08/03/2008 - Crewe Alex 0, Nottm Forest 0
Gwyn Griffiths reports from the Alexandra Stadium
Crewe Alex 0
Nottingham Forest 0
DEAN Morgan saw the darker side of League One’s relegation battle before heading up to Crewe.
He left behind him beleaguered, confidence-sapped team mates contemplating League Two football as well as a culling of players at Kenilworth Road.
If Crewe fans think they’ve had it bad this season, they should spare a thought for their Luton counterparts, who have endured administration as well as a Football Association inquiry into agents’ payments.
A hefty wage bill to fund Championship success has led to an exodus of players – of which Morgan is a part – once the success of the Mike Newell regime had gone into reverse.
The Hatters are almost certainly heading to the basement, but amid his own uncertain future, loan signing Morgan wants to help ensure Crewe don’t suffer a similar fate.
“Any opportunity I have I view as my future as I have got a family to look after,” he said.
“I suppose this is an opportunity for Luton not to pay me and sort their books out. It sounds horrible, but that is what it is.
“I’ve been playing recently, but Mick Harford told me when he came he had to make sacrifices and cut the wage bill. With their circumstances they’ve let me go on loan.
“Before that I was at Southend and could have gone there. I was meant to go to Leeds during the window and that fell through.”
Now Crewe have agreed to pay Morgan’s wages initially for a month, part of an expansive loan policy that has only been thwarted by the lack of enthusiasm for players prepared to get their hands dirty scrapping for points without a wafer of prestige.
Happily for Steve Holland’s patience, as well no doubt as his faith in modern footballers, Preston winger Joe Anyinsah has jumped at the chance to throw in his lot with the Alex until the end of the season.
And the Crewe coach must have thought Christmas had come early last Friday when he was able to complete a second loan deal ahead of the visit of Nottingham Forest.
While Morgan may have had a little persuasion taking the trip up the M1, he does appear happy at the prospect of sitting in a more upbeat dressing room.
For after his new team-mates ground out their second consecutive goalless draw to steal some ground on rivals Gillingham and Cheltenham, things are looking a lot rosier down Gresty Road.
“At Luton, administration hurt confidence and that is continuing,” said Morgan.
“There’s a lot of rumours going around about 15 points (another deduction) and the boys can’t get their heads around it.
“It has been really difficult. For a few games we played really well, but last weekend we lost 1-0 to Walsall, who basically had one chance in the game. But I notice the difference here. I thought Crewe played really well and defended well. This result should provide a confidence boost.
“I only arrived before the game, so it has been a whirlwind 24 hours for me. But hopefully I can get a bit longer against Port Vale on Tuesday.
“If you want to stay in the division then you have got to beat teams below you.”
That will be the key to Crewe’s survival after some battling displays have yielded seven points from six tough fixtures.
Starting with tomorrow’s home game with Vale and Saturday’s trip to a none-too-happy hunting ground in Gillingham, the Alex need to venture more boldy to secure the wins that will steer them clear of trouble.
While they have won only twice in 20 games, their defensive shell was strong enough on Saturday to repel a Forest attack lacking considerable guile.
While Holland was forced into six changes to his line-up, there was a cohesiveness about his side’s display which restricted the promotion-chasers to scraps and long-range shooting.
Morgan started the game on the bench after only meeting his new team-mates on Saturday morning, but Anyinsah was prominent with some surging runs down the right.
On one occasion, in a tepid first 45, he let rip with a 30-yarder which just arrowed past the far post.
It was one of few moments of goalmouth incident in a game in which defences were on top.
Forest had Anyinsah’s Preston team-mate Brett Ormerod in their line-up after his loan switch, but he never got a sniff against Chris McCready, who was returning for the injured Julien Baudet.
With Gary Roberts (loan) missing due to injury and his namesake out for disciplinary reasons, the Alex midfield was much-changed.
Yet that gave the opportunity for Michael O‘Connor to impress with a solid all-round display against a Forest engine room depleted by the absence of its heartbeat in Kris Commons.
O‘Connor offered one of the few efforts on goal before the break when he volleyed over from outside the box, but his most notable work came when he threw himself in front of Ian Breckin as he shaped to finish off a rebound into an empty net in the second half.
While Eugen Bopp struggled to emulate his Brighton cameo in an advanced role behind Tom Pope, the visitors failed to offer much cutting edge either. Ormerod eventually made way for Nathan Tyson – a useful £1m player to have lurking on the bench. But it was Junior Agogo who came closest to breaking the stalemate when he unleashed a half-volley midway through the second half which Ben Williams palmed around his post.
Morgan marked his introduction with 20 minutes left by crashing a deflected effort wide, but Crewe’s main concern in the closing stages was to maintain their meticulous defensive work to ensure they gleaned a point.
“We’ve come out of the last six games well,” said Alex assistant manager Neil Baker, who believes tomorrow’s derby dust-up could be even harder. “They’ve been hard games, but we’ve not been losing. Now we’ve got to start winning games. This is the business end of the season and we have games coming up we should be looking to win.
“That brings a different pressure. Our fans will expect us to beat Port Vale on Tuesday night. It will require a different mind set from the players. The supporters were patient with us today and we need them to be the same against Port Vale.
“They’ll have their pride and they won’t come here and roll over, so it will be difficult.”
MATCH STATS
Goal attempts: Crewe6 (2 on target), Forest11 (4 on target)
Referee: Jarnail Singh (Middlesex) 5
Cards: Yellow – Crewe: None; Forest: Davies 27 (foul), Cohen 48 (dissent), Bennett 70 (foul). Red – None.
Attendance: 6,314
Entertainment: 6
PLAYER RATINGS
WILLIAMS: Agile stop to deny Junior Agogo in second half, can’t be faulted. 7
WOODARDS: Back in side and kept Aaron Davies fairly quiet. 7
BOYLE: Another good display, got forward well. 7
McCREADY: Eased back into things after his lay-off with solid show. 7
O'DONNELL: Agogo, Brett Ormerod and Nathan Tyson barely had a sniff. 7
ANYINSAH: Determined showing down the right on his debut. 7
LUNT: Offered some useful deliveries from dead ball situations. 6
O’CONNOR: Vital block to deny Ian Breckin in second half and all-round excellent effort. 8
MOORE: Couldn't get into game, but kept trying. 6
BOPP: Recalled in advanced role again, but failed to make an impact. 5
POPE: Kept on battling, but didn’t clap his eyes on Forest's goal much. 6
SUBSTITUTES
MORGAN (for Anyinsah, 71): Offered a threat on late debut. 6
LOWE (for Bopp, 82): Got involved in the action. 6
Not used: Carrington, Abbey, Fon Williams.
FOREST: 1 Smith, 7 Perch, 2 Wilson, 5 Morgan (26 Thornhill, 83), 6 Breckin, 29 Bennett, 14 Davies (17 McGugan, 76), 16 Clingan, 15 Cohen, 18 Ormerod (9 Tyson, 65), 23 Agogo.
Not used: 3 Lockwood, 10 Holt.