It is not uncommon for a goalkeeper to come under significant criticism after a 4-1 defeat similar to that which League Two’s kings of controversy Crawley Town endured against Mansfield Town on Saturday. What was more unusual after the post-match abuse of Corey Addai from Crawley supporters was the number of both Crawley and Mansfield fans leaping to his defence.
Crawley’s performances this year have been incredibly inconsistent, with improved results recently suggesting that they might manage to escape relegation this season. Surely Addai must be credited with some of the return to form? Mansfield themselves are pushing for promotion, and Crawley fans, objectively, would not have expected much from the tie. And if any of the blame can be laid at Addai’s (presumably sizeable, given his height of 193cm) feet, what are their other options?
Therein lies one of the root issues, as seemingly no discussion of Crawley’s playing roster and selection options is without reference to Wagmi, the consortium of ‘crypto bros’ at the helm, and the chaos of the January 2023 transfer window. Crawley’s first-choice goalkeeper, Ellery Balcombe, although injured for a large chunk of the early season, was a loanee recalled to Brentford in the January transfer window halfway through his season-long loan. This was the transfer window where the entire squad was accidentally listed for transfer, and the high-profile outgoing players included Tom Nichols and manager Matty Etherington – is it any wonder that Brentford preferred the relative stability of Bristol Rovers for Balcombe? New manager Scott Lindsey was then faced with zero selection issues as he only had one keeper (Addai) after the departure of four in January. In addition to Balcombe, David Robson’s 6-month loan term ended, Roshan Greensall was out of contract, and Glenn Morris was signed by Gillingham. With no backup keeper available for selection, Greensall re-signed, and Ryan Schofield arrived on loan from Huddersfield. Addai though has remained the first choice for Lindsey.
Due to Crawley’s form this season, averaging 0.95 points per game, Corey Addai is amongst the hardest-working keepers in the league, playing 2,204 minutes across 25 matches in 22-23. One of the most frequently seen rebuttals to criticisms of him after the Mansfield game was that Addai actively prevented a ‘cricket score’ loss, and that capacity to graft is evidenced by his season stats. He has faced a whopping 123 shots in his 25 games, putting him in the 88% percentile of league two keepers. Orient’s Lawrence Vigouroux, by comparison, has only faced 108 shots in 38 games, saving 83, whereas Addai has saved only one fewer, at 82.
Ultimately, with stats like these, Crawley’s defenders need to take some responsibility for the volume of shots getting to Addai, who should be applauded for his tenacity and grit in match play, even with score lines like the Mansfield game. It will be interesting to see how the rest of their season plays out against mostly mid-table opposition, and whether this recent round of criticism levelled at him was justified.
