First Team
Why do they have to play them even if they are not ready? If they are not ready and not mature all that results in is damaging their possible future prospects. For me there is no excuse for this absolute shambles and I find it diificult to see how anyone can say David Artell is doing a good job.
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Its the weakness of any academy structure that you will have immature not fully developed very young men vs many seasoned professionals and in the lower leagues even more so. So the graduates have to be something very special eg Ashton and Powell to make a difference but the latter hasn't really achieved his potential...yet!Originally Posted by ruocul
My challenge to a Board spending a million pounds per season is this...
Is there any player playing in L2 and non league at any one time as good or not better than what is coming up through the academy? ie 15-20 players in the average squad must be many hundreds to choose from? Some say ah but the academy is producing most of our players which would cost us if we didn't do that but that is the very same question? Could you sign 15-20 players from non league at a fraction of the cost of the academy? The obvious benefit that is not taken into account is we can see each player NOW and not in 10 years time. Would fit into the rough and tumble of league football easier and here's the thing? IF coaching is so significant as some make out then we can still develop some of them further and get fees for them...If the rot continues then we will have the most expensive academy in non league.
Even in the PL and Championship you rarely get young boys playing as its just too tough for them and why so few make it from academies...Some do but not many but they can afford to spend millions we can't. I wonder what happens to all those academy players from the PL and CC as there must be hundreds and all have received as good if not better 'coaching' that we have given them?
Finally, I would pay by results...no win, no pay or a minimum at least. If young men can't last 90 mins flat out once or twice a week, they are not receiving the right levels of fitness training...I think it was Dario though that said no to doing that, young bones and muscles and all that?
The other question as raised is graduates not signing contracts...utterly disgusting and the fans should not allow them such an easy ride when playing...WTF do they think they are Pele or Eusabio?
How come George Ray did the very same thing and hung on and on and us knowing he wasn't fit to play half the season? We shouldn't have been so eager unless we are a charity as well as a football club? You go for a job anywhere and say you can't start for 6 months but you want paying anyway? Its the delaying tactics by them that annoys me though and they end up signing when nobody else comes in. Jones can forget going anywhere in the Jan window at least and so can all the others...
Last edited by MikeSB; 16-11-2017 at 08:48 PM.
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I said that they have to play the kids, simply because this is the Crewe way and there is no other choice, especially considering the large bulk of the money available that has been spent on the academy, meaning there are fewer funds left to bring in players from elsewhere. Obviously, in the past these youngsters matured more quickly and had a greater impact when introduced. I think that Artell is doing the best job he can under the present circumstances. He is an inexperienced manager who is still finding his feet. With the number of injuries we have to key players, lady luck has not been on his side. He kept us up last season and this did not look possible when he took over in January. Yes, he is still on trial, but deserves longer to prove himself. The last manager had three and a half seasons to get things right, when it all went pear shaped. I am not proposing that Artell is given that long to get things right. But to call for his head now is, in my opinion, premature.
Last edited by alexmick; 16-11-2017 at 08:45 PM.
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I agree Mick, its not him....as said just now, Mourhino couldn't succeed with this squad. I prefer ex players as managers anyway and KL has loads of experience and so it is down to the quality of the players. DA himself cannot understand why the players heads go down and they play so different in two halves? I suppose academies can do the football coaching bit but can't instil the toughness and ruthlessness that is needed and one downside of what was a successful academy is they all think they are future PL stars and even the Chronicle this week unfortunately gave the game away by saying the next STARLET coming off the production line has just signed a contract....Mmmmm, we will see or maybe we won't if we go NL? All fancy football boots and all with Agents hey? Mmmm again!
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I agree that Artell is in an unenviable position and I believe it would be difficult to attract a better manager with having the constrictions of having to play academy prospects who are clearly not ready. Also his and the club in general is hampered by two emerging players refusing to extend their contracts and by doing so possibly denying the club a worthwhile transfer fee in reward for their football education, probably going for a tribunal fee with a greater reward for them personally.It is because of attitudeslike this I personally believe that the academy is finished with no chance of recovering the cost of running it, having said that I hope that i am wrong
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As i said 4 years ago the Academy has had its day its like a Brick around the 1st Team neck, look at the past players its produced A.J was at the club over 9 years Produced nothing! Saunders at the club for over 5 years Produced nothing? Miller the same now we have Cooper scored 4 goals in the last 12 months who would want him? maybe Leek town.
But when you have a Director saying the Academy is more important than the League Position,you know this club has One foot in the Grave like most of the Directors. Most of the players that have moved on from Crewe do tend to improve so that tells you something about the set up its to easy at Crewe.
First Team
I feel that alexmick`s post is completely misleading. He makes it sound as if we have no alternative and we have to play our young boys. That is basically untrue. We have other players and the team could easily be changed. IMO the team I suggested earlier in this thread would have high prospects of being a vast improvement. At the very least we would have a midfield, something we do not presently have.
Our manager has more or less picked the same team apart from the odd change in the defence, and similar with the forwards. In the last 14 games we have lost 11. From a possible 42 points we have gained 7. How in total fairness can anyone say he is doing a good job, and that it is not his fault.
First Team
Mike if you are going to comment on our current team at least have the decency to attend two or three home games. You are basing your arguement on what McGarry and Morse are saying on RS.
One of their favourite comments is "we are inconsistent" Mike we have lost 11 of the last 14 games. Is that inconsistent? No it is absolutely consistent. The 2 games we won the opponents did not turn up. Did RS ever say that?
Their latest comment is "I cannot understand why our team cannot play 90 minutes" . Mike if only 1 of our central midfielders is playing in our half of the pitch what is going to happen? At halftime all the opponents manager has to tell his players is "they have virtually no midfield so just run straight through them" And that is what happens, and that is why we are losing all the time.
If I am correct is our manager selecting the right players? Has he got the tactics right?
But do you ever hear any of this from the RS commentators? No, and you have to ask why not.
As I say attend and make your own assessment. Because you will not get that from RS.
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[QUOTE=ruocul;38706711]I feel that alexmick`s post is completely misleading. He makes it sound as if we have no alternative and we have to play our young boys. That is basically untrue. We have other players and the team could easily be changed. IMO the team I suggested earlier in this thread would have high prospects of being a vast improvement. At the very least we would have a midfield, something we do not presently have.
Our manager has more or less picked the same team apart from the odd change in the defence, and similar with the forwards. In the last 14 games we have lost 11. From a possible 42 points we have gained 7. How in total fairness can anyone say he is doing a good job, and that it is not his fault.[/QUO
Not misleading at all, roucul..... just my opinion and what I truly think about proceedings at the Alex. I have said that there are no others to choose from, because that is all we have. He is playing the pick of the kids and the pick of what experienced players he has at his disposal. We have three on the injury list who would be worth a go if they were fit, but a apart from that, the ones left out are no better than what he picks to play. There is no money left to improve the squad after the £750,000 spent on the academy is taken into account. I have stated earlier, that the academy should be retained, but scaled down, as we are not producing enough quality either to enhance the first team or to sell on for a substantial fee. I didn't say Artell was doing a good job (he did last season - he kept us up) and that he has to take a certain amount of responsibility for where we find ourselves, but he is doing his best under the circumstances. It is the club 'model' that needs changing. PS I also outlined a team that was little different from your own.
Last edited by alexmick; 17-11-2017 at 09:45 PM.
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