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Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Reports and reaction from the 2014-2015 season as Walsall finished 14th in League 1
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TheSwift
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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 5:47 pm

Absolute garbage today. Player ratings:

O'Donnell- 6: Didn't do much today but his distribution has become dire and he messes about too much. Perhaps play McGillivray in the upcoming FA cup game to see what he's like.

Taylor-0: I counted and he won two headers. That was all the good he did. Honestly, the worst performance he has ever chalked up. WHY DOES HE KEEP DRIFTING INTO THE MIDDLE?!? Exactly the same against Colchester where the wingers exposed us. Perhaps a hangover of his bug but he was just cack.

Chambers-6: Quiet but reasonably solid.

Butler-8: Usual Butler performance. Especially loved his first half wall mode against Brandy where he just stood there and pushed him over in the chest :lol:

Purkiss-8: Deserved MOTM but A.Chambers also a contender.

Flanagan-2: Did the hard stuff right and the easy stuff wrong. Appreciate he is only young but he's a liability every time we start him.

A.Chambers-8: Went for every tackle and won some good balls up top that were wasted by the forwards.

Forde-6: Did some okay stuff. Odd moment of brilliance. Excruciating at times.

Benning-4: Not a left mid, not a left back and not a winger. Not good enough.

Sawyers-7: Not much wrong apart from THAT clearance.

Cook-7: Worked hard and has pace. Unlucky with a chip in the 75th minute.

Subs:

Manset-5: Did well with a couple of shots. Makes holding up a ball seem harder than it looks.

Clifford-6: Looked okay when he came on.

Baxendale-?: Not enough time to make an impact.

Not enough passion or togetherness in the team. Frustrating, rip your hair out football. Thank god Southampton won convincingly today or I would be even more livid. Still think Smith should keep his job, but I'd give him till the end of November to sort it out. UTS!

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 5:56 pm

paddy wrote:Smith blaming j chambers coming off to change his boots for us losing control of the game :lol:


Signs of a desperate manager making himself look even more stupid

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 6:03 pm

Have not yet been a Smithout and am more Smithrocky than out. I also think he's pretty bombproof with this board (of directors - not this board), however today was a disaster of selection, tactics, motivation and preparation. The starting 11 was set up not to lose and looked like we were the away team - this against a team that are bottom of the league. Playing Benning, which pushed the ineffective Forde to the right, was a disaster. Not sure what the future holds for our Mal as he just doesn't seem to have it. Flanagan was average, but Clifford wasn't much better. Cook had to feed off scraps and he and Sawyers just didn't get enough support.

We gave the ball away too much, especially around our box - and in it for their goal! We looked diffident going forward, often turning to pass back or sideways, often because there weren't enough bodies up front. We should have gone for them and played with the same pace that we did against Brizzle.

Purkiss and A Chambers did well and Cook's chip was classy, other than that just shite really

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 6:11 pm

" James Chambers came off the pitch to change his boots and momentum seemed to change in that instant.

We never wrestled it back. It’s a disappointing result.”

lol wut

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 6:24 pm

Bad. Really bad.

Except our support. Possibly the most patient fans in the country. We desperately tried to stay with them even though what we were watching was awful.

Purkiss, the Chambers brothers and bits of Sawyers and an isolated Cook were OK. The rest were painful.

Relegation written all over us at the moment.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 6:29 pm

Some on here STILL insisting that 'Deano' has the power to sort out this mess.......................
Well, time will tell, but I'm sorry 'sadders' this moment in time really IS rock bottom, I can only remember one moment worse than this in recent history, when we were 'played of the park' by Lincoln City in the FA cup some years back.
The squad has diddly squat to offer, no momentum, no quality, an inherent inabilty to score goals, no cohesion, gutless, tired.........and that's just the ball boys! :D

Quite honestly I'm afraid of what might happen against a 'quality' team at the moment, however a 7-0 type tonking MIGHT just tip the balance? Mr.Smith has run out of ideas and so have his squad...
people who believe we will finish mid table are living in cloud cuckoo land. We ARE in the bottom four, we have just lost, at home, against a team with one of the worst defences in the footy league......we ARE relegation fodder......end of. Accrington & York City her we come. :?

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 6:47 pm

At half time, I said we couldn't be that bad again in the 2nd half. :evil:

Inept.

He's got until the end of November for me. By then, I want to see the magic transformation of results and performances that he's promising. If not, get shot and get a replacement in with time to sort the mess out.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 6:51 pm

Ancient Moaner wrote:York City here we come. :?


Thanks for giving us a reason to be cheerful AM. Even though I don't think you meant it. :wink:

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 6:51 pm

No win in 8 now for Welsh. :wink:

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:09 pm

ToeJoe Jnr wrote:I can understand your point about playing the ball backwards to a degree but when we put Manset on we still did the same.

Exactly - which is why you've missed my point. What I'm saying is, when Bradshaw isn't in the side finding space, pulling defenders around & actually giving his teammates an option, everything falls apart.

We did the same thing - I actually thought we looked worse - when Manset came on because he's either bone idle or ridiculously unfit. Either way, Smith has to take responsibility for that.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:22 pm

Ancient Moaner wrote:Some on here STILL insisting that 'Deano' has the power to sort out this mess.......................
Well, time will tell, but I'm sorry 'sadders' this moment in time really IS rock bottom, I can only remember one moment worse than this in recent history, when we were 'played of the park' by Lincoln City in the FA cup some years back.
The squad has diddly squat to offer, no momentum, no quality, an inherent inabilty to score goals, no cohesion, gutless, tired.........and that's just the ball boys! :D

Quite honestly I'm afraid of what might happen against a 'quality' team at the moment, however a 7-0 type tonking MIGHT just tip the balance? Mr.Smith has run out of ideas and so have his squad...
people who believe we will finish mid table are living in cloud cuckoo land. We ARE in the bottom four, we have just lost, at home, against a team with one of the worst defences in the footy league......we ARE relegation fodder......end of. Accrington & York City her we come. :?



Fair enough, your opinion. In my opinion your above post is over the top and will be shown up down the line as being so.

For a club our size, our budget, our fanbase in a league that as embarassing as it is - we are probably no longer 'big enough' for - then it could get a lot worse being a Walsall fan. I wonder whether the Tranny fans envisaged what they would have felt last Saturday afternoon when they were top of league 1 24 or so months ago.

IF this club goes into league 2 (which it eventually will, if not this season, then next, or the season after) - we won't do a DD and our fanbase won't be 6,000 strong again. We will have less money, less fans, less bouncabackability and could in all honesty, struggle at the bottom of league 2. THEN it will be rock bottom, but not until that day should come around. (Let's hope it doesn't, ever).

Smith has until Christmas and I'll only want him gone if we are cut adrift, 24th and are taking comfortable losses each week. We will probably lose to Crawley, then absolutely smash on fire Chesterfield. One of them leagues, one of them teams.

UTS.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:22 pm

Well what can you say, totally rubbish football, outplayed and outthought by a Crewe side that will struggle to stay in this league, mind you Tate for them was solid. I think Downing being out did not help, but Flanagan is not up for it, too light weight and he is in the wrong position to make a mistake.
Why he took Forde off when he was murdering the fightback Tootle was a crazy decision, but what disappointed me overall was the total lack of passion to get back into the game. We were losing and we are playing pretty passes in our half, we need Bradshaw back as neither Cooke or Manset were up to leading the line.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:32 pm

Two cack teams and we never looked like scoring.

Manset was knackered within a minute, Sawyers looked like the only source of a goal (and teams will soon work that out) and we are still bereft of any strength or physical presence in the team. Injuries have cost us quality in the team - no doubt - but it is too easy to blame that.

All in all... barclays.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:34 pm

30

That's 30 goals Crewe have conceded this season. 30 fudge goals and we never threatened, even remotely to add to that.

If that's the level of ambition that the Smith fans then fair enough, but you're excusing a damn sight short of mediocrity. Forget all the crap about attendances, income etc (real managers like Graydon and Nicholl never let it become an excuse), the squad building has been laughable, the team selections/formations are baffling, the excuses unforgivable.

Anyone backing Smith is obviously happy for us to be relegated without a fight.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:38 pm

Unbelievable new excuse chambers boot change

Add to poor refs, injuries, internationals, playing teams in form, deflected shots,

Benning is not a forward, Cook is not a centre forward, chambers is not a centre half and Flanagan is not ready yet.

The worst is we have players on the bench who play these positions

So not only does smithout lower the confidence of the players playing out of position he says to the players on the bench that he would rather play people out of position than play them I bet that really motivates them

He is a laughing stock

Clueless

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 7:50 pm

Very poor today. Biggest problem in central midfield with Chambers having to do it all by himself. Biggest squad we've had for as long as I can remember and completely unbalanced. It's only got two League One standard central midfielders in it, one of whom seems to have had a leg amputated or something judging by how long he's been out (and until Butler rejoined it only had one central defender in it, who was injured today). Flanagan has loads of potential, you can tell that, but he's not there yet, especially when we're going through a run like we are. Would Kinsella be worth a go there in the week?

Cook isn't a lone centre forward in a million years. Could play out wide, could play in the hole, but not up front on his own (in common with 750 other players in the squad).

Missing three key players today which does excuse it a bit, but still. Very poor.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:14 pm

Smith got it wrong. Feared the worst with Benning, Flanagan starting with Cook loan striker. IMO Bax, Clifford should have started. For all his shortcomings I would have started Manset. Why have we let Bakayoko out on loan?
This was probably the worst Crewe team I have seen.
There seems no end to this boring ineffective football, therefore a new man in charge for me

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:17 pm

Sexy football, da da da da, sexy football.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:23 pm

Beirlynd what is it about sat 18 October that makes you post

Just noticed the date of your 1st post

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:29 pm

Fill the squad with mediocre players and you get performances like today. Said it before but our Manager has filled the squad with quantity and not quality, and his judgement of a player has to be questioned. Just look at the bench today with O'Connor and Grimes not featuring and Manset getting a few un impressive minutes at the end. The budget spent on these three could have been used to get one quality player, probably a striker as even with three players out today they did not start or impact the game. Now would be the right time to go into the loan market but the budget I suspect has been used up on Butler and in building the biggest squad in terms of numbers we have had for a number of years. After a defeat like today you would like to think that a Manager would make changes for Tuesday, worrying for us is that looking at the bench not sure that it would make us any better.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:47 pm

Ginger Mourinho, Ginger Mourinho!

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:49 pm

WFC_Rob wrote:Well one thing's for sure. This board will be red hot for the rest of the weekend after that result.

We were dire. Gutless, spineless, pedestrian, lacklustre, lethargic, and lightweight.

A truly woeful afternoon began with the team selection. Yes, I understand that Smith wasn't happy last week, but it was almost like he'd gone back to picking numbers out of a hat again. In his defence, the back four picked itself, but Flanagan's not ready to be starting, Benning wouldn't know what quality was if it slapped him in the face, and as for Cook starting up front on his own - if ever there was a player who's not suited to playing with his back to goal, it's him.

The issue we've got is for the third season in a row, Smith's wasted a large portion of his budget on players he know aren't good enough. O'Connor, Grimes & Manset are all players Smith only plays when he absolutely has to and add diddly squat to the quality of the squad. Manset doesn't start even when Bradshaw's injured, which shows how little Smith rates him. It's quantity over quality again and it's holding us back.

The stuff about us playing the ball backwards winds me up because anyone with half a brain cell can see that it all stems from having nothing to hit up front, and no movement from the wide players coming inside. What are the likes of Adam Chambers supposed to do other than play the ball to another red shirt and hope they have something more to hit?

There were minor plus points in that Sawyers played ok and Purkiss was comfortably our best player both at the back and going forward (isn't that saying something in itself!) but after that we really are clutching at straws.


James O'Connor should be a lot better than he is. I can only conclude having been a good player at this level previously for Donny and having spent 3 years in the championship at Derby the frequent injuries have knackered him.

Certainly from his opening performance at the Vale he's a liability against pace and Oldham exploited it last week aswell.

I think when he signed most assumed he'd play at CB as Chambers is a better RB than him, Purkiss is a steady player at this level and Kinsella was excellent there the opening few weeks so it does look pointless waste of resources.

Grimes is just this seasons Hewitt, forward signed purely to make up the numbers in the squad.

Manset I'd have been happy to have signed after his inital trial performances but felt it was the wrong move to still sign him after he disappeared for a few weeks.

Frustrating to see Liam McAlinden scoring regularly for Fleetwood, he's local and was rumoured to be joining before Wolves apparently pulled the plug.

Generally the defence has been reasonably this season but the achilles heel in a Smith side will always be luck of goals aside from that purple patch with Grigg, Brandy and Paterson.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:58 pm

There's no power or physical presence in the team either. There is absolutely nothing wrong with passing the ball but you need that nasty side in this league. Too many nice players and not enough bastards.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:25 pm

Haven't posted on here for a long time but feel compelled too after today.

What struck me was the lack of passion, grit, enthusiasm etc.

Crewe were there for the taking. However with just one up from vs their three tall and physical central defenders we just had no chance.

As the game went on it was obvious that we could get done with a smash and grab. Crewe did the the easy stuff right and were also more professional with more gamesmanship. But they were still pretty poor and actually at times we kept the ball and put some pressure on without ever really threatening apart from cooks two chances in the second half.

But what the worst thing for me was that once they had scored we basically gave up.

Heads were down, noone looked interested and if anything we got progressively worse in the last ten. As other people have said we are on for relegation poor team but worse spirit. The combination is ominous.

Reading other peoples posts I think the stick for benning is unfair, he is one of the only players who shapes to go forward, he has a physical presence and if he could cut out mistakes I think he is decent at this level compare him too forde who doesn't give a Donald or (add one of our many lightweight players here) who all get pushed off the ball to easy even manset to look at him you would not want to go in for a challenge with him but he is powder puff and so unfit we should ask if he can use a segway to get around!

Ratings

Odonell 5
Taylor 4 looked half the player of last season
Butler 7
Chambers j 6
Purkiss 8 needs to cross better though
Force 3 absolute waste
Chambers a 7
Flanagan 5 youth teamer needs some creatine phosphate
Benning 6
Sawyers6 so frustrating could be amazing but isn't
Cook 7 actually thought he looked better up front than wide

Manset 2 why? Just why?
Bax ? Touched it once
Clifford 4 second touch is awful

Oh well.

We need a rocket up everyone's arse and quickly. Feel this is the season our luck will run out.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 10:21 pm

bush360 wrote:Well what can you say, totally rubbish football, outplayed and outthought by a Crewe side that will struggle to stay in this league, mind you Tate for them was solid. I think Downing being out did not help, but Flanagan is not up for it, too light weight and he is in the wrong position to make a mistake.
Why he took Forde off when he was murdering the fightback Tootle was a crazy decision, but what disappointed me overall was the total lack of passion to get back into the game. We were losing and we are playing pretty passes in our half, we need Bradshaw back as neither Cooke or Manset were up to leading the line.

I kept on saying we should go in for Tate and nobody took a bit of notice. I reckon we'd have an even more solid back four with him there and he'd be around for when Butler departs again.
I still say we have to suspend judgement on Smithout until we have a full squad to call on. Mind you, it does show how paper-thin our squad is when it comes to any real quality at this level. A disgraceful result. Reminds me of all those times we were fodder for every cack team's "first win of the season" or "first clean sheet". That was humiliating. How can we match Brizzle Chitty, then lose to this lot?
We seem to be back to Walsallnil as our preferred name.
:( :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sat Oct 18, 2014 11:05 pm

Entirely predictable disappointment. Lose to the dross is almost ingrained into any Walsall side.

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sun Oct 19, 2014 5:59 am


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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sun Oct 19, 2014 10:12 am

In the words of Mike Bassett:

" 4 - 4 fudge' - 2"

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sun Oct 19, 2014 10:25 am

In the cold light of day, not a lot for me to add to previous comments. We were out-thought, out-muscled and generally out-enthused by a Crewe side that looked nothing like their bottom-of-the-table position implied. On the rare occasions when we actually threatened their goal there were always Crewe defenders willing to put bodies in the way of perhaps predictable shots, and the ricochets always found a blue shirt......it was as though they had four or five Aranaldes in their team.

The goal, by the time it came, had been predicted for most of the game. A Crewe corner not properly cleared, a bit of ping-pong, and it fortunately fell to a Crewe foot in the scramble that ensued. What surprised me was that the last Walsall player to touch the ball in the melee was Romaine Sawyers, who may be many things, but he's no defender!!

Mentioning Sawyers brings me to a mini-rant. He's obviously a class above most of his team mates in terms of sheer ability, control, vision - all the positive attributes that you want in a player. But he peppers his style with so many attempted bits of trickery, flicks and dummies that do not come off 99.9% of the time. A classic in the second half occurred when he was on the edge of the Crewe penalty area with his back to goal. The ball was played to his feet from the wing either by Taylor or Benning, and Sawyers just lifted his foot quite deliberately, allowing the ball to run on.....straight to the Crewe player behind him. There are only two reasons for doing what he did - either (a) there would be a Walsall player behind him to receive the ball (there wasn't ), or (b) the dummy was so that he could turn round himself and chase it (he didn't, he just stood there). It's a shame that with so much obvious talent he chooses to opt for the complicated rather than the simple or direct action.

Other observations.........What does Reece Flanagan bring to the team? He may well have shown neat touches and scored goals for the reserves, or other junior sides, but he appeared way out of his depth here. The only passes he made were either sideways or backwards, and he was easily brushed off the ball by any reasonably quick challenge (and there were plenty of those, as the Crewe players seemed to have more enthusiasm on the day). I was glad when he was substituted. It wasn't entirely down to Flanagan that our midfield was so completely over-run, but he was a significant factor. The lack of any midfield control meant that defenders were forced to seek long balls down the channels, which demonstrated that both Cook and Forde had plenty of sprint speed, but it was all 'hit and hope'. The nearest we came to scoring was a lovely chip by Cook from the edge of the area, which brought the only decent save the Crewe keeper had to make - highlights already posted above. Malvind Benning has a lot more muscle than Flanagan, but he's never the winger that his field position said he should be.

According to Dean Smith, the squad were laid low by a sickness bug this week which explained Downing's absence, but he also specified Baxendale as a sufferer. Well I can assure you that Baxendale used a lot more energy running up and down the touchline as a substitute for more than half the game than did his team-mates on the pitch.

The highlight of the whole afternoon for me can be understood when I say that it consisted of reading the two-page article in the programme on the Tony Richards/Colin Taylor partnership - none of the Walsall players on yesterday's performance would be fit to lace the boots of that pairing, with the possible exception of Andy Butler, who was at least solidly reliable.

No doubt more will occur to me in due time.........rant (partially) over. :D

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Re: Crewe Alexandra (H) League One, Sat 18 Oct, 3pm

Sun Oct 19, 2014 4:21 pm

Welsh_Saddler wrote:We were out-thought, out-muscled and generally out-enthused by a Crewe side that looked nothing like their bottom-of-the-table position implied.


I thought Crewe were poor and looked very much like a struggling team. The only reason they didn't look like their bottom-of-the-table position was because there was a team worse than them on the pitch, but they are no great shakes. Crewe, Walsall, Colchester and Scunthorpe look like the bottom four to me. Obviously being up against the big budgets of those three means that we're doing really well just to be competing.

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