How do you rate Crawley's start to the season?Excellent. Much better than expected by me. I don't expect us to remain 4th but I'll enjoy it while it lasts.What did you think when Steve Evans left the club to join Rotherham and then Sean O'Driscoll left before even taking charge of a competitive game?When Evans left, I was pretty neutral about it. I was sorry to lose the most successful manager we've ever had. On the other hand, I do think the timing was probably right.
I was also relieved that we might become a less hated and less talked about club. As for O'Driscoll, although I felt there was some hypocrisy as he used "integrity" as his watchword, who can really blame him for choosing Forest over Crawley?
My main concern was that there were things badly wrong behind the scenes but that doesn't appear to be the case.Crawley gets criticism for buying their way up the leagues. Is this fair?Initially, that may have been a reasonable perception when we were non league. However, the tag has stuck and these days it is definitely unfair.
Most of our more recent signings have been loan players and freebies. Also, it's often overlooked that we earned money by some shrewd wheeler dealing in the transfer market (most notably Tubbs and Barnett) and that we have had two great cup runs in two years - particularly the big payday at Old Trafford.
It could be argued that we bought those cup runs by spending on players - a point of view with which I could have some sympathy. However, if any club had a load of money put their way, who would actually turn it down?
Supporters of others clubs only have the right to complain, IMO, if they would have rejected the money had a similar opportunity come their way. I do realise that money could be a sensitive subject at the moment with Pompey supporters. For what it's worth, I sincerely hope you find a way out of your current predicament.What do you think of the current situation at Pompey and how thankful are you for your owner?As above. Great club with great tradition. I hope you can keep it alive. As for our owner, I am grateful that certain people put money in to rescue the club. We came within minutes of non existence.
Unfortunately, the Crawley public doesn't seem to share that gratitude and we need bigger attendances.What are the major weaknesses in this Red Devils team that Pompey might exploit on Sunday?None. We are perfect! Seriously though, although we defend OK when back in formation, we can look daft when a pacey player runs at our defence. Also, if a team decides to put up the shutters, we can look a bit one dimensional in trying to break them down. We do have a couple of players who can make the unexpected pass - the problem being that our players don't expect it either!Many of the teams in this league are criticised for playing "hoof ball" - can this be said for Crawley?We have improved in this regard. We can play decent football on the deck but if the other team play hoofball, we sometimes get sucked into it too. Having O'Driscoll here for even a short time got us into a passing game. The O'Driscoll effect has eased recently though and we mix it up more.Predict the outcome of the game.Crawley 2 Pompey 1
Source: FOOTYMAD
