Crawley Town's League One encounter with Charlton Athletic was called off just 20 minutes before kick-off due yo a waterlogged pitch.
Here is Reds boss Rob Elliot on the postponement, fixture congestion and the return of Antony Papadopoulos
Here is Reds boss Rob Elliot on the postponement, fixture congestion and the return of Antony Papadopoulos
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00A slight disappointment here at the Bournemouth Stadium this afternoon, only 20 minutes from
00:03kick-off and the game was postponed. Frustration, but I suppose the message to the fans is it's
00:08all in the interest of player safety, isn't it?
00:10Yeah, it's out of our hands, isn't it, unfortunately. So the referee's got to make their decisions
00:15based on whatever they make their decisions on. Yeah, you have to respect that. It's obviously
00:21disappointing for everyone to be in the stadium and so close to kick-off and obviously on
00:25New Year's Day with a full crowd, especially with the atmosphere the way it was at Birmingham.
00:28So from our point of view, obviously we lose out on that. But yeah, like you say, it's
00:32out of your hands like that. You just have to go with what the rules say and I suppose
00:38that player safety etc. is the main thing that you have to adhere by because if anything
00:44does go wrong, that's the reason these things are in place in the first place. So frustrating
00:47because yeah, a good New Year's Day game for us, but you have to control the controllables
00:53basically.
00:54Yeah, and what does the rest of the day look like for the players? Are you sending them
00:57off to the gym or is it sort of just a rare chance considering the schedule we've had?
01:03Not to say that this will necessarily work in our favour, but maybe it will be a chance
01:06for a bit of respite for the players. What are you going to do with it?
01:09They're doing some work now. They're doing some work in the gym now. They'll get as best
01:13as they can physical output. So yeah, it gives us an opportunity to obviously have a day
01:19off tomorrow and then prep for Barnsley. So we'll go and figure that all out now because
01:29obviously it does change plans and what not. But I just said to the players, you've prepared
01:33right, you've sacrificed over Christmas and we've probably been given the worst fixture
01:39schedule over this festive period to be honest with you. I don't know how the right word
01:47to say it is without getting in trouble to be honest with you. So maybe this gives us
01:53a little bit of a breathing space for where we've been put in one position. We have to
01:57use it as a positive as best we can. You get ready for a game and you're looking forward
02:01to a big game and obviously against a very good team, we're obviously in form. Now we
02:06have to reset and use this rest period to go to Barnsley and tackle that on all fronts.
02:10Yeah, and finally just a big thank you to the fans as you say who had already started
02:14to make their travels for the second consecutive home match. We were about to have a sell-out
02:18crowd which is absolutely incredible obviously for the club, for the players and for the
02:23fans as a whole collective. So a big thank you to them and obviously we'll see them in
02:27the rearranged fixture but rest up before a long trip to Barnsley again I suppose.
02:31Yeah and that was the thing, I obviously spoke to a lot of fans after and staff and obviously
02:35so frustrating and I think that was the brilliant thing was the atmosphere against Birmingham
02:39was brilliant. Definitely pushed the lads along in such a difficult game against a top
02:45team and it was a brilliant atmosphere. It was a great night for the club and to do it
02:47again in the next home game, a sell-out crowd, it was brilliant. I think this season is going
02:56to be one of those ones where it's all up, down, here, there and everywhere and we just
02:59need to make sure we stay consistent and keep being positive and doing the right things.
03:04Obviously for us, on reflection there was a lot of positives. Obviously the way we played
03:08for the first 55-60 minutes and then obviously the negatives in terms of the way we ended
03:13the game, irrelevant of refereeing decisions etc, we still expect better for ourselves
03:18so it was a good opportunity for us to attack that but we'll have to go and do that to Barnsley,
03:23a very strong team away from home but again another fantastic day out for the fans and
03:30the club in what will hopefully be a very good game.
03:35Are you worried about a little bit of fixture congestion as we get into January, February?
03:45Not after this week, no. I think it's a game of football at the end of the day, you just
03:52have to deal with the cards you're given and whenever the games are rearranged for, you
03:56just have to deal with it and you have to be ready to attack it and reassess in terms
04:02of what you have to plan for in training. When things are out of your control, you can't
04:08focus on that, you just have to focus on what you can control. All we can focus on now is
04:11our training in the next couple of days, ready for Barnsley and then obviously a week's gap
04:17ready for Burton after that. You can't get too caught up in things that you can't control,
04:22if you do then you waste energy that's not needed.
04:25Anthony Papadopoulos has been superb out on loan, he's someone that we really like, he's
04:44a fantastic professional, trains really well, he's got a goal in him and with us losing
04:49Adi, losing Harry and not having a wide option or someone who can play wing back, perhaps
04:54to be fair to him, he can play a lot of positions, he's played the 10, the 8, but he has played
04:58wing back and I think he could be affected there. I've just felt that he deserved this
05:02opportunity and I wanted someone who has the energy output that he has, he gives absolutely
05:06everything, he'll run himself into the ground high intensity, consistently, he'll fight
05:10for every ball and he's got quality, he knows a goal and he can find a goal. Like I've said
05:14on many occasions, for us to be successful and to survive, we need to be on the front
05:20foot, we need to be aggressive, we need to be positive. That doesn't always look like
05:23that when we play, obviously after Exeter, you have to take Junior off because it's his
05:29first 60 minutes and that's all he can do, it's all he's earmarked to, so you have to
05:32take Jun's off. But we want to attack every game in every way possible, we want to go
05:38and score goals, we also want to be solid defensively and keep clear sheets. I think
05:44Paps falls into that because he works so hard off the ball but he's got quality on the ball
05:48and I think he's someone, not just for now but for the rest of the season, with and around
05:53the squad or probably even further along to be honest with you because he's on his own
05:57journey of development. Really pleased and disappointed for him at the same time because
06:02it was a good opportunity for him, one he deserved but I'm sure there'll be many more
06:06to come for him as long as he keeps doing what he's doing. It's positive for us that
06:11we have someone like Paps who's gone out and done the hard yards and is ready to come back
06:16into the squad. And are you expecting any ins and outs quickly in this transfer window?
06:21To be honest with you, at this moment in time, no. We might have one player coming in before
06:25Barnsley but I think that all depends on getting things sorted but that would be more someone
06:31to come in to help the squad. I don't know where we're at with that to be pretty honest
06:36because the game's coming to a pick and fast. One of the reasons coming in, obviously the
06:41recruitment at Gateshead and obviously the way they do recruitment here is trying to
06:46add to that and merge them so that we can go and get players that maybe are undervalued
06:50elsewhere and add value and add strength to the squad. And I think as long as we're improving
06:55the squad and we're bringing players in that add to the culture and add to the playing
06:58style and that they improve us on and off the pitch, then that's all you can do. So
07:03yeah, I think everyone's working hard behind the scenes to make sure that happens and on
07:07the flip side, making sure that everyone who's at the club buys into what we're doing
07:14because it's going to take everyone, not just on the pitch, off the pitch to keep us in
07:18this league.