What has gone wrong

[ruocul]

Read DA`s comments in todays Chronicle. Apparently he has to talk to the players to make sure they are all united,all for one another, and having a strong spirit in the dressing room. Plus all the usual. This was in the venerable Pete Morse column. His comments and views. WOW nothing. Well for me as a Alex supporter have to say I was not impressed with DA¬s comments.

Would have had more respect for him if he had admitted that they have made mistakes, and that it was time for changes in the team as the current selection is obviously not working.

Perhaps Pete was still wondering why our team in his opinion is inconsistent. Good news Pete, they are not inconsistent. They are consistently bleeding awful. In the Stevenage and Notts County games neither of them turned up that day.

Or perhaps he was still wondering why our team cannot play for 90 minutes in one game. Hope for you there Pete. If Lincoln had not worked out how weak and unbalanced our midfield was and just ran straight through the middle in the second half, maybe we could have played for at least a couple of minutes in the second half.

[alexmick]

The younger players are not just mature enough to cope with the emotional stresses that come their way. Artell is correct with this one. Didn't used to be like this, but that is how times have changed. Any manager of Crewe, now have their hands' tied. They have to play the kids, even though they are not ready. Artell has a thankless task on his hands.

[alexmick]

The younger players are just not mature enough to cope with the emotional stresses that come their way. Artell is correct with this one. Didn't used to be like this, but that is how times have changed. Any manager of Crewe, now have their hands' tied. They have to play the kids, even though they are not ready. Artell has a thankless task on his hands.

Repeated message. Error in the initial one.

[ruocul]

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.

[MikeSB]

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.

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!

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...

[alexmick]

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.

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.

[MikeSB]

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.

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!

[alexthe great]

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

[itwasin]

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

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.