'People prove certain things' - Former Arsenal and Sunderland keeper making claim for number one slot at Crawley Town
Two weeks ago, Crawley Town fans may have thought they just had one keeper to rely on this season in Vito Mannone.
Two weeks later there are three keepers the club, but Mannone appears to be the one who has claimed that spot in the starting line-up.
The former Arsenal and Sunderland stopper joined Reds as a player coach and immediately sparked rumours he could be next Glenn Morris at the Broadfield Stadium.
But when Jackson Izquierdo and Nick Michalski both joined, it looked like there would be stiff competition as to who would be first choice.
Both the former Crystal Palace keeper and the Blackburn loanee impressed in pre-season but it’s the 38-year-old – who played his last competitive game of football in 2024 – who seems to be favoured.
He started in the impressive 2-0 win against York and is expected to start against Watford on Saturday – but head coach Colin Kazim-Richards knows he has good competition.
"Things happen. You see things on the pitch and people prove certain things,” said Colin Kazim-Richards.
“It's not Vito, by the way, because Vito is Vito Mannone, right? Sometimes people try to say I'm Philosophical. But I'm not. I just feel like the best things in life you adapt to. And what you see on the pitch, you now see things and then you adapt to it and think, ‘right, he's showing me he should play’.
“Right now Vito's showing me that he should play. He feels comfortable enough to play but I'm not silly enough to not understand I have two other good goalkeepers as well.”
And the Reds boss highlighted it’s not just between the sticks where there is competition in this squad – something Crawley hasn’t been use to, he said. “Every part of the pitch has competition. Every single position has competition. We didn't have that last year,” said the 39-year-old.
“And I don't think Crawley has had that in a while. I think the whole of last season, I'm not sure if he had that. Right now I think when one player looks over his right and he looks over his left, he knows he has to be on it every single day in training because there's someone breathing down his neck in a positive way.”
He added: “I pick the team so, it's down to me.”