Crawley boss Scott Lindsey feels his improving side are on course to achieve their targets after matching last season’s tally of 11 league wins with a comfortable 3-1 home victory over his former club Swindon.
Striker Danilo Orsi extended his total for the campaign to 13 with a goal in each half and Jack Roles bagged the other on his full league debut as the Red Devils moved up to 12th and three points outside the play-off places.
Lindsey believes Crawley are making good progress after he saved them from relegation last season and feels they are now “miles away from where we were”.
The 51-year-old, who is coming up for his first year in charge, added: “I have a very good relationship with the fans, owners and the players and enjoy coming into work.
“We’ve come a long way since I’ve been here. We have private aims of where we want to get to and we’re on course so I’m really pleased.”
Victory was particularly sweet for Lindsey, whose side were thrashed 6-0 at Swindon at the end of August, and he felt a change of game plan made all the difference.
He explained: “We played in a different way and used a different tactic.
“We pressed differently for what I felt was needed. We pressed from the middle of the pitch rather than the outside and the players executed it to perfection.”
Swindon manager Michael Flynn confirmed striker Jake Young and attacking midfielder Dan Kemp, who scored their late consolation, will now be returning to parent clubs Bradford and MK Dons respectively.
The pair have stood out while on loan with the Robins, scoring 16 goals apiece, but Flynn is now turning his attention to getting players in.
He said: “One deal is on the brink of going through and there are two or three others in the pipeline. I’m going to be getting players in – it’s my job to improve the squad.”
Swindon, after an encouraging start to the season, have now lost 11 of their last 17 league games and Flynn questioned his players’ desire with the team now having conceded 50 goals.
He said: “The players need to look at this performance and tell me what they think they got out of it.
“We were too open at times, letting players go in the box and letting too many crosses come in too early.
“The players seem to have a lack of desire and understanding of the game at times.
“Even so, we still made some good chances but I’m not going to dress it up – this was not good enough for this club.
“We need new personnel. We need to sign players who have got a better work ethic than we showed today.”
Southgate faces major concern with midfield balance at Euro 2024, says Neville
Gary Neville believes Gareth Southgate will have major concerns about the balance of England's midfield following their Euro 2024 opener against Serbia.
Jude Bellingham's fourth international goal was enough to kickstart ther Three Lions' campaign with a win, but the encounter in Gelsenkirchen was far from straightforward.
England had Jordan Pickford to thank to preserve Southgate's record of winning the opening game of every major tournament he has managed at, producing a fine stop to deny Dusan Vlahovic in the second half.
Much was made of who Southgate would deploy in central midfield ahead of the tournament, with Trent Alexander-Arnold given the nod to feature alongside Declan Rice.
"The midfield is the major concern and the fluidity of the game that comes through there is one thing we need to try and work on in the group stage because when we play against a good team, we'll have to have it right," said Neville.
"There are some small alarm bells around balance and having a good group of players that are very talented but are we as good a team?
"Last night, you start to think about the impact and influence of Jordan Henderson and Kalvin Phillips. The best players don't make the best team sometimes.
"We're aware Kieran Trippier is right-footed at left-back and is playing there because of all the injuries in that position which creates a further imbalance. But in midfield, somehow we have to try and get that right. Gareth [Southgate] will be more than aware of that.
Alexander-Arnold completed 37 of his 42 passes against Serbia, averaging a pass accuracy of 88.1 percent, the joint-third lowest from those who started the game, with only Phil Foden and Harry Kane below him.
The Liverpool full-back started brightly, showing glimpses of his wide passing range, but made one mistake late in the first half which allowed Aleksandar Mitrovic a shot on goal.
"We know [Alexander-Arnold] can do it when he moves into midfield from right-back and then can deliver those crosses and passes. There were times when he found himself with his back to play and that is a different story," said Neville.
"I don't really want to focus on him being a problem in there. It was the balance of the entire midfield and I include Declan Rice in that as well - and what England need to have in there to be able to move forward in this tournament.
"All eyes will be on Trent Alexander-Arnold. His best position is right-back and having the ability to move forward on that side or coming inside and playing that quarter-back role. It doesn't look like we're going to do that, it looks like we're going to stick with Kyle Walker which is absolutely the right decision.
"Gareth will know he's got an issue with these talented players and how he gets them all into the team - and most importantly with the right balance."
Beating Ronaldo the motivation for Czechia, says Hasek
Overcoming Cristiano Ronaldo is among the main motivations for Czechia ahead of Tuesday's Euro 2024 clash with Portugal, says head coach Ivan Hasek.
Portugal have been touted as serious contenders to lift the trophy on July 14, but they first face group-stage clashes with Czechia, Turkiye and Georgia.
They will once again be captained by Ronaldo, who enters his 11th major tournament as their undisputed first-choice striker after being surprisingly dropped at the 2022 World Cup.
Ronaldo holds the records for most games (25), most goals (14) and joint-most assists on record (six – since 1972) at the Euros, also scoring at a record five separate editions of the tournament.
At World Cups and European Championships, the former Real Madrid and Manchester United man has made a total of 47 appearances, the most of any European player, while scoring 22 goals and assisting eight.
Rather than playing down the significance of facing the five-time Ballon d'Or winner, Hasek used Monday's pre-match press conference to challenge his players to shut him out.
"We want to neutralise Ronaldo. Especially for our guys, they will remember this for their whole lives," Hasek said.
"Ronaldo is one of the best players and they will be able to say they played against him and maybe they will even be successful.
"I do not want us not to say after the match that we played against Ronaldo, but that we defeated him."
Czechia are appearing at an 11th edition of the Euros (including participations as Czechoslovakia), including their eighth in a row.
That streak began with the 1996 tournament, where they were runners-up in England. Only Germany (14) and France (nine) are currently on longer runs of consecutive European Championship appearances.
With Czechia tipped by many to compete with Turkiye for second place in Group F, Hasek says the key will not be how they start the group stage, but how they finish it.
"The most important thing at this tournament is the last game. So, the first game doesn't really decide anything," he said.
"All our 26 nominated players are ready, they are healthy, they are fit, and we cannot wait. We are really excited about tomorrow to start everything.
"When you see the pitches, when you see the stadiums, you see this is a really great footballing event."
Southgate faces major concern of midfield balance at Euro 2024, says Neville
Gary Neville believes Gareth Southgate will have major concerns about the balance of England's midfield following their Euro 2024 opener against Serbia.
Jude Bellingham's fourth international goal was enough to kickstart ther Three Lions' campaign with a win, but the encounter in Gelsenkirchen was far from straightforward.
England had Jordan Pickford to thank to preserve Southgate's record of winning the opening game of every major tournament he has managed at, producing a fine stop to deny Dusan Vlahovic in the second half.
Much was made of who Southgate would deploy in central midfield ahead of the tournament, with Trent Alexander-Arnold given the nod to feature alongside Declan Rice.
"The midfield is the major concern and the fluidity of the game that comes through there is one thing we need to try and work on in the group stage because when we play against a good team, we'll have to have it right," said Neville.
"There are some small alarm bells around balance and having a good group of players that are very talented but are we as good a team?
"Last night, you start to think about the impact and influence of Jordan Henderson and Kalvin Phillips. The best players don't make the best team sometimes.
"We're aware Kieran Trippier is right-footed at left-back and is playing there because of all the injuries in that position which creates a further imbalance. But in midfield, somehow we have to try and get that right. Gareth [Southgate] will be more than aware of that.
Alexander-Arnold completed 37 of his 42 passes against Serbia, averaging a pass accuracy of 88.1 percent, the joint-third lowest from those who started the game, with only Phil Foden and Harry Kane below him.
The Liverpool full-back started brightly, showing glimpses of his wide passing range, but made one mistake late in the first half which allowed Aleksandar Mitrovic a shot on goal.
"We know [Alexander-Arnold] can do it when he moves into midfield from right-back and then can deliver those crosses and passes. There were times when he found himself with his back to play and that is a different story," said Neville.
"I don't really want to focus on him being a problem in there. It was the balance of the entire midfield and I include Declan Rice in that as well - and what England need to have in there to be able to move forward in this tournament.
"All eyes will be on Trent Alexander-Arnold. His best position is right-back and having the ability to move forward on that side or coming inside and playing that quarter-back role. It doesn't look like we're going to do that, it looks like we're going to stick with Kyle Walker which is absolutely the right decision.
"Gareth will know he's got an issue with these talented players and how he gets them all into the team - and most importantly with the right balance."
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