Why Would Scott Lindsey Choose League Two’s MK Dons over League One’s Crawley Town?
Yesterday evening, in a shock announcement which rocked the Football League, Scott Lindsey was unveiled as the new manager of Milton Keynes Dons. Replacing Mike Williamson, who recently departed for Carlisle United.
Welcome to #MKDons, Scott Lindsey. 🤝#COYD pic.twitter.com/S3sJ0r722P
— Milton Keynes Dons (@MKDonsFC) September 25, 2024
In an exclusive interview with Football Park; the Football Content Award finalist, EFL & Non-League specialist, and popular X influencer; Tom Williams revealed his take on why Lindsey has made a seemingly backwards move.
Crawley fans have been voicing their opinions online, and the general consensus is one of confusion. Neutrals have even put across their view, and harsh feelings on the club that he’s joined. Yet Tom thinks Lindsey’s made the right call.
Tom Williams said: “I can understand because on paper it is quite literally a step down.
“The difficult thing for people to accept is the club he’s joined because of the stigma around MK Dons.”
In a very brief summary, MK Dons were originally a continuation of Wimbledon FC, for ‘financial reasons’. Despite their relegation from the Premier League, Wimbledon were still a successful club with real fans, who then had to travel 60 miles from South-West London to Milton Keynes every other week.
Eventually, MK Dons just gave up on being Wimbledon following administration, even dismissing their FA Cup win. The Dons have been called a soulless franchise club, and struggled to gain the respect of fans of the football league.
Still the question begs, why would Lindsey leave Crawley to join Milton Keynes? Tom Williams thinks it’s a display of his long term ambition.
“I think if you look at Crawley, who got promoted, he was a big part of that. Then in the summer, they sold pretty much every player that was in the promotion side. For me that doesn’t scream ambition, or long term success.
“MK Dons, in the summer, spent loads of money. They signed loads of players, and that was before they got the new investment.
“So whilst it’s a step down in division, I think if you compare the two sides and look at it in 12 months time, there’s a very good chance they will swap divisions.”
Scott Lindsey will be aware of the issues around MK Dons as a club, but he’s not afraid of a bit of backlash when it comes to furthering his career.
“I know that a lot of fans don’t like them, I understand that, but they have got a big stadium and good facilities and things like that. There’s a lot of pieces in place, but they haven’t quite got the manager right long term yet.
Stadium MK looking 😍 from 🔝 pic.twitter.com/nzQQhliHot
— Milton Keynes Dons (@MKDonsFC) September 7, 2024
“I think Scott Lindsey is a manager, if they’re looking for a long term appointment someone who can take them up and beyond, he is the man for that.”
Many people will be asking, would a bigger team not take Scott Lindsey? He’d done such a good job with Crawley Town, defying odds by dragging them to promotion. Tom Williams thinks the new MK Dons man is two steps ahead of us: “Who are we to question his judgement?” Tom continued: “He got the decision right to leave Swindon and go to Crawley, a decision that many questioned at the time.”
It’s true. Fans across English football were baffled when he left play-off pushing Swindon Town for Crawley Town, who were staring down the barrel of the National League, but the fact is he’s got it spot on every time.
“He knows what he’s doing, he’s been in the game for a long time and he knows what’s right for him.
“He’d have been given assurances at MK Dons in terms of his project, he’s probably looking to get promoted with MK Dons and not lose the whole squad.
“I don’t think anyone could say that Crawley’s squad this season is stronger than last season, whereas MK Dons you’d feel would strengthen their squad again.”
And that’s probably the case, with Crawley Town cashing in on Danilo Orsi, Nick Tsaroulla and many other of their key players from their promotion season.
That finish from Danilo Orsi is OUTRAGEOUS
— tomhwilliams23 (@tomhwilliams23) May 19, 2024
The footwork to get the ball out his feet, the technique to finish outside of the boot - WOW 😍pic.twitter.com/dSS5aySBwR
Another speculation Tom holds, is the success previous MK Dons managers are currently having. Liam Manning has taken control of Bristol City in the Championship, whilst Russell Martin is the boss of Southampton in the Premier League.
With Lindsey’s vast tactical prowess, and excellent man management capabilities, there’s no doubting he backs himself to go all the way in the difficult world of football management.
“He’ll back himself to add himself to that list, whether that’s at MK Dons which I do think have potential as a long term project.
“He can see short-term success at MK Dons, they should be one of the favourites to go up, and there’s still plenty of time for him to do that. I think he can also see long-term success, whether that’s with MK Dons or whether that’s using them as a platform to build his career, I don’t know.
“Both are viable options and I think that’s probably why he made this move. Even though it’s a step down it could be one step backwards to take two steps forward.”
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