Taste of the Terrace: Crawley Town frustrated by Crewe in final game

Overall this season has been a great improvement on its predecessor but that frustration has come about because of the many things that haven’t changed.

Several times recently manager Harry Kewell has expressed his concerns about defensive errors; shortcomings in attack and poor officiating.

All those things remained apparent with the visit of Crewe Alexandra but I wonder if the manager has had thoughts about another factor.

The managerial pairing of Harry Kewell and Warren Feeney is a new one and just like the players, they have needed time to blend and ensure their ideas are taken on board.

Everybody seems happy that they are all now singing from the same song sheet but possibly the techniques that have been coached have not been learned so well.

Or, dare I say it; perhaps the coaching has not yet achieved the desired level.

Whatever the reasons, the players know, just as well as the fans, that they have let themselves down on occasions.

I felt the linesman took some unnecessary stick for not flagging offside for Perry Ng’s opener but Jimmy Smith’s quick headed equaliser showed textbook finishing.

Every child is told “keep your toe down” and professional footballers should not need reminding so own up, Jimmy, that first half effort that troubled air traffic control was far more significant than the one that hit the crossbar.

We wondered why Lewis Young ignored the obvious pass to the wing but instead went for the other option that was cut out by their marker and led straight to the clinching goal for the Alex.

Though it stemmed from an error, Crewe capitalised cleverly and set up a fine strike by Harry Pickering.

At times we strung together brilliant short passes, often all the way from the back, yet almost inevitably we fluffed the final ball or picked out a man who was not brave enough to take a shot.

Yes, I know I’ve said it before, but the same shortcomings remain to niggle away at the small but loyal band of supporters.

It wasn’t Crewe’s fault. They simply stuck to the task in hand and executed everything that little bit better than we did. Reds were left to rue what might have been and not for the first time this season.

Our fine weather supporters perhaps should recognise their role in the more disappointing results this season.

There are simply not enough of us and those that do attend hardly make themselves heard.

Although managers often refer to the home crowd as their ‘12th man,’ I am afraid that at Crawley Town ‘We only sing when we’re winning.’

It wasn’t like that when we were in the Conference and so we only have ourselves to blame.