Former Leeds and Forest winger on life in the
Turkish second tier, the ‘incredible atmosphere’ of playing for Gambia and how Steve Evans and Paul Ince shaped him
“Muz, you’ve got five minutes or you’re coming off,” would ring in the ears of Mustapha Carayol during his days at Crawley from the manager Steve Evans, who lambasted him each time the winger failed to beat the full-back. “You can imagine as an 18-year-old, you’re thinking: ‘Oh my God, I am going to get dragged off after 20 minutes.’ He gave me the tough love that I needed and made me the man I am today.”
Evans is a divisive character, a pantomime villain easier to loathe than love, but his management launched Carayol into a successful career, from his professional debut with Crawley in 2006. Now the 31-year-old is playing for Adana Demirspor – having gone via Middlesbrough, Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Ipswich – in the Turkish second tier where their push for promotion is due to restart on Monday after the season was suspended.