TASTE OF THE TERRACE: Yates' departure was inevitable

The parting of the ways had become inevitable. No club can sustain results like the Reds have had in recent weeks. Apart from the six consecutive defeats all the team had shown was that they were serial under-achievers. In such circumstances it is always the manager whose head is on the block. Whether that is fair is a matter of conjecture and some regular fans had already stated their opinion that Mark Yates and Jimmy Dack were responsible for the continuing decline in Crawley Town’s fortunes.

Others have viewed it differently and respected the work the pair had done under difficult circumstances and with a very limited budget. Many will accept this outcome, whether it had their support or not, by commenting “Well that’s football, isn’t it”.

The feeling among the regular fans was one of inevitability which meant recent results came as no surprise. What has now changed, however, is how they will view prospects for next season. So many changes have occurred in the club hierarchy that it is almost impossible to hazard a guess as to how things will turn out.

There is no question that it is Ziya Eren’s right to hire and fire as he sees fit and we must assume that he has taken this latest decision. He has, though, already said that he needs to learn about the game in England. His experiences with Kayseri Erciyesspor in Turkey will only be of limited value in this situation. He cannot call upon the experience of the club’s board of directors and its CEO as they have already left. Now his team are without a manager or a coach and I can’t imagine who will take the reins for Saturday’s trip to Dagenham & Redbridge.

You will all be aware of the old chestnuts. We are out of the frying pan and into the fire or caught squarely between a rock and a hard place. The biggest concern among the faithful will be whether there can possibly be an improvement or will the next season be one of struggle.

By Saturday there could be a new manager in place. Perhaps one is already lined up and this prompted the dismissals. There could be a caretaker or maybe a player manager for the final two games followed by a more considered appointment. Disaster could be imminent but the summer will provide the opportunity for retrenchment. We simply cannot predict where the club will go from here but it will be a most interesting closed season.

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