Crewe Alex Thread

[Kiwi John]

Wow...2nd...pinch me please...

[AccyMad]

Ok, it wasn't too pretty but a win's a win & we'll take 'em any way they come! Crewe played well, particularly in 2nd half & I almost felt sorry for them at the final whistle as they probably did deserve something from the game.
Having said that if their team talk was anything akin to what their two pressmen behind us were saying i'm surprised they even came out onto the pitch, pessimistic wasn't in it - even before a ball had been kicked. They reminded me of Statler & Waldorf from the Muppet Show

[monkey hanger]

[QUOTE=maccawozzagod;1208770]Awful game, awful atmosphere, didnt even want my winners hour 2 pints.

Great result though.

think thats all you can say about last nights game. started on the front foot for once but after jacksons goal we seemed to sit back too much. 2 clean sheets on the trot a big plus. glad when the game finished but i expect a few similar ones before the season is over but if we take 3 points i,ll take it everytime.

[cashman]

Have to say, after listening to J.C.s video on last nights match, He is spot on in my view,He said to win anything,as well as win well, yeh gotta win ugly, We sure did that last night, a couple of seasons back twas a match we woulda lost i reckon.If we have learnt that lesson then its a much better result than we thought imho.

[monkey hanger]

its all about the 3 points at this time of the season. if you get a match to remember on top of it thats a bonus. agree we would have lost last night a few seasons ago but have become more streetwise than we were which is a good thing in the run in.

[choirboy]

'Twas an important three points won last night against an unlucky Crewe side IMHO.
They deserved a draw at the very least and could easily have come away with a win.
For a neutral watching the game last night it must have been a pleasure to watch as two teams came out trying to play football on a 'Zippy' pitch with the blades of grass having developed coats of wintery verglas. The air was very still and I think that it was pretty good conditions in which to try to play good football.
The first half for me was fairly equal until we scored and the first time I noted the time thirty minutes had indeed flashed by. There is an old saying..."Time flies when you are enjoying yourself".
I felt that we needed to up our game, in order to take more control from the off in the second half, but it was Crewe who stepped it up and they played some classy passing football right out of Coley's training/playing manual! They were unlucky not to score at least one goal. I think that one or two of our players looked a bit tired after their efforts on Saturday at Coventry. I was really impressed by their Number 20 Kirk and Number 30 Green who persistently 'sliced' their way through our midfield throughout the second half. It was a good job that Chapman was on his toes, that all four of our defenders were strong and that Crewe did not have a clinical finisher up front or the result would have been different.
Yes all of our back four had good games as they were exposed to attacks far more than they should have been by our weaknesses in midfield. Clarke had a pretty good game again and it was his persistence and accurate final pass that set up Jackson for his well taken goal. Jackson was a bit inconsistent and he was frustrated by his pace being matched by the Crewe left back who was pretty quick in the chase. We definitely missed Sean Mac's attacking threat but also his defensive work that he employs in midfield. I think that we also missed the calmness and control that Seamus Coneely gives. In the last twenty minutes not only were Crewe passing their way through our midfield but also that we started to forget that we had midfield players because we reverted to some desperate 'Hoof ball' upfield to 'No one', as we desperately defended our one goal lead.
It was resolute defence though and a display of the type of 'Character' that a team needs to win promotion.
In other words......."To show the character to WIN even when you don't play well".

I hope that Crewe can score some goals and that they stay up as it would be a shame for such a cultured footballing side to be relegated.

Finally, a word on the sporting manner in which the match was played.
Only twelve free kicks awarded. Nine against Stanley, (most of which came late in the match when we were desperately defending our narrow lead) and just three against Crewe.
A neutral would have certainly enjoyed the match as a feast of good football but for both sets of supporters it must have felt somewhat different........
Very nervy for the Stanley Faithful.....
Very Frustrating for the Crewe Followers.

ON STANLEY ON
KEEP THE RUN GOING BOYS
KEEP THE FAITH

ps Did anybody notice that there was a referee and two linesman watching the match?

[cashman]

What i noticed is 2 matches on the run now, we have had decent officials, that must be some sort of record?

[ferret man]

Well done Ref + Liners, even I commented on the good job they where doing.

[Revived Red]

I'm a bit surprised no-one has mentioned Billy Kee. I thought he looked quite jaded last night.

[Chrisr]

I heard coley's report and in general agreed with him. I still can't get my head around how seem to end up playing a lone striker up front at home. Billy looked jaded and so did Harvey. Perhaps if coley had made changes at half time we would have kept Crewe under more pressure. They soon worked out our game plan and countered it. Their league position does not do justice to how well they can play. But we are like that at times. We seemed to be disjointed last night. In the first half we had 2/3 decent chances where I thought Jackson should have scored. Maybe a touch unlucky. The defence did keep Crewe out just. Like others have said a season or two ago we would have lost a match like this. Looking ahead we have some expected tough games and some Banana skins so every game is a cup final for us. Winning is a must and clean sheets are a big bonus.

[VALAIRIAN]

Originally Posted by Revived Red

I'm a bit surprised no-one has mentioned Billy Kee. I thought he looked quite jaded last night.

Not on his own.

Games coming thick and fast, 30+ games in and I would suspect around 15 players have played the majority of the games??

Coley has his own 'Pareto's' law

[Lord Didsbury]

I’d be surprised if you can tell a footballer like Kee looks jaded, and surprised if his style of football would make him tired.

Brown, Nolan... they are the ones doing all the graft. Jackson, the Don, Clark... they do a lot of running but Billy mainly just stands there.

He didn’t have his best game on Tuesday but it didn’t seem anything more than he was well covered by their defence.

[monkey hanger]

[COLOR="Blue"]For a neutral watching the game last night it must have been a pleasure to watch as two teams came out trying to play football on a 'Zippy' pitch

cannot agree with that i,m afraid. for me a really dull and forgettable game. a neutral would have been bored or frozen to death by it. we got 3 points which is what i wanted and forgot about the game by the time i reached the end of the M65.

[MikeA]

Highlights, from Alex:

[Chimer]

Originally Posted by MikeA

Highlights, from Alex:

Thanks Mike, having seen that I think I was right first time .....

Originally Posted by Chimer

Phew!!