I should draw your attention to the updated DPL Stats which I posted on the Walsall thread instead of the later one - sorry.
Crewe is a town, but for me it is a railway junction and the principal locomotive engineering works of the London and North Western Railway then of the London Midland Scottish Railway, the Rolls Royce factory and a football team that probably had to (successfully) apply for re-election to the Football League, probably more often than any other in the mid 20th Century. The fact that the same team progressed to what is now the Championship and spent more than one season there and produced a number of outstanding footballers is knowledge that is relegated in my consciousness.
So the idea that Crewe Alexandra can be a team that can beat Rovers is difficult to accommodate in my prejudiced historically-based scheme of things, but I must force myself to accept it if I am to remain rational.
The fact is that, in the current Crewe, we face the most formidable opposition since we began our revival at Sutton. We might scrape a thin slice of comfort from their second half collapse against Morecambe at home last week, but beyond that, their opponents have had a pretty mean time at their hands . In fact away from home they have not lost since December when Walsall beat them and have beaten Mansfield, Barrow, Stockport and Notts County away since. You might draw some comfort from the fact that most of these results came when the opposition had more of the play and I suspect Crewe took their chances on the break. Where they have been less successful is at home against the more ordinary sides where (for example) they only won 1-0 against Crawley and could only draw 0-0 playing Harrogate.
However, putting that aside, and focussing on Rovers qualities, we did break MKD’s run and I suppose no team in League 2 is so good that we would never have at least a chance of getting the better of them.
We seem to be nearing full strength (Miller apart) now and we have a few individuals who seem to have benefitted from playing together with greater confidence throughout and familiarity breeds cohesion. So, if we have the core of a top half team playing a potential promotion candidate we ought to be able to make a significant impression, so I’m opting for a narrow win - 2-1(Wood, Anderson).
DPL v Crewe A
posted on 9/3/24
If Crewe had worse recent form, I'd predict a win. However, except for the embarrassment against Morecambe, their form means it will be a difficult game. Like against Bradford, I'll hope for a win, but predict a draw, this time at 2-2, with Adelakun and Ironside scoring in that order.
posted on 9/3/24
2-1 to Rovers. Ironside.
posted on 9/3/24
Rovers 1-3 Crewe
Ironside to score ⚽
posted on 9/3/24
What an excellent win that was. The only worry is the substitutions and the injuries that prompted some of them. I hope Ironside was just rested to enable Biamou to have a run out and give Ironside a rest bearing in mind the Colchester match on Tuesday. Biamou seemed to get into good positions and then shoot straight at the GK, but perhaps that’s better than missing the target completely.
Beating the best away side in the league well shows we are developing excellently at long last.
posted on 9/3/24
I'm glad my slight pessimism was unfounded!
I overslept and did not see the first half. In the second half we should have killed it off:
Biamou had one good chance and one very good one and sent both straight at their goalkeeper;
Hurst shot tamely when he should have scored.
Of course, Abedisi should have scored for Crewe, and probably would have done if Jones had been in goal.
I know this season Hurst drives us all mad by scoring great goals and then attempts like the one. Last season he showed great potential, but after his injury this season he has been inconsistent. I seem to remember Donaldo saying something about him needing more effort and application. Maybe with a constant run in games he could be what he appeared to be last season. Despite his failings, I'd keep him for next season.
Who has a list of those out-of-contract this summer?
We should win on Tuesday, but beware banana skins!
posted on 9/3/24
By the way, no excuse next week if I oversleep as we go onto summer time tomorrow so it will be a 08:00 KO here.
posted on 10/3/24
Molyneux,Maxwell,Biggins,Close,Nixon,Westbrooke,Faulkner,Wood,Rowe,Taylor plus a few juniors
posted on 10/3/24
I think I’ve seen a list of contract expiry dates and Maxwell and Molyneux were mentioned today in that context. Adelukan and LoTulala are the other 2 who are the two most instrumental in the revival and our chances of securing their services look remote.
At least TL-T will have provided a powerful illustration of the benefit of a good GK and the absolute necessity to off-load Jones and probably Lawlor too who seems injury-prone anyway.
I am looking forward to streaming Tuesday night’s match!
posted on 10/3/24
Sorry Nookie, I wrote my comment on Saturday evening and forget to send it until this morning and didn’t read yours beforehand.
posted on 11/3/24
He's currently got one of the largest squads in the league. It does need culling. At last he seems to have a reasonable set of players who should be able to push for promotion next season. Problem is the loanees are providing most of the improvements and are unlikely to stay anyway.