Marked for Birger Odegaard
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Jun 2028
Liam Miller has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Crawley Town can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Market5 Jun 2028
Luca Zabatta hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Crawley Town can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Crawley Town have done the hard part with Southampton, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Taylor Richards and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Barnsley have kept their man, and Crawley Town go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad5 Jun 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Crawley Town are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
A loan move for Sean Steur is in the works
Crawley Town have made the call to Newcastle United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
Taylor Richards asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
The manager makes an example of Birger Odegaard
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market15 May 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout15 May 2028
Birger Odegaard: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Crawley Town have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad15 May 2028
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Crawley Town can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad15 May 2028
Taylor Richards and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout15 May 2028
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market15 May 2028
Alagy Oliveira is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Crawley Town has been clear about where Alagy Oliveira stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market15 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Ramón Villalba’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout15 May 2028
Harry Evans asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad15 May 2028
A season on the outside for Hugo Oviedo
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Crawley Town has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 May 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for Lewis Richards
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Crawley Town lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match29 Apr 2028
No end in sight to Crawley Town's wait for a win
11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Crawley Town has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings1 May 2028
Birger Odegaard could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.60
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.60, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Match1 May 2028
45 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Boardroom1 May 2028
Pressure builds in the Crawley Town boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The dugout1 May 2028
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings1 May 2028
No sign of nerves from Simon Uldedaj at 19 — 7.61
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Simon Uldedaj did not need any: 7.61, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Squad1 May 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Crawley Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad27 Mar 2028
Omar Sowunmi breaks a bone — 19 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market27 Mar 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Crawley Town, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Taylor Richards was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market27 Mar 2028
Ramón Villalba is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Crawley Town has been clear about where Ramón Villalba stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad27 Mar 2028
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Crawley Town are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Ramón Villalba knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Crawley Town, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
The manager makes an example of Birger Odegaard
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market27 Mar 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Crawley Town know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.