The Real Red Devils - A Crawley Town Story

[Sam91]

Hello people, I'm back!!!! I've decided to type up my Crawley Town save as I've really enjoyed it so far and I'm 3 seasons in. The first two seasons I'll do in whole posts to save time and get up to date, then I'll do monthly posts like my previous stories.


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[Sam91]

2013/14 Season

Transfers

I basically had no transfer funds and the wage budget was tight too so I had to work mainly with loans and free's. First thing I did though was bad Southampton as a Parent club and loaned in a number of their youngsters, notably Jake Sinclair and Omar Rowe both nippy wingers. The squad was pretty small so I got in a lot of squad players to help cope with the busy season ahead the likes of Esteban Lopez and Luke Giverin were never going to be important players but key for rotating. Matt Tubbs was already in on loan from Bournemouth as well.



League Cup

So in the League Cup we crashed out to Burnley in the second round in a tight match, I wasn't too fussed as promotion was the main aim for this season and the league cup would have only proven to be a bit of a distraction and would have caused my small squad to suffer fitness wise too.



FA Cup

Not a bad run by any means getting knocked out in the 4th round to Premier League side Swansea in a 3-2 defeat. The run gave us a decent little boost in finances as the club was in deep trouble in this aspect....



Sky Bet League 1


So the big one. I targeted a Play-Off spot before the season pinning most of my hopes of club legend Matt Tubbs who was in on loan from Championship side Bournemouth. Andy Drury was also going to be important his stats looked decent for a league 1 side but getting him to perform was going to be a different matter. Anyway lets have a look at how the table stood at the end of the season....

Boom, won the title by 4 points. It was really tight until the last few months when the likes of Wolves and Brentford started dropping points everywhere and we stormed up the table and pipped Peterborough at the end to the title. Bristol City joined us via the play-offs.

Here's the best eleven of the season with Matty Tubbs easily the best player, the two centre backs were always solid enough as well. Papa Bouba Diop anchored the midfield well too with Andy Drury and Josh Simpson doing a solid enough job in the middle of the park. Rory Fallon proved important too when called upon.



Anyway thats the first season out of the way, promotion secured to the Championship but how would we cope with the step up in class? Money was an issue, our stadium is tiny(5000 seater) and our finances are a bit of a mess with ourselves a decent whack in the red so we were never going to get too much of a transfer budget and our partnership with Southampton was going to be key again in securing some talent.... Season 2 post coming soon!!







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[minergy]

A great season, I will follow. What tactic are you using cos you're results are great.


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[Sam91]

A great season, I will follow. What tactic are you using cos you're results are great.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

Thanks mate, honestly cant remember which one I used massively pretty sure I changed between 3 different ones depending on who I had available and who I was up against!! Remember Fallon and Tubbs being very effective up top together as a Target Man and Poacher combo!!

 

[Sam91]

Season 2 update will be up tomorrow evening then I should have finished season 3 by Sunday to type that up then regular monthly updates from then on

 

[Sam91]

2014/15 Season

So after last seasons promotion we find ourselves mixing it in the Championship for the clubs first time in its history!!! A lot of changes were gonna have to happen, firstly the stadium needed improving so we would be ground sharing with Millwall until March 2015. Next up the transfers, a lot of deadwood would need moving on and we were going to have to work on the free's due to our suffering finances!!



Transfers

So departing after the end of their contracts were a number of players including Dicker, Torres, Sadler and numerous others who just weren't at Championship standard. I used our link with Southampton to loan in Omar Rowe. Picked up Isgrove on a free too which was a good piece of business. Tubbs was loaned in for the season to lead the line along with Alex Nimely who had been released from City. Garbutt was also brought in on loan, Sam Hutchinson was a decent free too providing we could keep him fit. Ex Newcastle, Chelsea and Fulham winger Damien Duff was snapped up on a free also.



League Cup

A stunning run in the league cup meant we were in our first cup final ever!! We'd had a kind run with Reading and Leicester our only real tests. Also a cracking win over Hull meant we did deserve this, waiting in the final was Tottenham Hotspur.....

Heartbreak.... after Tubbs gave us the lead I got a bit excited but we were brought down to Earth and Eriksen ran the show completely. Still a great run and it brought some real feel good atmosphere to the club, plus some much needed money!!!



FA Cup

Another solid cup run ended against Chelsea, we were down to 10 men just before half-time when our right back Connolly was sent off. We equalised though with Fallon but Oscar gave them the win in the 74th minute. Still a solid cup run though.



Sky Bet Championship


Its a real tough league the Championship... we got off to a solid start but form started to slip and we spent the majority of the season lingering just outside the play-offs. It came down to the final day and we were sat in 6th, but Blackburn were 2 points behind us, we had to face 4th place Huddersfield.. we lost 1-0. Blackburn had Peterborough and were leading till the 90th minute when Peterborough equalised!!!! True fairytale stuff but we made the play-offs......


Play-Offs Semi Final 1st Leg

I'll take a draw after we had 2 players sent off!! Not a bad result at all but leaves us with a big task in the second leg away from home.



Play-Off's Semi Final 2nd Leg

GET IT!!! Great win here to take us to the play off final. Very fitting that my brilliant big and little partnership of Fallon and Tubbsy get the goals.



Play Off Final

YES!!! Promotion secured and fully deserved too with this stunning win over Huddersfield. I made a big call dropping Fallon for the final but after seeing they had Hibbert and Gerrard at the back I chose the pacey Nimely and boy did he work wonders scoring a stunning hat-trick to fire us into the promised land!!



Best 11

Can't argue too much with it. Nimely and Tubbs getting 20+ goals each was great and Fallon played his part too. Mark Connolly and Joe Walsh were immense at the back and loanee Minkwitz was an important player too.



So next up we have our debut season in the Premier League, I've finished it already so will type it up later or tomorrow xD hope people are enjoying. Thanks for reading!!​

 

[Sam91]

2015/16 Season

So after securing promotion last season via the play-offs we found ourselves in the promised land of the mighty Premier League!!! Our stadium would again require upgrading to make it up to league standards so for a few months we'd have to ground share with Spurs. Before all that though there was some gutting required once more in the transfer window.....


Transfers

So I was given a fair bit of money to spend. ?13m in fact but I moved most of it over to the wage budget and worked with free's. Leaving was a number of players not of BPL standard and also Michael Stanford that regen keeper I picked up, Liverpool were willing to pay ?3m for him and I didn't like the fact he had 20 eccentricity so I was more than happy for him to leave.

Coming in was a number of young players, the likes of Josh McEachran and Oliver Norwood on free's to sure up the midfield. Patrick Bamford was also snapped up to add some firepower, Luke Garbutt was signed on a free after a successful loan spell last season with us and Matthew Briggs was also purchased as his backup. As for attacking midfielders Ruben Rochina was brought in for ?1m and Gael Kakuta was signed on a free. Micah Richards was a huge signing on a free after he was released by City. In January I loaned Jerome Sinclair and Charlie Colkett two young lads who had a decent impact but the two big signings were Lewis Baker and Michael Mancienne who both will have very bright futures at the club!!



Capital One Cup

No fairytale of last season as we crashed out to Southampton in the third round. Wasn't really too fussed about cups this season as my full focus was on survival.



FA Cup

A great run in the FA Cup here but once again Tottenham stopped us from any glory. What made it even worse was they faced Championship side Middlesbrough in the final!!!! We could have won it if we'd managed to overcome Spurs. Never mind still a great run from us.



Premier League

Not bad!! Not bad at all. We really struggled before Christmas, it took us until October until we got our first win and even that was a scrappy one over Derby. But after the incomes of Mancienne and Baker in January we really seemed to click even beating Liverpool 4-2 which was easily our best result of the season! It ended up being pretty comfortable in the end after a very very shaky start in which I actually thought we were going to be relegated. Onwards and upwards from here on out though!!



Best 11

So 3 survivals from our League 1 side are Mark Connolly, Joe Walsh and Paul Jones and all three played a key part in us staying up this season. Papa Bouba Diop and Norwood did a decent job in the middle of the park but I think it was Diops last season with us as he's now 38. Bamford ended up playing mostly out of position on the right wing but did a solid enough job, Kakuta also played out of position on the left wing. Rochina was a bit of a disappointment considering we forked out ?1m for him which is a lot of money for us.



So that was our first season in the Premier League and it was a thrilling one indeed, a decent run in the FA Cup and we secured survival quite nicely in the end. But we need to improve and start moving up the table and winning some trophies too and hopefully that starts next season!!!!!
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[coolmcool]

Love a good freebie

 

[Sam91]

Love a good freebie

Something satisfying about signing a decent player for nothing, got an even better one in the next season update should have this season finished by tomorrow then I'll type it up then monthly updates from there!!

 

[coolmcool]

Something satisfying about signing a decent player for nothing, got an even better one in the next season update should have this season finished by tomorrow then I'll type it up then monthly updates from there!!

Love them for my Limerick save but the best i have had so far is my new winger for Man Utd, Signed on a free and valued at ?24Million the next day!

 

[Sam91]

2016/17 Season

So after last seasons relegation battle which ended up seeing us finish 15th I wanted to see us press up the table. I was given ?13m to spend once again but once again I shifted most of it over to the wage budget and worked on free's, found one of two little gems I'd say.....



Transfers

So leaving the club and saying a teary farewell was Josh Simpson and Kyle McFadzean, both have been with the club since its conference days but I chose not to renew their contracts and they were given a hero's goodbye. Dunk, Rochina and Nimely were sold for small fee's after failing to impress last season, Nimely done okay but after my summer signings he wasn't needed anymore.

Coming in on sme decent free deals were the obviously better Hazard, Thorgan!! Along with him Kishna and Tarin, but most notably Rodrigo Gomez who's contract had come to an end and I swiftly moved in and tied him down to the mighty Crawley, a real coup that!! Harry Kane was loaned in, and I purchased Tony Watt from Celtic as well. Marco Speranza was panic bought due to injuries to Garbutt and Walsh left us short at left back at the start of the season. Anis Gasmi is a solid looking regen centre back who featured a fair amount.

In January we snapped up Jason Lowe as I needed a new ball winning midfielder, Mervan Celik was also signed on a free. Two regens were signed, Anderson a Brazilian keeper who at the age of 20 will be thrown straight in and Vascan a right winger who looks hallf decent.



Capital One Cup

Another solid run until eventual Champions Chelsea knocked us out with two late goals!!



FA Cup

Only made it as far as the fourth round here getting knocked out to the might City. We should have won the first game against them but James Ward-Prowse smashed in a free kick in the last minute to force a replay.



Premier League


So after two quite disappointing cup runs if we wanted to make this season memorable, lets see if we managed that...

BOOM!! Sixth!!! Quite spectacular, we were lingering around the top half all season and on the final day we were sitting 8th. We had Spurs at home and Arsenal had Stoke at home. We were 1-0 down at half-time to Spurs, but after some strong words and a goal each from Kakuta and Thorgan Hazard we pulled out the win. I checked the Arsenal game straight away and saw they had fallen to a 2-1 defeat which meant we stole 6th an European football would grace the Broadfield Stadium!!



Best 11

Tony Watt came in and his goals were important indeed as we secured a 6th place finish. The backline needs improving though that's for sure with Micah Richards our only real ''star''. Kakuta really upped his game this season and Rodrigo Gomez started to show some stunning form towards the end of the season. Kishna and Celik need to up their form though, I really want one of them to try and lay claim to that left wing role.



So now I've finally caught up with myself I'll be doing monthly updates from now on, I'll also do a meet the squad update so everyone can see the regens and get a view of the team.
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[coolmcool]

Amazing mate! Doing really well and Gomez was the player i was talking about on a free transfer for Man Utd! Now at Crawley, lol

 

[minergy]

What a season, great form.


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[Sam91]

August 2017

Six new signings and plenty leaving
Europa league Play-Off tie nice and simple
Spurs and Liverpool in the league



Transfers

So leaving us on frees were two long time servants in Paul Jones and Sam Hutchinson, both have been solid enough players but it was time to start thinking to the future with Brazilian regen keeper Anderson just 20 and about as good as Jones we let him go. Hutcho has been a great right back for us but again he was getting on a bit and Micah Richards is a bit better and I signed young regen Nicky Walker from West Ham who I wanted to give game-time to. I also sold Oliver Norwood as I have McEachran and Baker as my DLP's and with the additon of Jason Lowe and George Thorne I felt Norwood wouldnt be getting played much. Michael Mancienne left on loan after I signed John Stones from Everton.

I wont post screenie's of my new signings as I'm going to do a meet the squad post after this post

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League


Tottenham 1 - 0 Crawley


Would have happily taken a draw here but Yarmolenko scored in the 90th minute to take the points for Spurs sadly.



Crawley 2 - 0 Liverpool

Gomez, Hazard

Cracking resullt here to really give us some confidence for the season ahead turning over a strong Liverpool side.


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Europa League


Play Off 1st Leg

Charleroi 0 - 3 Crawley

Hazard, Watt, Baker

Simple enough win here to Belgian side Charleroi, Thorgan giving us an early lead then setting up Tony Watt. Lewis Baker's late penalty wrapped it up nicely.



Play Off 2nd Leg

Crawley 2 - 0 Charleroi

Hazard, Hankin

Another solid win with Thorgan netting again. David Hankin scored late on, his first ever goal for the club. He's a youth product from last years intake who could be useful.


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Monthly Review


Pretty happy with this month to be fair. Annoyed we conceded that late goal against Spurs but they probably deserved it. A stunning win over Liverpool made up for that though. We make it to the group stages of the Europa League too with an easy 2 legged play off win in which Thorgan Hazard really shone. Here's our group anyway:

Reckon we may be able to sneak second with some luck against Genk maybe. Not too sure what to expect its gonna be interesting for sure!!



Player of the Month

Thorgan Hazard

The ''Other'' Hazard has done superbly this month. Him and Rodrigo Gomez can really push the club forward if they can continue to shine.



League Table

Not that it really matters after two games......



(Meet the squad post next before the September post xD)​

 

[Sam91]

Meet The Squad

Goalkeepers

Anderson

The young Brazilian joined us in January 2017 and slipped straight in. Monaco have been sniffing around him but I hope he can stay with us for many years.



Defenders

Micah Richards

Our club captain and first choice right back joined on a free back in the summer of 2015.


John Stones

Signed this past summer, first choice centre back.



Nicky Walker

Signed in the summer from West Ham definatley my future right back and club captain I feel.



Joe Walsh

Been with us since the League 1 days and is still a useful squad player.



Marco Speranza

Back up left back, never plays much really.



Mark Connolly

Another one who's been with us since the start, bit part player now but still useful.



Anis Gasmi

19 year old Gasmi joined last summer for a tiny fee and has been immense at the back. Got cracking stats and a first teamer for sure.



Luke Garbutt

Luke's been with the club for a number of seasons now but may need replacing soonish. Still solid enough though.



David Hankin

Came through out youth intake back in 2015. Starting to work his way into my plans this season and one to watch for sure...





Thats it so far. I'll do the midfielders and attackers next post





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