Crawley Town's new assistant manager Neil faces the media for the first time

SussexWorld

We caught up with new Crawley Town assistant manager Neil Smith about joining the Reds, leaving Cray, Scott Lindsey and the quality in the current squad.

Transcript

00:00Neil, thank you for joining us. Firstly, welcome to Corrie. How's your first few days as Reds

00:05assistant manager been?

00:06Yeah, it's been amazing. The messages I've had of goodwill and good luck and stuff like

00:10that have been fantastic. Your head's still a bit spinning, you know, it's happened so

00:14quickly but, you know, from Friday, Saturday to where we are now, it's just been amazing.

00:19Yeah, and obviously it was a big decision for you to leave Craig as manager to join

00:24us as assistant manager. So, as you said, I can imagine your head was a little bit fried

00:27but once you got on the phone to Scott, was it a fairly easy decision?

00:30Absolutely. You know, I know Scott very well, obviously, playing with him when we were at

00:35Gillingham together but, you know, the opportunities don't come around like that. So, it was one

00:39that I had to take, explain it to the owners of Craig who totally understood and, you know,

00:45I thanked them for letting me go without any hassle and then, you know, being down here,

00:49it's just, it's phenomenal. The boys have been absolutely fantastic as well and in welcoming

00:55myself and making me feel at home.

00:58Yeah, and I suppose you've got that sort of less of a risk in the sense that Scott knows

01:02a lot about the club. Obviously, he had some great success here before. So, was he able

01:06to sort of, you know, transfer some of that knowledge to you about what the club was like

01:08and did that make it a bit of an easier decision?

01:10Yeah, absolutely. There wasn't a decision, it was all really done. You know, as soon

01:14as he asked me if I would like to come on board, there was no decisions in thinking

01:19about it and he didn't have to sell the club to me. You know, I watched him when he was

01:22there, you know, we've kept in touch through, you know, WhatsApps and stuff like that all

01:27through his career and it was a no-brainer. It would have been, you know, absolutely stupid

01:32to have not taken it up but, yeah, he's only ever said good things about the club so it

01:36was an easy decision.

01:38Yeah, and you obviously got your first taste of Crawley Fixtures on Saturday. It was a

01:41great occasion here, wasn't it?

01:42Yeah, it was brilliant. You know, it was, the atmosphere was amazing. The supporters,

01:47you know, as soon as the players come out, well, as soon as Scott come out, you know,

01:51they just got it going and it was an easy ask for the players to go and join that atmosphere

01:57and the boys started like a house on fire and it was, yeah, it was a great game and

02:01it was great to be a part of it.

02:03Yeah, we've obviously done countless interviews with Scott and we know he's very meticulous

02:07in certain areas. What is it that he's asked you to do as assistant manager? Has he asked

02:11you to focus on some certain areas in particular?

02:12No, not really. He just wants me to be myself, you know. I've been around football all my

02:17life and, you know, if ever I see anything, you know, we speak together. I've got to get

02:22into his way of thinking, obviously. It's a new partnership in that respect but, you

02:26know, I think you'll find we're both passionate players or ex-players that want to win and,

02:31you know, we'll work together to try and get those wins on the board in such a difficult

02:35situation that we're coming into. But, you know, as long as the boys play with that positivity

02:39and enjoy themselves and the supporters get behind us, I think we've got a fantastic chance.

02:43Yeah, as you say, we do now obviously have a very good chance because it was clear to

02:48see the energy around the place at the weekend and we just said to Scott in his interview,

02:51has that translated, do you feel like, into the players as well? Are they coming into

02:54training with a lot of belief?

02:55Yeah, oh definitely. You know, we were just saying, literally, they're coming off, their

02:59eyes are wide open, they want to learn, they're like a sponge at the moment. They're taking

03:03every instruction on and on Saturday you can see, you know, in such a short space of time

03:07they did take on a lot of information but simple, just little twists on what, you know,

03:12Scott's obviously done before when he was here but, you know, the training for the last

03:16three days has just been phenomenal and the standard they've set, you know, we're hoping

03:20that they can keep up to that.

03:22Yeah, you've touched on it a little bit already but what were your sort of first impressions

03:26of the fans and the rest of the club at the weekend, what did you make of it?

03:29As I say, you know, from yourself and the guys that you've all made me feel so welcome,

03:33the supporters, you know, they'll get to know who I am over time, it's not about myself,

03:37obviously Scott coming back and this team, you know, what I've noticed is I can't transmit

03:42at the moment why the boys are where they are because what I've seen in my little time

03:47here is a bunch of very, very good players, you know, they look like they're together,

03:51they've got some ability, you know they've got that ability, it's now can we transfer

03:55that from the training ground onto the pitch on a Saturday and a Tuesday night and, you

03:59know, we've got to squeeze every last little bit out of them to give this, you know, the

04:04small chance that we've got, we want to go for it, we want to give it the best chance

04:08we've got.

04:09Brilliant, thanks.

04:11You played with Scott in the early 90s I believe?

04:14Yes, yes.

04:14Can you tell us about what he was like then, could you always tell he was going to go into

04:17coaching and managing?

04:19I think I spoke about it the other day, you know, Scott was a very committed, you know,

04:24player, like we all were in those days in the 90s, you had to be, you know, I'll never

04:29forget the quote, get your retaliation in first, but he was one of them, you learn early,

04:33but yeah, he was fully committed as a player and worked his, you know, socks off to try

04:38and get to where he wanted to get to.

04:41Did I see him being a coach?

04:43Obviously we go our separate ways, I've been on the coaching course with him, we did our

04:4780th licence together and what I saw from such an aggressive player, you know, winning

04:52tackles and being in your face and to play in the way he's playing, which is beautiful

04:57football and it's beautiful to watch.

05:00No, probably not, but what you have got is that he doesn't want to just play that way

05:04for the sake of playing that way, he wants to play that way to go and win the game, it's

05:07not about looking pretty, it's about doing it for a reason and the reason is we want

05:11to win, but if we can do it that way.

05:13So it's brilliant, you know, I'm watching him coaching and it's phenomenal how precise

05:20he is with everything he does, you know, nothing's taken by chance, you know, we're going to

05:24work on everything we've got, give all the players the instructions they need, but simplify

05:28them, make them nice and simple, but this is, as a group, this is how we're going to

05:32do it and I've got to buy into that as well because it is new to me, but, you know, I'm

05:37learning with him on the job because, like I say, with the amount of games we've got,

05:41we've got to make sure that we win as many as we can.

05:44So, I know you said you said yes straight away, but what was it that Scott said to you,

05:48did he just ask you and you said yes, was it as simple as that?

05:51Yeah, we'd spoken the first time, Scotty went into the management side, Swindon and

05:57stuff and, at the time, my lifestyle couldn't make that decision, but three years down

06:03the line, you know, as I say, things happened and, you know, I was able to make that decision

06:09and, as I say, it wasn't a decision, as soon as he asked me, it was like, yes, you know,

06:13there was no full process into it, you know, it's a fantastic opportunity for myself, it's

06:18a fantastic opportunity for Scott to come back to a place where they love him and, obviously,

06:22finish a job that he started.

06:23Yeah, and, obviously, at Cray, I think you got them the highest they've ever finished

06:28in, was it quite a tough decision to leave them, I know it's an easy decision to work

06:32with Scott, but was it tough of a decision?

06:34It's a tough decision because I was there with a very good friend of mine, Tim O'Shea,

06:37who, you know, for three years, we went in there pretty much like we did, we had six

06:41games to keep them up and we managed to keep them up on the last game of the season, following

06:45season we got in the play-offs, just missed out, you know, the next two seasons were a

06:50bit difficult for certain reasons, but, yeah, the decision wasn't so much about leaving

06:54Cray, I think I've done everything I could for Cray and hopefully I've left them in a

06:59better position than when I walked through the door, but leaving a, you know, the coaching

07:03staff that I'd brought in was the difficult decision, you know, it's not one of them where

07:07as a manager you can bring them with you, I had to bring myself and that was it, but

07:10I think I've left them in a good position, a safe position and the management team that

07:14are there, I think they should just hand it over to them anyway.

07:17Yeah, and where do your ambitions lie, do you want to manage at this level like Scott's

07:22done?

07:22I just want to learn, you know, if I can learn from Scott, you know, it's an amazing

07:26situation to be in, I'm not looking any further than, you know, the end of this season, as

07:31in, you know, let's try and keep this club up, you know, what, as I say, you know, when

07:34I speak to Scott and, you know, the good times he had here and how we did it, it was an impossible

07:39task then and this one's just as impossible and I think it's one of them where if we

07:43were to manage to do it or take it as far as we can, if that's it, then I think it's

07:48just a bigger achievement to stay in this division with the situation we've walked

07:51into.

07:52Absolutely and you've said it and Scott said it as well, how you're confused that they

07:56are where they are in the league, were you surprised knowing where they were in the league,

08:00how much quality there is in the squad?

08:03Friday morning when we trained and I'm watching them, I couldn't believe they are where they

08:08are, so then you go, oh is it just a training session and then Saturday, that first half

08:13was some of the best football I had seen for a few seasons, the atmosphere was amazing,

08:19the supporters were jumping, you know, and you could feel there was, I don't know what's

08:24happened in the past, I don't know what's gone on beforehand but I'm looking at that

08:29first Friday, that first half on Saturday, the supporters, how they are and how cruelly

08:36where they are.

08:38Coming Monday, are we looking for that little chink in the armour, no, Tuesday on it, today

08:45on it and we just hope we can keep it going, they've set a standard now.

08:48We all have, as a management team, as a bunch of players, as a staff and a club, the standard

08:55has been set, we now need to keep it there for the rest of the season.

Category

Transcript

Recommended