Coventry vs Crewe

[TimeyWimey]

We can take the positives...

 

[PUSBCCFC]

We are very, very good.

 

[SkyBlueElephant]

We beat Crewe, I'M A BELIEVER!

 

[JoeJoeJoeJoe]

We played some great stuff tonight and managing to finally beat Crewe at the Ricoh is nice. Crewe were not as bad as I thought they would be tbh. Haber was irritating as fuck and it was great that Davis took him off as it pretty much killed any threat you had.

Fleck was outstanding tonight, my MOTM. Ran the game and the Crewe midfield couldn't get near him. Armstrong scored another great goal and Jim was also brilliant capped off by the best goal of the game. Very pleased right now. On to Walsall.

 

[skyblue76]

Well that was more nervy than it ought to have been. Lost count of the efforts we had, but were exposed a bit at the back tonight.

Great performance overall. Credit to the Crewe fans with that banner.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

We played some great stuff tonight and managing to finally beat Crewe at the Ricoh is nice. Crewe were not as bad as I thought they would be tbh. Haber was irritating as fuck and it was great that Davis took him off as it pretty much killed any threat you had.

Fleck was outstanding tonight, my MOTM. Ran the game and the Crewe midfield couldn't get near him. Armstrong scored another great goal and Jim was also brilliant capped off by the best goal of the game. Very pleased right now. On to Walsall.

Of course that dull prick took him off at 2-2, always loves playing for a draw the fuckwit.

 

[skyblue76]

27 efforts on goal according to the stats with 63% possession. On another night would have buried them. That said I was convinced at 2-2 they might nick it. Had a 'one of those nights' feeling to it.

 

[JJ1532]

Well, first half, Coventry should have been 3 or 4 nil up at least. We were atrocious in defence. It was only their poor finishing(hit the target 3 times from around 10-15 shots I think) that spared us. Took our only chance of the half out of nothing, created nowt else.

2nd half, more Coventry, pressing, we allow Armstrong to waltz around us for the millionth time and he finally scores. But we equalise, again out of nothing. After it went 2-2, I thought it was quite even. Coventry had more chances, but we looked relatively comfortable. But, as it the way with us, we go off the boil and Coventry score. Never looked like scoring after that.

Coventry deserved to win on the balance of play, but once it ticked past 80 minutes and it was 2-2, with us looking relatively secure, we should have seen it out. But we didn't, surprise surprise. Very little to take from that game.

Now for the rant. First of all, why did LDV get dropped? Right decision to bring in Coco, but dropping probably our best finisher? Yeah, cracking decision. Lets not dare drop one of the shit midfielders, that would be absurd!

First half was bloody awful. For all the talk about playing a 4-3-3 to dominate midfields, it's worse with a 3 than it ever was last season with a 2. Fox doesn't seem entirely comfortable playing the holding role and where he was for the first and third goals I don't know. Bingham looks like what he probably is, a bottom half L2 player playing way above his level. So slow, weak, one dimensional in his passing. But it'll take all season before Davis drops him. Bit embarrassing that this is a guy we've been interested for so long and he's turned out to be pretty crap so far. King is pissing me off more though. He looks like a 15 year old playing a mans game. He is so physically weak its untrue. Both of those 2 never earned their spots and aren't doing enough to keep getting picked. But because we have a manager who doesn't pick his team on merit and instead will perserve with his marquee signing in Bingham and a Swansea loanee in King for way longer than other managers would, we'll continue to struggle.

In defence, they did their best given they once again had no protection from in front of them. But even so, they made clumsy challenges, poor decisions, won't dare make a tackle and generally seemed to let the Coventry forwards do what they like tonight. You want to control, turn and make a pass Fleck? No worries. You want to jink around 2 of us and get a shot away Armstrong? Here, here is 5 yards of space. A tackle? Wouldn't dream of it, go on, have another go, you missed the target last time.

Upfront, I thought the 3 did ok. Haber went from one minute working his bollocks off to not looking interested. Took his goal superbly well mind. Still needs another forward alongside him, would really help I think. Maybe LDV? No no, silly idea. Inman looks much more engaged this season, just doesn't get enough of the ball. Great finish too by him, he's got that in him. Hopefully he can build on that goal. Coco had a poor 1st half, did better in the 2nd, almost scored too. But in this system and team, he and Inman spend far too much time defending.

The positives are that we scored twice from 3 shots on target and should have scored with the 3rd. Very clinical. Another positive was that despite being battered, we should have probably got a draw with 10 minutes left. Wouldn't have deserved it, but nevertheless, still should have ground it out.

The goals Coventry scored were a shambles from our point of view. Nobody positioned on the edge of the penalty area from a corner, which meant when Guthrie knocked it down, Fleck had the freedom of Coventry to run in and smash it in. Not sure if Davis had a point claiming Inman was blocked off though. 2nd goal, Armstrong showed some great feet, but our defenders had been letting him do what he liked all game. Awful defending from them. 3rd goal was similar to the 1st. One touch from O'Brien took out our whole midfield and he again just had to pick his spot.

To sum up tonight, front 3 pretty good, if one short. Back 7, terrible. This team is crying out to be switched to 4-4-2. We get overloaded on the flanks too much when we don't have the ball and don't know how to make the extra man count in midfield. Also end up going narrow with our attacks and as a result, unless someone like Coco or Inman run with the ball and take players on, we don't create anything. Steve, rather than continue to labour under the delusion that 4-3-3 is the right system, just be a man, hold your hands up and switch things up. Your stubbornness will cost you your job pretty soon if you don't start to get results, whatever system you play.

Finally(apologies for the long winded rant!), Coventry played some superb football and deserved to win by a much bigger scoreline. Few warning signs(not putting us to bed and conceding 2 from 3 shots), but generally, they looked very good. They'll need to keep Armstrong for the season mind, far too good for this level and will probably bag 25+ if he stays. Best of luck for the season Coventry fans, if any fan base deserves some success, it's you lot.

 

[The Alex]

You want to control, turn and make a pass Fleck? No worries. You want to jink around 2 of us and get a shot away Armstrong? Here, here is 5 yards of space. A tackle? Wouldn't dream of it, go on, have another go, you missed the target last time.

 

[Dave-Vale]

Davis In.

 

[Wootball]

Annoying game - after the first 20 minutes it wasn't the one-sided affair that the stats would have you believe. Long range shots that weren't really worrying anyone and our midfield came back into it nicely. Haber was excellent up front providing a great target and looked very decent when linking up with Inman for the flick ons to start attacks. Nugent at the back looked solid and Garratt as always made some great saves. The third goal was just irritating, we were well in it and the goal came against the run of play. I thought we'd be coming home with a point but it wasn't to be.

On another note, fair play to all the fans last night. It was a decent atmosphere and the applause for Jayden was very emotional. I like the Ricoh a lot.

 

[JoeJoeJoeJoe]

Annoying game - after the first 20 minutes it wasn't the one-sided affair that the stats would have you believe. Long range shots that weren't really worrying anyone and our midfield came back into it nicely. Haber was excellent up front providing a great target and looked very decent when linking up with Inman for the flick ons to start attacks. Nugent at the back looked solid and Garratt as always made some great saves. The third goal was just irritating, we were well in it and the goal came against the run of play. I thought we'd be coming home with a point but it wasn't to be.

On another note, fair play to all the fans last night. It was a decent atmosphere and the applause for Jayden was very emotional. I like the Ricoh a lot.

That whole top paragraph isn't true.

 

[Brammer_£500000]

The big question is will proggs keep up his hate campaign againstSteve on Crewe Sad, that sacking must have hurt the clown. Which one is proggs on this site, could be one of a few, or proggs being proggs could be varipous usernames?

 

[Wootball]

That whole top paragraph isn't true.

Obviously we see it differently then. I know Coventry bossed the possession but there wasn't a lot that worried me aside from one brilliant point blank save from Garratt in the second half. The first 20 we looked clueless, and after that started to use the ball well when we had it, finding Colclough and Inman on regular occasions and getting some joy down the left flank. I know Coventry were the best side on the night but it wasn't the hammering the stats make it look like.

The big question is will proggs keep up his hate campaign againstSteve on Crewe Sad, that sacking must have hurt the clown. Which one is proggs on this site, could be one of a few, or proggs being proggs could be varipous usernames?

Who was/is he on Mad then?