Crawley Town boss Kevin Betsy says players 'will never experience how much care that we will give them'

Kevin Betsy hasn’t met his Crawley Town players yet – but when he does, they had better be prepared to talk!
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At his first press conference as Reds manager, the 44-year-old revealed how much importance his puts on relationships and getting to know his players.

Betsy was unveiled as manager on Monday (June 6) and had spent all Tuesday at the club meeting staff. But the one group he hasn;t met is the players.

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But after spending the next four days in a hotel room planning with Dan Micciche, Betsy says they are going to spend some time getting to know the squad.

He said: “The players are the most important, real time will be set aside in the next week or so.

"The players are on holiday, some on honeymoon and the down time for a professional footballer is very precious but believe you me, the care and attention that we place on players and how much time we give them will be second to none.

"They will never experience how much care that we will give them. But we will be ready when it comes to pre-season. We would have spoken to all the players before then, we will know all their families’ names and everything.”

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Betsy replaced John Yems as Reds boss after mutually agreed to leave the club following his suspension after allegations of discriminatory conduct.

Kevin Betsy and Dan MiccicheKevin Betsy and Dan Micciche
Kevin Betsy and Dan Micciche

And Betsy says they have to address this when they start their conversations with the players.

"I think you have to have an analysis of the experiences they had,” he said. “This is not something we want to brush under the carpet, we must face some challenges and have some honest conversations and give players time to voice their views and then then we will be able to understand them more people as people and what their experiences were and we listen and get some advice on the way we can improve things and move on from that.

“But until you have been through that process of communicating and listening and facing things up, being honest, you can’t move forward. And we want to do that quickly and positively.”

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Betsy places a lot of importance on relationships and that is one of the things that impressed the new owners.

Co-chairman Preston Johnson said: “Kevin is very well spoken, he respects the game but he really respects relationships at a playing level, at a staff level and a supporters/fan level.

“Speaking to him earlier he was talking about wanting to reach out to the families and girlfriends of the players.

"There are a lot more people connected to the club that are playing on the pitch. Those relationships and his ability to create them and strengthen them translates on the pitch eventually and that is part of his vision.

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“You immediately get that sense when you meet him and his presence and persona comes straight out.”

You can watch the full press conference above.

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