This Season So Far

‘I think most managers would know that we should be higher in the league than we are’ – source official club website; those were the words of Crewe Alexandra manager, Steve Davis, after we dropped to 12th due to Saturday’s defeat to Yeovil Town. I have to say, I agree that we should be higher in the league and we have played better than the league position suggests. We are lower than we should be due to inconsistent, and sometimes sloppy, defensive performances. These performances have caused goals to be conceded, thus points being dropped, and that in turn has dropped us down the league table. However, it could be argued that you are only as good as your league position.

I disagree with that statement; as in football you can have 20 shots on target but only one go in, whereas your opponents have 2 shots both of which turn to goals – such occasions are often branded as ‘simply not our day’. However if you have a lot of these, there could well be a deeper issue than just having a bad day at the office. Having said that I do believe that the defeat to Yeovil Town, was just ‘simply not our day’ but games like the Hartlepool match are simply unacceptable. In my opinion the match against The Glovers (Yeovil Town) was merely a bad day, Dagnall striking the woodwork on two occasions and the post being rattled once more; the Glovers goal was one that Garratt would have saved 9 times out of 10. The inexcusable defeat to Hartlepool, was not ‘simply not our day’ – you cannot lose a 2 goal lead and say it was unlucky. If you lose a 2 goal lead, whatever team you are, you have a major defensive issue. Our was only showcased against Wycombe, who slaughtered us 5-1 at Adams Park.

Despite the seven game winless run, Davis seems to remain fairly confident in his players according to the official club website; ‘It is still a long season and we will learn from what happened on Saturday’ were the words from the manager, he continued to say ‘there are still plenty of games to go to make sure we are where we want to be’. The big question is, can we get to ‘where we want to be’ – which is in my opinion the playoffs. In my honest opinion, we can get in and around the playoffs (top 7), but the seven game winless run can’t go on much longer if we are going to make it. The performances, which have cost us points and put us in a bad league position, must improve and the points must stop being dropped. In order to stop these points being dropped, our defensive performances must become better and more consistent. If it doesn’t, a ‘good season’ may suddenly become very difficult for the Alex manager to achieve. I say ‘the Alex manager’ rather than ‘Davis’ as there has been a lot of talk, as of late, over his future.

Last season ‘The Davis Out’ protests took place at the back of the main stand, at Gresty Road, may well be starting again soon. In one of my recent articles, I said it was ‘a game of stick or twist’ with the manager and as this run has progressed I have started to edge more towards the ‘Twist’ side of the current manager’s future. These are simply my views as at any club, at any level of football, such a run is simply unendurable and could prove costly.