Crewe Alex v Barrow 24/25 Preview - A Whing & A Prayer

For the third straight game against Barrow, the Alex will be facing a different manager in the opposition dug out. Their meeting at Holker Street in January last year saw Pete Wild in charge of the Bluebirds. Then, the next match up on the opening day of this season had Stephen Clemence as their boss. But now, they're on their 3rd manager in less than 12 months, as former Solihull boss Andy Whing has taken charge of them and is now tasked with turning their fortunes around. Here is my preview of Barrow's visit to Gresty Road:

Poor Record

The Alex faced Accrington at home a few weeks ago, with Accy having a 3-2-7 away record heading into the game. The Alex lost. Then 2 weeks ago, they faced Newport at home, with the Exiles having a 2-4-9 away record. The Alex lost. So, I say this with those facts very much in hand, but the Alex are facing a Barrow side who are probably even worse than both those sides away from home.

They are 2-3-10 on the road and have scored just 8 goals in those games. Their last win was at Grimsby. In September. They have been blanked 9 times and Sam Foley is their top away scorer with 2. Their most recent away game was last weekend, where they collapsed from 2-0 up to lose 3-2 at Cheltenham. They'll be feeling shaky right now and the Alex have a great chance to take full advantage of that.

Midday Struggles

A concern for the Alex is that they've found the new lunch time kick off slots a struggle this season. They've played 3 of them, at home to Swindon and Bradford and away at Carlisle. And whilst they drew all 3, they were all poor performances. They had better start getting used to these early kick offs, as they have 2 more coming in March with both Doncaster and Notts County now moved to this time slot. I hope they can show a livelier display in this game.

Mood Swinger

The Alex are still in a promotion fight. Yes, it doesn't feel like it with everyone around them having games in hand and the chasing pack closing in behind them, but they are. They are currently 7th, which we'd all have taken with 14 games to go I'm sure. Ok, maybe not when they were heading into the Accrington game, but still, their promotion hopes are very much alive.

This game feels like a huge one. Should they lose, it'll destroy all the confidence they'll have built up from last Saturday and send them into the Chesterfield game feeling very low, the same for the fans. A draw probably leaves people feeling the same as they do now, neutral. However, a win would be massive. It'll see them finish a tough month strongly and keep them in the top 7 for another week, plus give them a huge boost as they head into a very tough March. 3 points here could be priceless.

Same Again

What is it about facing Barrow at home with a massively depleted team? The same thing happened at Christmas last season, where they had half the team out injured and Barrow were able to come away with an easy win because of it. Is the same about to happen here, as Barrow do what Newport did and have enough quality to take their chances whilst knowing the Alex don't have the ability to take theirs I wonder?

Step Up

The Alex are now 3 without a goal. Yes, their main strikers are all out and that's blunted what was already a not so sharp attack in the first place. But they have players in the squad that can score a goal, or should be able to. The midfield 4 of Powell, Sanders, Tabiner and Holicek have made 83 starts between them and scored 2 between them, both from Tabiner. I don't expect them to be a goal threat every week, just 1 in a game of huge importance like this one would be nice.

Max Conway, Jamie Knight-Lebel, Tommy Lowery, heck even the no goals in his last 13 starts Shilow Tracey if he plays. They need someone from the currently available group to step up and be the hero they need to score the goal or goals they need to win this game. Can any of them take that opportunity?

Ref Watch

David Rock

Now, I know this appointment will be met with a lot of dread and eye rolls. But hear me out. Yes, he was dreadful in that infamous Cambridge home game in 19-20, but he's taken charge of 3 mostly drama free Crewe games since then, including the 1-0 win over Accrington back in September. So hopefully Cambridge was a one off and he'll be fine again in this one.

2024/25 Record: 22 games(12 League One, 6 League Two, 1 National League, 2 League Cup, 1 EFL Trophy), 95 yellows, 1 red

Last Game: Barnsley 1-2 Huddersfield, EFL League One, 15th February 2025, 4 yellows

Crewe Alex Record: 1-2-1, 6 yellows, 1 red

Injuries/Absences

Crewe Alex

Their absence list doesn't seem like it'll change much, as Cooney replaces Knight-Lebel as being out suspended. Do they get even 1-2 of the injured players back? If they do, it'll be a big morale boost for the squad.

Barrow

Barrow will probably be down a few players. Dean Campbell, David Worrall, Katia Kouyate and Charlie Kirk all missed last weeks game at Cheltenham. So no reunion for Charlie at the Alex unfortunately.

Team

Let's start by saying that even if some players are returning to the squad after fitness issues, I wouldn't start them. They need to be eased back in so as to avoid any repeat issues occuring. In defence it'll be one in, one out, as Ryan Cooney serves his ban, but Jamie Knight-Lebel returns from his suspension

But what does Bell do formation wise? He could keep the back 4, push Billington to RB and put Knight-Lebel back in alongside O'Riordan. Or he could revert to a back 5, have Billington alongside Knight-Lebel and O'Riordan as a back 3 and do something else at right wing back, like Tabiner perhaps?

Personally, I'm keeping the same shape as last week at Gillingham. 4-3-2-1. It worked to a certain extent, so give it another go. Billington moves to RB, Knight-Lebel comes back into defence, Lowery, Sanders and Powell start in midfield whilst Tracey goes again up front, with Tabiner on the right and Holicek on the left behind him. Should Tracey's issue that forced him off last keep him out here, Thibaut comes in to start instead.

On the bench they might be able to field a full set of subs, although we're probably likely to see at least 1-2 scholars fill the numbers. Fin Roberts will be on there after his recall from Chester though.

Score Prediction

It's hard to call this. If they have a similar squad to the one they had last week, then scoring a goal feels like a tall order. And Barrow, for all their struggles on the road, have found a bit more firepower recently, especially with the return of Ben Whitfield. I feel the Alex will need a clean sheet to win this one. And to score first. I'll stay positive and say they'll grind out a narrow win.

Crewe Alexandra 1-0 Barrow