Crawley Town

[hector]

Are the wheels starting to come off, as we all knew they inevitably would?

Deep in the mire of the relegation zone in League 1 and couldn't even fill their bench according to BBC. Matt Harold had to go in goal because their keeper was injured.

I have a feeling that Crawley - and maybe even Yeovil - will be returning to the non-league ranks within the next few years.

[Southampton Gull]

Yeovil should be ok with their fanbase, Crawley can sink like the Belgrano for all I care.

[hector]

I think with Yeovil, they had been in a downward spiral for a number of seasons before their unlikely promotion to the Championship, which in a bizarre way - long-term - will probably have done them more harm than good, as the regular defeats have become a bad habit and relegation this year is likely. I can then see Johnson moving on and them struggling again next year in League 2.

[Dave]

The demise of Crawley would please many, only downside, I wish they were going down with Evans at the helm, problem is, he probably knew it was unsustainable and jumped ship.

[ferrarilover]

I think with Yeovil, they had been in a downward spiral for a number of seasons before their unlikely promotion to the Championship, which in a bizarre way - long-term - will probably have done them more harm than good, as the regular defeats have become a bad habit and relegation this year is likely. I can then see Johnson moving on and them struggling again next year in League 2.

I'll seem wise after the event, but if Diamondgirl was about to confirm, she would say that I said this all along, right from the minute that they looked like not going straight back down from L1. It's the same fear that I have for TULFC. Of course I want us to do as well as possible, but if we shoot up the divisions too fast, we'll outpace ourselves, players will lose their mojo and we'll end up folding into nothing.

I asked the same question as the OP over dinner the other evening. The consensus is "I hope so".

Matt.

[gullintwoplaces]

The demise of Crawley would please many, only downside, I wish they were going down with Evans at the helm, problem is, he probably knew it was unsustainable and jumped ship.

Amen to that, if only Captain Evans and Lieutenant Raynor were there to go down with their ship.

[lucy6lucy]

That day they beat us in the fa cup, and the following day they drew man utd away still fills me with bitterness and anger. We would have used that gate receipt more wisely. I guess like many I hope they go back to where they belong.

[hector]

I'll seem wise after the event, but if Diamondgirl was about to confirm, she would say that I said this all along, right from the minute that they looked like not going straight back down from L1. It's the same fear that I have for TULFC. Of course I want us to do as well as possible, but if we shoot up the divisions too fast, we'll outpace ourselves, players will lose their mojo and we'll end up folding into nothing.

I asked the same question as the OP over dinner the other evening. The consensus is "I hope so".

Matt.

Yes - teams often shoot up to a level that is beyond them and then sink like a stone. Hereford in the 70s reached what is now the Championship. Northampton in the 60s reached what is now the Premiership and sank right back down. Swansea climbed from Division 4 to Division 1 and sank back down, all in the space of around 10 years, in the 70s and 80s.

Yeovil's demise from League 1 has had a sense of inevitability about it for a few years. It is just that the flash-in-the-pan season they had just delayed the inevitable by 2 years and now they are sinking even harder and it wouldn't surprise me if they struggled next year. They have Batesonesque infrastructure, in terms of no youth team/reserves (I think!) and looking at the way Gary Johnson moves around, I wouldn't be surprised if he went, and they end up putting Terry Skiverton or Darren Way in charge.

I'm old enough to remember just how awful Yeovil were. They used to take our free transfers, so for us to have been a division, or two divisions below them. for the last decade almost, is somewhat embarrassing.