2016/17 Prediction League; Game 23 v Crewe Alexandra (away)

[Div3North]

Crewe Alexandra FC

V

Accrington Stanley

2016/17 Prediction League; Game 23 v Crewe (away)

Well .................. what doesn’t get better, gets worse (as My Old Granny used to say) ......... six of the bottom eight lost again on Boxing Day – the exceptions being Morecambe and Leyton Orient, who did Mansfield 1-0 (away) and Crawley 3-2 (home) respectively, leaving Newport (24th) on a five match losing streak, Cheltenham (23rd) with one win, one draw and five losses in 7, Notts County (21st) with 7 defeats on the spin, Hartlepool (20th) with two wins, one draw and seven losses in 10, Orient (19th) with four defeats in 6, Morecambe (18th) with six losses and a draw in 9, Mansfield (17th) with five defeats and three draws in 10 and the Stanley (22nd) with one draw and seven defeats in our last 8 ........... and if John Akinde (once of Ebbsfleet – “Own the Club, Pick the Team”) hadn’t stuck in a second half winner for Barnet at Cheltenham we’d now be in the relegation spots, for the first time in a good while ...................... since 16th October (in the League) we’ve played nine League games, drawn twice (0-0 at Crawley and 1-1 v Yeovil at our place) and failed to score in seven games, including six of the last seven played (Luton 0-1, Stevenage 0-1, Hartlepool 0-2, Orient 0-1, Plymouth 0-1 and Grimsby 0-2); that four of those six have been on the road is no consolation whatever .................... one goal in the last 630 minutes – and that a 93rd minute equaliser! We’ve taken just one point from 24 (as have Notts County), so we’re now the joint-worst side in League Two, and we’re also the lowest scoring team – now 20 in 22 (next worst is Mansfield on 21, and no-one else has fewer than 24)

Crewe have scored 24; they’ve conceded 30; in doing that, in the League so far they’ve won 6 (to our 5), drawn 9 (to our 6) and lost 7 (to our 11) ............. their home record is W3 D5 L3; the wins were against Donnie 2-1 and Exeter 2-0 on consecutive week-ends in early September, and Morecambe (who they play again on Jan 2nd) 2-1 on a November Tuesday evening, and they’ve actually lost 6 of their last eight home games in all competitions ............ so maybe our season starts (re-starts?) here ...........................

One of their summer signings was a striker who played for them from 2006/2008 and again (on loan) between Nov 2015 and January 2016, before re-joining permanently in May 2016; he’s therefore made three “debuts” for the Railwaymen, and he scored in each one – against Northampton, Colchester and Stevenage ............he’s recently had his 38th birthday; he was League Two Player of the Month four times in 16 months between January 2010 and April 2011; and your Starter for Ten this week is ................... what’s his name?

Crewe Alexandra was formed, it appears, in 1877 and named after Princess Alexandra (and we were named after Stanley Matthews, I presume!); the club was a founder member of the Football League Second Division in 1892, but only retained that status for four years, not getting back into the League for another 25 years (1921). Their only major honour won is the Football League Trophy (which they took in 2013 by beating Southend 2-0) – which, to be fair, is one more major honour than we have ...... They’re famous, to football fans of my generation – the ones who used to read Charles Buchan’s Football Monthly (discuss) – for a game they played in the 1959/60 FA Cup; drawn against Spurs, who were to win Division One title the following year, they held on for a Desmond in front of a new crowd record of 20,000 (goals by Bert Llewellyn and Merfyn Jones); five days later (who remembers when the replay was in the week immediately after the drawn game?) they went to White Hart Lane and lost 13-2 (Spurs then went out of the Cup in the next round 3-1 to Blackburn) ..............the year after, Crewe beat Chelsea (whose team included Jimmy Greaves, Peter Bonetti and El Tel) 2-1 at the Bridge in Round 3, and then went out (1-5) in Round 4 to ............. Spurs! .............. they also had a sequence of 56 away games without a win between 1955 and 1958, breaking their jinx at Southport! In 1963 they beat Exeter to win their first ever promotion .............Famous ex managers include Harry Catterick, Dennis Viollet (from August to November 1971 – about as long as Bob Bradley just lasted at Swansea!), Harry Gregg, Tony Waddington, Dario Gradi (from June 1983 until November 2011, except for a 10 month spell in 2008/09 when Gudjon Thordarson held the reins); current manager is Steve Davis – not particularly well known for his snooker skills – who’s been in charge, if not in control, for a month over 5 years, making him currently fourth on the Longevity List behind Arsenal Winger, Paul Tisdale (Exeter) and Jim Bentley (Morecambe) – who does appear to have the comfort that there’s nobody around the Globe who has the authority to sack him should the need arise ................. Famous former players include Stan Bowles, Bruce “Crazylegs” Grobbelaar, Mark Palios, David Platt, Neil Lennon, Danny Murphy and Robbie Savage ..............

After an unbeaten run of 16 games between February 18th and May 5th they went up in 2012, winning the Playoff semi-final (from 7th place in the League) 3-2 over Southend, and then beating 6th placed Cheltenham 2-0 in the Final, with goals from Nick Powell and Byron Moore; Powell was sold to Man U before the next season started .............he’s now at Wigan, since you asked ................... They came back down at the end of last season in 24th place; 34 points from 46 games, 16 points and a heap of goals from safety ...................

Following relegation to the basement, heads rolled; 14 players left the club, best known among them being MF David Fox, who went to Plymouth, cake-loving Canadian striker Marcus Haber joined Dundee, Finnish striker Lauri Dalla Valle was released and appears to be still club-less, Australian MF Brad Inman went on to the Posh, and RB James Baillie opted for Curzon Ashton (well it didn’t do Adam Morgan’s career any harm, did it?) – and he managed to be on the books of five clubs during 2016 (us, Hemel Hempstead, Colwyn Bay (who sacked him for failing to turn up for a game, it’s reported), Curzon, and FC Halifax)

In came just three (suggestive of money issues?); CM Danny Hollands joined from Pompey, striker Chris Dagnall from Hibs, and Ryan Lowe – the answer to this week’s starter for ten – who arrived on the 10.36 from Bury ............. there have been three loan signings as well – CM Liam Smith from Newcastle (why does “Newcastle” always make me think of Kenneth Wolstenholme?), RW Alex Kiwomya from Chelsea, and RB Callum Bullock from Man City

We lost to them 6-1 in the FA Cup in 1992/93; in the three seasons we shared in League Two before their promotion (ie 2009/10 – 2011/12) we won two - 5-3 (2009/10) and 3-2 (2010/11) at home, drew one (0-0) and lost three, including both games in 2011/12 .............over the decades we’re actually in the lead, just, by 31 wins to 29, with 9 draws ...................

Having seen off the Blades 2-1 in the EFLCup, they then succumbed to Blackburn 4-3 aet in Round Two; in the FA Cup they lost 4-1 at home to Cheltenham in a Round One replay after a half-Desmond away, and in the EFLTroffy they were the other team, along with us, who bombed out in the group stages (our group being won by Wolves u23s!); 12 goals in the Cups (7 games) plus 24 in the League equals 36 goals in 29 games (45 conceded) .............their leading scorers are Ryan Lowe (8), MFs Alex Kiwomya (7), George Cooper (6) and James Jones (5), plus striker Chris Dagnall (credited with having committed the most fouls in their team), who also has 5

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 31st December; Alexandra and Stanley playing together – how nice is that? But this is no time for chivalry – this is time for panicking!

Good luck to everyone! .................... Keep the Faith! ........................ And thanks for playing!

[MikeA]

Back to winning ways; 2-1 to Accy, please.

Ryan Lowe?

[cashman]

2-0 stanley.

[Outback Ozzy]

Sorry to be the doom merchant but I cannot see where the next win is coming from, so my prediction is 3-0 win for Crewe and hope I am very wrong

[Lord Stiffupperlip]

After our earlier encounter, a 1-1 draw will be a good result

[AccyMad]

Going to be cautiously optimistic & opt (nay make that pray!) for a draw, 1 apiece please

[Stevie R]

2 each please

[monkey hanger]

a no goal bore.

[DAV007]

4-0 to the mighty famous excellent Accy Stanley

[yerself]

Crewe Alexandra 2 - 0 Accrington Stanley, please.

[Div3North]

Originally Posted by Div3North

In came just three (suggestive of money issues?); CM Danny Hollands joined from Pompey, striker Chris Dagnall from Hibs, and Ryan Lowe – the answer to this week’s starter for ten – who arrived on the 10.36 from Bury .............

Originally Posted by MikeA

Ryan Lowe?

We have a winner!

[DaveinGermany]

2-1 to the Stanley please D3N.

[Tom D]

1-0 win for Stanley please

[JIMSLAD]

1-0 crewe

[Tommy McQueen]

Crewe 1 Stanley 1 please we have to score sometime