'He knows the game' - Former Fulham, Reading and Woking midfielder joins Scott Lindsey's staff on his return to Crawley Town
Scott Lindsey has returned to Crawley Town and has started to build his coaching staff immediately.
The club announced the return of the 52-year-old at midnight last night for his second spell at the Broadfield Stadium and in the club’s statement they said Louis Storey, Antony Sweeney and Steve Hafner had all left the club as Lindsey took immediate charge.
And just hours after Lindsey’s appointment, it wasn revealed Neil Smith, who is manager of Cray Wanderers, will be leaving the Isthmian Premier side to become Lindsey’s assistant manager.
Jamie Day, who was Lindsey’s assistant in his first spell is still at MK Dons, but Lindsey did not rule out a return.
"He's still contracted to them, so we can't just take him. One day maybe Jamie comes back and we'll have to wait and see regarding that. At the moment, he's contracted to MK Dons. A new manager might come in there and work with him. That's just football, you know what I mean?
“I can't do anything about that. Would I like Jamie Day to come and work with me again? 100%.”
Smith, 53, played more than 200 games for Gillingham and more than 70 for Fulham in his playing career and he has managed Woking, Welling United and Bromley before Cray.
"Neil Smith is somebody that I've known for a long, long time. I played with Neil back in the mid-90s at Gillingham,” said Lindsey. “Smudger was there as a player and a great player as well, by the way. He had a really good career, a strong career.
"He went into coaching himself as a manager at Bromley. So, he's kind of done the managerial stuff. He's just a brilliant, brilliant person. What I mean by that is, all you'll hear is him laughing around the corridors and just real positive energy about him.
“The players will really like him and he's great. The way he speaks, the way he holds himself. And, of course, he knows the game. I'm really pleased to get Smudger on board.”