Crewe v Vale

[leedsvaliant]

After a better performance at the weekend, we move on to a game with our near neighbours Crewe (not rivals). We are just starting to get some key players back from injury and it has made a difference. We didn't have to play to our best to beat Northampton on Saturday but I feel we are starting to turn a corner. I still worry that Aspin hasn't got a 100% certain plan in place and I worry about putting Rawlinson at full back, as he is tall and uncomfortable on the ball. Legge has been superb in central defence and Manny is among the best midfielders in the division. Our keeper is a lot more solid and so we have a decent spine to the team.

I really don't know what to make of Crewe. One week they are scoring for fun and the next week they have a poor result. It seems like us that they haven't quite settled on a way of playing. We always seem to face Crewe at a time when they are inconsistent or on a poor run and yet they always seem to up their game. Maybe the atmosphere helps as we bring over 2000 fans but they have a habit of picking up results against us at Gresty Road.

I really can't call this. If we play to our ability, then we should be looking to win, but Crewe have a few decent players this year and will no doubt put on a good performance against us. I'm not convinced by Dave Artell but he'll have his players up for it. I'll go for a 1-1 draw which wouldn't be too bad.

 

[valefan16]

Hopefully we are talking about the football this season rather than the off field troubles (well technically on field!) and notice today the punishments were announced with five fans of both clubs getting a five year banning order.

As for the game, Crewe seem an odd one, smashed two of the weakest sides but failed to score in any of the others! But Colchester aside they seem more solid at the back than usual so maybe that’s why the goals have dried up?

We seem to have turned a corner after a mini injury crisis with three decent performances and are unlucky to have only taken four points from those three. We’ve hit the woodwork about five times in that spell I think!

A lot for us will be how Aspin goes into it, ideally we will go with the attack minded approach of having Miller, Pope and Whitfield all starting as we look completely different with those three, let Manny and Conlon try and control the midfield and allow those three and Hannant to attack forward.

I would drop Smith and play Gibbo right back ideally but we will see. That’s the only change I’d look to make as that would pretty much be our strongest XI then.

Can’t allow Crewe to dictate play and have to get in their faces, get Manny doing what Griffith used to do to them a few years back (all be it Manny seems to be a level above Griff and easily our signing of the summer)

Tough to call, in fairness you say about Gresty Road but I’m pretty sure our record there is fairly decent over the years? It’s at home we’ve struggled more as they’ve enjoyed our wide pitch (although they won’t have that luxury this season).

On holiday at the moment but back for this, my holiday reading was Micky Adams autobiography on a side note. Worth a read and some funny stories of the Vale v Crewe games! Including our win at Gresty when Joe Davis was hauled off after half hour because his dad was trying to get his own son sent off! Micky called him a wanker after the game for it... to which Davis said “it’s football isn’t it?” Adams said “yes it is”

Made the interesting comparison which maybe defines the two clubs too. He’s stated that Crewe are happy to lose as long as they play good football... Vale fans however demanded Victory’s regardless of the football. Interesting debate that...

 

[TimeyWimey]

A five year ban from watching Vale is a tad harsh for those concerned tbf. I’d be gutted at anything less than 20 if I was them.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Home performances this season in the league have been excellent. 6-0 vs Morecambe where we completely dominated the game. A 0-0 with promotion favourites MK Dons which we should've won with better finishing and a solid 3-0 win over Macclesfield where we didn't play as well as the other two games but we showed our quality in the end.

We create a lot at home and tend to be a lot more attacking than we are away. Away from home this season, we've played into the oppositions hands in 3 games in my eyes and not turned up at all at Colchester. It's no surprise that we've only picked up 1 point away from home but 7 points at home. That said, apart from that horror show at Colchester, we've been good defensively this season but our attacking play has let us down badly away from home to the point where we've got little reward for our efforts.

Vale haven't won on the road in 2018 but were seconds away from doing so in a game we should've killed off in the first half before Sterry's stupid tackle from a suicidal pass changed the whole course of the game and let Vale back into it. We played three suicidal sideways passes in that game which led to Vale scoring 2 goals and hitting the woodwork with a shot before the second goal (Two from Jones and one from Wintle I believe). Jones has been our biggest underperformer this season and he needs to pull his finger out because Vale will punish any lapses in concentration from us.

I can see us scoring the first goal but the second goal will decide everything in this game, and very rarely do we get the second goal in Crewe-Vale games. We go 2-0 up and I can't see Vale coming back in the rut they're in on the road. But as long as it's 1-0 they'll be in that game no matter how bad or well they're playing. And let's be honest until that Sterry moment of madness last season they were a disorganised mess all over the shop.

2-0 to us with one of our goals being a penalty and sadly no repeat of any Ryan Boot gaffes this year.

 

[valefan16]

The issue this season away (can’t really tag this squad with the away form before the season started as its completely overhauled) is the way Aspin has set up negatively and the injuries that left us with no energy in the midfield. Conlon who’s been excellent since getting fit in time for the last game and Manny who’s been out for a few weeks prior to FGR have made us totally different so will be interesting to see if that changes anything as we actually have a midfield capable of dominating which we’ve lacked with them injured and the whole of last season with Tonge and Pugh being old and slow (neither make the bench hardly these days)

On P&G a Crewe caller proclaimed Jones as the best player in the league so whoever wins that battle between him and Manny could dictate the way the game goes.

 

[Buxton Vale]

I'm expecting another draw either 1-1 or 2-2. Pope is due a goal as is Miller, but if Aspin sets up right, we could get that long awaited away win (he probably wont though)

 

[jbet]

Crewe to up their game for their cup final, and hold us to a draw.

 

[leedsvaliant]

Home performances this season in the league have been excellent. 6-0 vs Morecambe where we completely dominated the game. A 0-0 with promotion favourites MK Dons which we should've won with better finishing and a solid 3-0 win over Macclesfield where we didn't play as well as the other two games but we showed our quality in the end.

We create a lot at home and tend to be a lot more attacking than we are away. Away from home this season, we've played into the oppositions hands in 3 games in my eyes and not turned up at all at Colchester. It's no surprise that we've only picked up 1 point away from home but 7 points at home. That said, apart from that horror show at Colchester, we've been good defensively this season but our attacking play has let us down badly away from home to the point where we've got little reward for our efforts.

Vale haven't won on the road in 2018 but were seconds away from doing so in a game we should've killed off in the first half before Sterry's stupid tackle from a suicidal pass changed the whole course of the game and let Vale back into it. We played three suicidal sideways passes in that game which led to Vale scoring 2 goals and hitting the woodwork with a shot before the second goal (Two from Jones and one from Wintle I believe). Jones has been our biggest underperformer this season and he needs to pull his finger out because Vale will punish any lapses in concentration from us.

I can see us scoring the first goal but the second goal will decide everything in this game, and very rarely do we get the second goal in Crewe-Vale games. We go 2-0 up and I can't see Vale coming back in the rut they're in on the road. But as long as it's 1-0 they'll be in that game no matter how bad or well they're playing. And let's be honest until that Sterry moment of madness last season they were a disorganised mess all over the shop.

2-0 to us with one of our goals being a penalty and sadly no repeat of any Ryan Boot gaffes this year.

Yep, we were a mess last season in all honesty and we only just scraped over the line. We're very much in transition this season. We'll have good days and bad days and will finish somewhere near mid table I expect. I expect Crewe to be similar. It just depends who has a good day on Saturday.

If Pope, Miller, Whitfield and Manny are on their games then we have enough to cause anyone problems but the very nature of these sorts of players is inconsistency. The away games we have played so far in fairness have been with weaker teams than we can field now, so we have a bit of optimism. We have to break the away day duck at some point.

I would say that Crewe's wins at home so far have been against two of the poorest sides in the division and so I would expect them to beat Macc and Morecambe comfortably. Fair play, it sounds like you were unlucky against MK but they're not exactly setting the league alight.

With Bowery and Jones in your side, you can also cause us problems but I think players like Ng and Ray are potentially suspect if you get at them. We really need to get amongst you as we've made the mistake before of letting you play at home.

 

[The Alex]

Vale are due a win in this fixture. We're not playing as well as we were when we faced you last time and it's no coincidence that this coincides with us losing Paul Green. A cagey affair as usual with plenty of incidents, Crewe 1-2 Vale. Have you sold all your tickets?

Also, what's happening with Brendon Daniels? Not heard much about him.

 

[The Alex]

With Bowery and Jones in your side, you can also cause us problems but I think players like Ng and Ray are potentially suspect if you get at them. We really need to get amongst you as we've made the mistake before of letting you play at home.

Bowery and Jones will not be the players to watch, Bowery will work his socks off, Jones has heaps of talent but has under performed since the opening day where he scored 2 beauties. Ainley and Kirk are our creative threats.

As for NG and Ray, Ray has tendencies to fuck up but has been a rock this season barring Colchester and NG is very reliable imo.

 

[jbet]

Seeing as I got no bites earlier i'll post something more genuine. It's probably my least favourite game of the season, a fake derby match where we often have to be at our absolute best to get anything. Different story at Vale Park where we have tickled their bellies a number of times over the years, but at Gresty Road we often make a cock up of it all.

There's the usual stuff in their media about making sure that they play 'the Crewe way' etc. The playing philosophy at the club is non-existent now and has been for years, but it's a good PR ploy in an attempt to lure in a bigger club to over-pay for a youngster who is only the side for that purpose. In fact I'd say the modern Crewe way is to employ the dark arts, whether that is Steve Davis turning up with a game plan to target his own son, fans attacking opposition goalkeepers or otherwise, to their credit it has worked for them over the years.

I don't buy the improved Crewe narrative this season. They're on the back of a battering at Cheltenham where they somehow came away with a point, a home game with Macc where they allowed 10 shots on target against them but somehow won 3-0, a pair of away games at Carlisle and Col U where they never came remotely close to scoring, a home game v MK Dons where they mustered just three shots on target, which followed an away game at Newport where they tested the goalkeeper just once. Everything they hit against Morecambe on the opening day flew in but since they've failed to score in 5 of their seven matches. Quite simply, they're not creating much and also look to be conceding less than they should. I'd say their league position is false and that results will regress to the mean soon enough. Let's hope that's this weekend against a Vale side who will include Manny Oyeleke and Ben Whitfield - two players I'd suggest make such a difference to the side that it could be the difference between a bottom 8 or top 8 finish this season.

Happy chomping lads.

 

[The Alex]

Seeing as I got no bites earlier i'll post something more genuine. It's probably my least favourite game of the season, a fake derby match where we often have to be at our absolute best to get anything. Different story at Vale Park where we have tickled their bellies a number of times over the years, but at Gresty Road we often make a cock up of it all.

There's the usual stuff in their media about making sure that they play 'the Crewe way' etc. The playing philosophy at the club is non-existent now and has been for years, but it's a good PR ploy in an attempt to lure in a bigger club to over-pay for a youngster who is only the side for that purpose. In fact I'd say the modern Crewe way is to employ the dark arts, whether that is Steve Davis turning up with a game plan to target his own son, fans attacking opposition goalkeepers or otherwise, to their credit it has worked for them over the years.

I don't buy the improved Crewe narrative this season. They're on the back of a battering at Cheltenham where they somehow came away with a point, a home game with Macc where they allowed 10 shots on target against them but somehow won 3-0, a pair of away games at Carlisle and Col U where they never came remotely close to scoring, a home game v MK Dons where they mustered just three shots on target, which followed an away game at Newport where they tested the goalkeeper just once. Everything they hit against Morecambe on the opening day flew in but since they've failed to score in 5 of their seven matches. Quite simply, they're not creating much and also look to be conceding less than they should. I'd say their league position is false and that results will regress to the mean soon enough. Let's hope that's this weekend against a Vale side who will include Manny Oyeleke and Ben Whitfield - two players I'd suggest make such a difference to the side that it could be the difference between a bottom 8 or top 8 finish this season.

Happy chomping lads.

It's not a fake derby though, is it? The 2 clubs are a 15 minute drive away, have been playing each other regularly throughout their existence, and as shown by the crowds Vale pull, both at home and away, it obviously means something to some of your supporters. Plenty of your highest home attendances of the season have been against us, even with our pitiful away followings. Not to mention the events that have happened on match day over the years. This is just a narrative some Vale fans ploy because they're sad that Stoke are light years ahead of them and you haven't played them since 2001. Obviously Stoke is a much, much bigger rivalry for you, but I think most Crewe fans would also rather be playing and beating them.

And unless you were at the Cheltenham game, you can hardly comment.

 

[Crewelad87]

Quite fancy is in this one as long as we don’t take our foot of the pedal. We quite often seem to start very well vs Vale and then get caught napping just before or after half time. If were at it, I’m not sure Vale will be able to live with Ainley, Kirk, Jones making runs from midfield plus Bowery who’s a handful and Miller loves playing Vale.

Crewe 2-1 Port Vale (Bowery, Kirk, Pope)

Have Vale sold there allocation yet?

 

[valefan16]

It’s a local game but nothing compared to THE DERBY of course. As i say it got stoked up (pardon the pun) when Adams and Dario used to bitch at each other starting with the Donaldson dive and then us getting a soft one the year later for example.

It’s maybe not had the off field intensity that we had against Shrewsbury around the turn of the decade which has faded again. They were spicy but there’s been an under current of a story over the recent years stemming from that dive, Adams and Dario, sending them down, them gloating when we went into Admin and us giving it back when the off field issues caught up with Crewe and of course the end of the last game when two of our players are assaulted etc.

 

[Crewelad87]

I don’t get how Vale fans constantly state, it’s not a derby, there is no rivalry. Yet your fans do nothing but goad Crewe fans at either end of your stand and do nothing but look for a fight, I’m not saying the opposite doesn’t happen with an element of Crewe fans. But seems a strange mentality. You don’t care but invade the pitch virtually every time you score, always fill the away end and have a bigger home crowd when you play Crewe, not to mention 1000 or so standing behind police on Hamil Rd throwing bricks from behind bushes.

But you don’t care about little old Crewe, I’m sure this all happens vs Forest Green.

 

[jbet]

It's not a fake derby though, is it? The 2 clubs are a 15 minute drive away, have been playing each other regularly throughout their existence, and as shown by the crowds Vale pull, both at home and away, it obviously means something to some of your supporters. Plenty of your highest home attendances of the season have been against us, even with our pitiful away followings. Not to mention the events that have happened on match day over the years. This is just a narrative some Vale fans ploy because they're sad that Stoke are light years ahead of them and you haven't played them since 2001. Obviously Stoke is a much, much bigger rivalry for you, but I think most Crewe fans would also rather be playing and beating them.

And unless you were at the Cheltenham game, you can hardly comment.

We pull about 20% extra in for your visit but I'd hardly call that anything special. It's about the same as Boxing Day fixture, for example. Neither me or any of my Vale supporting mates give two flying fucks about Crewe in complete honesty. Haven't been to your place since we battered you on the opening day a few years back but still drew 0-0, because to me it's simply just another fixture.

10/02/2002 FYI.

 

[The Alex]

It’s a local game but nothing compared to THE DERBY of course. As i say it got stoked up (pardon the pun) when Adams and Dario used to bitch at each other starting with the Donaldson dive and then us getting a soft one the year later for example.

It’s maybe not had the off field intensity that we had against Shrewsbury around the turn of the decade which has faded again. They were spicy but there’s been an under current of a story over the recent years stemming from that dive, Adams and Dario, sending them down, them gloating when we went into Admin and us giving it back when the off field issues caught up with Crewe and of course the end of the last game when two of our players are assaulted etc.

You're right it did escalate then, we used to dislike Stoke far more when we were both in Championship and we also have our historic Cheshire rivalries which have died down because the rest of them are shit, never really thought about Vale much before that. But you don't half blow the Shrewsbury thing out of proportion after your last minute winner there, we've had our fair share of mither with them too but they're a bit of an irrelevance given the distance and inconvenience to get there.

 

[The Alex]

We pull about 20% extra in for your visit but I'd hardly call that anything special. It's about the same as Boxing Day fixture, for example. Neither me or any of my Vale supporting mates give two flying fucks about Crewe in complete honesty. Haven't been to your place since we battered you on the opening day a few years back but still drew 0-0, because to me it's simply just another fixture.

10/02/2002 FYI.

I find it funny how the people to have your stance usually don't live anywhere near Stoke, Manila for instance. I was born and raised in Stoke, think I know what I'm on about.

 

[The Alex]

I don’t get how Vale fans constantly state, it’s not a derby, there is no rivalry. Yet your fans do nothing but goad Crewe fans at either end of your stand and do nothing but look for a fight, I’m not saying the opposite doesn’t happen with an element of Crewe fans. But seems a strange mentality. You don’t care but invade the pitch virtually every time you score, always fill the away end and have a bigger home crowd when you play Crewe, not to mention 1000 or so standing behind police on Hamil Rd throwing bricks from behind bushes.

But you don’t care about little old Crewe, I’m sure this all happens vs Forest Green.

Nail. Head. It's a defence mechanism of theirs.

 

[jbet]

I don’t get how Vale fans constantly state, it’s not a derby, there is no rivalry. Yet your fans do nothing but goad Crewe fans at either end of your stand and do nothing but look for a fight, I’m not saying the opposite doesn’t happen with an element of Crewe fans. But seems a strange mentality. You don’t care but invade the pitch virtually every time you score, always fill the away end and have a bigger home crowd when you play Crewe, not to mention 1000 or so standing behind police on Hamil Rd throwing bricks from behind bushes.

But you don’t care about little old Crewe, I’m sure this all happens vs Forest Green.

The truth is, the Vale fans who go to Crewe away are generally season ticket holders rather than the nutters so any 'trouble' is nothing. We've only gone around en masse to confront Crewe fans after the dodgy Donaldson penalty almost ten years back and even then you were well protected by the Police. Enjoy it, I say.

 

[jbet]

I find it funny how the people to have your stance usually don't live anywhere near Stoke, Manila for instance. I was born and raised in Stoke, think I know what I'm on about.

If you were born and raised in Stoke you'd know there's only one derby and it doesn't involve Crewe.

 

[Andy Proctor]

No we havent sold out our allocation as nobody wants waste money watching us lose away from home as there sick of doing it for the last 3 seasons where we have barely won an away match won 2 in 2016/2017 season at mk dons and walsall 4 last season at crawley exeter morecambe and carlise and none this season.if you go any away match your just going for the day out on the piss as the game is pretty much a complete waste of time.

 

[mozzavale]

As of Saturday we'd sold over 2,000 from the 2,200 allocation. Be surprised if there's any left now.

As for whether or not it's a rivalry, I'd say it depends on your age and personal circumstances. I'm 36 so grew up with the Stoke derbies of the late 80s, 90s and early 00s. In that sense it's hard for me to consider this as a derby as I don't know one single Crewe fan. If we lost to Stoke (which hardly ever happened) it'd be horrendous around the estate, at School or at College as loads of your mates were shit fans. If we lose to Crewe, (which happens a lot) it pisses me off as much as any other game, but that's it. I hear nothing of it afterwards.

Our derby is Stoke, and that's nothing to do with the size of Vale compared to Crewe etc, it's simply a same City thing. The fact Stoke still sing about us, even after all this time, says it all.

 

[The Alex]

As of Saturday we'd sold over 2,000 from the 2,200 allocation. Be surprised if there's any left now.

As for whether or not it's a rivalry, I'd say it depends on your age and personal circumstances. I'm 36 so grew up with the Stoke derbies of the late 80s, 90s and early 00s. In that sense it's hard for me to consider this as a derby as I don't know one single Crewe fan. If we lost to Stoke (which hardly ever happened) it'd be horrendous around the estate, at School or at College as loads of your mates were shit fans. If we lose to Crewe, (which happens a lot) it pisses me off as much as any other game, but that's it. I hear nothing of it afterwards.

Our derby is Stoke, and that's nothing to do with the size of Vale compared to Crewe etc, it's simply a same City thing. The fact Stoke still sing about us, even after all this time, says it all.

I understand what you're saying, but it's 2018 and the age of the internet. Quite evidently it means more now, especially to younger people. And I don't think a rivalry is dependent on how many opposing fans you know, I doubt many Norwich fans know Ipswich fans, and we're 15 miles apart mate.

 

[mozzavale]

I understand what you're saying, but it's 2018 and the age of the internet. Quite evidently it means more now, especially to younger people. And I don't think a rivalry is dependent on how many opposing fans you know, I doubt many Norwich fans know Ipswich fans, and we're 15 miles apart mate.

I'm not disagreeing with you, it's just that depending on a number of things, the answer you'll get from different people will vary. Football fans seek out rivalries, which is why Norwich and Ipswich are rivals, they're the closest clubs to each other. Understandably, Crewe fans seek out a rivalry, and as the closest club to you, it's naturally going to be us. Younger Vale fans aged 18 or under won't have seen or remember a match v Stoke, so they'll seek a rivalry with Crewe. For us older ones though it simply doesn't exist. I still remember the days when Vale fans would cheer if Crewe were winning at half time when the scores were announced. That changed in 97, but certainly happened before that.

 

[The Jovial Forester]

I’m sure this all happens vs Forest Green

It was Crewe who took the North Stand in the rain as I recall

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

I hate Stoke, I dislike Vale. Would I want Vale to stuff Stoke if they played each other again? Absolutely.

23 years old so I grew up when Stoke were the enemy and Vale was just another game. No sign of trouble at all in the three trips to Vale Park in 2002-03 or the home game at the Alex. It's only been a thing since the controversial Donaldson penalty ended Vale's hopes of the playoffs. I also blame the fact that some of our idiots were brought up on a diet of Green Street and Football Factory so they wish to emulate that even though they wouldn't say boo to a goose.

I'd much rather be playing Stoke than Vale. I hold so much hatred towards them, I always wanted to beat them as a kid more than any other club. Even after we stopped playing them, the hatred never subsided, particularly when a pandemic of Stoke fans came out at school when they were promoted to the Premier League. I grew up with lads at school who binned Crewe off to watch Stoke when they made the PL. I mean, I hate Manchester United but you're gonna get fans of them everywhere. But Stoke fans in Crewe before 2008 were an absolute minority until their promotion, all of a sudden there's tons of them.

Never experienced Chester or Wrexham away which were feisty games in the past. Macclesfield are a cracking club and it's a Cheshire Derby but it's not intense at all. Shrewsbury were called Whosbury back in the day because they've always been irrelevant to me. After Stoke, only Vale and Stockport are the closest things to a derby we've had, and Stockport have gone down the shitter now anyway.

As for the poster claiming Cheltenham battered us, bar a 5 minute spell for them they had no chance of scoring and we had the best chance of the game at the end, it was the most boring game I've ever seen and if either side had won it it'd have been an injustice. Most of Macclesfield's shots on target were underhit pea rollers to Garratt at 2-0 down. The Carlisle and Newport games were also dull games decided by individual mistakes. Our forwards have been shite on the road this season granted but that defence, Colchester apart, has looked far from its usual shaky self. It'll have bad games this season but it's encouraging to know a defence will earn us points rather than laying all the pressure on the attack to score goals to win us games.

Anyway, that said, we usually do well against the crap sides at home. And with Vale retaining their league status last season by a solitary point, the odds are forever in our favour...

 

[valefan16]

We were crap last season but are a much improved squad... but it’s still a work in progress.

The fact Danny Pugh and Michael Tonge are nowhere near the first team this year shows the progress made!

I won’t be predicting a win purely as we are away, we are in the best shape to get a win away than we’ve been in a long time with our best XI fit and actually having a midfield fit and raring to go. Fact still remains that I personally haven’t seen us win away since my daughter was 5 months old... she is 4 next month! And I have a ticket for Saturday!

 

[The Alex]

We're missing Paul Green, Eddie Nolan and Harry Pickering who are 3 of the first names on the team sheet. I did notice a few players who started for you last season were in the reserves team on Wednesday. Can only see a Vale win here, I'm not convinced we're that good.

 

[Dave-Vale]

Hopefully Miller starts and sets out to wind up the Crewe players/fans. No doubt he will thrive on the atmosphere.

Whitfield, Pope and Miller is a decent attacking 3 which is going to cause problems. I still think we’ve got some questions to answer at the back and would prefer to see Rawlinson in the middle with Legge then Gibbons at right back and Clark at left back. Can’t see it happening as Aspin either doesn’t rate Gibbons or (I suspect) they’ve fallen out over something.

Our team is completely different to the aging one from last season and I can see us grabbing a win here.

3-2 Vale. Pope, Miller and Rawlinson with our goals.