The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“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.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Justin Ferizaj is on it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Hiroki Akino has written the date down.
“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 The request is on a desk at Crawley Town, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nacim El Hassani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Andrew Roberts to a room that had heard them before.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Callum Guy is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
In brief
The dugoutKağan Arıcan knocks on the manager's door
Successful dribbles: 29. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Danny Bakker 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Andrew Roberts after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Crawley Town told Jack Powell something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Barrow AFC? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
21 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.
7.57, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 17 combined actions and a mark of 7.18, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Match18 Sep 2027
After 8 games, Crawley Town finally taste it again
The first defeat in 8 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Colchester United; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 14 signed and 11 gone
That is the business done at Crawley Town until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The deal with West Ham United is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Crawley Town asked and Sunderland said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
45 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.
Crawley Town had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at West Ham United, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Crawley Town did not have in the autumn.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taylor Richards is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 37, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Damián Martínez 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.
Crawley Town asked and Huddersfield Town said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Crawley Town has been clear about where Jack Powell stands, which is more than many ever get.
52 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.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.96, and 2 involvements.
Marked 7.92. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Simon Young has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Timothy Hawkins has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
61 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.
“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.
“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.
Denzel 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taylor Richards was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Crawley Town asked and Burton Albion said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
69 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Taylor Richards and Crawley Town agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lewis Richards trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
The dugoutHarry Forster is still being punished for one mistake
76 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.
Danny Bakker 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.
At 37, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hull City have kept their man, and Crawley Town go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nacim El Hassani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 84 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taylor Richards was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Crawley Town asked and Burnley said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
A loan enquiry to Bristol Rovers: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Crawley Town have made the call to Bournemouth. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The words a physio says slowly. 91 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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.
Crawley Town had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Norwich City, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Denzel 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taylor Richards was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Crawley Town asked and Burnley said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
In brief
SquadDanny Bakker has seen what the next man earns
98 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Crawley Town lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Paik Seung-Ho and Crawley Town agree another 4 years.
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.
Crawley Town asked and Sheffield Wednesday said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nacim El Hassani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Crawley Town have made the call to Norwich City. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
105 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.
“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.
Crawley Town had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Leicester City, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 37, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hull City have kept their man, and Crawley Town go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Damián Martínez has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The words a physio says slowly. 112 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“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.
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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taylor Richards is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sheffield United have kept their man, and Crawley Town go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
134 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.
“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.
Crawley Town have gone to Norwich City with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Crawley Town have gone to Luton Town with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taylor Richards was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
141 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nacim El Hassani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 17 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
“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.
Position 15 on 55 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
7.56, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Andrew Roberts on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taylor Richards is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Milton Keynes Dons in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“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.
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Jacob Chapman 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 oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Crawley Town can tell you which week it ends in.
Jacob Chapman and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taylor Richards is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Crawley Town pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Andrew Roberts after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Francisco Vera
“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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Crawley Town know it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Callum Guy and Crawley Town agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taylor Richards is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Crawley Town can tell you which week it ends in.
Nacim El Hassani 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Crawley Town told Danilo Orsi something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Harry Forster's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Cambridge United in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Taylor Richards signs something — a contract at Crawley Town or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Jack Powell has written the date down.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Crawley Town the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
“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.
Jacob Chapman 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taylor Richards was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jacob Chapman, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Andrew Roberts to a room that had heard them before.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taylor Richards was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
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.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Taylor Richards’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Crawley Town.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nacim El Hassani is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Crawley Town, another week without a signature from Jack Aitchison.
“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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Crawley Town know it.
Jacob Chapman 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.
Shrewsbury Town left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nacim El Hassani is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Andrew Roberts left the room before anybody could ask which.
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Jacob Chapman 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taylor Richards was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Crawley Town will quote 17 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Francisco Vera will call it something else in private.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Dion Pereira. 1‑0 against Accrington Stanley, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Andrew Roberts on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“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.
Everything agreed with Sheffield Wednesday, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Stockport County keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taylor Richards was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nacim El Hassani 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“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.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Crawley Town until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Norwich City keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Crawley Town know it.
Jacob Chapman 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taylor Richards was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Queens Park Rangers have kept their man, and Crawley Town go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Crawley Town have done the hard part with Norwich City, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Jacob Chapman 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Crawley Town asked and Ipswich Town said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Crawley Town have done the hard part with Leicester City, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Blackburn Rovers keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taylor Richards was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wrexham have kept their man, and Crawley Town go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Latta N'Dabrou 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Denzel. 1‑0 against Grimsby Town, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“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.
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taylor Richards is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Crawley Town can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Jack Aitchison
Amin Nabizada 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taylor Richards was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Something was said to Jack Powell and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Crawley Town will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Salford City defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Amin Nabizada falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Something was said to Francisco Vera and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Lewis Richards scored, was marked 7.85, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
1 for Jay Williams, marked 7.74, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
1 for Darko Gyabi, marked 7.81, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
“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.
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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taylor Richards is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
“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.
“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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Crawley Town know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taylor Richards was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Andrew Roberts after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
SquadCrawley Town are still strangers to each other
“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.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Amin Nabizada falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Gillingham held the lead for 4 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Crawley Town answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Andrew Roberts left the room before anybody could ask which.
Denzel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taylor Richards is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Scott Malone’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Crawley Town needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Crawley Town. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taylor Richards was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Charlie Barker's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Crawley Town will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Amin Nabizada 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.
6 goals in one match, Denzel on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Crawley Town and Accrington Stanley.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Crawley Town will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Two goals and a mark of 8.11 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
A 2‑0 win over Harrogate Town, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Latta N'Dabrou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Louis Flower and Crawley Town agree another 4 years.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Andrew Roberts, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Amin Nabizada
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Crawley Town will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Amin Nabizada is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Something was said to Darko Gyabi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Charlie Barker has his answer from Crawley Town; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Harrogate Town next, and one man in the Crawley Town dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Crawley Town will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Crawley Town. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Crawley Town will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“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.
Denzel 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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Crawley Town has been clear about where Ade Adeyemo stands, which is more than many ever get.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Latta N'Dabrou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
20 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Plymouth Argyle go through and Crawley Town go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Crawley Town are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Amin Nabizada falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Jay Williams 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Andrew Roberts was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Crawley Town dressing room was either.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Crawley Town lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taylor Richards is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Andrew Roberts after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
29 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.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 24 arrived, 5 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The chase for Harry Griffiths ended with $510.0K changing hands and Notts County out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
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.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Lewis Richards is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Crawley Town, another week without a signature from Jack Aitchison.
“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.
Everything agreed with Liverpool, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The shirt still fits. Jack Powell is back at Crawley Town, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Newcastle United have kept their man, and Crawley Town go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nacim El Hassani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad31 Aug 2026
16 new faces, and Crawley Town are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Crawley Town will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Crawley Town asked and Bristol City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Crawley Town had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at West Bromwich Albion, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taylor Richards is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He is 19, and nobody at Crawley Town signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Crawley Town have made the call to Liverpool. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Andrew Roberts on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
$3.6M was the most the club would pay and Coventry City were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Crawley Town have gone to Watford with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Wrexham keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Marked 8.02 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Crawley Town, another week without a signature from Janoi Donacien.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Latta N'Dabrou is living that version at Crawley Town, and it tends to show in the first month.
The deal with Hull City is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. David Simmons has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Thomas Foster is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Anthony Howard is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Charles Watson is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The offer went to Wrexham this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Taylor Richards and Crawley Town agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Crawley Town training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taylor Richards is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Jacob Chapman 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and Crawley Town are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“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.