Crewe Alex v Millwall

[JJ1532]

So, first of 4 games for Davis to prove he can get the team winning. Playing poorly and grinding out draws is one thing. Playing well and losing is all well and good, but it's not what we need. The fans want results and this has to be a game we win. If we were in midtable, I think a draw would be fine out of a tricky game like this, but we aren't. We're bottom and need wins.

Haber and Wilson will back for this game, doubt Haber will be in much condition to play, so I'd imagine he'll start on the bench. Hopefully LDV went off with cramp and not anything more serious. I'd go with the same team that started against Swindon barring any new injuries. Haber and Wilson give us a stronger bench and some decent plan B options if we need them.

As for Millwall, they've made a very poor start to life back in League One, but interestingly have got 4 points from their first 2 away games. Just can't pick up results at home. Morison will be a handful for Davis and Nugent whilst Onyedinma looks a very talented player, going to be tough to keep him quiet.

I just hope we can build on the performance on Saturday in this one. Millwall seem like the kind of team that won't sit off and let us have the ball as Swindon did, so we need to play with tempo and get up the pitch quickly. We have got to get a win here, no other result will be acceptable I think. Lose and I do think fans will turn on the manager. Huge pressure on this game for both teams.

Going optimistic and predicting a 2-1 win for some reason. Dalla Valle and Colclough, Gregory for them. Many Millwall fans heading up from the smoke?

 

[SRNP]

We will play some good passing football, but never look like scoring and concede two weak goals. Then the "We passed the ball well so its ok" Jibes from sections of our support after the game.

Crewe Alexandra 0 - 2 Millwall
Attendance 4742 (796 Millwall)

Hope I'm wrong!

 

[Wootball]

I can see us winning this - Colcough looked close to scoring on Saturday and it's likely if he keeps running at defenses that he'll get one through eventually. Stick with the same defense and keep the pressure on them like we did for the first 70 minutes of Swindon and we stand a good chance.

 

[Jockney]

Fuck knows. I've never been so completely bewildered by a Millwall side. I think we might be competent away from home...maybe...

2-2

 

[Jockney]

O'Brien with two so far. Four of the six goals we've scored in the league come from academy graduates. That's the future, we need to be strong in our long term resolve.

 

[Etienne Vermeer]

Make that a hatty.

Seriously, I'd rather struggle with the youngsters than struggle with overpaid veterans.

 

[Jockney]

The youngsters are fucking quality, at least so far. I know Crewe are not exactly formidable this season, but it's no wonder we've got a result after we finally binned off the under performers and put faith in the youth. They actually want to succeed.

 

[TimeyWimey]

And on we plod into oblivion.

 

[SRNP]

Tick tock Davis.

 

[Dan Phillips]

Until that absolutely clueless **** fucks off, Crewe are fucking nosediving. Board need sectioning.

 

[Wootball]

Please leave now Davis.

 

[SRNP]

Disgusting that we fans have been subjected to dire football and shite tactics for 2 and a half seasons, how the board hasn't acted and mugging us paying fans off by not sacking Davis. I love how the fans have eaten up that Davis hasn't been given any money as well. 100k for Inman, 60k for Pogba, small fees for West and others, far more than most of our counterparts in league one. Aneke we paid well over 2k a week for and if you think Ajose, Tate and Uche came on free loans then think again. Harry Davis is on a reported 1.5k a week as well. Davis just plays the media and the fans to hate the board. C*** of a man behind the scenes and hasn't got a clue. Any Crewe fan with optimism is someone I admire, how can anyone see any positives from our club is madness.

Any Crewe fan shine some light on this ultimatum on Davis, is it true he has 10 games?

 

[Crewealexfan123]

Didn't go today and even I think that it was dire. The inevitable cant be far away surely or else our attendances will severely begin to suffer.

No media spins from our journos this evening either, I'm just praying that something is brewing in the pipeline. Hardly likely though.

 

[Bartonyellow]

Ten games?? Sack the clown now. In ten games you could be cut adrift. Act now.

 

[The Alex]

Genuinely think he could be gone soon. Can't see who could replace him though and get the right balance between playing the academy lads and not being a shit tactician.

 

[RavenBish]

Can Crewe just get fucking relegated please. If they manage to be the worst team in the division for the third season running and still stay up then...

 

[TimeyWimey]

Didn't go today and even I think that it was dire. The inevitable cant be far away surely or else our attendances will severely begin to suffer.

No media spins from our journos this evening either, I'm just praying that something is brewing in the pipeline. Hardly likely though.

The media twitter silence is very odd but oh so welcoming after the pro-Davis propaganda they've been spewing non stop.

Either he's on his way out or yesterday finally made then realise how embarrassing their continuing defence of him, regardless of facts, is.

 

[JJ1532]

First 20 minutes, we did ok. Nothing great, we were struggling to break them down, but were seeing plenty of the ball and had been keeping them at arms length. But we go to sleep at a throw in, Fox just lets Edwards waltz past him. Not sure about Garratts postioning, he was way too far over. Cross gets sent to the back post, Garratt can't get across, easy goal for O'Brien. Got a huge slice of luck for our goal, but instead of building on that fortune, we never kicked on at all. 2nd half, just a shambles. A complete shambles. Never turned up. Players didn't look remotely arsed. No effort, no fight, no desire. We were level against an average team who themselves were struggling, at home without a win in 7. And we put in that sort of display?!

2nd goal was a stunner, but even so, Fox yet again to blame, miles away from the player, not covering the middle of the pitch. On the ball he's done ok, but off the ball, he's been at least partly to blame for a number of the goals we've conceded this season due to him not doing his job in the midfield. Maybe he's never played that role before, I don't know. But we are haemorrhaging goals and it isn't just the defences fault. 2 men in midfield, 3. Makes no difference. Off the ball the midfield just don't offer enough protection to the defence. Grant wouldn't have made any difference to this team, we conceded a shed load of goals with him in the last 2 years. He's now just surrounded by half decent players at the Vale and looks better for it. I wished we tried to keep him, but part of me is glad that he's out of this shambles. Gave his all in the last 18 months, deserves better than to be in a losing team under a deluded and clueless manager.

3rd goal was...just....I can't describe it. King and LDV put in powerpuff challenges, Davis and Nugent don't make a strong enough attempt to stop the shot. Just a complete laughing stock of a defence, from back to front. Game over after that. Last 15 minutes was Millwall taking the piss and rolling the ball around like a training excercise. We never looked remotely interested in trying to fight back. Embarrassing from both the players and the management. Oh and to top it all off, 10 minutes to go and Davis takes LDV off for Wilson. So we end the game with 4 wingers and no strikers. At 3-1 down with 10 minutes to go. No, I'm not kidding. Our manager genuinely was trying to chase the game with 0 strikers on the pitch. I swear he's just trolling us/the board now. Seeing how much bullshit he can get away with, safe in the knowledge that hey, we have a small budget and he's doing the best he can with the measly resources he has. Pfft, some people are as deluded as the decision makers at the club if they believe that crock of shite. 0 strikers to end the game yet Haber was on the bench. Clearly Davis thought he wasn't in a condition to come on. Well then why the fuck was he on the bench in the first place?! Put Ainley or Wintle in instead, someone that might actually be used. Or just go with 6. Genuinely can't make sense of that one.

I really don't know where he goes from here. It's clear he has no idea how to set up a side to score goals. The only time we've scored goals on a consistent basis is when we had an outstanding academy player running things(Powell, Murphy) or a top quality loanee(Ajose in his good spell, Uche in his first spell, Aneke etc, Hitchcock, LDV). There is no game plan to score goals other than "give it to the tricky wingers and hope they can create something out of nothing". The bloke is a defender by trade, but can't set up a team to keep clean sheets because he gives games to no hopers like George Ray and passes up the opportunity to sign solid experienced pros like Tate in favour of lanky useless lumps like Nugent. God what a shite player he's been for us on the whole. SD doesn't want to play an open passing style and has been forced to, which you can see he doesn't feel comfortable doing. He doesn't know how to get a side scoring goals or playing an aggressive, fast attacking style. Hasn't got a clue. The end has got to be fast approaching for him. Interesting to see how we get on against 2 local away sides. One who haven't won at home in the league yet this season and the other who are flying high. Things could turn nasty in the away ends if we go down with a whimper in both games. I stick by what I said last week. He has 3 games. But I'm almost at the dangerous stage of wanting to see us get smashed every week just to speed up his demise. I'm almost going to be disappointed when we win, because it'll buy him more time and delay the inevitable. Not there yet, but I'm getting worryingly close. Never healthy when you go to games and you want to see them lose just to see the back of a manager. But I suspect some are very close to that.

Anyway, as for Millwall, they won in first gear as so many teams do against us. But it's hard to judge a team when they don't have to work for the win. O'Brien was excellent, but not sure about them going forward. They won't face defences as bad as ours every week. I can see them having strong away form though, in this weak league I suspect plenty of teams will find it hard to break them down when they get ahead and sit men behind the ball.

Oh well, on we plod to Shrewsbury.

 

[3Loggerheads]

Ten games?? Sack the clown now. In ten games you could be cut adrift. Act now.

Could Crewe wait until after next Saturday please!

 

[SRNP]

Well said JJ. I'm now going to games hoping we win in till we concede, as soon as we concede I want teams to smash us to get Davis out.