New Crawley Town manager Kevin Betsy has been singing the praises of opposite number Paul Simpson ahead of the opening League Two game at Brunton Park tomorrow.
Betsy worked with Simpson at England Youth level when the two were coaching the next generation of Three Lions.
Betsy told Sussex World: “Carlisle is managed by a fantastic human being in Paul Simpson. I know him really well. He’s an outstanding manager, very well organised defensively but has a real attacking threat too.
“It’s no surprise Carlisle appointed him again. He’s already been promoted with them before (2004-05) and is nothing but a good fit. We’ll do our best to pull something on him though.”
New Crawley owners WAGMI United have backed the appointment of Betsy with a three-year contract and with 10 new signings.
“The squad we’ve assembled so far makes team selection really difficult,” said Betsy. “We’ve worked really hard behind the scenes with our recruitment with a lot of analytical work.
“We want competition. There are players in this squad that need competition. They have to mindful that other players are just behind them.
“With injuries and suspensions, throughout this season we want two challenging players in each position. That next player needs to be ready to step up and fits the standard of the first team.”
Although ten players have joined the Crawley revolution they only have an average age of 22, so the experience comes from the players retained.
However Betsy says: “Hopefully we’ve got a real good blend of experience and youth for this season. We’re really excited to see how they’ll play; see how they’ll gel and most of all their quality.
“The window doesn’t shut until the end of August .Players will be leaving us, and we’re extremely grateful to them. But players will be joining as well because that’s the evolution of a football club. We’re thankful for the past and looking forward to the future.”
Betsy, a former Arsenal youth academy manager. Added: “It’s a new era now,but we can talk about what we’re doing off the pitch all we like, producing in games is what matters.
“There’s going to be ups and downs this season, but we need to stick together through the bad times and good. We can’t get too ahead of ourselves; we know our plan and that’s all we can do.”
Crawley have been pigeon-holed as a long-ball, direct up and at ‘em side but Betsy has introduced a new approach with the emphasis on passing and possession.
“If they’ve been doing things a certain way for a long time, that can form an ingrained habit. But all the players have adjusted and progressed really well. We want to see that quality on Saturday and then take it into the rest of the season,” he concluded.
