Crewe Alex 0-3 Newport County 24/25 Review - Terminal

That result, not to be too dramatic, feels terminal. It feels like the sign of things to come for the rest of the season. It feels like all the worst case scenarios on and off the pitch coming true at the same time. To be honest, this game is a culmination of many things, some controllable, some not. So I'm not going to review the game much, save for some points which tie in to it. Here is some factors I think led to today's shambles:

Injuries

Today's defeat was partly on how the squad has been assembled. Yes, injuries to Omar Bogle(back), Kane Hemmings(Foot), Conor Thomas(Knee) and Jack Lankester(foot) amongst others are unfortunate and nobody deserves blame for them. But are any of us surprised that Thomas, Bogle and Long have now missed a combined 42 games between them with the same injuries they've suffered throughout their careers?

Yes, the Gresty Road pitch is doing a great job of killing the season as much as any individual is, with 3 muscle related injuries in the last 4 home games(Connolly, Hemmings, Finney). But until the management grow a back bone and start jettisoning players that can only give you 20 games a season, then the same issues are going to keep coming around.

Overachievement

But all my criticism of management, we need to face facts. The budget given to them is that of a bottom half side. I don't blame the board, they take on huge director loans to keep the club solvent. But the management I think have tried their best to name as competitive a side as they can given the financial restrictions they are working with.

They dramatically overachieved last season. And even sat in 8th at this moment, they are still overachieving. Mistakes have been made, but unless the club get a sizeable boost in their playing budget or we start to see a stronger group of academy players emerge, then unlikely promotion runs that ultimately fall short is about as good as we can expect personally.

Academy

The club continue to double and triple down on the academy model. But my god, it hasn't helped them much this season. It was a worry from the summer when only 10 of the squad were from the academy. For most of the season, only 3 players from the academy have been regular starters and whilst Williams has been ok and Holicek has flashed on occasion, that's been it. Tabiner has been a disappointment, Booth, Lunt, Finney and Billington have barely played and the other 3, Sant, Robinson and Agius, are first year pros where not much can be expected.

Crewe Alex need a strong core of academy players in the first team squad to thrive. That's a fact. The fact that they needed to bring back 2 former graduates who've since moved on is a damning indictment on where the levels of quality coming from inside the club currently are at. It's a huge concern.

Lack of Leaders

The picking of players for leadership positions at this club is head scratching. Can anyone tell me why Zac Williams is vice captain? Or why the club decided to bring in 4 defenders over the last 2 windows and not one of them were over the age of 22 at the point of signing? Who could have foreseen rolling with a back 3 with a combined age of 61 would lead to a poor defensive display as the lack of leaders became evident, with the 2nd goal being especially glaring.

Win over philosophy

All the above being said, there is a conversation to be had about the style of football Lee Bell plays. Whilst the first 14 games of last season were great fun, since then it's been a slow and painful grind. There have been the odd highlights for sure, but the fact is, we're 2 and a bit seasons into his tenure and the midfield is still a disjointed mess, the attacking game plan is still wildly inconsistent at best and toothless at worst. They've scored 70 in their last 62 league games. That's barely a goal a game.

I think Bell is a manager that knows how to get results. But can he combine results with a sustainable attractive brand of football? On the evidence of the last 18 months, it's hard to say yes to that question.

Ref Assessment

Woeful. Let at least 2-3 yellow cards for Newport go and the missed penalty call on Tracey was a game changer.

Management Assessment

Said all that needs to be said. Some of the issues lately aren't on them. Some very much are. Where we go from here, I'm don't know.

Player Assessments

Filip Marschall

He was fine up until the 2nd, which was a horrendous error. If the season is about to implode and his confidence drops, I do wonder if the Marschall from MK Dons will start to resurface.

Connor O'Riordan

A mixed afternoon where there was some good stuff and some not so good stuff.

Jamie Knight-Lebel

Same as O'Riordan to be honest. Not sure I'd pin anything on him, as the main issues were further forward.

Zac Williams

Not going to slaughter him, but the lack of leadership in the squad when Demetriou is out is noticeable. He's a decent footballer, but a captain he aint.

Ryan Cooney

Tried his best to generate attacks, but couldn't get much going.

Jack Powell

Mystifying how he stayed on for the whole game. I'm going to say it again, they've been way too hasty in extending his deal. Because I'll be honest, I wouldn't have cared if he moved on in the summer.

Max Sanders

A knock or ill? Or just the managers scapegoat? He wasn't playing badly, so his half time sub was bizarre.

Max Conway

A lot of good stuff, but the lack of end product is an ongoing issue he doesn't look like solving any time soon. A good player, but he won't play higher than L2 unless he gets better in certain areas. Why was he subbed at half time exactly?

Joel Tabiner

What more can I say that hasn't been said already. He was involved and created chances, but we're still needing to have a conversation about his long term potential.

Matus Holicek

Drifted through the game, but he should have scored on a couple of occasions.

Shilow Tracey

He's a tryer, but my lord he's not very good. I never once felt confident a goal would come with him starting upfront.

Subs

Tommy Lowery

Added a lot of quality when he came on, I'd have liked to have seen him do better with his shot from the edge of the box. But a positive home return.

Charlie Finney

A mixture of good and bad from Charlie, unfortunately he too succumbed to the Gresty Road pitch late on. I doubt we see him much for the next few weeks.

Adrien Thibaut

Had to score with that free header at 2-0. He does a lot of nice stuff, but I want to see him bury a chance like that.

Lewis Billington

A late sub for the injured Finney, not a lot to say about him.

Callum Agius

A token sub, we'll need to see more of him in the next few weeks you feel as all the other attackers are injured.

Overall Verdict

The players look defeated. Bell sounds defeated. The fan base is pretty defeated. Do they recover from this? I hope so, but I can't see it. At least they have a full week off to recover for their next game.....oh wait. Wimbledon away on Tuesday. This could get ugly.