'The loudest I've ever heard them' - Crawley Town boss lauds travelling fans after Watford knock Reds out of EFL Cup
Colin Kazim-Richards said the travelling Crawley Town fans on Saturday (August 3) were ‘the loudest I’d ever heard them’ despite being cruelly knocked out of the EFL Cup by Championship side Watford in a 1-0 defeat.
Marc Bola scored a stunner in the ninth minute of stoppage time to deny the Reds a penalty shootout after a hard-fought, determined display from the visitors against a team two leagues above them.
Despite their cup run coming to an early end, the feeling within the camp and among supporters couldn’t be much further from the troubles of last season.
And the Crawley head coach – and his players – could sense the positivity from the stands on Saturday afternoon.
Kazim-Richards told club media: "I looked up to the stands and I saw 1,000-plus Crawley fans – the loudest I’ve ever heard them.
"I just want to say that we felt it, we saw it, and we spoke about it after in the changing room. That was top, so I want to thank them for coming out.
"Sorry we couldn’t give you the result that we wanted, but I hope the performance showed the foundation again of where we want to go and where we want to elevate to this season.”
And to BBC Radio Sussex, he added: “It's disappointment in terms of results. It's a results business, but in terms of what we're trying to build and where we're trying to go and the way we're trying to play and the mentality and the enjoyment of defending, I think it's something amazing.
“It was amazing what we were able to do today. It was amazing to do it in front of 1,000 travelling fans that were quite loud. I was in shock, to be honest with you, on a hot day like this - they were top.
"Listen, these men, this team that we're building, I promise you, I don't like making promises that I can't keep, but we're on a mission and we're building something that's going to be special.”
Crawley begin their League Two campaign on Saturday, August 15 against Crewe Alexandra at the Broadfield Stadium (3pm kick-off).
Kazim-Richards acknowledged the ‘surreal feeling’ of the optimism produced by a defeat, but stressed that it would ‘fuel’ his side heading into the upcoming season.
He said: “We’re in a very good place. [On Monday in training] I want to see the energy, the culture, the ambience – I want to see what the vibe is like coming in Monday.
"Because it’s easy to really sit down and be upset now, but there’s nothing to be upset about. We got beat by a goal, I don’t know if they do it now, but a ‘goal of the weekend’. I’m not sure, but if that’s not right up there, then I’ll be shocked.”