League Two Crewe v Rovers

[Sparky]

Unless micky is playing mind games hoping potential attacking signings won’t ask for silly money, he makes it clear we need to move people out before bringing anyone in.

I don’t want to criticise anyone but I said earlier in the season it was a mistake making most of our signings specifically for 5-3-2. We ditched that some time ago but have been left with too many defenders and midfielders, and not enough strikers. Same for wingers, Morris and hawkes have no competition. It boils down to poor recruitment and Micky said he only had defenders and midfielders on the bench, plus ‘young Jake‘ - well that’s because we didnt sign enough attacking players and two of those we did, came with injury records (glatzel and mumbongo), that were a mistake to sign.

Could be an interesting few weeks and whether we need to get cash for JDC to improve our striking options (I really hope not)

 

[Sparky]

Stats show 22 shots with only 3 on target. I know we dominated early on but 22 shots in a match is basically one every 4 minutes. And we didn’t score a single goal….

 

[Sparky]

Just watched the highlights back. In hindsight I don’t think we can criticise doohan for the goal. It Was hit perfectly just under the bar and he wouldn’t have anticipated the poor header from merrie.

the Nevitt Miss is really poor. 3 yards out and just needed to open his foot up a bit more

 

[Stickman]

Stats show 22 shots with only 3 on target. I know we dominated early on but 22 shots in a match is basically one every 4 minutes. And we didn’t score a single goal….

I'm struggling to recall 22 shots! I actually didn't think we played that badly, just a lack of quality in the final third. Crewe are a poor side but they were better organised in the second half and made it very difficult. I'll have one moan....why, why WHY do we have no one on the half way line when the opposition have a corner?

 

[Stickman]

Just watched the highlights back. In hindsight I don’t think we can criticise doohan for the goal. It Was hit perfectly just under the bar and he wouldn’t have anticipated the poor header from merrie.

the Nevitt Miss is really poor. 3 yards out and just needed to open his foot up a bit more

It was a really good strike by their player and I doubt he'll hit another like that this season.

 

[Sparky]

I'm struggling to recall 22 shots! I actually didn't think we played that badly, just a lack of quality in the final third. Crewe are a poor side but they were better organised in the second half and made it very difficult. I'll have one moan....why, why WHY do we have no one on the half way line when the opposition have a corner?

Re the corner we did it last season so Clarke didn’t have to mark anyone and was free to head a lot of corners away. Not sure I agree though as it just invites the opposition to put more men forward.

If we left one up front then they would probably keep two back.

 

[Boz]

The options on the bench are really poor. That has been one of our biggest problems this season.

Nolan and Hughes are steady-Eddies rather than game changers and Burton is not good enough (in my view).

The last league game Burton was given a reasonable chunk of playing time was Grimsby. He scored once; a fluke but in the right spot to benefit, had a shot on target and created a change for Mumbongo. You accept that Nolan is not a game-changer and he managed none of those 3 today. In fact because of the formation re-shuffling we actually looked less likely to score after he came on. He hasn't contributed much since joining for whatever reason, but this was not the situation where he was ever likely to make an impact. I haven't seen enough of Hughes to assess what impact he might have, but more of a like for like substitution, so potentially less disruptive. Micky is not infallible, the freezing out of Merrie, who is now accepted to be a capable central midfielder at this level, is another example of where he's been proved wrong about a player in a positive way. It would be good if he gave Burton a proper chance. Finally Sparky mentions the 'mustn't be good in training' theory. I would much rather see players who are good on the pitch out there than those who are stellar on the training ground but unable to deliver when they cross the white line.

 

[Stickman]

Re the corner we did it last season so Clarke 2didn’t have to mark anyone and was free to head a lot of corners away. Not sure I agree though as it just invites the opposition to put more men forward.

If we left one up front then they would probably keep two back.

I'm sure there is some logic to it but 1 against 2 will win more than 0 against 1. Just infuriating when we clear the ball to absolutely no one.

 

[Sparky]

I agree in part Boz but players have to impress in training, ability and attitude, to earn a place in the starting 11. Burton has played under a number of managers and not established himself.
Like you I would have given him more minutes than he’s had but I’m honestly not sure he’s the answer to our problems.

Re Nolan. He’s just the latest of the scouser retirement home we offer for midfielders. Potter and Duffy the most recent. Plus he was another player who was injured for most of last season, yet we signed him. He’s had a decent career but very much past his best from what I’ve seen

 

[White Squaddie]

Just watched the highlights back. In hindsight I don’t think we can criticise doohan for the goal. It Was hit perfectly just under the bar and he wouldn’t have anticipated the poor header from merrie.

the Nevitt Miss is really poor. 3 yards out and just needed to open his foot up a bit more

Mumbongo's was worse I thought, 50p head!

 

[Boz]

I agree in part Boz but players have to impress in training, ability and attitude, to earn a place in the starting 11. Burton has played under a number of managers and not established himself.
Like you I would have given him more minutes than he’s had but I’m honestly not sure he’s the answer to our problems.

Re Nolan. He’s just the latest of the scouser retirement home we offer for midfielders. Potter and Duffy the most recent. Plus he was another player who was injured for most of last season, yet we signed him. He’s had a decent career but very much past his best from what I’ve seen

What Burton did on the park in his last significant chunk of playing time and the circumstances we were in meant he was the best option available on the bench today. I concur that it's doubtful he's the long-term answer to our problems, but he does merit more opportunity to show what he is capable of .

Totally agree re Nolan

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

The last league game Burton was given a reasonable chunk of playing time was Grimsby. He scored once; a fluke but in the right spot to benefit, had a shot on target and created a change for Mumbongo. You accept that Nolan is not a game-changer and he managed none of those 3 today. In fact because of the formation re-shuffling we actually looked less likely to score after he came on. He hasn't contributed much since joining for whatever reason, but this was not the situation where he was ever likely to make an impact. I haven't seen enough of Hughes to assess what impact he might have, but more of a like for like substitution, so potentially less disruptive. Micky is not infallible, the freezing out of Merrie, who is now accepted to be a capable central midfielder at this level, is another example of where he's been proved wrong about a player in a positive way. It would be good if he gave Burton a proper chance. Finally Sparky mentions the 'mustn't be good in training' theory. I would much rather see players who are good on the pitch out there than those who are stellar on the training ground but unable to deliver when they cross the white line.

Mellon did not 'freeze out' Merrie. How could he possibly have done if Merrie is now starting every game for us ? I would imagine he simply demanded more from him in certain aspects of his game, probably defensively, and as he has learned and developed he has established himself as a regular.

Nolan actually played well and creatively in his last appearance at Burton, so I can understand why Mellon used him. I agree in general terms that Nolan is past it, but that just highlights the weaknesses in the squad. Mumbongo made a bigger impact as substitute than Burton at Grimsby, in terms of his overall performance.

If the manager is not able to assess players in training and consider their performance when selecting a starting eleven on a Saturday, you might as well stick a fan in charge.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

What Burton did on the park in his last significant chunk of playing time and the circumstances we were in meant he was the best option available on the bench today.

It is possible that he was the 'best' striking option on the bench, and still not good enough.

Mellon had actually already made one change in the striking positions, replacing Nevitt with Mumbongo, so he had utilised the subs bench in that area of the pitch.

 

[Ian]

I think we should just accept the fact that Micky isn't a great fan of Jake. This probably sounds harsh but he's only on the bench to fill it! It's all clutching at straws anyway. We've got bigger problems than wondering why Jake isn't getting a game. He really wouldn't make much or any difference to the results.

I also think they are dismissing a large chunk of today's game. Yes, we should have scored when we were on top in the first half but we had 55 minutes to compose ourselves and get an equaliser and they did very little with it against a poor Crewe side. That worries me more than the first 30. Look at the stats. 22 goal attempts which is good in isolation but we simply do not have the quality up front, whether it's Nevitt or Mumbongo or Burton to make it count. We need to ship some dead wood out and get some quality in (not that easy admittedly!).

 

[drwhoman]

We can debate who should play as a striker but the bottom line is that non of them are good enough other than possibly Hemmings. This is presumably why Lewis has been deployed as a striker from time to time and he is, arguably, a square peg in a round hole. This will be a middling season unless something miraculous happens in this transfer window.

 

[mellow submarine]

I agree, they need to really assess what they are doing at corners , attacking and defending. If we haven't got the players to score in open play then they really need to work on set plays. Too much lingering about when we get a throw in too, giving the opposition time to regroup.

 

[mellow submarine]

Nevitt was poor, he really needs to grab every opportunity or he will be plying his trade back in non league. His replacement looked knackered. Go one up against Tranmere and sit back , game over. 63% possession , 13 corners = 0 goals

Anyone know when is Glatzel back ?

 

[ADD]

The last league game Burton was given a reasonable chunk of playing time was Grimsby. He scored once; a fluke but in the right spot to benefit, had a shot on target and created a change for Mumbongo. You accept that Nolan is not a game-changer and he managed none of those 3 today. In fact because of the formation re-shuffling we actually looked less likely to score after he came on. He hasn't contributed much since joining for whatever reason, but this was not the situation where he was ever likely to make an impact. I haven't seen enough of Hughes to assess what impact he might have, but more of a like for like substitution, so potentially less disruptive. Micky is not infallible, the freezing out of Merrie, who is now accepted to be a capable central midfielder at this level, is another example of where he's been proved wrong about a player in a positive way. It would be good if he gave Burton a proper chance. Finally Sparky mentions the 'mustn't be good in training' theory. I would much rather see players who are good on the pitch out there than those who are stellar on the training ground but unable to deliver when they cross the white line.

Burton has scored two this season - the fluke yes but the other was a good header against Colchester shortly after coming on and has looked decent enough all along and has a goal every 50 minutes in the League this season! I can accept that MM does not rate him from training (although I don't think he has had enough match action to judge) but his comments in his post match were out of order. "We have no more strikers Derek". To be so dismissive of Jake is poor and must make the young lad feel terrible. Why fill the bench for the sake of it? Better to have left him at Marine earning us a few quid every week and "make the point" if that is what he is intending to do to MP that way.
I would also agree that MM did indeed freeze out Merrie for a great chunk of his early career with us and even when he was finally started playing him playing he was always the first to get hooked. We can all see now that he was clearly good enough all along.
As the match itself a terrible result to lose no matter how many chances we had. From MP's NY statement and from MM's downbeat assessment of incomings I doubt we will be doing much of note and will now muddle on to the end of season with a few decent results and some terrible ones. Not an inspiring prospect sadly.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Burton has scored two this season - the fluke yes but the other was a good header against Colchester shortly after coming on and has looked decent enough all along and has a goal every 50 minutes in the League this season! I can accept that MM does not rate him from training (although I don't think he has had enough match action to judge) but his comments in his post match were out of order. "We have no more strikers Derek". To be so dismissive of Jake is poor and must make the young lad feel terrible. Why fill the bench for the sake of it? Better to have left him at Marine earning us a few quid every week and "make the point" if that is what he is intending to do to MP that way.
I would also agree that MM did indeed freeze out Merrie for a great chunk of his early career with us and even when he was finally started playing him playing he was always the first to get hooked. We can all see now that he was clearly good enough all along.
As the match itself a terrible result to lose no matter how many chances we had. From MP's NY statement and from MM's downbeat assessment of incomings I doubt we will be doing much of note and will now muddle on to the end of season with a few decent results and some terrible ones. Not an inspiring prospect sadly.

You don't seem to recognise that players - whether Merrie or Andy Cook - can improve by being left out of the side and asked to develop weak aspects of their game. There is no guarantee at all that Merrie would have been as effective if he had started in central midfield eighteen months ago. It is actually still debatable whether he gives us enough creativity from midfield, and O'Connor is clearly the better defensive player.

I am not sure the manager's post match comments re. squad strength were 'out of order' when they chime almost exactly with the chairman's New Year statement......

 

[Ian]