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Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Reports and reaction from the 2008-09 season as Walsall finished 13th in League 1
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Crewe Saddler
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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 3:37 pm

This is a must win game as far as I'm concerned.
4-0 to us...please.

Two Crewe Alex fans will be seen attempting to hitch-hike home from J9 if we loose

Crewe Saddler
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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 3:38 pm

This is a must win game as far as I'm concerned.
4-0 to us...please.
Troydeenho hat trick

Two Crewe Alex fans will be seen attempting to hitch-hike home from J9 if we loose.
They will of course be accompanied by a homosexual purple Aardvark, disguised as Dario Gradi.

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Zippy
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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:16 pm


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adjisaddler
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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:11 pm

scores 0-0 at the moment sounding a even game .

Walsall have 2 shots on target , off

Crewe have 0 shots on and 4 off .

Clayton donaldson is sounding dangerous for them and Mcready has gone off injured and schumacher is on


Adj

Jockey
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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:10 pm

Shearer, Shearer, Shearer!!!! 1-0 well done Troy.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:17 pm

Zaboob off for Shroot. Crewe come into it very much since they went behind. Ince forced to pull off a fantastic save which even Mick Kearns was driven to complement. Fancy us to see this one off...although they are really targetting Palmer, by all accounts.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:33 pm

And there go the play-offs...

93rd minute equaliser. How many points have we lost with the last kick of the game this season? Very, very irritating.

3604 there.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:38 pm

im abso gutted ... 92nd min ..argh ... why oh why ...arghhhhh . Good game up to then

Jockey
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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:43 pm

Jorge14 wrote:And there go the play-offs...

93rd minute equaliser. How many points have we lost with the last kick of the game this season? Very, very irritating.

3604 there.


I dont think there was ever any hope was there? Mullen should have gone earlier and maybe would have had a chance.

Bring on next season when WE SHOULD be challenging for the top 6

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:43 pm

Jorge14 wrote:Zaboob off for Shroot. Crewe come into it very much since they went behind. Ince forced to pull off a fantastic save which even Mick Kearns was driven to complement. Fancy us to see this one off...although they are really targetting Palmer, by all accounts.


Which is what any decent opposition manager would do, on account of the fact he is the mother of all weak links. Why he is persevered with I'll never know :evil: .

Still, Crewe are on a good run and will probably stay up. Gutted that we have let it slip though.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:49 pm

Gut Gut Gutted.
Bollox.
:evil:

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 10:12 pm

Gutted that we dropped two points in the last seconds, but reports suggest that on the night Crewe were fully deserving of a share of the points. Like us, they've been on a good run, so this is maybe not such a bad result, although with home advantage and so much (last chance saloon for the play-offs) at stake, I thought we'd have too much for them.

I think most people are agreed that we needed a 9 point maximum from these three home games to keep those slim but lingering play-off hopes alive. Sadly it was not to be, and maybe we can now stop kidding ourselves about the play-offs and look forward instead to next season. Hutchings and O'Connor have sparked a revival that demonstrates the blatant stupidity of JB's appointment of "best option" Mullen, an appointment that has (unsurprisingly) ended up costing us and wasting a season for Walsall FC. Now it's time for JB to reflect on what might have been with a decent management team in charge from day one, and to make sure he gives H and O'C full backing to strengthen in the close season. If he does that, IMHO there seems no reason why this pair can't take us to a top 6 finish in May 2010.

Mixed feelings tonight, sad we seem to have finally missed out, but excited about what might come around in 2009/10.

UTS.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 10:33 pm

geoffwhiting wrote:Gutted that we dropped two points in the last seconds, but reports suggest that on the night Crewe were fully deserving of a share of the points. Like us, they've been on a good run, so this is maybe not such a bad result, although with home advantage and so much (last chance saloon for the play-offs) at stake, I thought we'd have too much for them.

I think most people are agreed that we needed a 9 point maximum from these three home games to keep those slim but lingering play-off hopes alive. Sadly it was not to be, and maybe we can now stop kidding ourselves about the play-offs and look forward instead to next season. Hutchings and O'Connor have sparked a revival that demonstrates the blatant stupidity of JB's appointment of "best option" Mullen, an appointment that has (unsurprisingly) ended up costing us and wasting a season for Walsall FC. Now it's time for JB to reflect on what might have been with a decent management team in charge from day one, and to make sure he gives H and O'C full backing to strengthen in the close season. If he does that, IMHO there seems no reason why this pair can't take us to a top 6 finish in May 2010.

Mixed feelings tonight, sad we seem to have finally missed out, but excited about what might come around in 2009/10.

UTS.


Agree mate. Coming to the view that with the new management team in place from the start next season it looks good for a big push next season.

having said that, I think it is vital to keep the good (albeit ignoring the hiccup of the last two games) run going to launch some momentum for August.

Will be very interesting now to see who comes and who goes in the off season

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 10:48 pm

shame really, so may good performances tonight, namely

Ince until that goal
Smith
Deeney
Jabo

Plenty to be positive about

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tinned
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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:04 pm

What was Ince doing??????? Like an effing statue. MOTM??? My backside!

Will we ever beat Crewe?

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:13 pm

Has there ever been a season when we have conceded so many late goals.
I've been at most of them including Oldham, Hudersfeild,Tranmere and it don't get any easier it still hurts like hell.
Even in Mullens reign we never conceded that late !
Shame for Shroot showed his inexperience instead of heading for the corner got robbed, balll ends up for throw,
Long throw comes in, Ince freezes and wev'e done it again.
One point and this isn't knocking Hutchings but If Mullen had took off Zaboub and put on an inexperienced player like Shroot while defending a slender lead he'd have been crucified on here.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:19 pm

A Mullenesque performance from us in the first half as Crewe closed us down and didn't allow us the time to knock the ball around as we've started to do in recent weeks; we resorted to long, hopeful passes too often.
Second half we adapted better but only two great saves from Ince prevented Crewe from scoring. As much as Jabo and Deeney worked hard we still seemed to miss the cutting edge Ricketts gives us.
Having taken the lead I'm sad we couldn't hang on for a win. Despite Crewe perhaps deserving a point,I'm disappointed they got it given the number of times we've played them and got nothing when our performance had deserved more.
I was very impressed with Manny Smith tonight - at one point in the second half he was shouting instructions to Weston - seems as though he feels he belongs in the team now.
As for Deeney - what can you say - another 100% performance accompanied by a goal.
As others have commented, the season is effectively over as we have no chanceof the Play-Offs now(thank goodness, given the lack of resources to strengthenthe squad).
At least I now believe I support a good footballing team who can give anyone a game on their day. Thanks to CH and MO'C for that. I'm looking forward to next season. I hope we can give it a good go then.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:23 pm

Surely Ince had done more than enough to justify his MOTM selection, at the time when it was awarded,because of the two superb saves he made. However, the shambles at the end did seem to be down to him - perhaps we should demand a recount? or Crewe should sponsor his award!!

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:30 pm

Just calmed down enough to post a summary

Ince - World class saves kept us 1 nil up MOTM till the Clayton clanger 1-1
Palmer - Liability, 4th div cast off, won't tackle, head, look up or mark, GET RID NOW, Chris would be better at his age
Weston - slow start then solid throughout playing on the left of the two CH's
Smith - Best game in the shirt I have seen him play, won everything and displayed a maturity in his play with good decions, row Z then pass
Boertin - A fave of mine so biased but even so solid, hard and brave as a lion.....Jimmy who
Nichols - Quiet game, great move and cross for the goal, too much time covering Muppets love child
Mattis - Best game since last season, never stopped running, tackling and box to box
Hughes - Composed, strong and moved the ball forwards
Zaboob - Tried to get things moving, another solid performance, suprised to see him replaced by Shroot
Deeney - Goal, hard work all summed up by a Leito esque winning of a header then running on to his own flick on and retaining the ball
Jabo - Looked rusty then came alive last 20 mins, so strong just needs to watch where Troy moves to and he would be the 100% striker for me

Shroot - Some nice touches but we need a right back!

Gutted but that sums up our season, mid table is where we are at

Bring on the Rovers, good nite

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:33 pm

A series of completely naive decisions by both the players and management cost us 2 points in the end.
Whilst they had as many chances as us, and got themselves into a number of decent-looking positions, we should have been able to see the result out without too much hassle.

Why did we keep leaving Palmer as our last defender when we know he can't defend?
Why didn't we make a time-wasting substitution to disrupt the game in injury time?
Why didn't someone just put their foot through the ball as it bounced around our penalty area with just seconds left on the clock?

There was something about the attitude of the team in the last 20 minutes which suggested to me that they thought they had the game won, having scored a goal. It's difficult to say exactly what we lacked, but for the whole game, we seemed to lack a certain command of things, or any real leadership. I said to King Crimson that Gerrard's absence was noticable, purely because of the fact that players were going for the same balls, which suggested a lack of communication. People will say what they like about Gerrard, but he offers a vocal presence which is needed at times.

In terms of the rest of our performance, we were decent if not spectacular. I thought Hughes was excellent in the first half, making passes count through a midfield area which often looked scruffy, whilst Jabo was always a nightmare for their back four. Weston and Smith did the basics well in the first half, but made the odd lapse in the second, whilst they targetted Palmer as our weak link at the back from the first whistle, unsurpisingly.
The one disappointment for me was the way in which we seemed reluctant to gamble on the balls Zaaboub was putting into the box. He flashed 2 crosses across the 6 yard box which were screaming to be tapped in, but a lack of anticipation from our strikers made that sort of service redundant.

Ultimately, we have to just have to hope that we learn from matches like that. I think our lack of experience showed in certain areas towards the end of the match. The hope of the playoffs has definitely disappeared now, so I'm sure Hutchings & O'Connor will start thinking about next season in our forthcoming games.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:42 pm

Generally, a quite entertaining game, I thought. On scoring chances, Crewe should have won comfortably but, luckily for us, their finishing was awful. It was a pity that we had to revert to the Mullen style of conceding in stoppage time but, trying to be fair, it would be hard to begrudge Crewe a share of the points that they deserved.

Ince - mostly o.k. with one stunning, world-class save in the second half, which earned him MotM from one set of sponsors. Pity he spoiled it by faffing about, like an old fart, for their equaliser.
Palmer - awful, but, to be fair to him, he did admit, in tonight's Excuse & Dingle, that he is not a full-back. You're not wrong, there, Chris! The sooner we can get Weston back to right-back, the better.
Smith - my man-of-the-match - getting better with every game. Calvin Zola can hardly be described as a skilful player but his sheer physical presence makes him a very difficult opponent and Smith stepped up to the task very well, indeed.
Weston - sound but I'd still prefer Gerrard in that position!
Boertien - not so commanding as he has been but still o.k.
Nicholls - full marks for laying on our goal but still looks like a "fish out of water" on the right wing.
Mattis - inconsistent, ranging from threatening to anonymous - all in the same game!
Hughes - see Mattis
Zaaboub - quality was there to see when he got the ball - a sublime crosser of the ball. Went off injured.
Ibehre - works his socks off for the team but I would still like to see him have more shots at goal
Deeney - won the other match sponsors' MotM award. Matches Ibehre for work-rate and notched another goal. Should end up top scorer while you-know-who is suspended.
Shroot - not on long enough but showed flashes of promise

I see Bristol Rovers had a good win, tonight - should be another close game on Saturday.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:45 pm

Bob, I also commented that Smith was in with a chance of MOTM. Very solid performance I thought. I thought Weston & Mattis were below their usual high standards.

And as Over The Moon said to me "Who needs Wayne Rooneyio, we've got Troy Deeneyio" :mrgreen:

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:50 pm

As summed up above, Crewe deserved the point, but it seemed like 4 minutes of injury time rather than the 2 announced.

Roll on next season, albeit with a smaller playing budget.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Wed Mar 11, 2009 12:03 am

Asps wrote:As summed up above, Crewe deserved the point, but it seemed like 4 minutes of injury time rather than the 2 announced.


WM seemed to suggest that the referee showed that he has stopped his watch when one of our players was down injured. I must agree with Rob that I find it bizare we didn't use the break in play to stick on a battler like Taundry with the instructions to win the ball and get rid, immediately.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Wed Mar 11, 2009 12:07 am

Jorge14 wrote:
Asps wrote:As summed up above, Crewe deserved the point, but it seemed like 4 minutes of injury time rather than the 2 announced.


WM seemed to suggest that the referee showed that he has stopped his watch when one of our players was down injured. I must agree with Rob that I find it bizare we didn't use the break in play to stick on a battler like Taundry with the instructions to win the ball and get rid, immediately.

That's my main gripe to be honest.
We could have taken Palmer or Nicholls (i.e. the furthest player from the dugout) off and replaced them with Taundry.
Whilst officials claim the time is added on at the end of the game, it rarely seems to be. At worst, a substitution would have interrupted the match, which was fairly open right until the very end.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:27 am

WFC_Rob wrote:
Jorge14 wrote:
Asps wrote:As summed up above, Crewe deserved the point, but it seemed like 4 minutes of injury time rather than the 2 announced.


WM seemed to suggest that the referee showed that he has stopped his watch when one of our players was down injured. I must agree with Rob that I find it bizare we didn't use the break in play to stick on a battler like Taundry with the instructions to win the ball and get rid, immediately.

That's my main gripe to be honest.
We could have taken Palmer or Nicholls (i.e. the furthest player from the dugout) off and replaced them with Taundry.
Whilst officials claim the time is added on at the end of the game, it rarely seems to be. At worst, a substitution would have interrupted the match, which was fairly open right until the very end.


Spot on boys. Ironically, I remember being impressed with Hutch in his first game in charge for doing exactly that - making the obligatory meaningless substitution to wind the clock down and grind out the result.

Very disappointing result. The rest of the season is now 'pre-season' as far as I'm concerned. Going nowhere, let's see who can play a bit for a place in the 2009/10 promotion-chasing squad.

For me, lots of players had good halves (Hughes first, Zaaboub and Ibehre second), but not enough had good games. Time to get back on the horse with a very winnable home fixture on Saturday.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:12 am

Thought it was an entertaining game (apart from the conclusion!) despite a general lack of quality from both sides. Our defending as a unit wasn't great. Weston struggled, I thought, and Boertien had his worst game since Mullen left. Palmer was just Palmer - he shouldn't be playing there. Hope Gerrard comes back soon so he can return to the middle and Weston move back to the right.

It would be churlish to suggest Crewe didn't deserve the point, but the fact is that we were 1-0 up after 93 minutes and should have hung on. A number of things cost us the win - Nicholls should have a buried a header he had at the far post, Ibehre naively lost the ball in the corner in stoppage time instead of hanging on, we could have made a time-wasting substitution as others have suggested, and of course Ince dropped an absolute clanger (though his earlier save was as good as you're going to see from a League One goalkeeper).

Main positive was another decent performance by Smith, who certainly looks like he could be a first-choice centre back at this level for us.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:01 am

Very disappointing to concede so late on but by all accounts Crewe deserved to share the spoils.

The sooner the season is over the better for me , plenty of positives to look forward to .

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:08 am

Bristol Fan wrote:Main positive was another decent performance by Smith, who certainly looks like he could be a first-choice centre back at this level for us.


yes, he is better than Tony "I want to leave" Gerrard

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) Football League 1 Tuesday 10/3/09.

Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:11 am

Jorge14 wrote:And there go the play-offs...

93rd minute equaliser. How many points have we lost with the last kick of the game this season? Very, very irritating.

3604 there.


That's five times late goals have cost points this season.

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