Crawley Town face Tranmere Rovers at the Broadfield Stadium in League Two on Saturday. We caught up with skipper Ben Gladwin ahead of the game
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 Ben, thank you for joining us.
00:01 Another exciting game coming up this weekend after a terrific victory last weekend.
00:05 How's the mood in the camp been heading into this one?
00:07 Yes, brilliant.
00:08 Obviously, the boys are in a very good place, but to be completely honest with you,
00:11 I think someone mentioned it a few weeks ago in an interview,
00:13 we're pretty consistent
00:16 in terms of
00:17 we go after performance and result doesn't generally
00:20 try to differ the mood too much.
00:23 We're quite consistent in that regard.
00:25 We go after good performances.
00:28 So if we lose and we play well, obviously it's not ideal,
00:31 but we know what we need to fix.
00:33 If we win and we play well, like we did Saturday, it's perfect.
00:36 And we keep working towards the next one.
00:38 Yes, on a personal note, it must have been nice to get back out there
00:41 for the last few games and get a goal as well.
00:43 It must be pretty pleasing at the moment for yourself.
00:45 Yes, good. I'm pleased just to be back on the pitch pain-free really.
00:49 It's the main thing for me.
00:51 I've not contributed exactly what I would like to in terms of
00:55 being on the pitch since I've been in the club.
00:56 So to be back out there and be with the boys playing some really good football,
00:59 to be a part of it, is so enjoyable.
01:02 Yes, and that's the first,
01:03 the longest period of minutes you've had in a while on Saturday, isn't it?
01:06 And how has it been feeling the last few games?
01:08 Because obviously we know towards the end of last season,
01:10 it must have been a little bit of a struggle for you as well.
01:12 Yes, good. It was important just to get it right this time.
01:16 I didn't want to have any setbacks.
01:19 I was playing through quite a lot of pain towards the end of last year,
01:21 obviously with what was on the line,
01:24 as were a lot of lads, to be honest.
01:25 I wasn't the only one.
01:27 So to get it right,
01:29 and I've been itching to get back into this team because it's been so enjoyable to watch.
01:34 And now to be a part of it on the pitch is great.
01:36 Yes, and you've obviously played a big role in this yourself as captain.
01:39 But we spoke to the gaffer a lot about the transition we've had,
01:42 sort of in the standards as one thing,
01:44 and also the morale in camp from last season.
01:47 How impressive has it been to see the change in what is such a short amount of time?
01:51 Yes, and credit to the manager,
01:53 the owners, the people doing the recruitment at the football club,
01:55 because they've brought in some top, top characters,
01:57 which is first and foremost the most important thing for me.
02:00 You bring the right characters into the football club and then you can shape it from there.
02:05 And then on top of that, they're brilliant footballers as well.
02:07 But they're all willing to learn.
02:08 They're all bouncing with a smile on their face every day.
02:12 There's no whinging and whining,
02:14 which is probably a little bit of a shift from where the club was at in January when I came in.
02:17 There was a lot of negativity and understandably so.
02:19 You lose that many football matches, it's normal to be in a bad place.
02:24 So, to have a bit of a freshen up, bring in some new faces,
02:26 and the manager is able to do his work, has been fantastic.
02:29 Perfect.
02:30 On that theme, are you surprised with how quickly this team has gelled together
02:36 with the football they're playing and how quickly they've taken Scott's ideas on board?
02:42 Yes and no.
02:43 I mean, with that sort of overhaul of players and to have new players in the building,
02:48 it usually doesn't happen so quickly.
02:50 So, credit to the manager again for what he's been able to do.
02:53 He's massive on time on the grass and in video, we do a lot of learning.
02:58 So, no, I'm not surprised that he's been able to get the message across so well
03:02 because he works so hard.
03:05 And credit to the boys as well, they want to learn, which again goes back to character.
03:11 They come in every day wanting to learn, wanting to take on the information.
03:15 I think there's generally a bit of a misconception that footballers aren't too bright
03:18 or they're not learners when they really are, when they're really interested in something
03:21 and they're sold an idea, which the manager's given to them,
03:26 they've run with it and they've made it their own.
03:30 And you see that on the pitch, it's incredible.
03:32 It's so enjoyable to be a part of, to watch from the side.
03:34 Hopefully the fans are enjoying the style of football.
03:38 There'll be bumps in the road for sure.
03:39 So, it's not going to be smooth sailing and an upwards trajectory all the time in terms of results.
03:45 Performances, hopefully, is something we can build on week to week.
03:49 I'm sure there'll be a few bumps, so we've got to stay patient and stick with it.
03:53 You've got Tranmere this weekend, the team who have got their own troubles at the moment with the manager going.
03:58 How hard is it to prepare for a team that you don't quite know how they're going to play with a new manager?
04:02 Yes, not easy at all, actually.
04:05 Like the gaffer touched on, there's not so much work you can do on them because you have no idea what they're going to do.
04:11 It probably gives us a good opportunity to double down on what we do this week.
04:16 And we do that a lot anyway.
04:17 We work on ourselves a lot. So, great opportunity to go back-to-back, another home game with the fans behind us.
04:24 They've been fantastic.
04:25 So, we're looking forward to it.
04:26 Hopefully it's not too hot this week.
04:28 And finally, I'll ask Scott this as well.
04:31 Crawley are now, because of the way they're playing and the results they've got, probably going to some of the games, like Saturday's game, as favourites to win.
04:37 It's not a position Crawley have been in very often in recent years.
04:41 Do you feel any added pressure on that kind of front?
04:45 No, definitely not.
04:46 I think internally that's something we've known for a little while.
04:49 So, it's something we've spoken about over the first course of the first 10 games.
04:54 You start to feel the league out and how people are.
04:57 So, perception will start to change outside a little bit now.
05:00 It won't be so much Crawley are going to get relegated, da-da-da-da, and that's very early on.
05:05 But that's definitely not something we're looking at this season.
05:07 We're looking at a very different sort of ambition.
05:12 But we'll ignore the noise, whether it's positive or negative, block it all out and keep working week to week.