Fan's view: We are missing our Dutchman Thomas Verheydt bigtime

So we've gone from a winning team to a losing one almost overnight.
Crawley Town FC  Thomas Verheydt. Pic Steve Robards SR1803264 SUS-180129-183959001Crawley Town FC  Thomas Verheydt. Pic Steve Robards SR1803264 SUS-180129-183959001
Crawley Town FC Thomas Verheydt. Pic Steve Robards SR1803264 SUS-180129-183959001

Maybe that statement is a bit harsh, but it feels like we just can’t buy a win at the moment.

It’s not like the players’ effort is lacking (or at least the majority of them). It’s more a case of not getting the rub of the green.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It’s also no coincidence that the injury to Thomas Verheydt has coincided with this poor run of form.

Steve HerbertSteve Herbert
Steve Herbert

There is absolutely no doubt about it, we miss our Dutchman bigtime.

Thomas wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea when he first pulled on a Reds jersey, but then a lot of people were way to quick to slate Harry Kewell before the poor bloke had even suffered his first hammering as Crawley manager.

To say certain Crawley Town fans are fickle at times would be the understatement of the year.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It’s one of the biggest defaults that certain Crawley supporters have, and until recently I struggled to understand why.

But at Cambridge United on Easter Friday it suddenly dawned on me what’s going on.

We have an element of very young and energetic fans, of whom some have completely split loyalties.

About 30 noisy young lads walked out after about an hour on Friday when Cambridge scored their third goal.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Now don’t get me wrong, what these boys bring to the party is a fantastic atmosphere that the rest of us just can’t generate when they don’t show up.

But the honest truth is some of these lads are a mixture of Palace, Millwall and even dare I say it Chelsea fans, who like myself have split loyalties towards the town and the teams our parents have brought us up to support.

Now I’m Crawley born and bred, but I was born in the 70’s. I can tell you now the kids in Southgate first school in 1982 were mostly Liverpool fans, the team of that decade.

They hadn’t even heard of Crawley Town FC, let alone Chelsea for that matter who were struggling in the second tier of English football back then. “Amazing what a Russian influence can achieve these days.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Anyway getting back to the point and I just wish these lads would see the bigger picture and throw their weight behind following their home Town club full-time.

I’ve turned my back on paying over the odds for David Sullivan’s overpriced Hammers.

I will always have my Dad’s East London roots and Claret and Blue blood in me.

But I was born and bred in Crawley just like all the Crawley youngsters that turned up at the Abbey Stadium for an hour on Friday.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

I just wish a few of them would realise that football and an away day with your lower league home town club can be so much more rewarding than lining the pockets of the fat cats of the Premier League.

Football teams and football supporters over the 20th century were built on where they came from.

When I see school kids walking along the road of my estate in Maidenbower with Manchester City and even Barcelona backpacks on, it makes me realise that football has lost its soul.

It’s down to the Moka generation of Crawley to break the mould and get behind the local boys from the Checkatrade 100 per cent. #COYR

Related topics: