Crawley Town fans react to appointment of former Premier League star

Club legend Young, who retired as a player last year, took charge of the Reds for seven weeks following Kevin Betsy’s 143-day tenure. In seven League Two games he only lost one game and saw Reds rise from the bottom of the table to 19th and four points clear of the bottom two.

He was the fan favourite to be given the job on a permanent basis but the club announced today (Sunday, November 26) that he had left with immediate effect.

Hours later, Crawley confirmed the appointment of former Stoke City, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham winger Matthew Etherington, who has brought in former Spurs and Peterborough United teammate Simon Davies as his assistant.

"This is very sad,” wrote Reds fan Graham Longley on Facebook. "He [Young] should have been given the manager’s job permanently.”

Supporters on Twitter have also been having their say, with the general consensus that Etherington is an ‘extremely risky appointment’.

One of those, @simonk76, wrote: “Another U23 manager with no League Two managerial experience. He’ll have my support though, got to get behind him.”

@PhilMonty7 wrote: “Hmmm, seems odd to replace Young with an inexperienced coach.”

@paulknight14 said: “Really don't understand this appointment as Lewis was doing just fine."

@Tidy_Yid said Crawley are ‘crying out’ for an ‘experienced manager at League Two level’ adding: “What are WAGMI United playing at?”

@RyanBuss700 wrote: “Interesting appointment. Know nothing about his managerial experience but played at a very high level. Well let's get behind him and hope he thrives with us.”

@SteveHerb77 added: “Never be scared of change… Betsy he isn’t. Proven as caretaker and assistant manager at Posh. I’ll embrace anyone and give them a chance!”

@VincentMonedero said he will ‘reserve judgement’ until the players play under their new manager.

“Good things are said from Posh fans but under 23 styles are not likely to work in the hard division,” he said.

West Ham fan page @ExWHUEmployee said Etherington is a ‘brilliant appointment’ for Crawley.

They added: “Matt has a wealth of football and tactical knowledge and is very well connected in the game. A great up and coming manager who I really think will succeed in his new role.”

@Danlarr92 is hoping the former Premier League star could benefit the club in the transfer market.

"Hopefully we can use some of his contacts to attract some players,” he said.