Crawley Town boss explains why former Millwall forward is starting to fulfil his potential
If you were predicting which Crawley Town player would have been the most exciting or consistent at the start pf this season, it probably would not have been Ade Adeyemo.
And by that I mean disrespect to the former Millwall youth player. The 27-year-old has always been an exciting prospect ever since he came on a sub as triallist against East Grinstead Town in a pre-season friendly in July 2023.
That night he lit up the second half and when asked about him afterwards, manager Scott Lindsey said ‘this kid is going to be special’.
Reds fans had seen glimpses of how good Ade can be in his first two seasons – who will forget that winner against Notts County at the Broadfield Stadium? I certainly won’t.
But inconsistency and injuries have meant he’s never been a starting regular – until now.
Adeyemo is starting to fulfil the potential he showed and Lindsey says he has probably been Reds best player so far this season.
"I think he’s grown as a player and a person,” said the Reds boss. “He’s become a better professional, he does his work better than he used to, I think he lives better.
“I think we are starting to see a player who is capable of churning out performances time and time again.
“I don’t think we had that, certainly when he first came in and probably spells last year. Maybe there was a bit of inconsistency in his performances. One minute he would be tip-top, then next minute he would be a little loose with his play.
“This season I think we have seen somebody who has churned out good performance after good performance and he’s someone who has a bit of continuity about his performances.
“I think he has grown up, I think he is a better pro than when he first came in. He’s learnt how to be a good pro and we are seeing the fruits of that now. He’s arguably been our best player.”
Adeyemo notched up his first goal of the season on Tuesday night in the 1-1 draw with MK Dons. “He gave the MK full back a lot of problems on Tuesday, he eventually came off,” said Lindsey. “I don’t know if he had an injury or just a headache. Ade’s so quick and powerful, he doesn’t need to do anything with his feet skill wise. He just has to knock the ball past them because he’s so quick.
“He’s been amazing and I think he’s had a great start to the season.”