[Archived] Crewe - FA Cup (Again!)

[Rover_Shaun]

24 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

 

But tbh Im not interested anymore

From this I take it someone has called you out (again) on making more u-turns than a dodgy plumber ?

[Parsonblue]

9 hours ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Best Rovers team I ever saw but we just weren't up for it that day.

Totally agree Tyrone.  That Jack Marshall team was the best attacking side I've seen during my time following Rovers.  The forward line of Fergie, McEvoy, Pickering, Dougie and Harrison were all different and yet complimented each other wonderfully well.  I can still remember going down to Ewood that day thinking it would be a double figure job and coming home a disappointed youngster.  There have been any number of such disappointments since then!

[tonygreenbank]

I agree with you there on the attacking strength. A deadly attack. Macevoy got 32 goals that season in 37 appearances!

However Rovers won only 5 more games that season after the 8-2 win at West Ham.

We also lost the cup tie at Oxford that same season.

 

[philipl]

5 minutes ago, tonygreenbank said:

I agree with you there on the attacking strength. A deadly attack. Macevoy got 32 goals that season in 37 appearances!

However Rovers won only 5 more games that season after the 8-2 win at West Ham.

We also lost the cup tie at Oxford that same season.

 

Yes I remember listening to that Oxford game on the radio lying ill in bed...

To future Cup shocks (hope not!), is it any warmer in Crewe? Once frost gets into the ground and temperatures scarcely rise above freezing, the ground remains frozen. If you wrap it in covers, all you do is seal the frost in... 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

It seems a bit milder today. No frost on the car and it was raining last night.  I haven't been outside yet. Once the frost comes out of a football pitch it's as soft as the proverbial.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, tonygreenbank said:

I agree with you there on the attacking strength. A deadly attack. Macevoy got 32 goals that season in 37 appearances!

However Rovers won only 5 more games that season after the 8-2 win at West Ham.

We also lost the cup tie at Oxford that same season.

 

Yeah and to top that we then went and sold Fred Pickering to Everton. Although John Byrom came in did well up front for a season or so we never really recovered from that foolishness. The money we received was squandered on a whole range of inferior replacements for Fred ultimately leading to our relegation in 1966.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, Parsonblue said:

Totally agree Tyrone.  That Jack Marshall team was the best attacking side I've seen during my time following Rovers.  The forward line of Fergie, McEvoy, Pickering, Dougie and Harrison were all different and yet complimented each other wonderfully well.  I can still remember going down to Ewood that day thinking it would be a double figure job and coming home a disappointed youngster.  There have been any number of such disappointments since then!

The front five were amazing. Fergie was a brilliant dribbling winger who chipped in with goals. Andy Mac was a fox in the box type of player who could also link up play when he needed to. Fred was in the Shearer mould, big and strong, he could also beat players with the ball at his feet. Both Fred and Andy were prolific goal scorers.

Dougie was Dougie, a wizard on the ball and such a clever prompter of the front two. Eden Hazard on a good day reminds me of him today. Mike Harrison was a strong direct winger, in appearance he was faster version  of Mark Hughes. He had a tremendous shot in both feet and scored plenty of goals from out wide. Possibly the best penalty taker we ever had.

No square pegs in round holes and they all dovetailed together into the perfect goalscoring machine. I consider myself privileged to have seen them play, we'll never see another line up like that.

[gumboots]

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Yeah and to top that we then went and sold Fred Pickering to Everton. Although John Byrom came in did well up front for a season or so we never really recovered from that foolishness. The money we received was squandered on a whole range of inferior replacements for Fred ultimately leading to our relegation in 1966.

Sounds like history repeating itself

[gumboots]

1 hour ago, philipl said:

Yes I remember listening to that Oxford game on the radio lying ill in bed...

To future Cup shocks (hope not!), is it any warmer in Crewe? Once frost gets into the ground and temperatures scarcely rise above freezing, the ground remains frozen. If you wrap it in covers, all you do is seal the frost in... 

Well it's raining here in the Ribble Valley and my garden, previously frozen, is like a swamp again

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, gumboots said:

Sounds like history repeating itself

We received £85,000 for Pickering. At the time it was a record deal between two British clubs. Denis Law and Jimmy Greaves had both been signed for bigger fees but they had come back to England from Italian clubs. It was a massive fee that we squandered in signing inferior players. George Jones, who was Fred's immediate replacement was ok but broke his leg, £30k gone there, Martin Britt came in later for £20k in a vain attempt to keep us up but also came with a dodgy knee. He played about 12 games and didn't figure on the scoresheet once. Alan Gilliver, bought to get us back to the big time for £32k, also came with a bad back and never really made it. That was Fred's fee gone in a couple of years 

In theory football is a simple game. You start out with average players and you gradually replace them with decent players. Over time you replace the decent players with good players, then you replace the good players with even better players. Very much like what Burnley have done over the last ten years. To be able to do that you need people at the club who actually know what they're doing and can spot a player when they see one.

Obviously we've gone about our business in the reverse manner and now we've got to get rid of the duds and start building back up. Can it be done ? Of course. Can it be done with the Chicken Chokers running the show ? I'm afraid not.

[darrenrover]

38 minutes ago, gumboots said:

Sounds like history repeating itself

Hardly gumboots but I do get where you're coming from. I know Venkys are rightly derided but if the revenue isn't there and fans don't really care enough to attend on a regular basis and in sufficient numbers, what other alternative is there to balance the books?

Although we've had one previously, god rest his sole, we've no right to demand a sugar daddy.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, darrenrover said:

Hardly gumboots but I do get where you're coming from. I know Venkys are rightly derided but if the revenue isn't there and fans don't really care enough to attend on a regular basis and in sufficient numbers, what other alternative is there to balance the books?

Although we've had one previously, god rest his sole, we've no right to demand a sugar daddy.

I think the point Gumboots is making is if you sell your best players and replace them with inferior players it can only end in tears. As we are busy proving. This situation is entirely down to the Chicken Chokers, nobody else.

[darrenrover]

11 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I think the point Gumboots is making is if you sell your best players and replace them with inferior players it can only end in tears. As we are busy proving. This situation is entirely down to the Chicken Chokers, nobody else.

I don't entirely agree Tyrone. Pickering, Barker, Hird, Bailey, Hunter, Sutton, Shearer, Flowers, Batty, LeSaux etc etc didn't leave because of the Venkys. Venkys have made an absolute dogs breakfast of running the club I agree but that is not the whole story.

We had 20 fantastic years thanks to Jack's benevolence that Venkys and their cronies have squandered.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

At the moment it's raining where I live in Rochdale. I would imagine things in Crewe will be something similar so I expect us to play tonight unless something remarkable happens. I also expect the pitch to be very heavy and to cut up. Probably an obvious statement to make but the team that wants it the most will win in those circumstances.

[darrenrover]

Get into 'em!!

[nathan_rovers1]

I can see us putting 4 or 5 past Crewe, they were terrible at ours, until we lost two players. 

[Hasta]

All this talk of the 8-2 win and the team of the 60's makes me miss the conversations I used to have with my dad.

In the early 90's he would tell me stories of that team and I would ask (serious at the time) questions like "Was Pickering better than Shearer?".

That comparison question kind of stuck and over the years I would jokingly ask the question, regardless of how average  the player who I was comparing to a great was, to see what reaction I got before he finally twigged I was winding him up.

I'd love to be able to ask him "Is Dack better than Duggie?" just to see that second of bewilderment on his face again. 

[darrenrover]

18 minutes ago, Hasta said:

 

I'd love to be able to ask him "Is Dack better than Duggie?" just to see that second of bewilderment on his face again. 

Do you mean now in a head to head, reality TV sort of thing? I'd still back Duggie at his age to put Bradley on his arse twice before nonchalantly back heeling the ball in the net.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

It's like arguing about who was the greatest ever - Pele or ?.

Pele is out there on his own. Argue about who was the second best.

Same with Douglas, for me he was the best ever Rover, so argue about who was second best.

Is Dack better than Tony Field ? I like Dack a lot but Field was better.

[Gav]

8 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

 

Pele is out there on his own. Argue about who was the second best.

 

Diego Armando Maradona was the greatest ever player 

You could certainly argue that Messi will take that crown in the future though.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, Gav said:

Diego Armando Maradona was the greatest ever player 

 

You're not listening . He's in the pack along with Cryuff, Eusebio, Ronaldo etc jostling for second place. There was only one greatest.

[JacknOry]

3 minutes ago, Gav said:

Diego Armando Maradona was the greatest ever player 

You could certainly argue that Messi will take that crown in the future though.

I would argue he already has. Winning a major trophy with Argentina would cement it. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

You lot obviously never saw Pele in his prime. He was un believable on the ball, he did things that made your eyes stand out on stalks !

[JacknOry]

2 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

You lot obviously never saw Pele in his prime. He was un believable on the ball, he did things that made your eyes stand out on stalks !

True, I am 40 next year so never had that privilege. However, this is a debate that has been going on for decades among other people that have seen both of them at their prime as well as those of us that only have old footage to look at.

Seems fairly even with Pele probably edging it out because of that 'one' goal from Maradona that has left a sour taste in peoples mouths. 

How do the current big two stack up against them in your eyes?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Ronaldo and Messi are tremendous players,  I prefer Messi because I don't like Ronaldo's attitude. One is a brilliant individual who is also a team player and one is a brilliant individual. That summed it up for me in the last Euro Final. He limped off after about 10 minutes and the rest of the Portugese team battled on without him and played out of their skins to win the title. Who comes on to pick up the trophy but Ronaldo. A real player would have said to the guy who took over the captains arm band "  You won it, you go and get the trophy. "  I'll bet my old boots that's what Bobby Moore would have done in that situation. Not Ronaldo though.

Maradona was also a brilliant individual who was a team player. I'd put him above both Messi and Ronaldo but below Pele.

People never talk about Cryuff but he was awesome on his day as was Eusebio.