Tomorrow Tues 9/8/11 PNE entertain Crewe Alexander in round 1 of the Carling Cup. Crewe Alexander are one of those clubs that most football supporters admire and respect. They are noted for playing free flowing football and producing their own players. Div 1 is the highest league they have played in but that is only part of the story. Season after season Crewe seem able to produce quality young players from their successful junior ranks, and several have gone on to become household names and attain international recognition. The one person at the centre of the successful youth policy is of course the Crewe manager Dario Gradi. Dario Gradi’s is one of the longest serving one club managers in the UK (if not the longest), he has a remarkable record as Crewe's manager and is respected and admired thoughout football. They have been so successful at producing star young players that it has enabled the club to beat the odds and maintain their position in the football league, despite having small gates and income. Of course they eventually have to sell the young stars on to bigger clubs etc, but it is this transfer income that has helped the club to survive. Below is a link to a potted history of Crewe Alexander for those that wish to take advantage. http://www.crewealex.net/page/HistoryDetail/0,,10414~63806,00.html Following Saturday's loss at home to Colchester Phil Brown will be looking for a significant improvement in the PNE performance and in particular the defence, so changes in the team selection and probably formation are more than likely. On Saturday the team produced two quality goals but conceded four that could only be described as gifts. PNE still have NO left back and unless one of the two injured right backs have recovered No right back either. So what is PB going to do about it ???. On Saturday having to use players out of position contributed to the woeful performance but in fairness the two stand in fullbacks were not the main source of the problem. The team formation selected (4 3 3) by PB for Saturday's game did not work and it was plain to see by everyone who attended the game, there was no width to the attack and little cover for the fullbacks. So then it will be very interesting to see what PB decides to do to overcome Saturday's shortcomings, but there is money to be made for progressing in this competition, so it is a game that PNE will want to win. Crewe's season also started off on the wrong foot when they lost 3-0 away at Swindon Town so like PNE will be looking to get their season back on track. Match reports suggest that the score line flattered Swindon and Crewe should have been ahead before Swindon opened their account. Crewe also missed several very good opportunity's but it was one of those days for Crewe and they paid the penalty. This game could well be an exciting encounter with both teams eager to put Saturday's result's behind them and progress to the next round of the Carling Cup. Any thoughts/comments are welcome...
If thing's dont go according to plan......might decide to come along and join you......not sure how we could improve it though, it's well past it's sell by date...
That was a good win. Look at the other results! It is good to know that it was good football that won the game> I hope you that went enjoyed the game.
Morning Barnet... Yes it was a good win and just what PNE needed to get their season back on track. PNE Team. Preston 21 Turner 05 Carlisle 12 McLean 18 Devine 22 Alexander 15 Barton 17 Parry 24 Clucas 07 Hume 09 Proctor 33 Mellor Really enjoyed the game although there were times that things didn't go quite according to plan. Phil Brown decided to stick with the 4 3 3 formation and that presented PNE with similar problems to the Colchester affair, with the team playing without width and not enough protection for the back four. Youngster Devine had been brought in to replace Morgan in the centre of defence and although showing his inexperience at times settled down well and is a very good prospect, he also brought PNE back into the game by scoring a good goal via a deflection by Mellor (the goal maybe marked as a Mellor goal). There was also a question mark over who scored Northend's first goal as a Procter header was helped into the net by a Crewe player. Clucas (yet another PNE youngster) made his debut and can be happy with his contribution in the engine room of the team. Crewe came to defend and hit on the break and this worked for them until PNE went 4 2 4 in the second half. When you play against a packed defence you have to get round the back of them and not having width makes life difficult, and also tends to catch the fullbacks out when they have gone forward to provide the width. Northend played some neat and attractive football trying to be patient and find an opening, but they overdid this on several occasions and ended up going nowhere and losing the ball. The 4 3 3 formation was NOT working again and Hume was playing behind Proctor and Mellor and not able to make his presence felt and pose a threat. Into the second half and it was obvious that things had to change and when the manager brought Coutts and Mayor on and went 4 2 4 everything changed and Northend looked a different team and now Hume was causing Crewe big problems as was Danny Mayor who played a significant part in PNE acheiving the win. Coutts was also playing his part and Mellor continued were he had left off on Saturday working hard and posing a threat. After PNE went 4 2 4 the crowd really got behind the team and the players responded, it was this combination that won PNE the game. A lesson for the supporters here I think get behind the team and anything can happen. Northend enjoyed the balance of the play over the full 90 mins but allowed Crewe to grab two goals against the run of play, the first being a very well taken goal and the second scored from a corner when Turner the PNE keeper came for the ball and never got to it. Both keepers made some decent saves during the game and the score line could have been greater but for them. The highlight of the night was the Northend winning goal when with just 15 seconds of normal time remaining Mayor put a pin point cross over to the far post and Hume rose and thudded the ball into the net. Goallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll job done.. Deepdale erupted. I hope that PNE stay with the 4 2 4 formation (we don't have the right players to play 4 3 3) and we can get a new left full back in, and our injured right backs as well. 5401 was the gate and I paid £6.00 for myself and the grandson.....that is value for money..
Thought Barton was a disappointment however as you say Plumbs the substitutions made a difference. Impressed with Mayor. Credit to the Railwaymen as always played the game the correct way
Barton did disappoint and wanted to do too much when he had the ball, instead of doing the simple thing well, he wanted to beat the extra man and ended up giving the ball away or losing it. Showed his inexperience and is not the answer in midfield at the present time. Northend looked light in midfield to me and didn't have a real ball winner to break up the opposition attack and protect the back four, it was the same in the game against Colchester as well. Playing with only three in midfield highlighted the problem even more. We have never replaced Greegan and O'Neil and it is a big problem area for PNE. The railwaymen only know one way to play and they always give value for money even when they lose..
Strange how differently people see a match especially the loser .been on the Alex site and their Joint captain whatever that is,, says they are terribly dissapointed because they think they should have won.
It is perfectly true that there are many occasions when the fans and their two clubs see things differently than each other newroader, and it's understandable a expect. I do attempt to give an unbiased account when I give one and based on what I saw along with the match stats (which are a guide only) I disagree with the Alex joint captains view. I would agree that the Alex could have won being ahead with 10 minutes to go, but the score at that time did not reflect how the game had been. Alex always play football the right way as they did in this game but in truth they came to defend and hit PNE on the break, and did it very well....
And we've been rewarded wth a cack draw to say the least Reading or Charlton away don't come much worse
Shame we didn't meet in 2nd round, instead we get the worst draws ever on a Tuesday night, ours more with a trip down to hell hole Millwall. I noticed Rochdale, Preston & the shrimps are in London on a Tuesday night. Any Preston fan been to the Den & whats your thoughts on the day down their would be much appreciated. I noticed on our main Morecambe forum not many takers on travelling down to the Den on a Tuesday night due to the reputation. Good Luck in the next round & the league campaign.
Hi Curtis.. I have visited your forum on here a couple of times but there was no one around, but glad to see you on here. Morecambe have had a decent start to the season which is great to see, and after SM had done his bit for the club you now have a new manager seeming to be doing his bit as well. It's a longish haul down to the smoke mid week Curtis, so not surprising fans are having second thoughts. I wouldn't have thought there would be any problem at the Den for the Shrimp fans who decide to make the trip, I dont think the Den is anything like it used to be except for when a certain two or three clubs visit. The Shrimps could cause a shock down there, just like they did at Deepdale a few years ago. Anyway hope Morecambe have a realy good season and who knows you could be playing PNE in Div 1 next season...would be better if we both got promoted though.
PNE fans must be fed up with the current owners, especially Hemming's who is a multi millionaire but IMO could put more money into rebuilding the squad & get rid of the debt. I don't understand why he let Longergan go, as he would have probably got you back into the championship at the first attempt along with Treacy. I hope you go up, as your ground & crowd is championship/premiership standard. Jim Bentley could turn out to be another Eddie Howe before he moved to Burnley, if he can get the best out of the squad. He is committed more & loves the club he spent 9 years at as a player. If we did go up I could see a queue of clubs wanting him to be their new manager, even our neighbours 25 miles away if Brown does not deliver. Millwall fans are underestimating us but they possibly may be in for a shock soon. All the best in league one. Hope your playing Blackpool again soon. Where has all their fans disappeared too since 606 shut down?
Last I heard they were all queued up waiting their turn to jump off the piers following their relegation..
These boards are not the same as 606. I am the only Morecambe fan on our forum all the rest have buggered off either on to Shrimpsvoices or elswhere. I even miss having the banter with the lashers & even they have disappeared. I think the word needs to get round to other forums that we are here to get more members. Don't bother myself with shrimpsvoices as a few members go abit other the top on issues. This board would be better if it had more members.
Yes 606 is sorely missed Curtis, it wasn't perfect but came pretty close as far as most fans were concerned. I had noted you was more or less on your own on the not606 Shrimps forum which must be a real sickener for you. This PNE one isn't great with only a few of us trying to keep things ticking over. Many are the same and particularly on the Div 1 and 2 forums. Strange thing is that there are many people viewing the threads but very few of them leave any comments. The lashers have their own forum site and I assume that is where most of them are, and then there is Pebble who cater for PNE/Bleakpoo and the Dingles. Unfortunately there are one ot two on Pebble (who run the site) who I dont see eye to eye with so I have never been on the site to even have a look. Shame realy as there are some realy good Northenders on there who I get on famously with. The LEP forum is a waste of space IMHO due to two or three seeing themselves as THE experts on all things PNE plus others who are continually falling out with each other and ruining the thread. The LEP type of forum also tends to have just the one daily topic and after the first few posts which are on topic the thread goes pear shaped and the bickering starts all over again. PNEonLine has that many idiots it's not worth bothering with. I do like this site and the format but unless things improve in the near future I will probably call it a day and forget all about forums and just leave it at that. Maclad and myself do our best to keep this one alive and we have two or three visitors who do post their comments like finneyfan etc, but still hard to understand how so many people come and view but leave no comments. They must not be impressed by what we have have to say... I have looked around at several other new forums but they are not as good as this one and have even less people posting than this one. I think everyone knows about this site by now but for whatever reason are not using it. Anyway you are always welcome on here Curtis and I will make a point of calling in on the Morecambe forum..
North End won't be in London as the same time as the other clubs, as the Charlton/Reading game is scheduled for that nigt, we'll paly the week after. As or the Den Curtis, you are bussed in and out and do not meet any of the locals.
If this forum was more busy it would be a cracking forum. You look at some of the others & they are constantly swearing. The football forum is one you want to stay well clear of. The moderators don't like you complaining about anything apart from their own issues when it is about their own team. I got removed & the moderator didn't even give me a full explaination as to why he removed me from posting apart from saying I have emailed him several times regard the issue. By that time he shut my account down without giving me a full explaination why they have forum rules that they don't stick by. He had the the chance to reply but he choose to not answer my question. It is a shame as some of the boards would be great if they stuck to forum guidelines & the moderators did their job but decide instead to have mindless idiots who act about 10 swearing & annoying other fans all the time without dealing with the problems. themaclad.....I believe they have their own entrance for away fans to and from the ground to the train station. At the moment there doesn't seem to be very much interest of making the trip down on the main Morecambe forum, but that may change near the time. I have seen enough of Millwall recently to make me stay well clear of the place.
