Match Thread: Crewe Alexandra v Lincoln City | Page 18 | Vital Football

Match Thread: Crewe Alexandra v Lincoln City

graemetheexile said:
You could see against Newport how not having Green limited our options in the second half. That needs to be sorted out pdq.
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Positives in relation to this are -
1. The January transfer window is open in 6 days
2. The club have an increased amount of cash to buy a replacement due to selling Green before the window opened
3. There is more time to make a good choice due to the timing of Green’s sale
4. In terms of league matches, his replacement only has to score one goal off the bench to have the same goal tally as Green did from the bench.
 
Chimpimp said:
Positives in relation to this are -
1. The January transfer window is open in 6 days
2. The club have an increased amount of cash to buy a replacement due to selling Green before the window opened
3. There is more time to make a good choice due to the timing of Green’s sale
4. In terms of league matches, his replacement only has to score one goal off the bench to have the same goal tally as Green did from the bench.
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2 is the only positive in relation to not having Green available for 3 games from his departure.
 
plumbob said:
2 is the only positive in relation to not having Green available for 3 games from his departure.
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It’s positive we can replace him soon. Would Green have made a difference today and in the next 2 matches, we will never know.

We do know, we now have more cash to buy a better replacement than we would have.
We do know Green has n’t scored a league goal since 11 August.
 
An abject performance yesterday, and for the first time ever since having iFollow, I gave up with ten minutes to go and went to bed (it was 1am in Malaysia after all)!

As many of said, that will rank alongside Colchester as our worst display of the season. For me, it goes right to the bottom of the heap as Crewe (a bottom-half side on a 3-game losing streak) completely dominated and created infinitely more than I remember Colchester doing.

Anyway, to the crux of the matter, am I the only one who has been concerned about our league performances from the Crewe home game at the beginning of October (a game we were fortunate to win 1-0)? Since then, the Mansfield, Newport and Morecambe games have been decent - at least in spells - but other than that, we've generally served up a diet of aimless long balls down the channels and backwards/sideways passes in midfield. Crewe gave us a lesson yesterday in how to play the ball intelligently and skillfully (something we were doing at the start of the season), and whilst their league position would suggest they have not been doing this all season, the fact of the matter is that they executed a very good game-plan against us, and we suffered from minute 1 as a result.

Come the transfer window, other than replacing Green's position in the squad, my first priority would be a ball-carrying central midfielder who looks to play forward more than playing backwards or sidewards (think the type of performance Boateng at Exeter put in against us in the play-off games). Pett can do this to an extent, but seems to have been shunted around every midfield position in recent weeks. I'm also surprised Luque hasn't had any sort of look-in since the Accrington game as he was decent then and seems the only other player in the squad who could fill that role.

Let's hope for a big improvement against Cambridge. With Mansfield coming up fast on the rails, 3 points would be very welcome.
 
Ruskingtony said:
One bright spot is Harry scoring again he must have nearly as many this season has he scored all of last season. I am sure somebody will come up with the stats?
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Seven from thirty games so far this season; seven from fifty last season.

Today's goal takes him to 20 for the club, scored from just 110 appearances which is impressive for a winger. He is now joint 117th alongside ten others including Phil Turner (20 from 283 apps), Francis Green (20 from 116), John Thomas (20 from 77), Mark Stallard (20 from 73) and Barry Hutchinson (20 from 27). Three more goals will take him into the top one hundred scorers in the club's history.
 
I wasn't there yesterday so can't comment on the game itself.

Only thing I can say is a season is 46 games and we will play some games like we have only just discovered football and yesterday seems to be one of those.

We are top of the league by four points and it isn't just "luck" that has got us there- anymore than Mansfield scoring in the 93 minute at SB this season was luck.

We will have bad games (Crewe) and very good games (Exeter)- it is DCs role to make sure the Crewe games are kept to a minimum. Without being there it's difficult to say much but several have commented it was like Colchester- we didn't play that badly at Colchester, we just weren't very good and neither were they. The Crewe game, from comments, seems much more one sided- maybe like the FGR game but with a win for the opposition?

Anyway- Cambridge next. Will be there to cheer the team on. Only as good as the next game,
 
It did seem poor yesterday. However, whatever happens on Saturday we start 2019 in pole position and that is some achievement. Akinde gets unfair criticism in my opinion. The views of fans of other clubs that appear on this forum suggest that he is the player they would want in their teams.
 
Had overnight to reflect and find perspective - but we were still poor. Crewe played well but we allowed them to. When we finally found some intensity we had them rocking. We were ponderous and negative in possession playing into the hands of their press. Not a Danny’s Imps performance, he’ll sort it
 
Chimpimp said:
It’s positive we can replace him soon. Would Green have made a difference today and in the next 2 matches, we will never know.

We do know, we now have more cash to buy a better replacement than we would have.
We do know Green has n’t scored a league goal since 11 August.
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I'm not disagreeing with your observations, just questioning how "positive" they are in relation to not having him for the games up the time he is replaced.
As you say, we don't know what impact he might have had in those games. I suspect his pace might have made last Saturday a more comfortable ending. Maybe the extra legs would have blunted Crewe getting forward so easily.
Saying he hasn't scored a league goal this season is accurate. But the fella has barely had a look in. Pretty sure last season's top scorer would have had his fair share given his share of game time.
The increased money generated by allowing him to move early is a good deal for us and Green, but it might have contribute to costing us a point or 4. That said, the club may have looked at the league position of the sides we were due to play and thought we shouldn't be unduly concerned!
 
79imp said:
An abject performance yesterday, and for the first time ever since having iFollow, I gave up with ten minutes to go and went to bed (it was 1am in Malaysia after all)!

As many of said, that will rank alongside Colchester as our worst display of the season. For me, it goes right to the bottom of the heap as Crewe (a bottom-half side on a 3-game losing streak) completely dominated and created infinitely more than I remember Colchester doing.

Anyway, to the crux of the matter, am I the only one who has been concerned about our league performances from the Crewe home game at the beginning of October (a game we were fortunate to win 1-0)? Since then, the Mansfield, Newport and Morecambe games have been decent - at least in spells - but other than that, we've generally served up a diet of aimless long balls down the channels and backwards/sideways passes in midfield. Crewe gave us a lesson yesterday in how to play the ball intelligently and skillfully (something we were doing at the start of the season), and whilst their league position would suggest they have not been doing this all season, the fact of the matter is that they executed a very good game-plan against us, and we suffered from minute 1 as a result.

Come the transfer window, other than replacing Green's position in the squad, my first priority would be a ball-carrying central midfielder who looks to play forward more than playing backwards or sidewards (think the type of performance Boateng at Exeter put in against us in the play-off games). Pett can do this to an extent, but seems to have been shunted around every midfield position in recent weeks. I'm also surprised Luque hasn't had any sort of look-in since the Accrington game as he was decent then and seems the only other player in the squad who could fill that role.

Let's hope for a big improvement against Cambridge. With Mansfield coming up fast on the rails, 3 points would be very welcome.
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Have only seen the highlights but sounds as though Crewe have some talented players, perhaps in areas more talented than ours. However, while they can reach their best level at home in front of a bumper crowd (for them) against the league leaders, they do n’t have the characters or organisation to do it very often. Cowley has gone for better characters. I know which bunch I would want playing the next game after a disappointing defeat.

I do agree about midfield needing a boost. For me though a more youthful energetic physical presence is required at times. I’m pretty sure the man who brought us Alex Woodyard does too. One that in 18 months time will be able to dovetail with Chapman at the heart of our midfield? Finding the right one, available and affordable is easier to say than do... and impossible when the transfer window is shut. But this is to add to a already good squad, consistent enough to be 4 point better than anyone else so far. If we can improve again in January things really will be looking good.
 
Day after view as well:
We WERE poor. But plus things to take from it - a bad defence would have conceded five, we didn't. Good rearguard fight by our experienced defenders, first half especially.
Midfield - totally outplayed by Crewe. That is where our main worry must be. Are we lacking pace in the middle? Definitely. Is Freck fit yet? Probably not (although he did a great run at the end to create the goal, albeit far too late to change things).
Up front - well the forward line saw little of the ball yesterday, so hard to judge them. Andrade was not at the races at all, so either still not fit or out of position or both. Harry played well throughout, John Akinde did what he could but to little effect.

Bonus was the other results so little damage done, good day for Mansfield though.

Hopefully we'll bounce back at Cambridge and can forget yesterday.
And look forward to some squad freshening up next week.
 
plumbob said:
I'm not disagreeing with your observations, just questioning how "positive" they are in relation to not having him for the games up the time he is replaced.
As you say, we don't know what impact he might have had in those games. I suspect his pace might have made last Saturday a more comfortable ending. Maybe the extra legs would have blunted Crewe getting forward so easily.
Saying he hasn't scored a league goal this season is accurate. But the fella has barely had a look in. Pretty sure last season's top scorer would have had his fair share given his share of game time.
The increased money generated by allowing him to move early is a good deal for us and Green, but it might have contribute to costing us a point or 4. That said, the club may have looked at the league position of the sides we were due to play and thought we shouldn't be unduly concerned!
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Agree it’s not positive being without Green at the moment, but overall the deal is positive and given that he has not had a fair share of game time unlikely his impact in those few games would have been significant. Therefore it’s positive that the negatives are relatively small and short term!

The equation is loss of Green for 4 games v more cash for better chance of replacing him well for rest of season and beyond.
 
mikeosullivan said:
A worrying display. Yes, every team has an off day, but any opposing manager who has watched our recent performances will know that to beat us they need to press high up the field and outnumber us in midfield.

We are a little fortunate that it is not a good quality division this year - there is no outstanding team like Luton. We should still end the season in the top three, but to win it we will need two or three quality additions in January.
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I thought MK were by far and away the best side I've seen since our return. Much better than Luton on the day IMO.
 
I have decided to no longer listen to radio feeds. Before yesterday the last match I listened to via a feed was Colchester away. It is a thoroughly horrible, frustrating and blood pressure raising way of taking in a game. At least when there is a visual image you are not reliant on anybody else to relay what is their interpretation. The matches I can't get to will in future be taken in solely by monitoring Vitals or by laying down in a darkened room taking in the scores at half and full time only. Far better for one's health I feel.
 
Still 4 points clear, results generally went in our favour and luckily them kind of performances are an anomaly rather than the norm.
 
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