Crawley Town opinion: Lewis Young you will be missed - and new duo need to be treated with respect

Yes, we should be aiming to win games against teams at the bottom of the table, but at least the gap between us and them has been maintained.

The day before the Gills game, I spent two and a half hours in the company of anglophile Crawley Town fans in the Redz bar.

The atmosphere was good and optimistic, following the professional six two demolition of the “mighty” Iran, and although the new fans zone wasn’t needed for that match, it certainly was for the USA game.

Unfortunately, the ITV cameras in Redz bar didn’t get a chance to show Crawley fans celebrating an England win, as at times it seemed we were watching a rerun of the Crawley v Gillingham game. Once again, I must say, at least we (England) didn’t lose.

The result of the upcoming game on Tuesday (last night if you’re reading this how it should be read, on paper) against Wales could now affect our (Crawley Town) game against Swindon on December 3. England must win to guarantee playing the Round of 16 game on Sunday December 4.

A draw would also do it if Iran draw against USA, but if either of them win........aaargh. Forget the what ifs, I'm not even going to look at Wales beating us by four goals, for that won’t (hasn’t) happen (happened). If England finish second in the group our next match would be at 3pm on the December 3, when Crawley are due to face Swindon. Anyone fancy a lunch time kick off?

A second-place finish in Group B or even worse, an exit from the World Cup, would be sure to ignite calls for the dismissal of Crawley boy Gareth Southgate, and whilst I am writing this article the news is out that Wagmi have made a managerial decision for Crawley Town, with Lewis Young leaving the club with immediate effect, to be replaced by Matthew Etherington with Simon Davies as his assistant.

The club website states that Etherington and Davies come from managing the Peterborough U23 side, whereas in fact they were Posh’s U21 bosses as Peterborough hasn’t got an U23 side.

Preston says that Etherington and Davies are data driven, and by that I presume he means player data, as if you compare the team data of Lewis Young in charge at Crawley with that of the Posh duo, Lewis comes out on top by about 14%.

Aristotle, that well known Greek philosopher and football fan, once said “The whole is greater than the individual parts” which fits in well with it being a team sport.

Having said that, both Etherington and Davies deserve to be treated with respect and judged on their performance at Crawley Town. Let’s hope they continue the upturn in our fortune started by Lewis Young.

Earlier in the day, last Tuesday, I had the immense privilege of talking with Lewis about his life and was impressed with the way he spoke candidly about personal issues and football. He may have come from Stevenage, but Crawley flowed through his blood. The episodes of Stagni Ollam et Superbus detailing Lewis’ life should be in the Observer around Christmas time. Lewis Young, you will be missed.