Exeter City 2-0 Crewe 26-27 Review - Nonsense

Sigh. It had to come to an end eventually, but to see it come to an end in such galling fashion is infuriating. I don't normally go after refs when the Alex lose, but tonight I'm going to. Call it salty, head loss, bitter or tears, whatever. I don't care. This referee should be nowhere a football pitch at any level. I wouldn't want him doing my son's U11 7 a side games. Harry Wager, you are a joke, a clown, a disgrace. I hope it's a long, long time before we see you at a Crewe game. Here is my review of the Alex's first league loss of the 26-27 season:

Nonsense

Let's go in to the 3 big calls made by Wager in this game which have essentially robbed the Alex of any chance at a result. First is the 'foul' by Joe White. It's just not a foul. He stands his ground and turns his back. All the player does is run in to him. There is no infringement. It's a joke.

But hey, you know what, if that's the bar for a foul, so be it. If so, then the blatant trip on McNeill on the hour mark is one too. The leg comes out, McNeill is entitled to go down. It's a penalty. I get Bell's anger and yellow card, because those 2 massive calls have gone against his side.

Wager then completes his hat-trick of atrocious calls by not giving a blatant 2 handed shove on Offord right at the end. It's a foul all day every day. The arms are extended, there is contact on Offord's upper back/neck/head. How is it not a foul? Yes, it's slightly soft, but that has been a foul since the dawn of time.

What didn't work

Away from the ref and looking at the Alex, maybe this is a touch of hindsight talking, but then I did say I wanted to see a couple of changes from the start tonight, so I feel this criticism is justified. Bell watched his starting XI struggle for the first 30 minutes on Saturday with a midfield set up of White and Lunt deep and Holicek in midfield, with Ure finding it tough on the left. He changed things by switching Lunt and Holicek around and the results were 3 goals scored in 16 minutes. He then dropped Lunt back again and they conceded twice.

So why is it that they went with Ure at LB and the same midfield trio in the same spots as they started with on Saturday? I don't get it. Hey, they could have made 2-3 changes tonight and still not got anything. But what I don't get was the tactical decision to start with the same midfield 3 in the same spots.

Passive

If there is a frustration with the players, it's that they once again were lethargic and passive in the first half. Yes, the worst they should have gone in at HT was 0-0, so they were slow and allowed an Exeter side averaging around 46% possession in games 60%. I will keep saying it, but I do not like or agree with the approach of giving opposition teams more of the ball. Because nights like tonight can happen. The Alex were 11 unbeaten. Where is the confidence to go and announce their presence? Why allow a whole half of football to drift by like that?

Better

At least there was a response in the 2nd half. They dominated the ball, restricted Exeter to nothing(legitimate) on the break and probably should have equalised. The penalty call on McNeill, Gibson's close range shot and then Thibaut's diving header which I was convinced was flying in. It wasn't a great performance and on the balance, they probably didn't deserve anything from the game, but if they can play this badly and still almost snatch a point, then it must bode well for them moving forward.

Opposition Analysis

You can see why they don't concede many goals and why they have been so hard to beat at home. But it's hard to properly assess their performance when 1.45 of their xG from tonight came from 2 moments which should never have happened. Because in truth, creating 0.38 xG at home isn't great. They look like a solid mid-table side, although I question where the goals are coming from if they aren't getting gifts like tonight.

Referee Assessment

Utter garbage. The worst reffing performance of the season by far.

Management Assessment

I don't think sticking with the same XI or set up as Saturday made sense. But they have no chance when decisions go against their team like they did tonight.

Player Assessments

Tom Booth

Nothing he could do about the first, but the 2nd(which admittedly never should have got to that point) goes straight through him. Could he be doing better there?

Lewis Billington

His cross in the 2nd half which March miscued deserved better, but there is still the same similar frustrations with him from an attacking point of view.

Luke Offord

It's a foul, let's not play silly games here. Yes, maybe it's soft and could stay on his feet, but every player is going down when 2 hands come out and push him like that. He was fine, that goal is not on him as it should never have stood.

Josh Stephenson

Same with Josh.

Kyle Ure

I feel for him. He struggled a fair bit on Saturday and was once again chucked to the wolves tonight. I get they don't want to rush Hutchinson back, but this should be Ure's last start at LB for a while.

Joe White

Whilst the penalty was very harsh, there is no escaping the fact that he's been poor on the whole since he's come back. It's time to have that conversation. Maybe he isn't a deeper player, hence the struggle, but he still should be doing a lot better, I'm sorry.

Owen Lunt

Not in the game in a deeper role. If they are going to persist with him, White and Holicek as a midfield trio, he should be more advanced and Holicek deeper.

Joel Tabiner

He has been good this season, but his decision making still frustrates the life out of me. He too often takes too many touches and rarely seems to find a killer ball or cross.

Matus Holicek

Brighter in the 2nd half and had a good effort from range. Again, him and Lunt in advanced roles behind March could work no?

Jordan Gibson

Not his night, although he did have a couple of half decent efforts, including one just before he came off which was well saved.

Josh March

Just not dropping for him at the moment. Another 90 minutes tonight, I just think they are going to burn him out very quickly. And given the form of McNeill and Thibaut, that really worries me.

Subs:

Charlie McNeill

Should have earned a penalty, but I'm sorry, he isn't very good at football on what we've seen so far. He adds very little most of the time he's on the pitch. Maybe it'll click eventually, but I've not seen much.

Reece Hutchinson

Better than Ure, he added more going forward and was solid defensively. He's back in the starting line up at Chesterfield no question.

Adrien Thibaut

Did little for the majority of his time on the pitch, but then he almost snatches an equaliser late on.

Calum Agius

Not sure what he's expected to do with 4 minutes of game time.

Overall Verdict

Whether you chalk it up to fatigue, the long trip or ref calls, the unbeaten run is over and done with. Now to start another. It'll be difficult given their next 2 opponents are Chesterfield and Barnet. They could be heading into the cup break off the back of 3 straight defeats if they aren't careful.

I'm sure picking themselves up will be straight forward, as they can simply moan about the ref all the way home. But now we see how they respond at Chesterfield, who are hardly in great form. That might honestly be more winnable than this one. And it surely can't have a ref as bad as tonight's.