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Div3North · 05-04-2017, 21:04

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Crewe Alexandra

2016/17 Prediction League; Game 41 v Crewe (home)

In the hurly-burly of Saturday, did anyone actually notice that we retained our League Two status? We have 55 points, and neither Newport nor Leyton Orient can hit that mark; Orient, sadly, are dead in the water, with 32 points – 9 points (and a lot of goals) off safety; Newport (36 points) probably are too, but if I were a Morecambe fan (did you see Jimbo is going to “consider his position” at the end of the season?) I’d be sweating a bit, having lost 7 in a row and with only 5 points from their last 10 games (against Newport’s eleven from ten); likewise, fans of Hartlepool (22nd, 41 points) can’t be entirely comfortable with 6 defeats and ten points in ten, and nor can Cheltenham (21st 42 points), with four points from their last six games ………

In reality, unless Morecambe carry on losing, it’s two from four, with LO and NC likely to slide down the Greasy Pole of Oblivion. Lincoln in the Conference Proper are trying to do it the hard way – now merely level on points with Tranmere but with a game in hand and +11 better off on GD, and AFC Fylde might, eventually - having made a Dog’s Dinner of it each of the last two seasons - make it to the Conference Proper too (9 points and a load of goals better off than Kettering, having played one more game); 5 to go, and their next League goal will be their 100th of the season - mind you, they’ve conceded 55, but ten teams have let in more than that (Alfreton have conceded 81 and despite that are actually well clear of relegation!); North Ferriby and Southport prop up the table; at the moment Torquay and York are next for the chop ……….and if Orient do go down, and AFC Fylde do go up, what odds would you give on a cockney coach driver managing to find Wesham for AFC Fylde v Leyton Orient? What is going on with the world?

Crewe Alexandra are 17th; 48 points from 40; W12 D12 L16 (only two of the bottom ten have lost fewer – Barnet with 13 and Yeovil with 14); they’ve won four of their last six (1-0 at Pompey, 2-0 v Colchester, 3-0 at Crawley and 2-0 at Carlisle); 30-year old striker Chris Dagnall (“the Michael Owen of League Two” according to Crewe Boss David Artell) is coming into form – 2 goals in his first 31 games, but seven in his last six. They’ve got ex-Stanley GK Andrew Dawber on the bench – their only “ProperSigning” of the year apart from MF Danny Hollands from Pompey last August - signed until the end of the season after spells at Altrincham, Fulham, Aldershot and Bishop’s Stortford. And if you want to motivate your players, Artell got it about right at the beginning of March when he told his players that if they got relegated they could end up “with a job as a milkman” – which might be a bit rude to milkmen, thinking about it …………

We went to Gresty Road on New Year’s Eve, you may recall, and broke our 10-match winless run by the odd goal in one, scored – naturally – by Billy Whizz on 43 mins when the GK and a defender got in each other’s way, allowing the ball to “squirm over the line” ..............why do balls “squirm”, can anybody tell me? Why are headers always “bullets” or “squirms”/”trickles”? In the League, GF46 GA56; in the Cups they scored 12 and conceded 15 in their six fixtures, scoring 3 at Blackburn in a 4-3 EFL Cup 2nd round loss and 3 at our place in a 3-0 EFLTroffy Northern Group B win (they also lost to Wolves u7s); in the League they’ve lost 5-1 at Wycombe, 4-0 at Colchester and at Exeter and at Hartlepool, and beaten Grimsby 5-0, and in the FA Cup they lost 4-1 to Cheltenham, so stuffing them is a distinct possibility! 58 scored in total; leading scorers are Chris Dagnall (see “Michael Owen ” above) with 12, MFs James Jones and George Cooper, with 9 and 8 respectfully, and Alex Kiwomya – on a season-long loan from Chelsea – with 7.

We’ve a fair idea who might be coming up from the Conference, but who’s coming down? Coventry won the EFL Trophy at the weekend (karma) by beating Oxford 2-1, and they also MutuallyConsented with Yakubu, bringing his 3-game spell there to an end, but they’re 13 points and 9 goals adrift at the foot of League One with six games left, and Chesterfield are 11 adrift with five to play; welcome to Reality Check League Two, gentlemen ........ after them it’s perm any two from Swindon, Shrewsbury, Port Vale, Gillingham, Oldham, Bury and the Addicks

Crewe parted company with Ryan Lowe in January (back to Bury, again); they made three January loan signings – MF Callum Cooke from Middlesbrough, and strikers Jordan Bowery from Leyton Orient (he was probably glad to leave!) and Jonny Margetts from the Iron, although Margetts – caught up by some piece of FIFA red tape – lasted exactly three days before the loan was terminated ............. them apart, the most recent signing was David “Milkman” Artell who replaces Steve Davis in the hot seat in January, allowing Mr Davis more time to play snooker again ...

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 8th April; our worst loss at their hands was in the Cup in 1992/93, when we lost 6-1; in 2009/10 we won 5-3 at home and lost 5-1 away; overall we shade the head-to-head by 31-29 with 9 draws, but they’ve got more goals than us – 82 plays 73 .................and they might have won 4 of their last 6, but we’re unbeaten in 12, and have won 6 of our last 8; the ball’s in our Court, as the Murray Brothers might say!

Good luck to everyone! ............ Keep the Faith! ............ And thanks for playing!

05-04-2017, 21:04	#1
Div3North Senior Member+ Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: South(ish) Preston Posts: 4,015 Blog Entries: 1 Liked: 1266 times Rep Power: 949755	2016/17 Prediction League; Game 41 v Crewe Alexandra (home) Accrington Stanley V Crewe Alexandra 2016/17 Prediction League; Game 41 v Crewe (home) In the hurly-burly of Saturday, did anyone actually notice that we retained our League Two status? We have 55 points, and neither Newport nor Leyton Orient can hit that mark; Orient, sadly, are dead in the water, with 32 points – 9 points (and a lot of goals) off safety; Newport (36 points) probably are too, but if I were a Morecambe fan (did you see Jimbo is going to “consider his position” at the end of the season?) I’d be sweating a bit, having lost 7 in a row and with only 5 points from their last 10 games (against Newport’s eleven from ten); likewise, fans of Hartlepool (22nd, 41 points) can’t be entirely comfortable with 6 defeats and ten points in ten, and nor can Cheltenham (21st 42 points), with four points from their last six games ……… In reality, unless Morecambe carry on losing, it’s two from four, with LO and NC likely to slide down the Greasy Pole of Oblivion. Lincoln in the Conference Proper are trying to do it the hard way – now merely level on points with Tranmere but with a game in hand and +11 better off on GD, and AFC Fylde might, eventually - having made a Dog’s Dinner of it each of the last two seasons - make it to the Conference Proper too (9 points and a load of goals better off than Kettering, having played one more game); 5 to go, and their next League goal will be their 100th of the season - mind you, they’ve conceded 55, but ten teams have let in more than that (Alfreton have conceded 81 and despite that are actually well clear of relegation!); North Ferriby and Southport prop up the table; at the moment Torquay and York are next for the chop ……….and if Orient do go down, and AFC Fylde do go up, what odds would you give on a cockney coach driver managing to find Wesham for AFC Fylde v Leyton Orient? What is going on with the world? Crewe Alexandra are 17th; 48 points from 40; W12 D12 L16 (only two of the bottom ten have lost fewer – Barnet with 13 and Yeovil with 14); they’ve won four of their last six (1-0 at Pompey, 2-0 v Colchester, 3-0 at Crawley and 2-0 at Carlisle); 30-year old striker Chris Dagnall (“the Michael Owen of League Two” according to Crewe Boss David Artell) is coming into form – 2 goals in his first 31 games, but seven in his last six. They’ve got ex-Stanley GK Andrew Dawber on the bench – their only “ProperSigning” of the year apart from MF Danny Hollands from Pompey last August - signed until the end of the season after spells at Altrincham, Fulham, Aldershot and Bishop’s Stortford. And if you want to motivate your players, Artell got it about right at the beginning of March when he told his players that if they got relegated they could end up “with a job as a milkman” – which might be a bit rude to milkmen, thinking about it ………… We went to Gresty Road on New Year’s Eve, you may recall, and broke our 10-match winless run by the odd goal in one, scored – naturally – by Billy Whizz on 43 mins when the GK and a defender got in each other’s way, allowing the ball to “squirm over the line” ..............why do balls “squirm”, can anybody tell me? Why are headers always “bullets” or “squirms”/”trickles”? In the League, GF46 GA56; in the Cups they scored 12 and conceded 15 in their six fixtures, scoring 3 at Blackburn in a 4-3 EFL Cup 2nd round loss and 3 at our place in a 3-0 EFLTroffy Northern Group B win (they also lost to Wolves u7s); in the League they’ve lost 5-1 at Wycombe, 4-0 at Colchester and at Exeter and at Hartlepool, and beaten Grimsby 5-0, and in the FA Cup they lost 4-1 to Cheltenham, so stuffing them is a distinct possibility! 58 scored in total; leading scorers are Chris Dagnall (see “Michael Owen ” above) with 12, MFs James Jones and George Cooper, with 9 and 8 respectfully, and Alex Kiwomya – on a season-long loan from Chelsea – with 7. We’ve a fair idea who might be coming up from the Conference, but who’s coming down? Coventry won the EFL Trophy at the weekend (karma) by beating Oxford 2-1, and they also MutuallyConsented with Yakubu, bringing his 3-game spell there to an end, but they’re 13 points and 9 goals adrift at the foot of League One with six games left, and Chesterfield are 11 adrift with five to play; welcome to Reality Check League Two, gentlemen ........ after them it’s perm any two from Swindon, Shrewsbury, Port Vale, Gillingham, Oldham, Bury and the Addicks Crewe parted company with Ryan Lowe in January (back to Bury, again); they made three January loan signings – MF Callum Cooke from Middlesbrough, and strikers Jordan Bowery from Leyton Orient (he was probably glad to leave!) and Jonny Margetts from the Iron, although Margetts – caught up by some piece of FIFA red tape – lasted exactly three days before the loan was terminated ............. them apart, the most recent signing was David “Milkman” Artell who replaces Steve Davis in the hot seat in January, allowing Mr Davis more time to play snooker again ... Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 8th April; our worst loss at their hands was in the Cup in 1992/93, when we lost 6-1; in 2009/10 we won 5-3 at home and lost 5-1 away; overall we shade the head-to-head by 31-29 with 9 draws, but they’ve got more goals than us – 82 plays 73 .................and they might have won 4 of their last 6, but we’re unbeaten in 12, and have won 6 of our last 8; the ball’s in our Court, as the Murray Brothers might say! Good luck to everyone! ............ Keep the Faith! ............ And thanks for playing!