In the eighth minute of the game, Williams went in late on Albion’s new £25million signing Matt O’Riley. On first view it just looked like a typically hard Williams challenge, but just mis-timed.
But on repeat viewings – and there were many people reposting the footage on X – it was a horrible watch and I am sure I am not the only one who winced. And to see O’Riley having to be helped off, you could tell it was bad.
It should have been a red card and even the the most partisan of Reds fans would agree. Williams didn’t even get a yellow card and with no VAR, and I think most people who saw it thought the Reds skipper got away with one.
Journalist Henry Winter posted on X: “Jay Williams’ challenge on Matt O’Riley, which did not even get a booking and left O’Riley limping off with a damaged left ankle, is a good advertisement for VAR. That should be a red card.” He’s right and it does raise a good argument that where there can be VAR, should it be made available?
The tackle was unacceptable and it incensed the Brighton bench and unfortunately set the tone for the rest of the game and there were some unnecessary scenes at the end of the game when handshakes were refused.
Crawley manager Scott Lindsey was booed by the home fans as he went down the tunnel.
Lindsey was always going to be asked about the tackle in his post-match press conference and it was refreshing to hear his answer. A lot of managers could – and would – have said, ‘I haven’t watched it back yet so can’t comment’.
But Lindsey, for want of a better word, tackled it refreshingly honestly. He said they ‘didn’t mean to be’ as aggressive and ‘we apologise if we kicked any of their players’.
He added: “The one with Jay Williams and the boy came off, we didn’t want that and maybe the referee missed that and on a second watch maybe something should have been done about it.
“I don’t want any of their players to be hurt for sure. As a manager and a leader of my group of men in there, I apologise for that, if that is the case.”
When I posted a snippet of his quote on X, I had a raft of replies from fans in both camps varying from ‘he does not need to apologise’ to ‘sorry doesn’t cut it’ and then it descended into the usual X pettiness of football fans bickering at each other.
But getting back to the main point, Lindsey was, as ever, gracious and humble in his remarks and you knew he knew that Williams got away with that horror challenge.
Last season, Williams was one of the stars of their promotion-winning season but you always felt he was on the edge of a booking or even a red card.
Lindsey even said to me in one interview: “There have been times he has reacted to something he didn’t need to and got booked and he has to learn not to do it, which he is working hard on.”
He is a great footballer to watch and he is one of those players that as a fan, you love him if he is in your team, but hate him if he is not.
It’s a huge shame that the tackle has taken away some of the shine from what was a superb performance – despite the 4-0 scoreline – from Crawley.
But all our thoughts should be with Matt O’Riley and I for one hope he recovers quickly and Brighton fans get to see him in action again sooner rather than later.
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