Tonight, Walsall face Crawley Town, in a bid to turn their fortunes around. Leigh Pomlett has made it clean that results must improve. The announcement yesterday won’t change the side for the here and now, but may add stability long term.
To find out more about Crawley, I spoke with the Crawley Town Supporters Alliance, about John Yems, their season so far, and whether or not a play-off push is realistic for this Crawley side.
How would you rate your season so far?
Good. We had a superb FA Cup run beating Leeds 3-0 along the way and still have the top 7 within our sights with 13 league games to go.
Crawley sit within reach of the play-offs. Is there enough about the side to reach them?
The million dollar question! If you’d asked me before our 3 1-0 wins in a row I would have said we will fall short. Now though we have a chance albeit with a lot of work to do to catch up with those in 6th and 7th. Our last 6 games are unbelievably tough so if we make the play offs we will be the form team going into them.
Has League Two been the standard you expected this season?
Yes. No one has run away with it and anyone can still beat anyone but the standard has remained.
John Yems isn’t one to hide his feelings. How do the fans feel about him leading the club, and his antics?
I think the majority are pleased with what they are seeing on the pitch and the results that he is getting. A lot of younger players have been given a chance to prove themselves in the EFL which is good to see. In terms of his antics, eyebrows have been raised by some at his post match interviews but I think it’s important to remember that despite his age he doesn’t have much EFL management experience therefore he is getting used to that side of his role and understanding how the whole package of being a manager is important in the modern game.
What system do you play?
We tend to mix it up depending on who we are playing and who we have available. I expect we will go with 4 at the back but have played with 3 a lot this season too. Tom Nichols will play behind the pacey Nadesan up top.
What are Crawley’s strengths and weaknesses?
We have good options with set pieces so don’t give any silly fouls away around the box. Our weakness is that in too many games we have gone behind early on creating an up hill task to get something from the game.
Finally, what do you know about the Saddlers? Predicitions for the game?
Your manager left you to go to Port Vale and he can’t buy a win there. We need to keep our winning run going. Im going with 2-1.
