Football Season Guide

Crawley showed some promising signs after John Gregory took over from Ritchie Barker last season, but the Red Devils were still unable to make the step up and become the promotion candidates their fans hopes they would. Their experienced manager spent the summer making the playing cadre his own, as the Red Devils underwent a dramatic squad overhaul, which saw eleven players leaving the club and as many joining. Moreover, nine out of eleven players who left were regular starters last season, meaning that we will see a completely new-look Crawley in the new campaign, and it will be a major surprise if they manage to start playing as a true unit from the very start of the campaign. One obvious weakness that Crawley seem to have is a lack of a proven striker, as Matt Tubbs has left following the expiration of his loan stay, while Billy Clarke joined Bradford. The Red Devils signed two strikers in Matt Harrold and Gavin Tomlin, but neither of these two men is the 20-goal-a-season striker they have been crying out for for years now. Another problem for the Red Devils is the possibility of a fixture congestion in the second half of the season - they had a lot of games postponed during the winter and had a one-month break of football before playing two games per week for three months in both of their previous two campaigns. In case of another harsh winter, the Red Devils could end up having another hectic spring, and this is unlikely to help them in any way.