One down, three to go.
A late show from Luke Ayling gave Bristol
City all three points in the first of their four ‘winnable’ games last time out and the final
match before Christmas sees the Robins travel to Cheshire to face bottom side
Crewe Alexandra.
Stu Radnedge caught up with Alex fan Nathaniel Holland, a
journalism student who has kindly written a few words. My thanks to Stu & Nat
“This season has, for
obvious reasons, been one to forget for any Crewe fan. A continuation from the
poor results last season has spilled over into this campaign and it is still
difficult for anyone to put their finger on the main problems.
Don’t get me wrong, I
didn’t expect Crewe to be setting the league on fire this year but I did think
with the squad we had put together that we would be sitting comfortably around
the 14th/15th position.
There is not one
factor to the reason behind the run of poor results, a combination of
individual errors at the back, mixed in with a seemingly long list of misfiring
strikers has put Crewe in real danger of slipping back into League Two after
three seasons in the third tier.
I can’t even say it is
the fault of manager Steve Davis. He has guided the club from League Two and
won the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy on the way to us being where we are now. A lot
of fans in recent months have called for managerial change but it begs the
vital question; who would we bring in?
A new manager probably
wouldn’t be the answer at this stage of a season, if anyone new were to come in
then they would have a difficult task of motivating an under performing squad,
not to mention the pressures to play the ‘Crewe way’, something that any manager
has to abide by if they are going to last at Gresty Road, a system that clearly
isn’t working.
So for now, with Davis
in charge, it is definitely up to the players to step up. The impending return
of captain Matt Tootle should be a boost for everyone but the likes of Uche
Ikpeazu, Nicky Ajose and Marcus Haber need to quickly form a lethal goal-scoring
bond if we are to ever climb out of the bottom four.
There was a sense of
quiet optimism in pre-season, after our Under 21 side won the league in May, it
has seen some more young prospects join the long list of Crewe academy
graduates. George Cooper has excelled in a struggling team this season and
Crewe fans are yet to see the best of Callum Saunders but the biggest surprise
for me this season is James Baillie at right back. The teenager has deputised
for the illness-hit Tootle and done as good a job as any.
For me the problems
don’t lie in one particular area, we are conceding too many and not scoring
enough and this is proven by our minus 23-goal difference. Davis has done well
to re-sign Ikpeazu on loan from Watford after a successful spell last season
but the youngster needs to boost his tally if he is to help the South Cheshire
side perform the great escape again.
It seems to be all
about the loan players this year, not a bad plan in the short term and if that
keeps us in the division then Davis deserves a pat on the back. Stoke City
loanee Jamie Ness has come into his own in recent weeks and his link up play
and range of passing could be the missing piece of the puzzle for a late surge
out of the relegation zone.
Survival is looking
like a distant dream for many connected with the club at the moment but
anything can happen in football and who knows, A win against top of the league
Bristol City could be all it takes to kick start our campaign.”
You know sometimes you lose games you just don’t expect to?
Well I don’t think many expect us to lose this weekend, so let’s hope this isn’t
one of those unanticipated banana-skins and we can head into Christmas top of
the pile.
COYR!
The Exiled Robin
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