We caught up with new Crawley Town assistant manager Neil Smith about joining the Reds, leaving Cray, Scott Lindsey and the quality in the current squad.
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00:00Neil, thank you for joining us. Firstly, welcome to Corrie. How's your first few days as Reds
00:05assistant manager been?
00:06Yeah, it's been amazing. The messages I've had of goodwill and good luck and stuff like
00:10that have been fantastic. Your head's still a bit spinning, you know, it's happened so
00:14quickly but, you know, from Friday, Saturday to where we are now, it's just been amazing.
00:19Yeah, and obviously it was a big decision for you to leave Craig as manager to join
00:24us as assistant manager. So, as you said, I can imagine your head was a little bit fried
00:27but once you got on the phone to Scott, was it a fairly easy decision?
00:30Absolutely. You know, I know Scott very well, obviously, playing with him when we were at
00:35Gillingham together but, you know, the opportunities don't come around like that. So, it was one
00:39that I had to take, explain it to the owners of Craig who totally understood and, you know,
00:45I thanked them for letting me go without any hassle and then, you know, being down here,
00:49it's just, it's phenomenal. The boys have been absolutely fantastic as well and in welcoming
00:55myself and making me feel at home.
00:58Yeah, and I suppose you've got that sort of less of a risk in the sense that Scott knows
01:02a lot about the club. Obviously, he had some great success here before. So, was he able
01:06to sort of, you know, transfer some of that knowledge to you about what the club was like
01:08and did that make it a bit of an easier decision?
01:10Yeah, absolutely. There wasn't a decision, it was all really done. You know, as soon
01:14as he asked me if I would like to come on board, there was no decisions in thinking
01:19about it and he didn't have to sell the club to me. You know, I watched him when he was
01:22there, you know, we've kept in touch through, you know, WhatsApps and stuff like that all
01:27through his career and it was a no-brainer. It would have been, you know, absolutely stupid
01:32to have not taken it up but, yeah, he's only ever said good things about the club so it
01:36was an easy decision.
01:38Yeah, and you obviously got your first taste of Crawley Fixtures on Saturday. It was a
01:41great occasion here, wasn't it?
01:42Yeah, it was brilliant. You know, it was, the atmosphere was amazing. The supporters,
01:47you know, as soon as the players come out, well, as soon as Scott come out, you know,
01:51they just got it going and it was an easy ask for the players to go and join that atmosphere
01:57and the boys started like a house on fire and it was, yeah, it was a great game and
02:01it was great to be a part of it.
02:03Yeah, we've obviously done countless interviews with Scott and we know he's very meticulous
02:07in certain areas. What is it that he's asked you to do as assistant manager? Has he asked
02:11you to focus on some certain areas in particular?
02:12No, not really. He just wants me to be myself, you know. I've been around football all my
02:17life and, you know, if ever I see anything, you know, we speak together. I've got to get
02:22into his way of thinking, obviously. It's a new partnership in that respect but, you
02:26know, I think you'll find we're both passionate players or ex-players that want to win and,
02:31you know, we'll work together to try and get those wins on the board in such a difficult
02:35situation that we're coming into. But, you know, as long as the boys play with that positivity
02:39and enjoy themselves and the supporters get behind us, I think we've got a fantastic chance.
02:43Yeah, as you say, we do now obviously have a very good chance because it was clear to
02:48see the energy around the place at the weekend and we just said to Scott in his interview,
02:51has that translated, do you feel like, into the players as well? Are they coming into
02:54training with a lot of belief?
02:55Yeah, oh definitely. You know, we were just saying, literally, they're coming off, their
02:59eyes are wide open, they want to learn, they're like a sponge at the moment. They're taking
03:03every instruction on and on Saturday you can see, you know, in such a short space of time
03:07they did take on a lot of information but simple, just little twists on what, you know,
03:12Scott's obviously done before when he was here but, you know, the training for the last
03:16three days has just been phenomenal and the standard they've set, you know, we're hoping
03:20that they can keep up to that.
03:22Yeah, you've touched on it a little bit already but what were your sort of first impressions
03:26of the fans and the rest of the club at the weekend, what did you make of it?
03:29As I say, you know, from yourself and the guys that you've all made me feel so welcome,
03:33the supporters, you know, they'll get to know who I am over time, it's not about myself,
03:37obviously Scott coming back and this team, you know, what I've noticed is I can't transmit
03:42at the moment why the boys are where they are because what I've seen in my little time
03:47here is a bunch of very, very good players, you know, they look like they're together,
03:51they've got some ability, you know they've got that ability, it's now can we transfer
03:55that from the training ground onto the pitch on a Saturday and a Tuesday night and, you
03:59know, we've got to squeeze every last little bit out of them to give this, you know, the
04:04small chance that we've got, we want to go for it, we want to give it the best chance
04:08we've got.
04:09Brilliant, thanks.
04:11You played with Scott in the early 90s I believe?
04:14Yes, yes.
04:14Can you tell us about what he was like then, could you always tell he was going to go into
04:17coaching and managing?
04:19I think I spoke about it the other day, you know, Scott was a very committed, you know,
04:24player, like we all were in those days in the 90s, you had to be, you know, I'll never
04:29forget the quote, get your retaliation in first, but he was one of them, you learn early,
04:33but yeah, he was fully committed as a player and worked his, you know, socks off to try
04:38and get to where he wanted to get to.
04:41Did I see him being a coach?
04:43Obviously we go our separate ways, I've been on the coaching course with him, we did our
04:4780th licence together and what I saw from such an aggressive player, you know, winning
04:52tackles and being in your face and to play in the way he's playing, which is beautiful
04:57football and it's beautiful to watch.
05:00No, probably not, but what you have got is that he doesn't want to just play that way
05:04for the sake of playing that way, he wants to play that way to go and win the game, it's
05:07not about looking pretty, it's about doing it for a reason and the reason is we want
05:11to win, but if we can do it that way.
05:13So it's brilliant, you know, I'm watching him coaching and it's phenomenal how precise
05:20he is with everything he does, you know, nothing's taken by chance, you know, we're going to
05:24work on everything we've got, give all the players the instructions they need, but simplify
05:28them, make them nice and simple, but this is, as a group, this is how we're going to
05:32do it and I've got to buy into that as well because it is new to me, but, you know, I'm
05:37learning with him on the job because, like I say, with the amount of games we've got,
05:41we've got to make sure that we win as many as we can.
05:44So, I know you said you said yes straight away, but what was it that Scott said to you,
05:48did he just ask you and you said yes, was it as simple as that?
05:51Yeah, we'd spoken the first time, Scotty went into the management side, Swindon and
05:57stuff and, at the time, my lifestyle couldn't make that decision, but three years down
06:03the line, you know, as I say, things happened and, you know, I was able to make that decision
06:09and, as I say, it wasn't a decision, as soon as he asked me, it was like, yes, you know,
06:13there was no full process into it, you know, it's a fantastic opportunity for myself, it's
06:18a fantastic opportunity for Scott to come back to a place where they love him and, obviously,
06:22finish a job that he started.
06:23Yeah, and, obviously, at Cray, I think you got them the highest they've ever finished
06:28in, was it quite a tough decision to leave them, I know it's an easy decision to work
06:32with Scott, but was it tough of a decision?
06:34It's a tough decision because I was there with a very good friend of mine, Tim O'Shea,
06:37who, you know, for three years, we went in there pretty much like we did, we had six
06:41games to keep them up and we managed to keep them up on the last game of the season, following
06:45season we got in the play-offs, just missed out, you know, the next two seasons were a
06:50bit difficult for certain reasons, but, yeah, the decision wasn't so much about leaving
06:54Cray, I think I've done everything I could for Cray and hopefully I've left them in a
06:59better position than when I walked through the door, but leaving a, you know, the coaching
07:03staff that I'd brought in was the difficult decision, you know, it's not one of them where
07:07as a manager you can bring them with you, I had to bring myself and that was it, but
07:10I think I've left them in a good position, a safe position and the management team that
07:14are there, I think they should just hand it over to them anyway.
07:17Yeah, and where do your ambitions lie, do you want to manage at this level like Scott's
07:22done?
07:22I just want to learn, you know, if I can learn from Scott, you know, it's an amazing
07:26situation to be in, I'm not looking any further than, you know, the end of this season, as
07:31in, you know, let's try and keep this club up, you know, what, as I say, you know, when
07:34I speak to Scott and, you know, the good times he had here and how we did it, it was an impossible
07:39task then and this one's just as impossible and I think it's one of them where if we
07:43were to manage to do it or take it as far as we can, if that's it, then I think it's
07:48just a bigger achievement to stay in this division with the situation we've walked
07:51into.
07:52Absolutely and you've said it and Scott said it as well, how you're confused that they
07:56are where they are in the league, were you surprised knowing where they were in the league,
08:00how much quality there is in the squad?
08:03Friday morning when we trained and I'm watching them, I couldn't believe they are where they
08:08are, so then you go, oh is it just a training session and then Saturday, that first half
08:13was some of the best football I had seen for a few seasons, the atmosphere was amazing,
08:19the supporters were jumping, you know, and you could feel there was, I don't know what's
08:24happened in the past, I don't know what's gone on beforehand but I'm looking at that
08:29first Friday, that first half on Saturday, the supporters, how they are and how cruelly
08:36where they are.
08:38Coming Monday, are we looking for that little chink in the armour, no, Tuesday on it, today
08:45on it and we just hope we can keep it going, they've set a standard now.
08:48We all have, as a management team, as a bunch of players, as a staff and a club, the standard
08:55has been set, we now need to keep it there for the rest of the season.