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Matt Pole is joined by Brighton writer Derren Howard, and Crawley Town expert Mark Dunford.
Brighton look set to announce their first major departure of the summer with forward Joao Pedro close to agreeing a move to Chelsea.
This week, we discuss Pedro’s imminent departure, the retirement of a former Seagulls midfield general, a good week for a pair of Albion young guns, and we’ll bring you all the latest from Crawley Town - who have been very busy in the transfer market.
Brighton look set to announce their first major departure of the summer with forward Joao Pedro close to agreeing a move to Chelsea.
This week, we discuss Pedro’s imminent departure, the retirement of a former Seagulls midfield general, a good week for a pair of Albion young guns, and we’ll bring you all the latest from Crawley Town - who have been very busy in the transfer market.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Welcome to another episode of the Goalmouth Action Podcast, where we take a look at all the latest goings-on at Brighton, Hove, Albion and Crawley Town.
00:07I'm Matt Pohl, and this week I'm joined by Brighton writer Darren Howard and Crawley Town expert Mark Dunford.
00:12Brighton looks set to announce their first major departure of the summer, with forward Jao Pedro close to agreeing a move to Chelsea.
00:18This week we'll discuss Pedro's imminent departure, the retirement of a former Seagulls midfield general,
00:24a good week for a pair of Albion young guns, and we'll bring you all the latest from Crawley Town,
00:28who have been very busy once again in the transfer market.
00:31You can read all the stories we are talking about with videos and pictures online at sussexworld.co.uk forward slash sport,
00:36and you can check out other great videos on latest TV.
00:39Chelsea have agreed a fee worth £60 million to sign forward Jao Pedro from Brighton.
00:44The 23-year-old is expected to sign a seven-year contract at the Blues.
00:48The Brazilian is set to join after delivering 30 goals and 10 assists in 70 matches over a two-year spell at Albion,
00:55following a then-club-record £30 million move from Watford in 2023.
01:00Following the classic Brighton to Chelsea pipeline there, Darren, what do you make of this?
01:06And do you reckon, considering the way that Jao Pedro left, obviously he had a bust-up with Jan-Paul Van Heek,
01:12will there be many tears shed about the departure of the Brazilian?
01:15Yeah, it's a well-worn path now, isn't it?
01:19Plenty of Brighton players have swapped the Amex Stadium for Stamford Bridge,
01:24and Pedro is the latest one.
01:27He did well for Brighton.
01:30He's a great player.
01:32I always felt he was a really good player.
01:34But also, on top of that, I felt there was another level that he could have gone to.
01:39I don't think he quite gave his best for Albion.
01:43I think they could have seen a better player.
01:45Maybe he'll go on to do that at Chelsea.
01:48I always just thought that there's a bit more to come from him.
01:52And I think when you think of the likes of some of the previous big-money moves that have left Brighton,
02:00you look at the likes of McAllister, Casado and Cucurea,
02:04Cucurea, I don't think he ever – Cucurea gets some stick from Brighton fans,
02:10but he was outstanding in that one season he was at Brighton.
02:15I don't think Pedro ever sort of reached those type of levels.
02:19I think he's always just been a little bit underneath that.
02:22And I think probably the price reflects that.
02:25It's a good deal for Brighton, £60 million.
02:29They've doubled their money on a player that they bought for two seasons ago.
02:33So in terms of Brighton's model of spotting young talent,
02:37giving them a couple of seasons and then selling them on before they reach their peak years,
02:41he's ticked all the boxes in that respect.
02:45And I think he'll go on and do very well at Chelsea.
02:49He's a player with a lot of potential.
02:51He had that – as you say, he's got that edge to him.
02:55He was made sort of – he had an interesting season last year.
02:58Hazella really wanted to get the best out of him.
03:01And he was actually made captain for one of the games against Arsenal,
03:06which he scored in.
03:07And then he fell out of favour with Hazella.
03:10He had a needless red card against Brentford where he elbowed one of the Brentford players.
03:16And he has that in him.
03:17He's quite – he plays on the edge sometimes.
03:19He's quite a physical player.
03:21He will go down easily.
03:22And he's – you know, he's one of those players that is quite good if he's on your team.
03:27But as a fan, he can be quite – quite annoying.
03:31So – and then he – as you say, he had the bit of a bust-up with Jan-Paul Van Hecker in training
03:36and missed the last two games.
03:37And I think once – once he was left out of those two games, you knew he was going to be on his way.
03:43He favoured a London club.
03:45Newcastle were keen, but he wanted to be in London.
03:49And he's got the move that he wanted.
03:51So good luck to him, but a good price for Brighton.
03:54They've got a good – a good – a good transfer fee for him.
03:57Yeah, absolutely.
03:58We've mentioned the Amex to Stamford Bridge pipeline.
04:01Gio Pedro looks likely to become the fifth high-profile Brighton player to move to Chelsea,
04:05with the Seagulls banking almost £280 million from the Blues since 2022.
04:09Darren, how remarkable is it that the Seagulls have managed to kick on since 2022?
04:14It's a completely different club now and kind of defy the usual trajectory of clubs losing players to the big six.
04:19And in that regard, how much of that is a testament to Albion owner Tony Blue?
04:24It is, isn't it?
04:26Yeah, yeah.
04:26No, you're absolutely right.
04:27There's been other clubs who have tried this in the past and, you know, continuously sell their best players.
04:32You saw it with Leicester.
04:34You saw it with Southampton where they sell their best players and then they keep trying to, you know,
04:39bring in the next wave of talent.
04:41And it only takes a few transfer windows for it to, you know, a couple of bad sign-ins, a few injuries,
04:46and it can all go pear-shaped.
04:49But Brighton have, as you say, they've really kept it going.
04:52They've been in the top half of the Premier League.
04:56Despite selling all their best players.
04:59And as you say, you know, almost 300 million has come from Chelsea to Brighton.
05:03And that's paid for the entire Amex Stadium.
05:05It's paid for the entire Lansing training ground.
05:08And probably some spare change for Tony Bloom to enjoy a nice holiday somewhere as well on the back of it.
05:15So I think Brighton have done superbly out of it.
05:19And it's important at the moment as well.
05:21It keeps them within the Premier League profitability and sustainability rules as well.
05:27Obviously, they've never had to worry about financial fair play thanks to all the money that they've received from Chelsea.
05:36And importantly as well, it's enabled them to invest in their squad as well.
05:40They spent 200 million last summer.
05:43Some of those didn't really produce as much as they wanted to last season.
05:47So this season could be a big year for the likes of Kadioglu, who had a poor season last season.
05:53Matt O'Reilly, it's interesting to see if he stays and plays again next season.
05:59So, yeah.
06:01And they've also spent 70 million this summer as well.
06:03So the money keeps coming in and they invest it so far.
06:07They've invested it very well.
06:09I have indeed.
06:10Yeah.
06:11Meanwhile, former Brighton midfielder Alan Lallana has announced his retirement from football.
06:15The 37-year-old made 569 appearances throughout his career with 104 of them combed with the Seagulls.
06:22Sad to see him attire, wasn't it, Darren?
06:23But he was a brilliant servant to Albion, wasn't he?
06:26He was, yeah.
06:27Yeah.
06:28Unfortunately for Brighton, they never saw him at his peak.
06:30He arrived late in his career on a free transfer from Liverpool.
06:36But it was a very important time for Brighton.
06:38It was under Graham Potter and they were making the transition from the style of play from Chris Hewton
06:44until what we've seen to evolve into what Brighton had become since Potter.
06:50So he helped Graham Potter a lot when he came in.
06:53He helped to set the standards and helped that transition,
06:57which you've seen other clubs do where they just about survived the first two seasons.
07:02They try and kick on and play a more entertaining brand of football and it can all go wrong.
07:07But Lallana was quite important in that role with helping Graham Potter to establish themselves in the Premier League.
07:15And his experience and his contributions on the pitch as well really helped them.
07:21And, yeah, I think he's been key.
07:23He also had a good spell under Deserby as well.
07:27They really worked well together.
07:30Lallana's spoken a lot about how they used to speak and swap ideas about football.
07:35And it was a shame, really, that he wasn't at his peak when Deserby was there.
07:43You sort of think peak Lallana and Deserby working together would have been a great combination on the pitch.
07:50But, yeah, he had a good time at Brighton.
07:54And he's now at Southampton, has taken up a coaching role there.
07:58And I think he'll do, he'll be an excellent coach as well.
08:01So I think he'll still be in the game and have a successful coaching career as well.
08:06Absolutely.
08:07Meanwhile, James Beadle and Jack Hinshwood helped England under-21s win the UEFA under-21s Euros on Saturday night,
08:14defeating Germany 3-2 in the final.
08:16Brian Gruder started for the beating Germans, with England going 2-0 up before being pegged back 2-2.
08:2190 minutes couldn't separate the teams, but an early goal in extra time restored England's lead,
08:25one that would help them see out to win the tournament for the second time in a row.
08:29A great moment for Beadle and Hinshwood, obviously, Derren.
08:32How did those two, along with Gruder, perform not just in the final, but throughout the tournament as a whole?
08:39Yeah, I think all three players would have learned, you know, so much from that.
08:43The experience that they had, especially for Hinshwood and Beadle,
08:47they'll come back for next season brimming with confidence.
08:51And I think it's going to be really beneficial for their, you know, for not their short-term future,
08:56but for their long-term careers as well.
08:58To be in an environment like that where the pressure's on to deliver and to do it in such a composed way
09:03that they played throughout the tournament, I think was excellent.
09:08Beadle's just confirmed, it came through this morning that his, sorry, late last night,
09:14that his loan to Birmingham was confirmed for next season.
09:18So he'll be pushing to start in the championship next season.
09:22He's never actually played for Brighton.
09:24He's been on loan to Oxford, Sheffield Wednesday.
09:28Twice he was on loan at Sheffield Wednesday.
09:30But he hasn't actually made a first-team appearance for Brighton.
09:34And his path is currently blocked by Bart Verbruggen and Jason Steele, who's providing the backup.
09:39But you kind of think there's always been a few rumours around Bart Verbruggen.
09:43Bayern Munich have been, you know, listed with interests.
09:49And you think that Beadle could be a long-term successor to Bart Verbruggen.
09:54But he'll be out on loan for another season at Birmingham.
09:59And the victory at the under-21s will do him the world of good.
10:03And Hinshelwood, midfielder, but he played left-back for most of the tournament for England.
10:09So that just shows his adaptability.
10:13And he could have had a couple of goals in the tournament as well.
10:15There were a couple of chances where he's good in the air.
10:19And he just, I think there was one in the semi-final against,
10:22was it the quarterfinal against Spain when he headed one just wide.
10:27So wherever he plays on the pitch, he's always an attacking threat.
10:31And he showed that with Brighton.
10:34Hopefully he'll play more in his mid-favoured midfield role.
10:37But if he needs to play at right-back, if he needs to play at left-back, he can fit in there.
10:41And he's just like a little Pascal Gross, really.
10:44They got rid of Pascal Gross.
10:45And then James Milner, Hinshelwood has come in to fill the void.
10:52So, yeah, good luck to him.
10:54And Brian Gruder, he had a fairly decent tournament.
10:58And I think getting to the final as well will help him.
11:01He finished last season strongly for Brighton.
11:05And he's another one of those players that I mentioned that was part of that 200 million spend.
11:09Never really got going at Brighton last season.
11:12Had a strong finish and hopefully he can then come into this season fresh and ready to go.
11:20Transfer season is in full swing, as Crawley Tam will demonstrate a little bit later on in the podcast.
11:25But a lot of gossip is whirling around the Amex at the moment.
11:28Liverpool midfielder and England under-21 star Harvey Elliott has been linked with a move to the Seagulls,
11:33while Albion's Matt O'Reilly has been rumoured to be on Napoli's radar.
11:38What about what do you make of these rumours, Derren?
11:40And any credence to them?
11:42And outside of these two, are there any other moves that we should potentially look out for as the summer progresses?
11:47Yeah.
11:48Harvey Elliott, I can't see it, to be honest.
11:51I think it would be great if Brighton could work a deal for him.
11:56There's talk that Liverpool wants a buyback clause as well as part of any package that they have to sell him.
12:02And I don't think that would suit Brighton.
12:03If they buy young players, there's talk of a £40 million transfer fee and then a buyback clause for £50 million.
12:12And Brighton, they like to double their money, basically, on their players.
12:17So, yeah.
12:17So, I don't think it could work.
12:21He wants Champions League football as well, from what we're hearing.
12:24Brighton aren't in that position.
12:26So, I would be surprised.
12:28It would be great if it did.
12:29It would be a super signing for Brighton.
12:32You know, he's proved for Liverpool and then in the tournament that he's a great player.
12:37But it's one I can't really see happening.
12:41There's talk of a right back coming in.
12:43Wesley Franca from Flamengo.
12:45Brighton apparently bid £20 million for him.
12:49That's an area of the pitch I can see Brighton certainly looking to strengthen their fallback positions,
12:56particularly as well if Pervis Estoupignan is rumoured to be on the move this summer with Manchester United very keen on him.
13:03So, I think if Estoupignan goes, it will leave Brighton quite short in the fallback areas.
13:09So, that's an area they look to strengthen.
13:11But in terms of incoming, I don't think there's going to be a great deal more.
13:15Tony Blome said as much recently.
13:19But outgoings, yes.
13:20Napoli bid £25 million for Matt O'Reilly.
13:24And that's one to keep an eye on.
13:25He sort of had a few complaints last season that he was playing out of position.
13:29He didn't really play all the time.
13:31He was far from a regular.
13:34And Napoli, Atlanta, Atalanta, Roma and Everton have all been credited with interest as well.
13:40So, that's one to look out for.
13:43And Igor Julio as well.
13:44I think he'll be on his way this summer as well.
13:48Wolves are apparently keen, but Real Sociedad seem to be the favourites at the moment.
13:54And keep an eye out is also Julio and Ciso and Facundo Boniote and Evan Ferguson.
13:59Those three.
14:01It'd be interesting to see what happens to those as well this summer.
14:05Shaping up to be a very busy summer at the Amex.
14:07And finally, Brighton have released their away kit.
14:10Darren, describe it to us and what do you make of it?
14:14It's purple.
14:16It's purple.
14:18And it has a Nike tick in the middle, which seems to have been getting a lot of people very excited.
14:25As predicted by Mark in yesterday's special edition of our podcast, a purple kit.
14:32Is that one that's going to be in your wardrobe, Mark?
14:38Yeah, well, I kind of like it.
14:40I don't know if I like the two-tone purple.
14:41I'd like to see a nice, bold, bright purple all over.
14:45But yeah, I mean, the Nike tick in the centre of the show.
14:47Wow.
14:48What a revolution.
14:50Revelation.
14:50I don't know what the word is.
14:53Innovation.
14:54Everything.
14:54Yeah.
14:55Everything.
14:56Yeah, absolutely.
14:56Do we know how much they're flogging it for so I can pull it?
15:00I know, to be honest, they're opening their new mega club shop at the Amex.
15:06I think, actually, it's tonight.
15:09Fabian Herzl is going to be there tonight.
15:12I should have revealed that, actually.
15:14But I think Fabian Herzl is there.
15:16I've said it now.
15:17So I think he's going to be there tonight.
15:19And yeah, so we're hoping to have a quick chat with him as well.
15:22So we might be able to get a few updates on some transfer news as well.
15:27Excellent stuff.
15:28Well, if fans can't speak to Fabian Herzl, they can always talk to Derren, which I think
15:31will soften the blow somewhat.
15:34So there you go.
15:36We will now move on to Crawley Town.
15:38And as we mentioned, the Reds have been very active in the transfer market once again this
15:42week.
15:42The biggest news since the last podcast is the sensational return of Jay Williams, the
15:47midfielder who was part of the Reds' play-off winning team in 2023-24, joins on a permanent
15:52transfer from MK Dons for an undisclosed fee.
15:55It's safe to say that not many of us were expecting this, Mark.
15:58What did you make of the sign-in?
16:00And what was the fans' reaction to the news?
16:04Yeah, it was a big surprise.
16:06But at the same time, when you look at it, it's not a surprise.
16:09I remember speaking to Jay at a training session.
16:13And it was when he wasn't playing under Rob Elliott before, when the rumours had come
16:21out about him going to MK Dons and that.
16:23And he sort of said to me, it's no secret, I'm a Scott Lindsay man.
16:27So when you look into that, yeah, you just think, yeah.
16:30I think from now on, for the rest of their careers, wherever Scott Lindsay is, Jay Williams
16:35will be, I think he's quite a character, Jay Williams.
16:40Anyone who's seen him play on the pitch, he's a hard man, to say the least.
16:45And he's quite an intimidating bloke to be around, to be honest.
16:48So, yeah, he's a good player to have.
16:52And I think Scott Lindsay probably is the only manager who can manage him, maybe.
16:57I don't know, that's why I read into it.
16:58But, yeah, Jay Williams, Scott Lindsay loves Jay Williams and vice versa.
17:05And he will be a great, he'll be a really good asset again.
17:08They won promotion last time they were together.
17:11So why can't they do that again?
17:12He is Scott Lindsay's general, along with Dion Conroy, who we're going to come on to later.
17:19Those two sort of players, yeah.
17:21With Bradley, because Bradley Ibrahim sort of stepped into that role last year.
17:25Jay Williams, when he left and Bradley Ibrahim was great.
17:28But, yes, it'll be good to have that pivot back, someone reliable.
17:33I mean, looking at the reaction, fans are delighted.
17:36Some people were saying he was the best player during the promotion season.
17:39Great to have him back.
17:41What a leader to have in the team.
17:44So, yeah, as long as he can temper his performances, sometimes he goes a little bit over the top.
17:50And Scott Lindsay has referenced that before.
17:52If that can be managed, he's going to be a real key player for Scott Lindsay this year.
17:57And, yeah, good to see him back.
17:59And he did an interview when he came back and he said it feels like home.
18:03But I think it might be the first interview Jay Williams has ever done at Crawley Town because we never got to speak to him after a game or anything, which was interesting.
18:12We requested him a few times, but, yeah, it never came to light.
18:18So, hopefully we'll see a bit more of him and get him to speak to us a bit more as well this year.
18:23Absolutely.
18:24Crawley Town also this week announced the signing of forward Kabongo Shimanga on a two-year contract following his release from League One side Peterborough United.
18:31A proven goal scorer with the likes of Boreham Wood and Chesterfield, Shimanga links up with the Reds after an equally impressive loan spell with Swindon Town last season, where he scored 13 goals.
18:41Scott Lindsay has gone striker mad, Mark.
18:43What do you make about the Reds side and another striker?
18:45And I think it's three in now this summer, isn't it?
18:47What do you envision the forward Peck in order to be now, unless he plans on playing all three strikers at once, which Kevin Keegan-esque, I think, will describe it.
18:55Well, he likes to play the one up top with a 10, and then you've got the two attacking midfielders, the two attacking sort of wing-back wingers.
19:05And, look, I watched the highlights package of Shimanga last night, and it looked like he could be someone who is flexible, can play a bit wide, cut him back in, or he can play up top on his own.
19:15So, yeah, it's very interesting, because last year, the attacking, you had Will Swan, Rashawn Hepburn-Murphy, and a few players, Ronan Darcy, sort of in that attacking midfielder role, and you've got Harry Forster and all that.
19:28But this year, it looks like they've gone heavy up top, so they've got lots of options.
19:34I mean, you've still got Tola Shawani as well in the squad, and obviously with Harry McCurdy, with Danny Cashman, and you've still got Adi Adi Yemo, who has played up top before.
19:43So, the options are there, but I think you'd be looking at Harry McCurdy as sort of the first choice, as the striker up top.
19:54Then Danny Cashman will probably be more of a number 10 kind of role, or can play out in one of those wide roles along with Shimanga.
20:03So, I imagine it'll be, yeah, McCurdy will be the top choice, and then he has got options, and it's going to be really interesting how he uses all those attacking.
20:12We know Scott Lindsay, he loves his attacking football, he loves pressing high.
20:17So, it wouldn't surprise me if you saw Harry McCurdy, Shimanga, Cashman all starting at some point, and it will be a very exciting line-up to watch, I think.
20:30Obviously, they're out in Spain at the moment.
20:32They start their pre-season next week with Free Bridges and East Grinstead on Tuesday and then Saturday.
20:38So, that's going to be interesting, and we'll probably get an inkling of how he's going to utilise those players.
20:44And it is genuinely exciting to watch, more exciting than it was last year when you thought, hmm, how's this going to work?
20:52But, yeah, no, good, exciting times to be a Crawley fan.
20:55There's some reasons to get excited, and they keep banging on about hopefully getting Danilo Orsi and Liam Kelly back.
21:00And if Danilo Orsi comes back, that throws everything up in the air, doesn't it?
21:05So, yeah, interesting.
21:08Going to win every game 6-5 next season.
21:10It'll be very exciting.
21:12Meanwhile, another one of Scott Lindsay generals, as Mark said.
21:15Club captain Dion Conroy has committed his future to the club.
21:19The former Chelsea and Swindon defender has signed a new two-year contract with the club.
21:23Definitely more good news for the club, isn't it, Mark?
21:25How good will it be to have Crawley on board for the next couple of seasons?
21:28Yeah, he's key to Scott Lindsay's plans.
21:31He plays in the centre of the back three.
21:34The rest of the defenders they've got are all quite young.
21:36If you look at Josh Flynn, Charlie Barker, Ben Radcliffe, all quite young.
21:41All played really well last year, but all still relatively inexperienced.
21:45So, to have Conroy in the middle of that, obviously the major issue with Conroy is his injury record.
21:51He's missed big chunks of the last couple of seasons.
21:55So, it'll be great.
21:57If he stays fit, he is going to be absolutely key.
22:00He's club captain.
22:02He's such a calming influence on the pitch.
22:04So good on the ball.
22:05Leads the team well.
22:07With Williams just in front of him, if those two stay fit and are playing all the time,
22:12it can only mean good things for Crawley.
22:14And, yeah, Scott Lindsay is a huge fan.
22:17He was captain at Swindon when he was there.
22:20Yeah, made him club captain.
22:22Well, I know it was Ben Gladwin straight away, wasn't it?
22:24But as soon as Gladwin stopped playing, Conroy was the obvious choice to take over as captain.
22:29So, yeah, no, really good news for Crawley.
22:32And, yeah, at the moment, all the signs, I know we're going to come on to another someone coming back as well.
22:38But all the signs are pointing to a really, really positive season so far.
22:43Yeah, fingers crossed.
22:44But it's not all been incomings at the Brawfield Stadium.
22:46Stryker Will Swan has left the Reds to join Bradford City on a permanent transfer for an undisclosed fee.
22:53Obviously, with all the signings that they're bringing in the strikers,
22:56probably not too much of a surprise that Will Swan left Mark.
22:58But what did you make of Swan's solitary season at Crawley?
23:02And is it much of a big blow, considering the amount of attacking reinforcements Scott Lindsay has brought in this summer?
23:09I don't think so.
23:10I think it was obvious he was going to go, especially when you saw the signings Crawley were making.
23:17It was a funny one his season because he came in right at the end of the August transfer window from Mansfield, I think it was.
23:26And by all accounts, you hear different things than that.
23:29But a big draw for him was Scott Lindsay.
23:32And within a week of him signing, I think Scott Lindsay left or a couple of weeks of him signing, Scott Lindsay left.
23:38So he never looked overly happy.
23:43I don't know if that was just his demeanour.
23:45But he was messed around.
23:46Under Rob Elliott, he was not messed about, but used as a man up top, the centre forward.
23:53He was used out on the left.
23:54He was used out on the right.
23:56And I don't know, he never really settled in.
23:58He had a couple of really good games.
24:00We'll remember his goal against Wickham at the Broadfield Stadium with the outside of his foot.
24:04Fantastic strike.
24:06It was a contender for goal of the season.
24:09And he had a really good link-up with Shawanmi, actually.
24:11There was a period over Christmas where they assisted each other scoring goals and that, especially at Exeter, I think.
24:19They scored three between them and scored and assisted each other for each of the goals and that as well.
24:25So, yeah, no, on his day, he looked like he could be a world leader.
24:30He's got so much energy, presses high.
24:34Surprised he's gone to a League One club after one season.
24:38A team that are looking to do quite well as well.
24:41Speaking to Simon Parker, a journalist up in who covers Bradford City.
24:45And he said the fan reaction has been like, why are we signing someone who got relegated who didn't do that well for Crawley last year, sort of thing.
24:52But on his day, I think he is probably a League One player if he can keep that up the whole time.
24:57But I imagine because he was playing in so many different positions, it was difficult to get consistency.
25:04So, I don't think Crawley ever really saw the best of him.
25:09To Matt, it's on the pitch.
25:10And last week, Crawley Tan discovered who they will meet in the first round of this season's Carabao Cup.
25:14All very exciting.
25:15Who will the Reds meet, Mark?
25:17And what has the reaction been to this thrilling draw?
25:21Yeah, so Swansea City away.
25:24It's being played on the week commencing August the 11th.
25:27A couple of people seemed really excited about it.
25:29But Crawley have only ever played them once before.
25:32And that was when they were a Premier League side, Swansea.
25:36And when was it?
25:38It was 2012 in the third round of the League Cup.
25:42And if we all remember Michu, that one season one day, he scored that day.
25:47Gary Monk also scored that day, believe it or not.
25:50So, that was on that day.
25:52They lost three to Josh Simpson and Hope Akpan scored for Crawley that day.
25:57So, that was the only game.
25:59Yeah, people seem to be really excited about it.
26:01And I suppose it's going to a really good stadium.
26:03But there's a few people who said, OK, we'll concentrate on the FA Cup this year then.
26:07Because it's not a game anyone's expecting Crawley to go and win.
26:11But Crawley have had some good results in the Carabao Cup.
26:15Am I excited about it?
26:16Not really.
26:19But, yeah, it's a good fixture for a ground that Crawley fans have never been to before to go and watch.
26:26So, we obviously know Horsham went there, didn't they, in the FA Cup a few years back.
26:32But, yeah, Carabao Cup.
26:34It's a good, yeah.
26:37If you can get through the first couple of rounds, it gets exciting.
26:39But getting a championship, are they championship still?
26:43I've seen they are.
26:43Yes, I believe so.
26:45Sorry, yeah.
26:46Research boy.
26:48Yeah, I didn't know if they got ready to go last year.
26:49But, yeah, going to a championship club away in the first round is never an exciting or easy draw.
26:57No, absolutely not.
26:58And, finally, the Reds have been put through their paces by Scott Lindsay in the sweltering Spanish heat this week.
27:04Has there been any notable takeaways from this Spanish jaunt, Mark?
27:07And am I right in thinking they're playing Hearts at some point during this little tour of Spain?
27:12Yeah, I think it's tomorrow I think they're playing Hearts, I think.
27:17But, yeah, my biggest takeaway is, yeah, it looks damn hot.
27:23But we've had the heat here.
27:25They could have done warm weather training here, couldn't they?
27:28And Scott Lindsay's form with a golf club doesn't look particularly great from the photos I've seen.
27:33No offence, Scott.
27:34But, yeah, Charlie Barker looked like he was celebrating on the golf day.
27:38So, maybe he was the winner of that.
27:41Footballers love a bit of golf, don't they?
27:43But, yeah, Scott Lindsay said before they went, it's a real chance for them to get some really good work in early and use it for a lot of bonding, really.
27:51Because, again, there's quite a few new players, as we've seen, come in and we've talked about.
27:56So, it's a good chance for them.
27:57But the big news to come out of it, and somebody was quite eagle-eyed early on on a video.
28:04I think Adi Adi Yemo was running past the screen.
28:06But in the background was Jamie Day, and the club finally announced it.
28:10I mean, Scott Lindsay's given it away last week in an interview with me, saying about when the fixtures came out.
28:16Oh, me and Jamie were discussing that we've never lost at Grimsby when the fixtures came out.
28:20So, people jumped on that straight away.
28:24But it was finally announced this week.
28:25I asked Scott straight away when he came back from MK Dons, is Jamie coming back with you?
28:29And he said, well, he's still contracted with MK Dons, but if he's available, he'll be here.
28:33So, it's no surprise he's come back.
28:35It's a really good move.
28:37It's interesting how it's going to work with Neil Smith, the other assistant manager.
28:43But they are both assistant managers.
28:46So, I assume, yes, they will work well.
28:48They're both very good coaches.
28:50But Scott Lindsay said, Jamie Day's my right-hand man.
28:53He always has been.
28:54So, wherever he goes, Jamie Day goes.
28:57So, it's just now whether we see the likes of Liam Kelly, Danilo Orsi coming back.
29:04Yeah, the band getting back together.
29:08But, yeah.
29:09But, yeah.
29:09So, I think, yeah.
29:10Scott Lindsay said to me, the Hearts match, although it's playing against a good club,
29:15it's only going to be like a train.
29:17It's just trying a few things.
29:19It'll be a training match, as it were, more than a friendly, I think.
29:21I think next week is when we start to see trialists, the sort of formation, Scott's going to be playing, etc.
29:28And start getting an indication of what his line-up will be.
29:31Yeah.
29:31Before we know it.
29:33Sorry.
29:33Has there been any talk about Kamari Doyle at all, going back to Crawley?
29:37I'm just interested from a…
29:39No.
29:40From Brighton's point of view, it's not clear where he's going to go next season as yet.
29:46There has been no chat about him at all.
29:48Well, at the end of last season, when he went on that amazing scoring streak
29:52and scored some really important goals, I mean, Crawley put out that tweet saying,
29:57how much do you want for him at Brighton?
29:59I don't think about that.
30:00But, I mean, I'd be surprised if he goes to a League Two club because he's that good.
30:05He should be aiming a lower-half championship, top-half, League One sort of player
30:11to get there more experience.
30:13So, I think he's probably a little bit out of Crawley's price range.
30:16But, I mean, if he's still at Brighton and they're looking for a loan,
30:18I think that's the plan for him, to loan him next season.
30:23So, yeah.
30:23But, yeah, as yet, he's just been quiet.
30:25Scott Lindy would probably take him in a second if he could, I think.
30:28But, yeah, I think you'll be looking – he'll be sort of competing at the top
30:33of League One or helping a championship club battle relegation,
30:36I would have thought.
30:38Absolutely.
30:39He'd be incredible in League Two, wouldn't he?
30:40So, yeah.
30:41Fingers crossed he would say.
30:42He would tear it up.
30:44Yeah, absolutely.
30:44He'd be with another level.
30:46Yeah, I think we're going to wrap it up there.
30:48Any other business that we've not mentioned?
30:50Do you want any key words for Shots TV in memoriam?
30:55No, I don't think so.
30:56It was nice not having to have that.
30:58And we're coming back in a second.
30:59And then literally we're coming back.
31:02No, that was – yes.
31:03No, but there you go.
31:05No, I don't think there is any other business.
31:07Yeah, looking forward to getting watching Crawley again,
31:10Free Bridges on Tuesday night.
31:11So, yeah, see all that on Sussex World.
31:14Yeah, absolutely.
31:15And before you know it, the league season will have started again.
31:17It's as if it's never finished really, isn't it?
31:19It's always non-stop.
31:20Well, brilliant.
31:21Thank you very much for joining us, Chaps.
31:22You can catch up with all the latest sports news
31:24covering everything we've talked about today
31:25at sussexworld.co.uk forward slash sport.
31:28And you can watch more excellent videos on latest TV.
31:30Thank you very much for listening and or watching
31:32and we will see you all next week.
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