The opponent: Crewe Alexandra
A friend said to me earlier today that this is the biggest game of our season, shit or bust. Mathematically this is obviously not the case, but in the sense of morale both on the pitch and in the stands he may well have a point. I think most of us accepted that automatic promotion was beyond us a few weeks back and we now find ourselves needing at least 2 more decent results to make the play off’s. Better than nothing or a complete failure? The facts are simple, the 2 teams at the top of the league found their form at exactly the right time, we didn’t. For me, even now, making the play off’s would be a good season all in all, so tonight, The Town End need to be in full voice this evening, The South Stand needs to do the loudest hand clapping they have ever mustered, and The Arkells, in the words of John Lennon, they can rattle their jewellery, and together we will be victorious.
Today’s opponents roll in to SN1 with not a great deal to play for, barring a miracle of massive proportions, but some of their fans are quietly pleased with the season they have had, and rightfully so. Captain Luke Murphy said the same thing in a recent interview, and when you take in to account the big money transfers that have seen their best players leaving, Murphy may well have a point. Now the last time we discussed Crewe we spoke about the obvious railway connections, but this evening we turn over a lesser known highlight of what Crewe has to offer. One of my favourites has to be David Williams Cheese, who back in 2009 at the world renowned Nantwich International Cheese Festival, scooped more awards than John Terry has in a season, with such beauties named “Madras Curry Cheddar” and “Chivin’ Goat”. Some of the stuff they do is great and well worth a look should you be arsed
http://www.davidwilliams-cheese.co.uk/index.html . Another stunning fact for you to digest, Crewe is the 45’475th most popular name in the USA. One in every 702,203 Americans are named Crewe and popularity of name Crewe is 1.42 people per million. One of Crewe’s best known employers has to be Bentley, employing 3500 people at their Crewe HQ, one of the punch lines they use in their latest ‘Why its so great to work for Bentley’ brochures is “Bentley specifically uses cow hide from countries that have little barbed wire to prevent its leather having scuffs”. Thank god.
What are they saying about us? – “Being good neighbours, Alex nick it 2-1 in the clash of the railway town titans and throw Tranny a lifeline”.
http://boards.footymad.net/forum.php?tno=168&fid=90&sty=2&act=1&mid=2112895155Crewe Alexandra Last 6 – WLDWLL (Currently 13th on 58 points)
The Threat – Guinean striker Mathias Pogba leads the way with 16 goals in 41 games this term.
The irrelevant stats – After 3 home matches in League 1 and a JPT Final victory over Southend sandwiched inbetween Alex come to The CG having played 21 games away from home, winning 6, drawing 7 and losing 8.
Head to Head – We have met on 27 occasions, and have won 11, drawn 4 and lost 12.
The Odds – Swindon 1/2 Draw 3/1 Crewe 6/1 (SkyBet) You would think the bookies may have taken note of our recent home form but it would appear that is not the case. My birthday bonus bet is 20/1 for Luongo to open his account for us tonight, for some random reason Skybet have him in at 17/2? Madness.
The Son Says – He couldn’t decide at first but his gut instinct was 3-0, so he has stuck with it.
The Prediction – 2-1 win, Town to go behind, and just as the first shouts of we want Kmac out fill the air, Luongo and Williams will score 2 late goals in front of a disappointing 8’210, with 142 from East Cheshire.
And Finally – I hope we can all get behind the boys 100% tonight. In a better league we could well have been mid table mediocrity weeks back, but unlike our visitors, we have plenty to play for. Its often the least fancied team that scrape in to the play off’s that end up winning promotion.
COME ON SWINDON
