Well done Crewe

[philtalkin]

They play proper football and if they can keep the team together and get off to a good start, will do well next season. Hopefully in L1.

As for their fans, don't be ridiculous. It is just banter and we give as much when we get the chance.

I hope we get to keep our share of the north bank. But fans will have to learn to behave or else it will not be worth the hassle for the club. If you can't control yourself, then move back to the West stand.

 

[canveyshrimper]

I've held back on the congratulations for Crewe and I don't want this to appear as sour grapes. Yes they obviously have some potentially very good young players, Leitch-Smith is the stand out for me. And yes they play a neat pass & move style.

Yet in team so young is it necessary to have such cynicism already? Don't forget two of their players were booked for diving, and as soon as the scored their first they started time wasting.

I'll say this now if they do go up they'll be straight back down next season.

 

[Smudger]

Gary "The ****" Birtles certainly thought so, i thought he was going to climb down the ladder and reprimand the ref. ****

Google "Garry Birtles Crewe" and it looks like someone realigned his Wikipedia entry to reflect the truth.....

 

[MK Shrimper]

I've held back on the congratulations for Crewe and I don't want this to appear as sour grapes. Yes they obviously have some potentially very good young players, Leitch-Smith is the stand out for me. And yes they play a neat pass & move style.

Yet in team so young is it necessary to have such cynicism already? Don't forget two of their players were booked for diving, and as soon as the scored their first they started time wasting.

I'll say this now if they do go up they'll be straight back down next season.

As I said previously H, the bookings were a joke. Grant scythed through the back Powell(?) and then Powell got the yellow! If you get a chance (or have the stomach) watch it again on Sky. Sturrock could learn a lot about the way Crewe play - entertaining and no hoofing up to two players who watch it sail over their heads.

 

[Onion_Bag_Dave]

I don't like their fans at all.

I got blocked on twitter by a bald bloke that I called Mr Magoo AND I also got called a posh **** because I said that they had broken my brain cell detector (like it's a genuine item that a posh person has).

I didn't like their superior attitude and I hope they get absolutely battered next year. HOWEVER they probably deserved it. But we also could have knicked it. Fine fine margins.

Good luck to those Crewe fans that are okay. But bad luck to the ones that aren't. I'd like them to lose at Wembley. But I'd also probably prefer them to be gotten rid of for next season!

 

[Dobbo65]

In peace.
On the whole, thanks for your fans comments on how Crewe played over the 2 legs. SUFC were most definitely the side that we didn't want to meet in the play-offs and we wanted you to get auto promotion, so as to avoid you. We would have preferred Crawley than SUFC. Of course, it all turned out well for us, but you would also have beaten the other 2 teams (no consolation now).

Couple of points:-
1. We are not divers. We play football, get kicked, get up and play more football. As fans we all scream and shout at the ref and opposing players so I can see how it looked on Wednesday with AJ Leitch-Smith (1st half) & Nick Powell (2nd) but TV replays were abundantly clear that neither Southend player touched the ball, both played the man and both were fouls. The ref got it wrong, but I accept that he has a difficult job. By the way Nick Powell has been known to go down too easily for which Crewe fans have criticised him.
2. Year on year we win the FA Fair play award. This year we have conceded over 100 fewer fouls than any other club in the football league. Foul count Crewe 284 : Southend 485; yellow cards Crewe 43 : Southend 73.
3. Nick Powell didn't perform over the 2 legs, but he is a class act. Watch this space. Age 18, 60+ appearances, played at every level for England up to U18, our player of the season, young player, goal of the season and fans player. Just remember, we have seen a few come through the ranks from David Platt, Neil Lennon, Danny Murphy, Seth Johnson, Robbie Savage (but not very good), Dean Ashton, Geoff Thomas, Rob Jones, David Vauaghan, Nicky Maynard etc, etc. This lad is up there as long as he doesn't get carried away with hype.
4. Our team on Saturday had 9 out of 10 outfield players who had come through our Academy. That makes us extra proud. The eldest outfield player was 24. On the bench we had 17, 18 and 19 year olds.
5. I was concerned that the players would crumble at RH, but with not one player (apart from the GK) ever playing in such a game, they didn't know how to crumble. They've played together for years, got hold of the ball and knocked it around which, as a fan of English football, is a delight to watch.

So that's why we are proud. We play football the correct way. We don't buy in over paid prima donas, bully teams or play hoof ball. By the way I am not saying SUFC do the latter either.

Good luck for next year.

 

[OldBlueLady]

In peace.
On the whole, thanks for your fans comments on how Crewe played over the 2 legs. SUFC were most definitely the side that we didn't want to meet in the play-offs and we wanted you to get auto promotion, so as to avoid you. We would have preferred Crawley than SUFC. Of course, it all turned out well for us, but you would also have beaten the other 2 teams (no consolation now).

Couple of points:-
1. We are not divers. We play football, get kicked, get up and play more football. As fans we all scream and shout at the ref and opposing players so I can see how it looked on Wednesday with AJ Leitch-Smith (1st half) & Nick Powell (2nd) but TV replays were abundantly clear that neither Southend player touched the ball, both played the man and both were fouls. The ref got it wrong, but I accept that he has a difficult job. By the way Nick Powell has been known to go down too easily for which Crewe fans have criticised him.
2. Year on year we win the FA Fair play award. This year we have conceded over 100 fewer fouls than any other club in the football league. Foul count Crewe 284 : Southend 485; yellow cards Crewe 43 : Southend 73.
3. Nick Powell didn't perform over the 2 legs, but he is a class act. Watch this space. Age 18, 60+ appearances, played at every level for England up to U18, our player of the season, young player, goal of the season and fans player. Just remember, we have seen a few come through the ranks from David Platt, Neil Lennon, Danny Murphy, Seth Johnson, Robbie Savage (but not very good), Dean Ashton, Geoff Thomas, Rob Jones, David Vauaghan, Nicky Maynard etc, etc. This lad is up there as long as he doesn't get carried away with hype.
4. Our team on Saturday had 9 out of 10 outfield players who had come through our Academy. That makes us extra proud. The eldest outfield player was 24. On the bench we had 17, 18 and 19 year olds.
5. I was concerned that the players would crumble at RH, but with not one player (apart from the GK) ever playing in such a game, they didn't know how to crumble. They've played together for years, got hold of the ball and knocked it around which, as a fan of English football, is a delight to watch.

So that's why we are proud. We play football the correct way. We don't buy in over paid prima donas, bully teams or play hoof ball. By the way I am not saying SUFC do the latter either.

Good luck for next year.

Thank you for your comments, fair play to you, you seem to recognise your team's best and worst qualities. I would just point out though, that refs seem, for some reason, to have some pre-conceived idea when they come into a game that we play in...and it's a long historic one that Southend have players that are "dirty". I commend your team on the lack of cards shown, but that's what I'm getting at, some of our players over the last several years have been targeted by refs and we've received some extremely dodgy cards, of both red and yellow. In both legs of the semi finals we seemed to have refs that I felt were poor in taking decisive action, the amount of time your keeper took in the 2nd leg to release the ball was plainly ludicrous. Mind you, that goes for lots of teams and is something I think needs addressing.

I think you will walk the final at Wembley, your style of play is so quick that Cheltenham, like us, will find it difficult to cope with. Pleased to hear that you have so many players that have come through your youth set up, as a committee member of our Trust who are main sponsors of our youth team, I think that's highly commendable. It worries me slightly that you seem to imply that we don't hoof but we have got over paid prima donas and do bully teams though!

Always felt that the winners of our game would go up. Just smash Colchester when you do!

 

[Dobbo65]

It worries me slightly that you seem to imply that we don't hoof but we have got over paid prima donas and do bully teams though!

Cheers. No I wasn't implying that you were any of those things (hoof, prima donas or bully etc), albeit you do have a professional set up with some older heads. My point was aimed at the Premier League and their foreign mercenaries who are the masters at feigning injury and playing for penalties.

Admittedly you did come to Gresty Rd for the draw with your keeper time wasting in the 1st half. But I agree, 2 wrongs don't make a right.

Invest in your Academy and it will pay dividends in the medium / long term. You may have to be patient, but it's worth it. Don't try and buy success or gamble with your future. Football needs to wake up. This is 2012 and the world is a tough place.

Who said "you don't win things with kids" !!......

I hate those PL millionaires that "kiss the badge" but if there's team that can, its' Crewe when the players have been there since they could walk.

 

[OldBlueLady]

Cheers. No I wasn't implying that you were any of those things (hoof, prima donas or bully etc), albeit you do have a professional set up with some older heads. My point was aimed at the Premier League and their foreign mercenaries who are the masters at feigning injury and playing for penalties.

Admittedly you did come to Gresty Rd for the draw with your keeper time wasting in the 1st half. But I agree, 2 wrongs don't make a right.

Invest in your Academy and it will pay dividends in the medium / long term. You may have to be patient, but it's worth it. Don't try and buy success or gamble with your future. Football needs to wake up. This is 2012 and the world is a tough place.

Who said "you don't win things with kids" !!......

I hate those PL millionaires that "kiss the badge" but if there's team that can, its' Crewe when the players have been there since they could walk.

Goodness, I find myself in almost total agreement! I think anyone that supports a lower league side (and not as a 2nd choice) will agree that the Premiership has ruined football at our kind of level. Got to say though, that the tactics we used at your place have served us well at Oxford and Turkey recently, it's kind of defensive but allows for the quick break. You lot were just too clued up, and definitely too quick.

I happen to know that there are plans for our Academy that I really hope will be of benefit, I feel for our youthies that have been released today, but hope that in future years we'll be better placed to "see them through". I work in a school where several of our kids are signed to the Academy, they have the potential if they can stick with it, trouble is that so many of them don't.