'The numbers thing is something for Championship Manager' - Crawley Town owners and manager play it cool over playing budget

The new man in charge spoke alongside the co-owners saying that he shares the same successful ambition for the side.

Co-owners Preston Johnson and Smith have been outspoken in their aim to see the Reds promoted to League Two within the next two seasons, something that Betsy shares as an achievable target.

When asked whether he thought promotion was realistic he said. “I wouldn’t be sat here! Without a doubt that’s our ambition we want to be successful, we want to compete and do well but the most important thing for us is our performances on a weekly basis.

“We get our performances right over time you’re going to be successful, with our processes in place and get those right we’re going to be successful and that means being in the top reaches of the division.

“But in this league the level of the teams we’re competing with, huge fan bases and huge budgets but we’re going to do our best to compete and spring some surprises next season and hopefully it’s going to be a good ride.”

With the takeover of WAGMI United came the news of a cash injection at the club, co-owner Smith was asked about the budget to which he replied. “We have a budget we set for this year but we hope to increase it over the next six months, we just met with Kevin for an hour to discuss what we’re going to invest in currently between players, equipment upgrades and staff, that will be an ongoing process. We’re just really excited to have his expertise to help us shape where and what we spend it on.”

Betsy shared Smith’s view on the budget making the Reds a competitive side next season. “I think for us our budget will be competitive, it will give us a chance to be competitive in the league and do well but as I said talking is cheap.

“With the numbers we’ll see what players we can bring in, when they’re on the pitch you will be able to see the level of quality we’ll be able to bring in, let’s make sure we get those right and the numbers thing is something for Championship Manager maybe!”

Smith was finally asked to put a figure on the budget but he refused to give an answer, Betsy did reply to the question with a flippant response: “We’re not going to tell you that are we!”

But after the press conference, Betsy told the Crawley Observer the loan market is going to be important to them in building the squad.

He said: “We have been really lucky because of the roles myself and Dan have had we have worked with the best players in England. For seven or eight years we have been working with the international team. That level builds relationships consistently with players but most importantly clubs so our club network is vast because when clubs give you a player for internationals they are trusting you.

"If you build those relationships well it’s now time in football management where you need support. We might have a player that will be out of our financial bracket but they know the player will be developed well working with us, coached well. So when he goes back to his club he will be coached well, have league experience and will be a better player.”

Have you seen? Crawley Town boss Kevin Betsy says players 'will never experience how much care that we will give them' | Crawley Town manager Kevin Betsy says there’s a lot of work to do to improve diversity in the managerial game

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