Crewe v Blackpool Official Matchday Thread 17.10.20

A walk down to the pub
4/5 beers pre match
bowl into the Ground just as kick off is happening
pint at HT in a mobbed concourse
a narrow victory
a couple more pints in the Drinker afterwards and a sing song and a taxi home, no harm done*......happy day out 👍


* I know it’s away but you get the drift
 
Good luck to the team tomorrow but I feel this scattergun approach on and off the pitch will not last much longer without points on the board.

Good to see an experienced midfielder in Kenny D coming in. He must play IMO.

Madine up front with Yates on the left and CJ on the right for me. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

There is an abundance of talent in this squad with the new additions and MV signing a new deal. But we really need points.
 
Sean McGinlay has kindly contributed to our site with a Crewe preview piece. Worth a read:


Can I just say how I really enjoy reading your site / blog. Brilliant layout and easy to read along with great content. Can't say I agree with your selections (this week) personally but that's the beauty of football. Keep up the great work 👍
 
Good luck to the team tomorrow but I feel this scattergun approach on and off the pitch will not last much longer without points on the board.

Good to see an experienced midfielder in Kenny D coming in. He must play IMO.

Madine up front with Yates on the left and CJ on the right for me. Fingers crossed for tomorrow.

There is an abundance of talent in this squad with the new additions and MV signing a new deal. But we really need points.
Not sure where you’re getting a ‘scattergun approach’ from ? The signings have all seemed quite particular to me. It would have been ideal had the last 4 signings happened at the beginning of pre-season but that’s just the nature of the transfer window. We’ve signed what we needed when it was available and it doesn’t shock me that what appears to be 4 high quality signings have taken place come the end of respective windows. We needed defenders - we got them. We needed a defensive midfielder and we’ve got one and we needed someone to link up midfield and attack and support / put pressure on the existing strikers and with Woodburn we’ve got just that.
I agree now that results really need to start improving but with this squad of players I can’t see that not happening. It may not be immediate though as all these signings need time but come Christmas the performances should be representative of what we’re capable of.
 
3-0 Yates hat trick
Sadly I feel it's still too early to expect the deadline signings and the new centre backs to have settled in and therefore have influence. Happy with a point, delighted if it's 3!
Just so wish we could all go and back this young and exciting team. UTP.
 
In last weeks match thread pre game my concerns were for the back four with two new full backs and Husband suspended. We can now add two new CH's and two new MF's to the mix, so again it is very likely that we will be starting today's game with a team that have never played together before as a unit.
With the squad we now have available I've every confidence that at some point soon NC will get it right and our season will take off but, much as SS is to be commended, this massive influx of players and complete overhaul of the squad has probably been the main cause of our slow start.
This was highlighted a bit last week with Gabriel, who I rate and think will do well for us, getting caught off the pace.
Much as i'm hoping for a good performance today part of me accepts that with all the changes, it's unrealistic to expect immediate results.
 
Sadly I feel it's still too early to expect the deadline signings and the new centre backs to have settled in and therefore have influence. Happy with a point, delighted if it's 3!
Just so wish we could all go and back this young and exciting team. UTP.
I can’t see Critch playing any of the deadline signings even though I agree with Mac that Dougall would be picked if I were head coach.
 
3-1 to Blackpool - the midfield stepping up now their places are seriously under threat and the defence looking more solid and organised.
 
We should be good enough to beat Crewe without the newest signings. Maybe put Ballard in with Ek and start with Williams, to be replaced by Dougall next week.
 
I had a dream last night we won 4-0, with Bez scoring.

I’m either Nostradamus or I need committing.
 
I'm full of hope today! I hope we stop giving away silly goals with defensive errors.

I hope we see one of our new centre backs partnering Ekpiteta at the back.

We don't know how match-fit Woodburn and Dougall are, but I hope we see at least one of them come on as a sub instead of Williams.

We'll win 4-1 🍊🍊
 
I'm not for rushing players in, especially at the back, we did that last week. I am going for a draw today, 1-1 or 2-2. Crewe have won their two home games against MKD and Wigan and have a settled side.
 
I’ve gone for a Blackpool win in the previous fixtures so today I will go for a 3-1 win to Crewe in the hope I am wrong again. I’ve no idea on team selection, guaranteed different from last outing, but with so many new faces it will take further time to settle. No expectations other than an entertaining game.
 
Cut out the individual mistakes and we can nick this 1-0. Problem is we look shaky at the back and a bit toothless up top. I'll take a scrappy 1-0 win all day while the players get used to each other but head says 0-0/1-1.
 
2-1 Blackpool win . I believe we have a manager and squad whom can and will start doing a lot better starting today.
 
Blackpool make two changes from last week's defeat to Ipswich. IN: James Husband and MJ Williams OUT: Jordan Gabriel and Keshi Anderson (knock)

TEAM: Maxwell, Turton, Ekpiteta, Husband, Garbutt, Williams, Robson, Ward, Hamilton, Yates, Madine

I'm happy with the defence, but not the rest.
 
Think looking at that he’s after a draw. Looks solid rather than exciting. IMO
 
It’s close to what I expected but I thought one of the new CBs not Hubby and Keshi not Ward.
We do need a DM in there. Not seen anything so far to think Williams will keep his shirt over Dougall so today’s his chance.
A better balance to the team.
My concerns are still at CB and Williams. Could be Wards last chance today with the mass of AM midfield options we have now.
 
Disappointing all round for me but hey ho lets wait and see...I think its a negative team set up for nil nil myself...I dont think it will be pretty to watch and NC is under the microscope if this doesnt work...how many chops and changes still to come week in week out?
 
Disappointing all round for me but hey ho lets wait and see...I think its a negative team set up for nil nil myself...I dont think it will be pretty to watch and NC is under the microscope if this doesnt work...how many chops and changes still to come week in week out?
It’s to protect the back 4 a bit more and give us a platform to play our football. He’s not playing for a 0.0
 
Subs: Sims, Gabriel, Sarkic, Mitchell, Kemp, Ballard, Lubala.

Gretarsson obviously acclimatising. Too soon for Woodburn and Dougall. Anderson has a knock. Kaikai not ready presumably.
 
Williams playing centrally and playing short simple passes and controlling the tempo will hopefully allow Robson and Ward, in particular, to push forward and get more involved in the attack. If Ward continues to fail to do so I'd hook him off and give Sarkic the opportunity to try and impact the game in the final third. I'm happy with Turton playing at RB and Garbutt at LB - as long as Garbutt is getting further forward and Yates is involved more centrally than he was in the first half against Ipswich. Husband playing a CB and being comfortable covering the LB position adds a degree of balance to the set up. Ballard can always come on, allowing Husband to move to the left and Garbutt to move forward should the attack fail to impress too. I'm not surprised Dougall and Woodburn aren't in the squad today but I am surprised about Gretarsson, I can only imagine he needs a little more time to acclimatise and settle.
 
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