Crawley 0 Luton Take a guess

[Casey]

I'm starting a thread due to all the Luton fans wanting to post. I might get another Crawley fan to.
I'm hoping for a miracle on Saturday and hope we don't lose by more than two. Hylton has a habit of making our defenders look like babies and Collins is bound to score against us. However; if we play really well we may actually get a shot. For it to be on target is probably asking for a bit much but here's to it.
I'm expecting fast, free-flowing football tomorrow and my team will also be on the pitch.
I think Harry might be on his last legs. 1 win and 7 losses from our eight home games, which includes defeats to Port Vale and Chesterfield, plus the all over dullness of our style of football (habitually playing without a forward) means the few fans we have are starting to stay away.
As you can tell I don't hold out much hope for us tomorrow or all season.

Casey

 

[Maple Hatter]

Some Luton posters have posted about this game on the General game chat. However so you don't feel lonely I'll reply. The wind tomorrow could be a good leveller. Our change in formation means we don't hoof it out of defence as much as we did earlier in the season especially away games. So a fast neat passing game is the plan tomorrow I would guess. I saw that Crawley have a good defensive record so maybe not the goal glut that some people expect. I would take a 1-0 win any day of the
week just to keep the run going and try and get as many points on the board before this run comes to an inevitable end. Not that I expect us to go on a losing run more the fact that no matter the team you can't win every game. I think the Exeter victory will have given the team a huge lift and even more confidence. Not sure how Crawley will play tomorrow. If I was their manager I'd give it a go and put a lot of balls into our box as that is our weakest area. If however you sit back and defend you are inviting us to attack which we love to do. I've predicted a fairly comprehensive win based purely on the form of both teams. But we all know that the beauty of this great game is its unpredictabilty. A large Luton following tomorrow will mean we will probably outnumber the home support. I sincerely hope they don't go home disappointed.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Will be making the trip for this one, quite looking forward to it given our form but the conditions may very well prove to be something of a leveller I fear. Can see lots of balls being pumped into the area utilising the wind which will no doubt cause us problems as thats really what we struggle with, despite ostensibly having a fairly tall defence with players like Cuthbert and Potts who are good in the air it is a bit of vulnerability.

If we can get our game going on the floor then I think we can be confident of a result, the team this season seems far more suited to being able to adapt than last years judging by the last 2 away performances.

 

[BelizeHatter]

Come on you rip roaring Hatters. Smash 'em.

I still haven't forgiven Crawley for destroying us that year in the Conference. How dare little Crawley finish above the Mighty Hatters - by a mile too. Pah. We were cocky and full of it knowing we would walk the non League with weekly cricket scores, smashing everyone - despite having Stevenage show us the season before we should probably think again: We didn't.........We were slow learners down there lol.

 

[Maple Hatter]

Come on you rip roaring Hatters. Smash 'em.

I still haven't forgiven Crawley for destroying us that year in the Conference. How dare little Crawley finish above the Mighty Hatters - by a mile too. Pah. We were cocky and full of it knowing we would walk the non League with weekly cricket scores, smashing everyone - despite having Stevenage show us the season before we should probably think again: We didn't.........We were slow learners down there lol.

I would rather conveniently forget that we were ever in non league despite the novelty of visiting some of the grounds and giving us a better understanding of the game. We should never have been there in the first place but the authorities decided to make an example of us despite similiar crimes committed by other clubs which went unpunished. As usual the fans take the brunt and our previous owners were allowed to walk away with no more than a slap on the wrist. The Wimbledon and York final failures will still live in the memory. From what I remember about Crawley they recieved some heavy investment and had a quality squad that was a lot better than ours. We had to rebuild our club from the bottom up and it took more time than we hoped. I think we all knew that tide would turn and so here we are. Hopefully some positive news on Power Court soon and at the moment a real possibility of getting promotion. Supporting this great club has always been a roller coaster but I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Game 15 and around third of the season done already. At this point, I targeted us to get 30 points and we're already there which is testament to our recent form and how crucial October was as a month. By game 20, IMO we need 38 points, so we're well ahead of schedule at the moment. In fact, win our remaining two games this month including today and we're six points ahead IMO.

Crawley's home record - it should be a comfortable victory, right? I don't think any Luton fans are as naive any more. The wind could well be a real leveler.

 

[Casey]

If you are down here the New Moon opposite the ground is not bad and Redz bar accepts away supporters. The Downsman, about five minutes away, does a decent pub curry after the game if your up for it.

I do agree that Luton should never have been in non-league but it was fun to see your tail feathers plucked a few times while you were there.

As for pumping balls into the box to score against you. We have two fit forwards at the club Camara, who will be quite good in a season or so, and Meite, on loan from Cardiff. With luck one or the other will be brought on when we are two down....well that's the normal procedure anyway. Until then it's not worthwhile pumping balls into the box as nobody is in there.

Casey

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Pretty sure we aren’t going to be putting up a cricket score in this one, be more than happy with a scrappy 1-0 with a Danny Hylton chipped penalty!

Just got a feeling it’s going to be a grind it out type of game rather than a free flowing one were everything goes our way. Be interesting to see if we are able to do that.

 

[devilofajob]

I'm lucky. I've only been to some away games this season so far.
If you read Kewell and Feeney's recent offerings to the press before our last 2 games, I'm surprised they're still there or that the players (professionals though they are ) want to play for them.
We'll be in NL South unless something gets changed.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Very poor game this, conditions not really helping us and playing into Crawleys tactic if keeping it tight and looking to get a break. Pitch is also a right state which isn’t helping things, although we’ve had some nice spells of possession we haven’t really created anything. Crawley have had a couple of shots from mid range, seem more willing to pull the trigger than us and had a decent half chance when Stacey made an error.

Thing it’s going to take a mistake from one side or the other if there’s to be a winner

 

[devilofajob]

Pitch is also a right state which isn’t helping things.

Really? What's wrong with it?

 

[BelizeHatter]

Phew. Could easily have lost that. Decent point in the end. Crawley will be wondering what all the fuss is about.

 

[Judge Dredd]

Soooo predictable that we'd draw a blank today. Had a couple of chances but overall Crawley frustrated us and were well worth their point, if anything they had the clearer cut chances to win it in the second half.

 

[Bosox]

No too disappointed with that at all. Four points in a week from two away games, you'd take that every time. Plus if you could pick which way round to have the results then far better to beat Exeter and draw this game than the other way round.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Really? What's wrong with it?

Bit of a state was probably slightly over stating it but it wasn’t great, the bit just in front of where I was sitting didn’t look like it had seen a mower in some time, longer than my back garden at the moment!

Happy with a point really, tricky game and especially with the conditions perhaps not being conducive to how we like to play a points ok. Both sides had chances to win it but you’d have to say Crawleys were more clear cut. Think last season we might have lost that one to be honest.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Not a great game that; the pitch was heavy and didn’t suit our quick fluid style. Crawley never really showed any ambition of going for the win, which is probably the way to play against Luton at the moment. In fact, they had the better chances overall but Luton had far more of the ball.

 

[BelizeHatter]

Long grass wouldn't be a bad tactic against us. Smart move.

 

[Vanni]

Sorry but you're not fooling anybody Luton fans. For a very decent side like yours only a win at a struggling side like Crawley could be termed a good result.

Please don't shoot me!

 

[Kenneth E End]

Sorry but you're not fooling anybody Luton fans. For a very decent side like yours only a win at a struggling side like Crawley could be termed a good result.

Please don't shoot me!

It’s a good result in the fact we have 31 points in 15 games and are now 9 unbeaten. And only lost 3 times on the road in 27.

And being top of the league.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Naive to think you’re going to win all the games, if someone offered 4 points from the last 2 away games I’d have taken it.

Still got the unbeaten run going, still top too so yeah, decent result for me.

 

[Casey]

Luton played some lovely football around the box but some dodgy crossing and some wayward passing mucked up your efforts. I must say I was happy to Hylton playing wide right and Collins wide left for parts of the game.
On our part, playing with a forward made a real difference. Camara is ok but not really ready for pro football just yet but he pulled your defenders and midfielders back towards their own goal just by being there. If we still had Collins we would have won that.

Casey

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Luton played some lovely football around the box but some dodgy crossing and some wayward passing mucked up your efforts. I must say I was happy to Hylton playing wide right and Collins wide left for parts of the game.
On our part, playing with a forward made a real difference. Camara is ok but not really ready for pro football just yet but he pulled your defenders and midfielders back towards their own goal just by being there. If we still had Collins we would have won that.

Casey

I thought Jack Stacey was particularly culpable in the dodgy crossing stakes. Very unlike him as he normally has decent delivery but just seemed to be looking to hammer the ball to no one in particular rather than pick a player out. First not great game I’ve seen from him so far but I guess you can’t be as good as he has been all the time!

Despite his goals I’m not sure Collins has quite fitted in yet. We seem to try and play off him quite a lot and ask him to do quite a lot outside of the box but really he strikes me as a pure box player with actually quite limited technical ability. Also very rarely wins headers against centre halves. Highlighted as you say by him playing on the left at times today and looking a little awkward.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Long grass wouldn't be a bad tactic against us. Smart move.

Its not a new thing this season.

 

[Casey]

Maybe it's not just me with Collins then.

He will score fifteen- twenty goals but I still fell there is more to come. While another forward will score ten and you feel he is a really good player because he has set up twenty chances for other players.

But you can't complain when he scores all those goals.

Casey

 

[Maple Hatter]

Where did Crawley get that energy and fight from? Just goes to show how players need the right motivation to produce a good performance. I agree with Kenny that we had more of the ball and up until the last quarter it looked like Crawley were playing for the draw. We certainly didn't play to the level we have of late but we can't be greedy and expect that every week. Also made too many errors today and were a little predictable playing out of defence. Stech rolls it out to Potts who is pressured by the Crawley midfield and so plays it long and we lose the ball. Happened far too often and something which reminded me of our early games this season. Our wide play didn't work either and Stacey in particular looked off his game. You could see that quite early on. I would have put Justin on in his place. Not disappointed though. Its been a great month and we are still top. A great game next Saturday with a big crowd to cheer us on. I'm sure the performance will be much improved.

 

[hellogregory]

Clubs are growing their grass long to try and slow down Luton's fluent fast passing football?


I've heard it all now

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Well yeah if you want to distort the point....

We tend to play the ball around on the floor, not always free flowingly or all that fluently might I add, but we try, and that’s harder if the ball holds up a bit on a sticky pitch. Also helps teams looking to get balls in behind our slightly slow centre halves as the ball will hold up for on running players. Just common sense isn’t it...

To be fair the wind was more of a factor today than the pitch I think, just meant to mention it in passing

 

[Casey]

Fair does to Stacey. He was wincing and limping when he came over to take a corner kick in the first half.

Casey

 

[Kenneth E End]

I do agree with what Jones was saying in his interview - the players did look a little leggy yesterday. Relentless performance v Stevenage, a long Tuesday night trip down to Exeter and another overnight trip yesterday; the players have certainly put the miles in on and off the pitch.

Stacey had his worst game for us from his usual high standards - perhaps he was just a little bit knackered. And on such a heavy pitch and shit conditions, it was never going to make it any easier. Perhaps time to give one or two players a short rest as their replacements won't change the quality of the side.

Crawley fans cheering and celebrating a 0-0 draw at the final whistle - says a lot really.

 

[Maple Hatter]

I do agree with what Jones was saying in his interview - the players did look a little leggy yesterday. Relentless performance v Stevenage, a long Tuesday night trip down to Exeter and another overnight trip yesterday; the players have certainly put the miles in on and off the pitch.

Stacey had his worst game for us from his usual high standards - perhaps he was just a little bit knackered. And on such a heavy pitch and shit conditions, it was never going to make it any easier. Perhaps time to give one or two players a short rest as their replacements won't change the quality of the side.
Crawley fans cheering and celebrating a 0-0 draw at the final whistle - says a lot really.

I never like that argument that we look tired after midweek games. The same applies to Crawley. Granted they did have a long mid week journey but they played the same number of games. Yet they were full of energy. The whole point with having a big quality squad is using it when the need arises. This may have also been a great time to rest a couple of players as you said the quality is there. We were up against a physical team and Pelly for example might have been a better option in midfield. Justin in for Stacey too perhaps. Elliot Lee should have been introduced sooner too. Of course it's easy to say this in hindsight. I guess NJ wanted to keep playing a winning team out of loyalty to the players who have performed so well recently. The risk with this team is if someone is left out to rest they might not get back in again. A great luxury to have.