Crawley Town column: Same sorry story all season

The badge on the sleeve means just as much as the crest on the front of the shirt to Crawley Town fans. Our sixteenth season as a football league club has never been more in danger of coming to an end. The latest defeat came on the road at leaders Salford City, where it took us over an hour to show anything resembling a fight. We were already two goals behind until we started to play. Dylan Morgan’s consolation wasn’t enough to salvage something from yet another game where we started so poorly. It’s been the same sorry story all season. A measly five points from a possible twenty seven means the Reds have had their worst start to an EFL season since promotion from non league in 2011. Right now all the statistics are pointing to a swift return to a level nobody wants to go back to.

I read a stat this week that in the last ten years our home attendances have increased by fifty one percent. That’s what becoming an established member of the 92 does for you. What an absolute disaster it would be if all the hard work of the past sixteen years ended up being for nothing. Relegation would see attendances fall dramatically, but even worse than that it would see people at the club lose jobs. Someone who is very close to losing their job right now is manager Colin Kazim-Richard’s. Yet another appointment with no or very little experience of what it takes to manage a football club. Kevin Betsy, Matthew Etherington, Rob Elliot, they are all examples of poor choices by the powers that be. History at this club tells us that experience is what’s needed. Steve Evans, Richie Barker and Scott Lindsey can all hold their heads up high and be credited with the rolls they’ve all played in keeping us competitive and our heads above water. What they all had was managerial experience and game know how. If our owners can’t see that is what we lack right now, then clearly the problem is at board level. We are already the laughingstock of the league thanks to our position five points adrift at the bottom of League Two. Regardless of what happens in the next few matches, change is needed now before it’s too late.