Match Day Crewe Alexandra vs Exeter City

[Crewelad87]

The battle of the only two football league clubs with an x in their name. I was only 4 the last time we played each other 25 years ago.

Last time out we got a good if not slightly fortunate win vs Doncaster. We look good going forward but still very suspect at the back.

Crewe 2-1 Exeter (Dagnall, Kiwomya, Grant) 3,322 (197 Grecians)

 

[Grecian O'Grecian]

What about Oxford?

Not going to this one. Would have liked to as it's a new ground but busy tomorrow morning so am unable to make the match. Part of me thinks we're on the verge of putting a run together, so for that reason I'm going for a 1-2 City win. Simpson and McAllinden with the goals.

 

[Moomin]

Well I expect that ex City loanee Lauri Dalla-Valle will score if he plays and its nailed on for Joel Grant to bag one.

I kind of agree with GOG that we are starting to show glimpses of good form and I think Jack Stacey, on loan from Reading will cause some problems. Equally we will have to keep Lowe and Dagnall quiet.

I fancy goals so will go for another 3-2 away win. Dagnall and Dalle-Valle for Crewe, Grant and two from Ollie Watkins for us.

 

[Crewelad87]

Arrhhhhh for forgot about Oxford.

Dalle Valle doesn't even play for us, he's was released last season.

 

[Moomin]

Ha shows how much notice I take....

In that case I'll revise my prediction to a 3-1 win

 

[Moomin]

Sounds like we've done everything but score. So frustrating as we play some great stuff at times but if you can't score then you get fuck all.

Got to take heart from the performance and hope that we can get something against Argyle next week.

Fucking hate football sometimes.

 

[Grecian O'Grecian]

Yep, commentary makes it sound like we've been robbed.

Oh well. We'll pick up when our players come back from injury.

 

[dannyc5]

You certainly weren't robbed. You had a 20 minute spell in the 2nd half when a goal looked likely, but that was it. We, as usual, decided to sit back on the lead. We took back control when Ray and Ainley came on. We should have put the game to bed in the 1st half. Dagnall won't have missed many chances like that in his career (an open goal). We were fairly comfortable last 15-20, and wasted a couple of good openings, and also hit the bar. Once Kirk came on, Exeter barely touched the ball.

Ps. Kirk and Ainley are going to be CLASS

 

[dannyc5]

One more thing. Harry Davis was awful.

 

[lordofthepies]

It wasn't exactly a vintage Alex performance. Everything was strangely flat - for most of the game, the crowd were quiet and we didn't play that well. Exeter were on top for long periods but they never really created anything - we ended up scoring twice and we missed a couple of chances that were better than any chance Exeter had. It was a strange game.

I agree with the above poster about Kirk and Ainley, by the way. I've not see much of them before but they looked to have a real touch of class today. Cooper had a good game too, it's taken a while but he seems to be turning in to a real player now.

 

[dedwardp]

I thought Exeter were really decent last week, completely outplayed us in the first half and passed rings around us yet we were winning at the break. Then in the second half when we were well on top and deserved to get something, we lost the half 0-2. Bizarre.

 

[Wootball]

I think we've really discovered that, shock horror, we have a squad of league two players. We got found out in league one, but in this division they're a capable bunch.

 

[JJ1532]

Nah, what I think is that for the first time in 4 pre-seasons, the manager has gotten his recruitment right. Proven quality in Lowe, Dagnall, Hollands and Bakayogo, plus a loanee that is actually pulling his weight in Kiwomya. Makes a massive difference when you recruit decent players and not average maybes and hopefuls from L2/Conference teams.

Chuffed with the start we've made, even if the performances do sound a touch hit and miss at the moment.

 

[SRNP]

It's just a year too late for me JJ.

 

[JJ1532]

Could argue it's 2-3 years too late. Why it took Davis 3 missed pre-seasons of recruitment to realise that the best idea would be to get 2-3 quality players with the majority of your budget and then fill the rest of the squad with loans, kids and freebies, is beyond me. I'm just happy we're not losing every week. But the cracks are still there by the looks of it. Now, clearly Ainley, Cooper and Kirk seem to be doing well so far, but our leading men seem to be a 37 year old, a 30 year old, a 29 year old and a loanee. It's all well and good Lowe, Kiwomya and Dagnall scoring/assisting the majority of the goals, but we can't sell them for big money. We need the 3 young prospects, along with the likes of Saunders and Udoh, to score those goals.

I just hope fans haven't forgotten that we still need to sell £1m-£1.5m worth of players every year to justify the expenditure in the academy. That is a massive ask and one I just don't think we can sustain. I think eventually the board are going to have to cut back the academy. Only so many times they can slash the playing budget. Our off field issues haven't gone away just because we've had a half decent start.

Nor do the apparent issues with Davis still sitting back on narrow leads every chance he gets. It's seems clear to me from what I've heard and read that we're up against lesser opposition with a better team, but the team are still fighting against Davis' influence.

 

[rudebwoyben]

If you're relying on Jack Stacey to be your main outlet for causing the opposition problems, your team is in serious trouble...

 

[Grecian O'Grecian]

If you're relying on Jack Stacey to be your main outlet for causing the opposition problems, your team is in serious trouble...

We're not, but thanks for your concern