Is it time for a change ?

[Wartman]

2025 has been a terrible year for our club on the pitch, the board has supplied sufficient funds to recruit what looks on the face of it a really decent squad, where the board has failed to invest for many years is in the management, it is a well known fact that trying the same thing everytime and expecting a different result is the first sign of insanity. I don?t say this easily as Lee Bell is a really really great bloke and Crewe through and through but he is not up to managing our club, Dicker is duller than a wet weekend in November. The board have to stop this none stop conveyor belt of kiddie coaches taking over first team affairs and start investing in proven football managers who can take our club forward. Happy to hear from all sides of the argument

[jimmyboldon]

2025 has been a terrible year for our club on the pitch, the board has supplied sufficient funds to recruit what looks on the face of it a really decent squad, where the board has failed to invest for many years is in the management, it is a well known fact that trying the same thing everytime and expecting a different result is the first sign of insanity. I don?t say this easily as Lee Bell is a really really great bloke and Crewe through and through but he is not up to managing our club, Dicker is duller than a wet weekend in November. The board have to stop this none stop conveyor belt of kiddie coaches taking over first team affairs and start investing in proven football managers who can take our club forward. Happy to hear from all sides of the argument

I would sack L Bell immediately.
Replace him with an experienced manager who has managed in the Premiership. Mark Hughes, Steve Evans or Neil Warnock spring to mind.
Said manger would be old school and would not need an assistant manager, an assistant assistant manager etc, so more sackings.
He would also have an extensive network of contacts within the game, so the recruitment team would no longer be needed.
Coaches. Not needed (apart from transport) as the manager can do that as well, if he actually thinks coaching is worthwhile. More money saved.
We are now into hundred of thousands, if not millions of pounds saved from the wage bill. This would free up funds for more players to be bought. The knock on effect of the extra players is that the input of players from the academy would no longer be needed, so the academy goes.
This means Reaseheath can be sold. The only training necessary is fitness training, so running around the streets of Crewe or the Gresty Road pitch will sort that out.
Ticket prices could be cut dramatically with all this cash sloshing around, and beer in the bars could be back to 6d a pint.
Despite all this, performance on the pitch will suffer as teams who are coached and research the opposition will quickly suss us out. Attendences will plummet to the levels of the good old days of 1500-2500. Away attendances will be back to the good old days too, 12-15 at most.
So, probably not a good idea.
And to answer your question, I would stick with Lee Bell for now, but for me he is approaching borrowed time.
And as an aside, his 1 hour plus on the latest Railwaymen podcast is very good.

[gazan]

Late October is an optimum month if anything is to change. Still time to change things before window opens.
Hopefully early form will return in the meantime.

[Wartman]

I know we are Crewe fans and by extension are people with low expectations but that was as desperate as it gets, this just cannot be allowed to go on Charles please press the button and thank Lee and his team and wish them well, like I’ve said Lee is a lovely bloke and I look forward to see him watching from the stands as a fan in the near future. Let’s get an experienced manager through the door please

[lukcour]

LB and RD should have been dismissed at the end of last season after the second half disaster. That was the right time for the Board to act in the best interests of the club.

We would now probably/possibly have Robbie Savage as manager. This season with FGR, To date played 10 games. 7 wins, 3 draws and sitting top of the National League. Maybe David Vaughan as assistant manager who had years experience at higher level.

Based on 2025s games we would now be clear favourite for relegation. Poor decision by the Board. Time to put it right.

[MikeSB]

LB and RD should have been dismissed at the end of last season after the second half disaster. That was the right time for the Board to act in the best interests of the club.

We would now probably/possibly have Robbie Savage as manager. This season with FGR, To date played 10 games. 7 wins, 3 draws and sitting top of the National League. Maybe David Vaughan as assistant manager who had years experience at higher level.

Based on 2025s games we would now be clear favourite for relegation. Poor decision by the Board. Time to put it right.

I lived in Grimsby for a while and so watch their results and of course they have Dave Artell as manager or Chief Coach as he calls himself. I find his pre match and after match comments interesting. They are doing pretty well now having just beat ManU and Sheff Wednesday in the League Cup and I heard him say that his wife had come over from Cheshire to watch the ManU match. I take that he may still live in the Crewe area and he did get us one promotion but he may have left under a cloud as he was sacked by the Chairman who actually appointed him from the academy. I wonder if he could be a good choice to come back but he is highly thought of at Grimsby and so I would expect him to get an extension to his contract. It's a pig of a journey from Crewe to Grimsby ie three and a half hours on the train one way and so DA must lodge a lot in Grimsby area. I thought Tranmere Rovers may have appealed to him when the job was vacant recently.

[MikeSB]

When LB was appointed manager, the Chairman said he had over 50 applicants for the job but few of them knew much about the academy. I'm guessing the reason why so many academy people have been appointed to the job is yes they know all about the academy but I'm guessing these would have been a lot cheaper to appoint than an experience one and that would still be the case today and why we tend not to sack them as they actually should be when we have had dire results like post Christmas. But its difficult to sack them when they have been so loyal to the club and its hard to see them sacked but it is a results business and they know that and Dario was a one off and was very successful and set the bar for us appointing from the academy.

[lukcour]

Mike in the few times I visited Grimsby as a ****ager I was amazed. It was the darkest town I had ever seen. The only 1 that came close was Carlisle.

[MikeSB]

Mike in the few times I visited Grimsby as a ****ager I was amazed. It was the darkest town I had ever seen. The only 1 that came close was Carlisle.

Have you seen Crewe town centre over the last few years....Nowhere as bad as that mate. Grimsby people are very nice and so unlike the miserable gits you get round here...

Well, based on the response to this question on THIS site, nothing will change and we are stuck with whoever the Chairman decides is the choice that is made irrespective of the results.

I think clubs are crazy giving managers 2 and 3 year contracts when all that is needed is 6 months and its renewed if things are OK and terminated if not and then very little in compensation is paid. God knows what ManU have paid to ex managers and I know its tens of millions. I mean anybody would sign for 6 months anyway wouldn't they as most are ex footballers and looking for work. We had over 50 two years ago and it would be good if the fans knew who was on that list. I suggest its all down to wages and the academy and folks we are really stuck with that model.

ie no change and why our managers can sleep soundly in that we only get rid of managers if we are in the bottom three of the league....

[Gobstopper]

2025 has been a terrible year for our club on the pitch, the board has supplied sufficient funds to recruit what looks on the face of it a really decent squad, where the board has failed to invest for many years is in the management, it is a well known fact that trying the same thing everytime and expecting a different result is the first sign of insanity. I don?t say this easily as Lee Bell is a really really great bloke and Crewe through and through but he is not up to managing our club, Dicker is duller than a wet weekend in November. The board have to stop this none stop conveyor belt of kiddie coaches taking over first team affairs and start investing in proven football managers who can take our club forward. Happy to hear from all sides of the argument

It's too early to be talking in such terms, obviously the last 5 games have been disappointing and certainly not good enough with the squad we have, it's down to the management team and the players to resolve this issue. At the moment the team needs our support. We can put September right tomorrow but the month of October has become an extremely important time and results need to change. I'm hopeful that we won't need to continue this conversation come November.