Gabriele Cioffi happy to make winning start to his Crawley career

Posted Sunday, September 16, 2018 by PA

New Crawley head coach Gabriele Cioffi admitted it was a perfect start to his tenure after second-half goals from Ashley Nathaniel-George and Panutche Camara gave the Reds a 2-0 home win over struggling Morecambe.

Italian Cioffi,43, who played as a defender in Italy’s Serie B for 11 clubs, was booked directly after Camara’s goal for celebrating on the pitch with his players.

The celebrations continued at the final whistle, when Cioffi and his team took a bow on the pitch, lined up in front of the fans.

He admitted: “It was important to collect three points and we played a good game.

“They did everything I asked of them and I’m really happy for them.

“I didn’t know the rules when I went on the pitch. At the end of the match I wanted to do it and celebrate. We have to be one group to achieve something special.”

Cioffi was on the coaching staff at Birmingham during Gianfranco Zola’s ill-fated four-month spell as boss.

He added:” Birmingham is an amazing club but it was at the wrong moment. But my heart is here now.

“Let’s say Birmingham was my first girlfriend but now I have a wife!”

The Reds broke the deadlock in fine style after 52 minutes with Nathaniel-George bursting through to slot his first goal for the club to the left of long-serving keeper Barry Roche.

Camara doubled the advantage only three minutes later from the centre of the area, putting the ball in at the second attempt after defensive slackness.

Morecambe boss Jim Bentley labelled his side’s home clash against fellow strugglers Macclesfield next week as a “must win” game after tumbling to a seventh defeat in eight league matches.

He said: “I know the game and our game against Macclesfield is a must-win.

“We might be the smallest team in the league but we are making poor errors at one end and not doing enough at the other.

“We gave them a leg-up when we went behind and then a catalogue of errors made it 2-0 and away from home it’s always going to be tough from there.”

Bentley, the longest-serving manager in English football, admits he would take any kind of victory and it is critical his men don’t lose discipline.

He added:” I would take a scrappy 1-0. Unfortunately, in this game, we gave them two goals.

“We had some nice link-up play but that’s been the story of our season.

“We lost discipline, we lost the game and it was scandalous.”