Crewe (Away)

oh and GB and MD 4

 

Oh and massive City following 10

 

Oh and ref 4

 

Our midfield is far too tender, and that isn't going to be solved by anyone on our books right now. Could be what effs things up for us over the season.

We have a potentially lethal frontline and they need feeding badly.

 

Having viewed yesterday's highlights it's clear the art of tackling an opponent doesn't appear to be on our agenda apart from Akpan the scapegoat who has singularly mastered the art of tackling ones self during a game.
Ten out of Ten Hope for your laughable performance yesterday.

 

AOC did put in a very nice sliding tackle in the first half, and there were a few others. We were far too good though at giving the ball back to Crewe once we had won it... Akpan remains frustrating -- at times he looked like he had woken up and decided to put in a shift, especially in the first half, but next minute he'd revert back to the form that gets him blasted on here and elsewhere. Palmer was another disappointment.

RCB

 

This is the problem with Akpan, his good play is in the 10% and his poor match play is in 90% variety, I have only had the privilege of witnessing the 90%!

 

It’s time to bring back inside forwards and wing halves

 

Couldn't believe the stick Akpan was getting from a few around me as IMO he had one of his better 40+ minutes yesterday, I was about to shout back give the lad your support thats what were here for......then he lost the ball in midfield and Crewe scored from the mistake, am I glad I kept my mouth shut .

 

He needs to put in 2/3 exceptional performances to get the fans onside. He is slow physically and more importantly slow in the grey matter, he is not a quick thinker. You need at least one of these attributes. His role is pivotal and he is clearly not good enough consistently. Look at Vaughan he is on the downward trajectory, but he still has the strikers instinct which takes him into the right positions, yes he has lost some pace, but he is still a very good striker.

 

Wonder if GB felt he had to somehow bring Paudie into the team was one of the reasons for the change of formation?

 

Vaughan never stopped yesterday. When Pritchard missed with the header who was the first person to put the arm around him with encouragement? And when the ball went out near the end who was the one running to get the ball back? Yeah, Vaughan.

 

So he tried hard. Good. Minimum expectation for me.

 

It was the same near me Bronco. I too thought he was doing ok and he was getting some applause from some round me too, but there was a group who just gave him grief from the off, shouting some quite offensive stuff. After his mistake it just got worse. Personally I can't see the point, it doesn't make anything better and is hardly going to encourage him.
There were a few near me having a go at Devitt too, which I thought odd given that his shot led to our first goal, even if he faded later on. Somebody called him "big teeth" which seemed very childish, but Devitt clearly heard it and wasn't impressed.

 

You have to despair at some of our fan base

 

I'm sure every club has a minority of idiots, part and parcel of football unfortunately and if players can't deal with it then they're in the wrong game.

 

I take hubby was out that evening!

 

Why should footballers be exempt from being protected against verbal/physical abuse in the workplace?

 

Football fans don't you just love em, Devitts shot was going in their keeper pushed it onto the cross bar. looking at the Vaughan goal that was ruled offside if anyone was offside it was Donaldson but it was Nolan their center half that played the ball back to the keeper.
Have a look around 22 seconds in Donaldson never touched the ball.
https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/teams/bradford-city/11799171/crewe-2-1-bradford

 

Just seen the highlights and we looked all over the place at the back. Got to go back to simple basics and if that means dropping one of the O'Connors then so be it.