Thetownend.com

has already been announced....nice one byrne u twat so crewe now have 3 days to prepare for our defence. he did the same for the carlisle game..im no manager but surely announcing part of your team 4 days in advance is a bit of stupid thing to do.

The OS says the whole line-up will be unchanged.

Doesn't make any difference as they would've prepared by watching our last game anyway. Timlin is the only contender for the back four. If we can't beat or at least draw against a team with 9 points then things are reeeeeeally bad.

The OS says the whole line-up will remain the same, but I'm wondering if that's miswritten as there is no direct quote to back it up. Judging from what I've heard about Saturday, I reckon it'd be worth keeping the same back 4 and chucking Timlin back into centre mid to shore it up a bit

dave only said same backline so timlin could still replace pooky

but why announce it?? its like shooting urself in the foot. of course tell the players they r playing but dont announce to the public until the last minute so crewe has as lil time as poss to prepare. shouts of amateurism i cant wait until stfc get a professional decent manager in who knows wot he is doing

as soon as the players know i announce it anyway :)

Would find it hard to believe if Timlin was left out.

Given our consistent selection in seasons like 89/90 and 92/93 and even 95/96, teams must have really had the edge on us knowing with a high degree of certainty who they'd be playing.

Teams have also clearly got the edge over Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool.

No one complained when they announced that Kennedy and Ifil were starting last week. Why complain now?

To be honest me thinks this is complaining for the sake of it.

How will us announcing our back 4 change Crewe's game plan and how they approach the game?

It's a chance to have another dig at Byrne.

as well as Kennedy did on Saturday .. id like Timlin back there for Crewe game .. he isnt much cop in midfield but is very solid at left back .. too much too soon for young Callum

and does this mean another game in charge for Byrne?

Probably, although it could be one of those occasions where the new guy doesn't start work until Monday.

Gives the back 4 a week to work together. Now i don't like byrne but wont moan at the bloke for trying to fix what is obviously broke

dave must be racist, hes dropped the 2 blackest defenders in amankwaah and kanyuka and brought back jerel just cos hes not as black, disgusting really

What exactly did Kennedy do wrong on Saturday? I like Timlin, but Kennedy showed real promise.

If Byrne should drop anyone, it would be Pook. Last weeks performance was poor.

Of course by saying the defence will remain the same Crewe will be fucked when we line up with; Kevin Amankwaah, Patrick Kanyuka, Sean Morrison and Kasali Yinka 'Drysdale' Casal.

Oh dear, what a comparison!

He didn't do anything wrong. If Kennedy stays at left back and Timlin plays in midfield then fair enough. If it's a straight fight for the left back spot in my opinion Timlin is currently the better/more experienced player and should start.

To be honest regardless of the line up all Crewe have to do is press us and we'll fuck up at the back. Just sit on the central two so as their distribution is even more shit than usual. Ally that to running at Jack Smith and the opposition is quids in. And don't forget Crewe don;t actually have to do anyhing particualry well, we'll just fuck up and let them have an early X mas gift or teo. 

Yeah but in all fairness their main attacking threat is Calvin Zola. We can sit back and let them run at us, the ball will run to him and he'll either trip over it and it'll come of his arse and we'll win a few throw ins.

Is that after its hit our defenders arses a few times and eneded in the net or he;'s tripped over the ball and somehoew taken out Phil Smith and Aljofree / Ifiill / Smith / Kennedy - please delete as appropriate.
The quality of attacker doesn't actually matter - we are well capable of fucking up against the worst a la carlisle Saturday. 

Tails i said that about bas savage and michael rickets

Touché.

Calvin Zola is still naff though.

Given Crewe's season so far, I hardly think they'll be spending too much time worrying about our back 4, they'll be spending enough time worrying about their own.  It'll probably end 0-0 having said that.

Please stop writing off Crewe. I think they are an amazingly gifted side and I will be very happy to escape the cauldron of Gresty Road with points!

Drysdale was better,  seriously

I remember and watched Drysdale play for Swindon many times... However, JD had over 50 games to prove his creditials of being shit - Casal has had 5. The latter may never get to prove how even more awful/or how decent he actually is :D