:24watch for the neutral as well because obviously Cambridge are not much better in terms of quality

13:28and they deployed some real dodgy tactics and a bit of gamesmanship during the game which the

13:35fans were really angry about and the officials didn't do a great job at dealing with it really

13:40on the day. Cambridge obviously kind of had a bit of a game plan to really frustrate Crawley and

13:44there was a lot of shirt pulling and it really did get under Crawley's skin but at the end of

13:48the day Crawley didn't do enough to score and they ended up losing 2-0 in a game they had to win

13:53which is never good really. They obviously did go down to 10 men as well which didn't help and

14:00I know obviously Cambridge got that red card not long after but even after that they never

14:05like getting back into the game. There was perhaps a little bit of a flurry in the last five minutes

14:09we thought they might get one goal back but it was too little too late and a really poor day and

14:14a poor defeat which left Crawley obviously even closer to the foot of the table with Cambridge

14:20overtaking them so it was a pretty disastrous day at the office for Crawley that one. Well Tuesday

14:26evening saw Lincoln heap more misery on the beleaguered Reds as they thumped Rob Elliott's

14:304-1 at Sinsel Bank. Crawley took the lead through Kamari Doyle but the Imps rolled back to claim

14:35just their second home league one win in 2025 and it sounded like another dispiriting one for the

14:40Reds Mark. What did you make of it? Yeah it was pretty awful again. It's such a bright start as

14:46well and a really good goal. Good work from Will Swan, Charlie Barker in the build-up and then

14:52Kamari Doyle had the easiest job of just tapping home to an empty net and you thought oh hello

14:57we're going to get something here and then literally saw for 20 minutes afterwards Lincoln

15:02just absolutely battered Crawley and they got three goals and it was three one-and-a-half time

15:07and the contest was over. Lincoln are a good side so we shouldn't forget that but they hadn't

15:11won. I think they'd only won one of their last seven games before that so you thought Phil well

15:16maybe they were there for the taking but Crawley they had a few injuries. They had to make four

15:21changes through illness and injuries and suspensions. They had the news Tolisha won

15:25was banned for three games after an off-the-ball incident against Cambridge. They only found that

15:30out just before sort of a couple of hours before kickoff. Rushan Bernmurthy obviously was missing

15:36because of his sending off Saturday. Liam Fraser and Brad Ibrahim both had injuries

15:42so they were forced into a load of changes. That's not to say those players haven't played

15:47before because they have. They've been first team players and that but yeah Lincoln were just too

15:52good for them and they just looked a little bit all at sea in defence when they were put under a

15:57lot of pressure. They were better second half. Louis Watson came on, replaced Rory Feely. I'm

16:01not going to say too much about Rory Feely but it wasn't a very good first half from him but Louis

16:08Watson it did change the shape a little bit and he looked quite dynamic and I was quite impressed

16:12with Louis Watson's performance but yeah it wasn't it wasn't a great night and yeah Rob Elliott's

16:18interview after the game and Charlie Barker as well just both look completely deflated and just

16:23like oh what's going on kind of thing but they got a chance now two home games on the trot.

16:30A bit of bad news as well was Dion Conroy hobbled off towards the end as well. He played 15 games on

16:35the trot which might be the most he's ever played in a row for Crawley Town so yeah shame to see him

16:41limp off. I think I've sent Sam a little update for his Reading preview later so he can update

16:48on that but yeah it wasn't a good night and yeah just sort of summed up the whole week for Crawley

16:54Town which is a great segue for you. It's a brilliant segue and as you've mentioned unfortunately

16:59all the main talking points at Crawley Town have come off the pitch this week and to Mark's delight

17:03I'm sure. Things all got a little bit silly during the Cambridge defeat. After the second

17:08news goal there was reported competition in the West Stand and claims that the red sporting

17:12director Tobias Phoenix offered to fight fans in the car park. Tell us a little bit more about

17:17that Mark. It just seems a mess. What's happening? It is really a massive mess. I mean yes the fans

17:25are frustrated at the moment because of the results. Performances particularly against Cambridge

17:29on Saturday haven't been great and when the second goal in I mean it was reported that

17:35Preston Johnson who was sitting next to Tobias Phoenix they were seen laughing after the second

17:39goal went in. I mean it might have been something different they were laughing at but it's not a

17:44great look if that was the case and obviously a couple of fans saw this and reacted to it and

17:50by all accounts stood up and started shouting abuse at them. Dan Palmer, a Reds fan posted on

17:57Facebook page fans voicing their frustrations when Cambridge went 2-0 up. Preston Johnson sat

18:02laughing and Tobias Phoenix the director of football offering fans out into the car park

18:08and then he followed that up with after threatening fans in the West Stand and offering a fight them

18:12in the car park. Does anyone know if Tobias Phoenix signed the code of conduct?

18:18That's a reference to Carole Bates. She was sacked as a volunteer after a comment she made on Twitter

18:25and Preston Johnson said in the fans forum recently it went against the code of conduct

18:30which apparently Carole hadn't signed or seen even. So yeah that's a whole other rabbit hole

18:37to go down but we asked the club for a comment on this and they said there was a confrontation

18:43but Tobias Phoenix was cool and calm and he was pointing outside towards the car park to say

18:49let's have a chat and obviously yeah so there's two sides to the story here. Fans weren't happy

18:56when they saw that was Ben Levin the vice chairman who told me that they weren't happy when they saw

19:01those comments saying that it wasn't wasn't true but who what it's two sides of the story

19:08but Sam Jordan the fans director who we're going to come on to the supporter director for the club

19:13on the board or was had a chat with Tobias Phoenix afterwards. We don't know the details of that

19:19conversation but somebody from security was in that conversation just to try and calm things

19:25down and that so but yeah fans fans are not happy at the moment and if you're going to be seen

19:31laughing you can understand why fans react like that but yeah yeah who do you believe how what

19:39was how who was aggressive who did what there's lots of different reports on social media but

19:45it's just yeah a complete mess and it's just indicative of what's happening at Crawley at the

19:49moment. Well what we do know as Mark Lord alluded to sorry is that Crawley Town fan Sam Jordan has

19:55stepped down from his role as supporter director on the club's board because of a decision owners

19:59decision sorry owners Wagme United have made. Jordan who has been on the board for 18 months

20:04made this announcement this weekend before the Cambridge game on social media and what did

20:08Jordan say in his statement Mark and what was the club's response to the announcement?

20:13So he basically said he joined the board club's board in August 2023 undertaking the EFL owners

20:19and directors test with the hope and belief that they could build stronger relationships

20:24between the club and its supporters fostering transparency transparency etc but basically he

20:30said he's seen repeated mistakes a lack of integrity and decision making and a failure

20:35to learn from past areas and he said he that's what sort of and he was dismayed with decisions

20:41that have been made are being made and will be made in the future he seemed to intimate that

20:46there are he's aware of some things that will be happening that he's not happy with we asked

20:51the club again for um uh comment on Sam's departure and they said basically they gave him

20:58the ultimatum because he is a board member of the CTSA which we know how the fans vote again we're

21:05going to come on to that the fans vote earlier in um in the in January to what they think of

21:10the ownership which the result was they want Wagme to sell up um and so they they sort of said he's

21:17working for us and working against us so there's there's a clear conflict of interest there so he

21:24had so he had to make a decision which one he's going to stay with and they said to Sam's credit

21:28he put a lot of thought and time into weighing up the pros and cons and he chose to stay with the

21:32CTSA so he's going to continue to hold Wagme to account as part of the CTSA um so Sam's a very

21:41influential figure amongst the fans very popular figure amongst the fans so it's a loss in the

21:47sense that he's not going to have that day-to-day interaction with the owners and helping to sort of

21:52boost they've got this new devil's advocate fans group which is um another group that is hopefully

21:57going to have the fans and owners working better together and building that relationship

22:02but Sam yeah Sam's made his decision and he's uh yeah he's going to be working continuing with the

22:06CTSA. And in further good PR news for the club uh the Crawley Towns Boards of Alliance have said

22:11they have had no reply from owners Wagme United in trying to discuss the results of their recent

22:16vote I will try and race through this bit very quickly but the CTSA held a vote on the ownership

22:20in January following significant feedback from his members in the vote they gave members three

22:24options Wagme remain as owners with the current senior leadership remaining in position. Wagme

22:29remain as owners except for new senior leadership to be employed appointed including a new CEO

22:34or Wagme market the club for sale and 60% want Wagme to sell the club but only 274 members out

22:40of a possible 700 voted in the survey. The CTSA say they have tried to arrange a meeting to discuss

22:45the results but they have had no reply. Another missing situation uh Mark Dunford um do you think

22:51Crawley will come to the table and um considering the numbers I mentioned there Mark this is my

22:56opinion but do you think they even need to come to the table considering the low turnout for the

23:00survey? Yeah it's an interesting one isn't it because it is a very small percentage of the

23:05people who voted in that vote but I I having read what you read on social media and everything again

23:12that's a small minority it is a little bit indicative of what everybody's thinking at the

23:17moment they want changes whether it's changes within Wagme or just changes at new owners completely

23:25but um I yeah I I tried to contact the club yesterday to see if they wanted to respond to

23:31CTSA statement and they weren't going to respond at this time um but they might do it's just

23:39yeah they I I mean I personally I think they do need to reply a little bit just respond in some

23:45way just to show that they are engaging with the fans because that's the main problem they just

23:50there doesn't seem to be loads of transparency and they don't seem to be engaging with the fans

23:55but at the same time are you giving that vote credence if you do reply because it is such a

24:00small number so yeah it's balancing that up and I understand we are why but I mean the CTSA in

24:06their statement said we are disappointed that the club's leadership team doesn't does not appear to

24:11be interested in attempting to understand the reasons behind the vote and it would be good

24:15to know if there were comments within that when they did the vote with the comments they came in

24:19if they fed those back to this to the owners and the owners could say oh right okay oh that's how

24:24we become more transparent or oh yeah I can see how we can do this better but by not engaging at

24:30all it does leave that yeah big barrier between the fans and the owners which doesn't seem to be

24:37yeah I mean we've always go back to they got them took them to Wembley last year it wasn't

24:42all the owners Scott Lindsay had a massive part of that the recruitment Scott Lindsay the playing

24:47squad it all came together it was a perfect storm I've written an opinion piece about Scott Lindsay

24:52this week where I've said that but the one of the better things about that whole season was you

24:59didn't hear much at all from Wagmey but was that because the team was winning so the fans didn't

25:04care because the team's losing now the fans care so if the team were winning now and all this was

25:11still going on behind the scenes would the fans care as much don't know probably they would there

25:16would be an underlying tension but they wouldn't care because if the fans just want their team to

25:22be winning if the fans are winning they don't care about the outside noise but because they're losing

25:26they do care about the outside noise and they've now I think Wagmey have got a deal with this

25:32and a big part of that might be using the Crawley Town Foundation I'm a trustee so there is a

25:36conflict of interest there but I had a meeting with them last night and the amount of good the

25:40Crawley Town Foundation are doing and I spoke to Rob Elliott about it this morning as well

25:43because a couple of the players were going to a Crawley school for World Book Day and I said how

25:49important is that and Rob Elliott said oh it's hugely important with the not much has happened

25:53in the last two years of players and managers interacting with the fans going out into the

25:59community and Rob Elliott thinks that's a big part of how they start to get the club together

26:04everybody singing the same thing singing from the same song sheet and that I know I've rabbited on

26:09there and we've gone over time but it's been such a such an awful week off the field in terms

26:16in terms of the relationship between the owners and the fans we saw the big Wagmey out banner

26:22again we haven't seen that for a while at Lincoln on Tuesday night so yeah the owners have got to do

26:28something but at the same time the fans need to do it better doing it we spoke about it at the time

26:36doing it during the transfer window if you're a player going to join Crawley Town are you going

26:41to look at players not players who might be thinking of coming to the club if I was a player

26:46I'd be like god it seems like a mess there do I really want to go there and who knows it may have

26:51cost them transfers it may have cost them sponsorship deals I'm not saying it has they

26:57could do that I could see how it would do that so they've got to find a better way of working

27:01together and as we're massively over I'm Steve I don't know if I've ever asked you about the

27:07situation and what do you make of it all and obviously Pompey had well-known issues with

27:12their board at one stage do you kind of see similarities between the two at this stage or

27:16is it completely different yeah there are I going going back a few years to Pompey we had a succession

27:22of sort of distant owners you know owners that came and never really had the had the club at

27:30heart I think that's different to Wagmead because Wagmead have been you know they they took over

27:34Crawley with genuine genuine desire to do well and to make a difference and Crawley are now in

27:41league one whereas they were in league two but when you start to get a disconnection between

27:46owners and fans it can only go one way and unless the two sides sort of meet in the middle a little

27:52bit and start to try to see eye to eye on a few things as I think it's happening at Crawley at

27:57the moment it tends to go downhill everything that one side does is it seems to antagonize the

28:04other it's hard to see how that is going to be turned around at Crawley if they stay up you know

28:10if they can somehow pull off a great escape from relegation that will that will help the fans will

28:14be happier about that and might sort of change their outlook towards the owners a bit but if

28:19they go down then the fans are going to say right what what are these owners here for what's the next

28:25how do we have any faith in them so yeah it's not not very pleasant for any sides together

28:30at the moment now. Well against this backdrop of all sunshine and light you kind of forget

28:35that Crawley have had to play some games of football this coming week they host Reddit on

28:40Saturday and Charlton on Tuesday how do you see these games going Sam it's been a bit

28:45boom and gloom for us this podcast do you see any glimmers of hope in these two games?

28:51Not really but then Crawley often do play better against teams that are probably stronger I think

28:57Crawley obviously do seem to struggle against teams they should be and on paper both of these

29:01games you'd expect Crawley to lose really because Redding is Redding obviously to start with they

29:07are a team fighting for playoffs they're in eighth just four points below sixth place Huddersfield

29:12they haven't lost since January with an unbeaten record stretching seven games

29:17with three wins and four draws I think maybe the draw the number of draws can maybe give Crawley

29:22some hope they can maybe get a point or maybe even better but because they're seven points from

29:28safety Crawley they simply have to have to win this one really because then it gets even tougher

29:33against Charlton who sit fifth with one of the league's best defensive records only the top

29:38three teams have conceded fewer than Charlton's 31 and they've won three games in a row including

29:43that dramatic 2-1 win at Leighton Orient with two injury time goals and they've actually only lost

29:49once since the start of February and that was a narrow 1-0 defeat at Birmingham so there's no

29:53shame in that and they were unbeaten in six before that one with five wins so this is a very tough

29:58game especially against Charlton so Redding perhaps more likely a win Charlton very unlikely

30:04to win that one and as Mark mentioned earlier Dion Conroy and Bradley Ibrahim both seem likely

30:10to miss out and Dion is hoping there's nothing major and obviously after he hovered off

30:17the other day and Ibrahim has been carrying something for a while so Elliot said he just

30:22needs to see where he is and how fit he is to play and they also need to assess Liam Fraser

30:27because of a horrendous gash he's got on his leg against Cambridge so a few injury problems to deal

30:32with but Crawley's simply have to play better than they have been doing and try and get some

30:38points on the board absolutely best of luck to Crawley this weekend and as the great man is here

30:43this week and we can finally go for a stroll down Steve Bones' score prediction corner after a very

30:48very long time it's been too long isn't it it's been far too long and we'll start with you Steve

30:53and Brighton v Fulham this week first question is how do you see this one going and the second

30:59question is when you used to appear on this podcast you always used to give a line on

31:02whether you liked the team or not so I'd like to get your opinion on Fulham if possible where do

31:06they stand how can you hate Fulham I don't hate I don't mind Fulham actually had some

31:12had some good trips there in back in the 80s and 90s with Portsmouth now I don't in fact

31:17I don't think there's any teams we're talking about this week that I don't particularly like

31:20which is 58 in the football league that I don't like so Brian against Fulham has got

31:28disappointing one all draw written all over it hasn't it Brighton have drawn more at home than

31:33they've won I think this season and I can see this being another one I think Brighton will score

31:37early they'll be ahead for about an hour Fulham will score in the last 10 minutes and it'll be

31:41another two points dropped which will be massively frustrating for them yes it will be Sam what do

31:46you reckon will happen it's a tough one to call I think yeah as I mentioned earlier Fulham are

31:51not a team that Brighton like playing against and as they've got a few injury problems to deal with

31:56as I mentioned I also forgot to say that Lamptey would also be suspended for this one after his

32:01red card against Newcastle which obviously they managed to get away with on the day but it will

32:06be a big miss especially if Belkman's out so probably expect Jack Hinshaw to slot in it right

32:11back I imagine it would be a good game I'll say two all for this one I think yeah Fulham are a

32:16good team Brighton will be somewhat happy with that I think do you reckon we're headed for a

32:21draw then Mark yeah I think so I'm gonna I was gonna go 2-2 I just think yeah Brighton's record

32:29against Fulham doesn't bode well and after the high of what's happened in recent weeks I think

32:34it will they will be brought back that Fulham are a very very good side Mark Silva's done a great

32:39job there isn't he yes indeed and moving to League One as we mentioned Crawley have got a home double

32:45header starting with Reading on Saturday any hope there Mark I'm struggling to see any at the moment

32:52yeah it's the 12.30 kickoff this week it's on TV I went to the Majeski Stadium

32:59back in whenever it was October I think it was when Crawley lost 4-1 and it was one of those

33:03games where you just did not know how they lost 4-1 they hit the post a couple of times they

33:08had a couple of efforts cleared off the line and they were hit on the break four times I think

33:14I can't remember Reading having that many efforts other than the four they scored so

33:18so they can take some kind of hope from that but Ronan Darcy was the best player that day

33:23and obviously he's not there anymore so yeah I'm going to go for I'm going to go for a draw

33:29in this one I'm going to go for a 1-1 hopeful draw and I think that will be a good result

33:34they'd take a draw wouldn't they say imagine see it going at the ball yeah they'd take a draw

33:38they'd take a draw I was going to I was going to say 1-1 as well so I'll be different and say 2-1

33:42I have a feeling we're going to get some Steve Bone realism here when it comes to this one

33:47I've just remembered I don't like Reading very much but I can't I can't remember I can't remember

33:53why I think we may have had a vague sort of southern rivalry with them at some point but

34:00I think if you offered Charlton sorry if you offered Crawley three points out of six from

34:04the two home games I think they'd probably bite your hand off I think they'd say yeah we'll settle

34:07for that because it's against two form sides can't see it happening against Reading though

34:11Crawley two Reading three and then oh sorry Mark was that no I was just gonna say it'd be a good

34:19game if it's free too I'll be happy with that yeah yeah absolutely and on Tuesday evening as

34:24we've mentioned they're at home to Charlton Sam what do you reckon I'm not feeling optimistic

34:30about this week you need to change my way of thinking I think I'm fortunate I don't see them

34:36getting much from this one with Charlton's form uh uh two one defeat unfortunately that'd be an

34:43all right result wouldn't it two one mark if they showed a bit of fight I think any defeats are a

34:48bad result now yeah I mean yeah I mean what they do need to do is improve their performances

34:52absolutely so the fans can see because the last two just haven't been good enough but um I don't

34:57know I they shot I mean Charlton weren't in the best form when Crawley beat them in early December

35:03me and you were there weren't we Sam that night when they beat Charlton and uh told us you won

35:08me his goal that night and Max Anderson scoring the win it was a really amazing occasion and again

35:13if Crawley can somehow channel that night I think Tuesday night under the lights I know Charlton

35:20fan Charlton haven't got to travel that far but I'm going for a Crawley win I'm going two one

35:25come on Crawley blimey Steve what do you think of that and what do you think Crawley gonna do

35:29against Charlton Crawley three Charlton nil it's going to be the turning point go on Steve

35:38people have put too much science into these predictions sometimes

35:43league one very unpredictable you only have to look at the tables there's some good sides down

35:47the bottom and there's some average sides near the top I'm not saying Charlton are an average

35:51side they're obviously in a good run form but I just think at some point Crawley are going to

35:54turn this round they've had some good home wins I think that's going to be another one and they're

35:58then going to go on a run of about four wins out of five to give themselves a bit of hope

36:02we'll see well best of luck to Crawley although I don't think Crawley need the

36:06luck if they've got Steve Bones back in it's in the bag against Charlton

36:12thank you very much for joining this chat and thank you very much for joining us Steve

36:15this week's been an absolute pleasure and you can catch up with all the latest sports news

36:18covering everything we have talked about today at snusicsworld.co.uk forward slash sport

36:22and you can watch more excellent videos on shotstv.com and preview channel 262

36:26thank you very much for listening and or watching and we will see you all next week

Gull-Mouth Action podcast - episode 67 | Albion's FA Cup charge, tumultuous week for Crawley Town

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