Sussex World's Matt Pole is joined by Brighton & Hove Albion writers Derren Howard and Frankie Elliott, and Crawley Town expert and Sussex Cricket League umpire Mark Dunford. Brighton have been busy on and off the pitch this week. The Seagulls’ have bolstered their backline as their pre-season tour of America continues apace.
It’s also been another week fraught with controversy at Crawley. We’ll reveal how co-owner Preston Johnson managed to upset the Reds’ fan base while the team were busy putting Heybridge Swifts to the sword in pre-season. We’ll also pick the bones out of the club’s 9-1 thumping at Portsmouth in a behind-closed-doors friendly.
It’s also been another week fraught with controversy at Crawley. We’ll reveal how co-owner Preston Johnson managed to upset the Reds’ fan base while the team were busy putting Heybridge Swifts to the sword in pre-season. We’ll also pick the bones out of the club’s 9-1 thumping at Portsmouth in a behind-closed-doors friendly.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Welcome to another episode of Sussex Sport Weekly podcast.
00:04 I'm Matt Poe and this week I'm joined by Brighton Hovarvian writers,
00:07 Darren Howard and Frankie Elliott, and Crawley Town expert and
00:10 Sussex Cricket League umpire Mark Dunford.
00:13 Brighton have been busy on and off the pitch this week.
00:16 The Eagles have bolstered their back line as their preseason tour of America
00:18 continues apace.
00:20 It's also been another week full with controversy at Crawley.
00:23 We'll reveal how co-owner Preston Johnson managed to upset the Reds' fan base
00:27 while the team were busy putting Haybridge Swifts to the sword in a preseason friendly.
00:31 We'll also pick the bones out of the club's 9-1 thumping at Portsmouth
00:34 in a behind closed doors friendly over the weekend.
00:37 Starting with Brighton, Darren, Simon Odinga who was on loan at Union,
00:40 Brighton's Belgian sister club last season.
00:42 He scored twice in yesterday's 2-0 win over Brentford.
00:46 Have Brighton yet again unearthed another gem?
00:50 Well, based on yesterday's display, it looks as though they've found another one.
00:54 Yeah, he's, as you say, he scored two goals and just looked really impressive.
01:00 He's got a lot of pace.
01:03 He's got a good, a nice touch, a nice first touch as well.
01:07 And yeah, he can score goals as well.
01:11 He did really well.
01:12 His stats from Union last season were impressive.
01:17 But obviously it's a big jump to come from Union and then, you know,
01:21 into the Brighton first team.
01:23 And try and compete against the likes of, you know, Matoma,
01:27 Enciso, Bonotti, Jal Pedro for first team place.
01:33 But he looks really sharp, really sharp.
01:36 And his goal against, his first goal in particular, I thought was very good
01:40 because it's one of those, it shows that he's already adapted to
01:44 deserve his style of football.
01:46 Because sometimes when Brighton build up from the back, it's often through the lines.
01:52 But then if the press is too tight, Jason Steele will look to go long over the top.
01:57 And Idinga saw that option was available, made the run, still picked him out.
02:03 His first touch was brilliant.
02:04 And then his early finish went round the Brentford goalkeeper.
02:08 And it just looked really high quality.
02:11 He's from the left and then nipped into the bottom corner.
02:17 So, yeah, really, really encouraging signs.
02:20 I think he's going to play a big part this season.
02:23 Whether he's going to be a Premier League starter, straight off the bat is,
02:28 you know, up for debate.
02:29 But they're going to have so many matches this season and deserve.
02:33 He's going to be chopping and changing for the FA Cups, Carabao Cups, Europa League.
02:37 And I think Idinga is going to play a big, big part this season.
02:41 Very promising. Very good.
02:43 Would you say he's more of a winger or more of a striker, Darren, quickly on Idinga?
02:47 Very, very versatile.
02:48 He can play off the wing, but I think he's probably going through the middle.
02:54 Maybe not at this stage, but he looks as though he's capable of doing that.
02:58 But I think the way he was set up in this in De Serby's system,
03:02 he will play out wide and then look to cut in, similar to a Matoma role
03:07 or similar to what Soli March does.
03:09 I think the main focal point of the attacks will be, you'll see Danny Welbeck,
03:14 Kevin Ferguson playing in the central areas with perhaps Denis Ndava as well.
03:19 And then the likes of Indinga, Indingra, and then Matoma, Soli March, Enciso,
03:25 Bernatti, then they will be coming in from attacking from the flanks.
03:29 But yeah, he's got goals in him.
03:31 He's got goals in him.
03:32 I've also announced a signing of Brazilian central defender Igor from Fiorentina
03:37 this week for around £15 million.
03:39 What will he bring to the side, Frankie?
03:41 It's always good to get defensive reinforcement in, isn't it, at the club?
03:44 It certainly is, and certainly a left-sided defender as well.
03:48 Most clubs nowadays, that is the key thing they're looking for,
03:52 is that balance in your back line to have a left-footed centre-back and a right-footed
03:56 centre-back, because playing out from the back, which is what most teams do,
04:00 you know, certainly Brighton do, having someone that is strong on that foot,
04:05 on that side, really helps that build-up play work so successfully.
04:09 So, Levi Colwell was the man to do that last year.
04:12 Obviously, that deal doesn't seem like it's going to happen, despite the win in the world
04:16 from all Brighton fans, Dezerbe and, you know, throwing everything behind it.
04:21 I don't think that's going to happen.
04:22 So, to get a new player in who can play that position and can do it well,
04:27 Igor is a very, very talented player.
04:29 He seems to be very similar to the sort of Pervis Estepinhan signing, a bit of a rough
04:34 diamond, I would say.
04:35 There's all the attributes there.
04:36 He's very confident of carrying the ball out from defence.
04:39 If you ever watched Fiorentina last season, he was regularly driving into midfield
04:44 with the ball.
04:45 Very athletic, very strong, over six foot, all the classic characteristics a centre-back
04:51 will need to deal with the physicality of the Premier League.
04:54 So, I think he could be a really good, create a really good partnership with Dunk.
04:59 Like I say, that balance will be needed, but also, both two very, very strong defenders
05:04 in the air and physically will really, really suit Brighton, as was Webster alongside Dunk.
05:12 Webster used to do that, I think, very well as well, being both good on the ball, but
05:15 also good at the defensive side.
05:17 So, in my mind, I see him slotting straight into the team.
05:20 There's no, I don't think there's any sort of sitting on the bench waiting this out.
05:24 I think he's a ready-made first-team player and I think working under Dezerbe, he's going
05:28 to get better and better and better.
05:29 I think he's perfectly equipped to play in the Premier League.
05:32 I think he had a very, very good showing in the Conference League final against West Ham,
05:36 which he played a massive part of Fiorentina getting there and was very unlucky, obviously,
05:40 to lose that game in the last minute.
05:42 So overall, this is a really, really good signing for a very good price as well, £15
05:46 million, which, you know, considering they were going to spend £40 million on Levi Carwell
05:50 in today's market, that's a very good fee.
05:52 So, it ticks all the boxes.
05:54 I'm very excited to see him play.
05:56 Brighton have been relatively active in the transfer market, I'd say, this summer.
05:59 Do you still think there are areas that still need to be boosted or weaknesses that need
06:03 to be solved, Frankie, or do you think that it's all going in the right direction at the
06:06 moment?
06:07 I think the thing they need to look at probably is a couple more outgoings before they need
06:13 to look at maybe coming into the midfield area.
06:15 It's very, very crowded at the moment, not with many star players, so to speak, not anyone
06:20 that, 'Oh God, he deserves to be playing', but a number of sort of, what would be the
06:24 word, squad players.
06:25 So, I think that needs to be sorted at the moment because you don't want to have a too
06:28 over bloated squad, no matter how you want to put it.
06:31 But then also, I feel that from that, I feel like the centre mid thing with Kaysedo going
06:38 is a really tricky one to work out because, like I said, I've just said that there's loads
06:41 of midfielders there, but there's only one Kaysedo who is that good.
06:45 And then if you lose him, how far down the pecking order do you fall and how can you
06:49 bring in someone of that?
06:50 It's a really difficult balancing act because we would imagine, I mean, there's still, I
06:55 mean, I said it last week, but we're still no closer to this deal being completed.
06:58 So they might have Kaysedo for the first game of the season at this rate.
07:02 But, you know, the money they would expect to get is near £100 million.
07:06 So would they invest that straight away into a player?
07:09 That's not really Brighton's model.
07:11 Would they maybe less fee but more on the wages?
07:14 That would sort of disrupt the harmony of it.
07:16 But then they do need a player who's going to be a Europa League ready player and, you
07:21 know, keep them in that top half of the Premier League.
07:23 So there's so many different juggling, moving parts, sorry, at the moment to what will happen
07:29 until this deal is done.
07:30 Then they can decide, do we invest in getting another left-sided defender because there's
07:34 not a lot of cover for Esther Pinyan for the rest of the season?
07:38 Do we want someone that can play on the wings to fill out, to pad out that forward line
07:41 because it's looking quite healthy?
07:42 But, you know, there's still, like I said last week, there's only the Soli March you
07:46 can play as that sort of attacking right winger.
07:49 So it feels to me that for Brighton's sake, they want to sell Kaisada quickly so then
07:53 they can just get that one to bed and then finish the rest of their transfer window because
07:59 it feels that there's a lot more to do.
08:00 That's only if Kaisada goes.
08:02 So it all holds on Chelsea getting their act together, truth be told.
08:07 We're going back to the Eagle deal and we'll speak about another Chelsea player now.
08:12 Will the Eagle deal, Darren, have any effect on Brighton's pursuit of Levi Caldwell?
08:16 What's the latest there from what Frankie has said?
08:19 It basically sounds like it's looking increasingly unlikely to happen.
08:24 It does.
08:25 It does.
08:26 And I just think Chelsea want to keep Levi Caldwell.
08:29 It's as simple as that.
08:30 Pochettino has said, I want to keep him.
08:32 And it's very difficult to see Brighton actually finding the right deal to get him into the
08:41 team at the moment.
08:42 So I think that's going to be a very tricky one to negotiate.
08:48 It's a shame because he did so well for Brighton last season.
08:51 The fans loved him.
08:52 De Serby loved him and he seemed to really like being here as well.
08:57 But again, everything depends on this Kaisada deal.
09:00 And I think fans are just getting so frustrated.
09:03 You could see it a bit that De Serby, he wants to know one way or the other, but there's
09:09 still another month of the transfer window to go.
09:12 So it's going to go up until September the 1st, which is frustrating because if Kaisada
09:20 does go, how do they then, do they have time to find a suitable replacement?
09:25 Will Levi Caldwell be part of this Kaisada deal as well?
09:30 So yeah, lots depends on that.
09:32 And as Frankie said, Chelsea really need to make a decision how much they want Kaisada.
09:37 How are they willing to let Levi Caldwell go as part of that Kaisada deal?
09:42 So yeah, lots to sort out.
09:45 But I think personally, I don't think, I think Chelsea will keep Caldwell at this stage.
09:50 Do you think, Frankie, do you think Brighton are also, from their point of view, are they
09:54 desperate for everything to be solved with this Kaisada deal?
09:57 Because like Darren alluded to there, if it goes all the way up to the 1st of September,
10:01 they've got maybe a Matt Ravail just to fill quite a big hole in their side.
10:05 Absolutely.
10:06 Absolutely.
10:07 I think in any transfer dealing, whether it be a Kaisada deal or like the Eagle deal that
10:13 has just been sorted, you know, a £15 million deal, clubs want it done within a small timeframe
10:18 because it takes up a lot of effort, it takes up a lot of the boardrooms speaking to each
10:22 other, a lot of meetings, a lot of time and effort into making sure everything's done.
10:27 You know, they've got football clubs to run, so they want to get deals done as quickly
10:30 as possible.
10:31 And then the players' welfare is taken care of.
10:33 He can move.
10:34 The manager's got a new player to work with.
10:36 The other club can work on finding a replacement or get the money in or whatever they need
10:40 to do.
10:41 And everyone moves on with their life, so to speak.
10:44 And these deals, I remember Harry Maguire's when he moved to Manchester United, that took
10:49 forever as well.
10:50 And I think it impacts the players' start to their new club life because Kaisada hasn't
10:58 done a pre-season with his new Chelsea team-mates.
11:00 He still hasn't got to know them yet if he does eventually move.
11:03 That will impact his start to the season.
11:05 That will have an impact on his eventual Chelsea career, which is not a good start for him.
11:10 Chelsea aren't a 'potatino be frustrated by it'.
11:13 Everyone at the moment is angry.
11:14 And like I said last week, the only people that are to blame is the Chelsea board because
11:20 Brighton clearly said, 'We want 100 million' and gave very good reasons for it.
11:24 I mean, the Declan Rice deal happened a week before.
11:27 I think everyone would agree that Kaisada is as good as Declan Rice or could be as good
11:31 as Declan Rice.
11:32 Fair enough.
11:33 The ball is now in Chelsea's court.
11:36 And I think when we spoke last week, we were like, 'Why is this taking so long?'
11:39 A week later, from what we're reading, nothing's changed.
11:43 There's been no new bids.
11:45 Chelsea have not said they're going to move any closer.
11:47 Brighton have held firm on the 100 million.
11:49 So we've got for two weeks until the start of the season, sorry, three weeks to the start
11:53 of the season, I believe now.
11:56 Even if the deal went smoothly from here, it would probably take, because it's such
11:59 a big deal, it's still taking over 10 days to sort out.
12:02 So unless an offer gets accepted soon, we could very much be seeing a situation where
12:07 first game of the season comes around, the big question will be, does Kaisada start against
12:10 Luton?
12:12 Because these deals, these big deals take so a lot longer, because there's a lot more
12:17 clauses and things to sort out.
12:19 So unless something gets sorted this in the next coming days, Kaisada is going to have
12:24 a really difficult start to the season because his head will be all over the place.
12:27 And that doesn't help the Zerbe, that doesn't help Pochettino, it helps nobody.
12:31 So it's a real shame because he doesn't deserve this.
12:33 Do you know what I mean?
12:34 He's been a model professional.
12:35 He's not been, he's not throwing his toys at the pram, he's still training with Brighton
12:39 in America.
12:40 It's just the people, things are out of his control that are going against him.
12:44 Did we all see the hashtag #FreeKaisada when Chelsea were playing Brighton?
12:49 What do we make of that, Chaps?
12:52 Wow.
12:53 It's, yeah, I remember it came about when Leeds were trying to sign Ben White as well
12:59 from Brighton.
13:00 Yes.
13:01 And again, Brighton were, you know, in retrospect Brighton were pretty bright in that because
13:07 Leeds were offering 25 million for Ben White after you had that season on loan.
13:11 And they had one season with Brighton and they sold him for 50.
13:14 So it's, so Brighton know what they're doing in this regard.
13:18 And Kaisada actually played for Brighton last night.
13:21 He played the half an hour against Brentford in the pre-season friendly.
13:27 And again, it goes back to that sort of confusion because if he is going to play against Luton
13:33 on August the 12th, he's going to need pre-season minutes in the tank.
13:38 But in that respect as well, there's also a chance of him getting injured and scuffering
13:42 a hundred million deal for the club.
13:44 There was one moment where it was quite innocuous.
13:47 He went down injured and he just, oh no, you know, everyone's thinking, what has he done?
13:52 It turned out he just took a bit of someone's hand, went in his eye and he went down a bit.
13:59 But obviously there's that initial panic, but yeah, it's a very, very tricky balance.
14:05 He's going to need pre-season minutes if he's going to play against Luton, but equally he
14:08 could be off to Chelsea.
14:10 So I just also point out, sorry Matt, before you go on, the best example of this because
14:16 of the Brighton, the free ex-player, Ben White, Kaisada.
14:21 With Kukurela last year, when Man City were linked with him, Brighton did their normal
14:24 thing of saying, okay, this is how much we're asking for.
14:27 Manchester City straight away said, no, that was it.
14:29 They said that we don't value him at that.
14:31 We move on.
14:32 That's how a well-run club, two well-run clubs do it.
14:35 Okay, you want this player, this is how much, no thank you, move on.
14:39 Why on earth it's now become a case of when you see a poorly run club like Manchester
14:42 United used to do it for years, now it's become Chelsea.
14:45 It's like, oh, maybe we could sort of move it to here or we could offer this and offer
14:48 that and weeks and weeks go on.
14:50 That's the best example I can give of how a transfer should be done.
14:54 Moving away from Kaisada, has anyone impressed for Brighton during this summer series?
14:59 Deron, I know we've touched on Adingra, but have any of the fringe players or Academy
15:04 starlets or last year's loanees, have they shone?
15:07 Yes, yeah, there's a couple of new arrivals as well.
15:12 I think Jal Pedro, he's looked brilliant against Chelsea.
15:16 He came off the bench and made quite an incredible impact, really, considering they were down
15:20 to 10 men at the time.
15:22 He came on and really got Brighton back in the game.
15:28 He's looked very impressive and he's going to be really looking to go on the first day
15:33 of the season against Luton.
15:35 Mo Dahoud as well, he looks very comfortable in midfield as well.
15:43 He's been playing in a slightly deeper position, but he can play in advanced roles as well.
15:49 What has impressed, what he looks so good is his vision and his first touch as well.
15:54 He grabs the ball and he's already, you know, they say that the players see the picture
15:58 before they have the ball and he looks one of those.
16:02 He can just first one touch passes and he's flicking it around the corner to the runners.
16:08 I think he looks very good and he should be able to help fill that McAllister void as
16:15 well.
16:16 I've been impressed with him.
16:18 Hinshaw Wood, he's been very good as well.
16:21 We've spoke about him before on the podcast.
16:23 Played very well against Chelsea, looked very accomplished again yesterday.
16:28 Adam Lallana actually spoke about him as well and said that he thinks that he's going to
16:32 have a big say this season.
16:35 He could be the answer to this sort of, you know, on this right side with Lamptey's injury
16:40 issues he still hasn't played.
16:42 Joel Veltman as well.
16:43 So Hinshaw Wood could find himself in that right back position, which he seems very capable
16:49 of doing.
16:51 So yeah, lots to look forward to.
16:54 And it just seems as though with the squad that they have, the fans are all behind them
16:58 as well.
16:59 It just seems a really, really positive place to be at the moment going into the new season.
17:05 And you just get the feeling that they could have another build on last season, do well
17:09 in Europe as well.
17:11 They've got the squad and they have that feel-good feeling where the whole club seems to be behind
17:15 them and pushing in the right direction.
17:17 Meanwhile, Jeremy Salmiento, somewhat surprisingly, I think has joined Championship side West
17:24 Romona season on loan.
17:25 Is that a good move for him, Frankie?
17:27 Were you surprised by that move?
17:29 I must admit he didn't really feature, I think, last season because of an injury.
17:32 But did you see that one coming?
17:34 Yeah, I think if you'd asked me before he did his ankle in on international duty, I
17:39 would be very, very surprised.
17:40 I think he was...
17:41 I went to cover the Stoke City FA Cup game in the fourth round and he was excellent.
17:47 He put in a really, really good display and had shown some promising displays off the
17:51 bench.
17:52 But then, Deserby did mention a number of times last season that the younger players,
17:57 including Salmiento, lacked a bit of the sort of, I guess, the physicality and the sort
18:02 of fire that is needed to be a Premier League player, bring him off the bench in a number
18:06 of games and not particularly being of that standard.
18:10 So I think that coinciding with this ankle injury, which has meant that he's missed nearly
18:14 three, four months of football, I think a loan move is probably for the best with the
18:19 new additions.
18:20 This from people like Gilles Pedro and Dehood and Lallana coming back as well.
18:26 The sort of...
18:27 Salmiento could get lost in the shuffle if he had stayed because he's still a very, very
18:31 talented player and has gone and put in some eye-catching performances last season.
18:36 I remember specifically at Goodison Park, he played very, very well in Brighton's 4-1
18:41 win against Frank Lampard's Everton.
18:43 So there's definitely a player in there.
18:44 And obviously, that injury probably has derailed him.
18:47 So I think a season-long loan, or however long it is, at a club like West Brom, who
18:51 I'm sure will be one of the best teams in the Championship next season, will probably
18:55 be good for him.
18:56 Because I think, speaking about Brighton's loan policy, we speak a lot about their transfer
19:03 finding players and bringing them in for small fees.
19:06 I think their use of loans has been excellent.
19:08 You associate most clubs with loaning out players and, well, they just loan them out
19:11 before they sell them, sort of thing.
19:14 But we've seen with Adjouna and Alzate last year, two excellent loans back into the first
19:19 team squad.
19:20 That was an effective use of that loan move.
19:22 I think Saramento could do the exact same thing.
19:24 If he shines at West Brom, Brighton have no qualms of, if you impress, you're back in.
19:30 So he should look at those two last seasons.
19:32 It's an opportunity to revitalise his career, basically.
19:36 It's not a worry about him.
19:37 You still think he has a future at the club, then?
19:39 The loan move's just to get him back out to the league?
19:41 100 per cent.
19:42 If he was at any other club, like I said, it's normally a case of, 'We're loaning you
19:46 out before we sell you', sort of thing.
19:47 Or, 'We're loaning you out until the end of your contract, and then we'll leave you'.
19:50 But with the way that Brighton operate, if he sparkles, which he definitely has the potential
19:55 to do, I think he could have got a loan move to someone like Luton or Sheffield United,
20:01 who played a role in a Premier League club very well.
20:03 But to go into the Championship, I think he can really show what he's worth and get regular
20:07 minutes starting games and prove why there's been a lot of talk about him.
20:12 Because he's international, that's not for gaming, it's the World Cup.
20:15 So clearly, there's a lot of hype there, and undeserved hype.
20:18 He's a classy player, ready to burst onto the scene, I think.
20:22 The transfer policy has been a hot topic for Crawley Town fans.
20:29 We've seen a number of experienced players go out, and on paper, inexperienced League
20:33 2 players come in.
20:34 The owners met with the CTSA this week to discuss matters at the club, including the
20:38 transfer policy.
20:39 How did that go, Mark?
20:42 Yeah, I think everybody was surprised that the owners met with the CTSA, for starters.
20:50 That communication with fans has been lacking, shall we say, at the least.
20:55 But yeah, they met with them last week, and the main topic of conversation was the transfer
20:59 policy, because obviously the fans, they seem bewildered by the transfer policy of getting
21:05 rid of anyone who's played League 2 football and bringing in people who haven't played
21:07 League 2 football.
21:09 But I mean, if you look into it, there are players that have got League 2 experience.
21:15 But Evan Smith and Preston Johnson, the co-owners and co-chairmen, they said they expressed
21:21 their satisfaction with how the transfer window has progressed, and are positive about what
21:25 the transfer window holds.
21:27 And they said that the strategy has yielded some promising early results.
21:30 I think people have been looking for them to actually quantify that, and how has it
21:37 yielded positive results already?
21:40 But as we've said many times on this podcast, haven't we, that they've got rid of the
21:45 likes of George Frankham, Tony Craig, Jake Hesentiler, James Tilley.
21:49 Looks like Ashley Nadeson could be on his way out as well.
21:52 They're people with vast experience in League 2, and then the players that have come in
21:57 have all come from majority non-league.
22:00 They've all started at league clubs, but not played many games.
22:04 But yeah, so I don't think the CTSA or the fans are convinced, and I think they're just
22:12 paying them a bit of lip service, saying that they're happy with how it's gone.
22:15 But yeah, they need to communicate with the fans more about the transfer policy, I think,
22:20 just to say what they're doing.
22:21 But I know what your next question is, so I can go straight into it if you want.
22:25 I did speak to Scott Lindsay on Monday about it.
22:34 And sort of said the fans are frustrated with the transfer policy.
22:39 But he just said things change, and change is good.
22:44 I mean, up and down the country, he said that clubs everywhere get rid of players that have
22:49 played a long time at the club.
22:51 Fans do get attached to certain players.
22:54 I mean, all the players they've got rid of, what's the highest they finished?
22:57 12th in League 2.
22:58 So it's not like that.
23:00 I mean, I'm not going to criticise them, but it's not like they were going to win, probably,
23:05 the league this year, those players.
23:06 So why not bring in fresh blood?
23:08 And Scott Lindsay said that's what they're trying to do at the club.
23:10 They're trying to unearth sort of non-league footballers that are going to do well at this
23:14 level.
23:15 And he said they're not just getting rid of players willy-nilly for the sake of it, was
23:19 his actual phrase.
23:21 But they want to, yeah, they're trying to improve what they've got for the longevity
23:24 of the club and able to compete at this level.
23:26 And they think the younger and fresher players are going to do better for them this year.
23:30 And we all know what happened last year with those players that they've got rid of.
23:35 So why not give younger, fresher players a chance?
23:39 You mentioned him there, Asheen Addison.
23:42 Is there any more news on that or the potential sale of Nick Sarula?
23:47 I saw that Nick was on the score sheet against Haybridge Swiss on the midweek, third go in
23:52 pre-season.
23:53 Yeah, there's no updates as yet.
23:58 It's interesting, Asheen Addison didn't appear to play on against Haybridge Swiss.
24:04 He certainly wasn't in the line-up.
24:09 And yeah, I mean, I know we're going to come on to those friendlies, but after the comments
24:13 Scott Lindsay made after the Portsmouth game and then the footage, then the footage released
24:18 by Portsmouth of the second half of that game with a few of the goals, we could see who
24:23 was playing in that half where Scott Lindsay said, some of these players won't play for
24:28 this club again.
24:29 I'm not putting two and two together and making four on that, but people can read between
24:35 the lines and we'll see.
24:37 But I mean, it's heavily rumored that Sutton United have put in a bid, £15,000, I think
24:42 it is for Asheen Addison.
24:45 The fact that he didn't play against Henry, Haybridge Swiss on Tuesday, I think is a big
24:51 deal.
24:52 It'll be interesting if he plays against Bromley this weekend.
24:54 But yeah, Nick Cerrulla, I mean, he's playing, I mean, from what I saw against East Grinstead,
24:59 he was by far the best player on show in the second half.
25:04 And by all accounts, he scored a couple of goals now in pre-season and he has looked
25:07 the business.
25:08 So, yeah, he's playing, he could be playing a League One Nick Cerrulla.
25:15 So if he went to another League Two club, I'd be very surprised.
25:18 I think he should be aiming higher, but he's a player I think is going to be vital for
25:22 Scott Lindsay this year.
25:25 You've also touched upon the owners.
25:26 Again, they've managed to put their foot in it.
25:30 Preston Johnson upset the fans this week.
25:31 What did he do and why are the fans so outraged, Mark?
25:37 Well, this is a funny one because I do feel a little bit sorry for him.
25:43 I'm sure the fans are going to hate me for saying that, but he was on a Twitter live
25:47 space thing, whatever it's called, and it was about music.
25:52 He loves his music, Preston Johnson.
25:53 Anyone who follows him on Instagram, on Twitter, he's always tweeting about mainly basketball
25:58 and music.
25:59 And I know he sings in a band and I think he plays drums as well.
26:03 And he was just on a Twitter live just talking about some new artists and that and whether
26:08 Web3 can create the song of the summer or something, I think the space was called.
26:15 And so on this Twitter space, Crawley fans kind of came on and sort of under the radar
26:21 a little bit.
26:22 And then when the guy who was hosting it said, "What do people think of that track?"
26:27 A Crawley fan piped up and said, "I've got a question.
26:29 Preston, you're rubbish at music, you're rubbish at running a football club.
26:33 When are you going to sell the club?
26:34 Wag me out," kind of thing.
26:36 And there was another comment from another guy and Preston, and he has come out and apologized
26:42 for misspeaking afterwards.
26:45 He said, "Oh, all you're going to get is crazy Crawley fans on here now."
26:51 And obviously the fans have latched onto this because it happened to happen while they were
26:54 playing the friendly against Haybridge Swifts.
26:57 So a lot of the tweets were, "Rather than watching the team he owns play in a preseason
27:03 friendly, he's on a Twitter space talking about music and calling Crawley fans crazy."
27:10 Now he wasn't calling all Crawley fans crazy.
27:12 I think we can all accept that, but a lot of fans seemed to think it was all encompassing.
27:16 So he shouldn't have said it and he knows he shouldn't have said it.
27:21 And yeah, but he's come out and apologized, which was surprised everyone that he's actually
27:28 communicating with the fans.
27:30 He did it through us, which was great for me.
27:32 So I quite enjoyed that.
27:33 But I think Crawley fans are annoyed that it is through us.
27:36 He should be doing it directly with them.
27:37 And I kind of get that.
27:39 But yeah, and within his apology, he did sort of say he understands and appreciates that
27:47 they're upset with the performances and that they haven't been talking.
27:50 And he takes that criticism and he takes responsibility for it.
27:53 So he has come out and said that he did ask that the criticism doesn't cross the line
27:59 into harassment.
28:00 And there has been some pretty vile comments towards him.
28:05 I know last season he revealed that he had death threats and threats to be beaten up,
28:10 et cetera, and all that.
28:11 And I mean, most normal sane Crawley fans know that's crossing the line.
28:16 No football fan should do that, but we know it happens.
28:20 But yeah, they're going to continue liaising with the CTSA.
28:22 And he just says he hopes everyone gets behind Scott and the players for that and back them
28:27 this season.
28:28 But yeah, it was just an unfortunate event, wasn't it?
28:32 Probably the moment he said crazy Crawley fans, he knew that was it.
28:35 He's like, I mean, Johnson, he could comb his beard slightly wrong and Crawley fans
28:39 would go crazy.
28:40 So and he wouldn't be right.
28:42 So yeah, it was a not a fun story to cover, but it was just like just another thing for
28:52 the book would I probably eventually write about Wagley taking over Crawley Town.
28:57 When will that book be coming out?
28:58 I mean, it probably beats a quiet life, doesn't it?
29:00 All this Crawley Town stuff.
29:01 Absolutely, yeah, I've got I've got all my recordings.
29:08 I mean, it all starts with Mr. Yens, doesn't it?
29:10 So yeah, there's a few conversations I've had with him that could make a few good chapters.
29:14 So yeah, yeah, no, it would make a fascinating book probably called We Are Not Going to Make
29:20 It, I think, or something like that.
29:22 Who knows?
29:23 Who knows?
29:24 Well, whilst all this was going on with Preston putting his foot in it, Crawley actually did
29:30 play some football this week.
29:32 They lost 9-1 to Portsmouth, which Marcus mentioned.
29:35 They also beat Haverford Swift 7-1 on Tuesday.
29:38 What did we learn from those games, Mark, apart from Crawley Town aren't as good as
29:42 the league one side?
29:43 Yeah, it's funny.
29:44 I mean, 9-1 is the scoreline, but it was two separate games.
29:49 So the first game was 2-1 and 7-0.
29:53 But people will call it the club tweeted it as a 9-1 defeat and that just wound people
29:57 up straight away, I think.
30:00 It was a behind closed doors game.
30:01 So people were wondering why they did cover it so much on social media.
30:06 And it does seem a bit odd to tweet that you've lost 9-1 in a game that was behind closed
30:11 doors.
30:12 But what we learned from it is we know Scott Lindsay is going to be very honest in interviews
30:15 afterwards.
30:16 He played a second half 11 that he said that there were some players that will never play
30:22 for this club again.
30:24 I understand that there were players that had ducked out of headers when crosses were
30:31 coming in and that, and just not committed and not running.
30:34 And I think that really frustrated Scott Lindsay.
30:37 And yeah, like I said, if you look at the lineup for Haybridge-Swifts and there were
30:40 a couple of players you didn't see in that lineup.
30:44 And you saw there was, yeah, it's like the snowball effect, jigsaw effect, sorry, not
30:49 snowball, the jigsaw effect of putting all the things together, Paul Smith's videos and
30:53 all that.
30:54 And you can tell who was playing and who probably isn't going to be playing for Crawley under
30:57 Scott Lindsay again.
30:59 But Haybridge-Swifts, I think what we learned was probably when nearing what his starting
31:03 lineup will be against Bradford.
31:06 He played, he said he was going to play a strong side and it was a strong side.
31:09 There was no trialists, certainly in the first half.
31:13 And yeah, Danilo Orsi looked really good.
31:16 He scored another couple of goals.
31:17 Dom Telford got a couple.
31:19 Yeah, Nick Cerrulla again, he scored and he looked like he was involved in most goals.
31:24 Kellen Gordon looked really good on the attack, right wing backs.
31:29 It looks like they're going to be playing two wing backs with Kellen Gordon on the right,
31:33 Nick Cerrulla on the left.
31:34 And that's quite a two experienced league, two players, key positions that are going
31:39 to be violent defense and setting up attacks as well.
31:42 So yeah, no, I think, yeah, we certainly, I think Scott Lindsay would have found both
31:47 really eye opening things from Paul Smith knowing who he doesn't want and from Haybridge-Swifts
31:53 who he does want.
31:55 And people would say, some Crawley fans were saying, oh, it's only Haybridge-Swifts, but
32:01 you can only beat what's in front of you.
32:02 If they'd gone out and beaten Haybridge-Swifts 1-0, Crawley fans would have moaned.
32:05 So it's, yeah, it's good to see them go out and do a professional job and for those strikers
32:11 to get key, to get goals and start confidence before that Bradford game.
32:16 Well, they visit, Crawley visit Bromley on Saturday in the final game of pre-season.
32:22 Could we, and you've kind of touched upon it there, Mark, could we expect to see the
32:24 lineup start against Bradford City next week for the league opener, take the field or start
32:29 against Bromley?
32:30 I think, I think we will.
32:33 I think, um, he, Scott Lindsay said to me this week that, well, actually he said in
32:38 the post-match to the Haybridge-Swifts game that they are still expecting to sign a couple
32:42 of experienced players in the next couple of weeks.
32:46 The rumours are that Bez Lubala, who was at Crawley previously under Gabriel Joffe, he,
32:52 he was a big hit when he was at Crawley in 32 games, he scored something like 12 goals
32:56 and he was, yeah, he scored in the league cup winning against Norwich when Norwich were
33:01 in the Premier League.
33:03 So yeah, so if he came in, that adds another dimension.
33:08 I mean, I don't know where he fits in when you've got the likes of Danilo Orsi, who's
33:13 playing really well, Dom Telford, who is obviously the main striker.
33:17 Harry Forst has been playing really well in pre-season, he's obviously coming up against
33:21 his old club.
33:23 I think we will see, barring maybe one or two players, I think we will see the formation
33:29 and what and who will be playing against Bradford on that first game on August the 5th.
33:35 Well, meanwhile, Cookfield remain top of the Sussex Cricket Premier Division and a washout
33:41 of a weekend for all teams in division means their 21-point lead is unchanged.
33:46 All of last Saturday's Sussex Premier Division matches got underway, but four of the five
33:49 soon fell prey to the rain sweeping across from the west.
33:52 The exception was at Eastbourne, where visiting Horsham made 241 for six to clear off their
33:56 50 overs.
33:57 There was just time for Eastbourne to reply, but after they lost a early wicket, the rain
34:01 duly arrived and that was it.
34:04 With all five matches abandoned, it was a case of 10 points all round, leaving the order
34:08 of the table unchanged.
34:09 Leaders Cookfield 21 points clear of East Gwinstead with Preston No Man's Third and
34:13 Horsham Fourth.
34:15 Any more for any more chaps?
34:16 Anything you'd like to mention that we haven't covered?
34:19 No, all good from me.
34:24 I'll take that as a no.
34:25 Brilliant.
34:26 So, Alex, thank you very much for joining us, chaps.
34:27 Absolute pleasure as always.
34:28 You can catch up with all the latest sports news covering everything we've talked about
34:32 today at sussexworld.co.uk/sport.
34:35 Thank you very much for listening and we will see you all next week.