'I want to be here for a long time and build something special here' - Crawley Town boss Scott Lindsey feels 'standards are now' better at club

Crawley Town have seen five different faces managing their match-day squad this season amongst an explosion of media interest which started long before they’d even played their first game. Scott Lindsey, however, has now managed the most League Two games out of Kevin Betsy, Lewis Young, Matthew Etherington and Darren Byfield with 15 alongside achieving the most victories (4). Despite the loss last weekend away to Mansfield, Crawley is now a very different side to the team that first walked out away to Carlisle in August.

“I feel the professionalism and standards now are better than when I first walked through the door,” said Lindsey, who was appointed as manager on 11th January. “No disrespect to who was here before. But I do feel that we’ve added a certain professionalism with the players, and they’ve taken that on board. I do believe that the atmosphere, the standards and the culture is now different and for the better.”

Lindsey has drummed on about improving aspects such as the work ethic ever since his first press conference, before he’d even been officially announced as manager. Perhaps it was clear to him that this Crawley side may have taken a dip during a season so hectic it will go down in history.

“Obviously it’s not ideal anywhere,” said Lindsey on the effect Crawley’s managerial-merry-go-round has had on his squad this season. “In any working environment you don’t want a big turnover in staff in any industry. Nothing in football is different from that.

“When you look at most, successful sides they’ve probably had the manager there for three or four years. And the playing staff has kind of been the same year over year. Look at Leyton Orient as a prime example as that now. They’ve probably kept the same squad as what they had last season. And when you look at Forest Green the year before that, they had a continuity within their playing staff as well.

“I think that’s important that we try and build a squad that we feel that can compete at this level and that we can work with for the next two, three, four years or whatever it may be.”

At the start of this campaign, Crawley were dreaming of pushing for League Two promotion under Betsy, with a squad packed with Premier League loan players and several new signings. Things might not have worked out that way as they sit two points from the relegation zone, but when asked if he has the goal of one day taking Crawley up to perhaps the Premier League, Lindsey said, “100%.

“That’s why I’ve come here because it’s a longer-term project. Obviously, the short term is going to be hard work to get where we want to get to. But I’m prepared to role my sleeves up and do that, the players are as well. But obviously longer term yeah, I want to be here for a long time and build something special here. I think with the infrastructure, with the owners, Chris Galley, and certainly the staff that are here, I’m sure that we can do that successfully.”

Crawley look to continue their relegation fight at home to Bradford City tomorrow afternoon, where they’re unbeaten in their last four.