Scott Lindsey sent shockwaves through the lower tiers of English Professional football this week, when he was announced as new head coach of League Two side MK Dons.

Despite winning promotion to League One, against all odds, with Crawley Town; the manager decided to depart for a side in the division below.

📰 SCOTT LINDSEY DEPARTS FOR MK DONS

Crawley Town Football Club confirm that Manager Scott Lindsey has departed the club to join League Two side Milton Keynes Dons.#TownTeamTogether🔴

— Crawley Town FC (@crawleytown) September 25, 2024

There’s no doubting that Scott Lindsey will fit in smoothly at Stadium MK, following his appointment.

In an exclusive interview with Football Park; the Football Content Award finalist, EFL & Non-League specialist, and popular X influencer; Tom Williams gave us his thoughts on how Crawley might move past the loss.

He said: “It’s a really tough one for Crawley.

“Whether they were lucky, and struck gold with Scott Lindsey, or whether they’d been unlucky with previous appointments and looking at the right things and right coaches remains to be seen.

“This next appointment will tell us a lot, if they get this next one right then we can probably say confidently that they picked Lindsey for a reason, and maybe they were unlucky with a couple of the other coaches who they appointed.”

Tom then discussed some of the factors that would need to be considered before appointing a new head coach.

“They mentioned they want a manager who’s comfortable working with their data-driven model, so that will play a factor. I wouldn’t mind betting that they’ll look abroad for a new manager.

“I know with things like Brexit it’s more difficult to get Visas, so getting foreign coaches in at League One level is harder than it would be at Championship or Premier League level.

“They’ve signed players from abroad using their data-model, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t apply that model to managers.”

The popular football league influencer can also see the silver lining to this, and even discussed some names he thinks could be appointed.

“The field is wide open, and it’s really exciting in a way. As much as right now they’ll be hurting, losing Scott Lindsey is a nightmare.

“At the same time, I do think it’s a really exciting time, because you just don’t know who they’re going to appoint.

“I’ve seen a few names mentioned, Nathan Rooney is one that’s been mentioned quite a bit, managing in Gibraltar at the minute.

“He’s a former Crawley coach so he does have the links to the club.”

In the interest of keeping things as close to Lindsey’s approach as possible, Tom suggested one of his former colleagues:

“Another manager worth mentioning is Scott Bartlett, who worked alongside Lindsey at Forest Green for many years. He’s now the manager of Weston-Super-Mare in The National League South. Crawley have shown that they’re willing to dip into the National League South for players, they’ve signed quite a few from that level.

“So why not a manager, and someone that knows Scott Lindsey, and plays a similar style.”

Even closer to Lindsey’s approach, an internal appointment could be deemed the best option by the club.

“Ben Gladwin, former captain of the club, now part of the coaching staff. If you look at the wealth of managers he’s played under, some of the names, the clubs he’s played at. They’re all possession based styles and he would’ve learnt loads.

“I know he’s doing his coaching badges. I’ve not seen anything about him going, so I assume he’s staying, and he’ll probably get it on an interim basis. If he does well on Interim basis, I don’t see why they wouldn’t go for him.

📰 BEN GLADWIN TO TAKE INTERIM CHARGE

Crawley Town Football Club can confirm that First-Team Coach Ben Gladwin will assume the role of Interim Head Coach.#TownTeamTogether🔴

— Crawley Town FC (@crawleytown) September 26, 2024

“They’ve shown before they’re willing to give managers their first chance.”