The stats

[Wartman]

No, just bored with your equally predictable over the top criticism of all aspects of the club. Yes we are getting relegated, that's been pretty obvious for quite a while. There is no real reason to expect we will struggle in league 2, that's for next season, and we will see.

I tell you what it’s a good job football management is not a results based business oh wait a minute it is !!!!!!! It is the willing acceptance of utter and dismal failure that I find surprising a half decent Crewe side would have comfortably been able to survive in league 1 this season and the clubs board and manager have not managed to even get close to delivering that. It s failure with a capital F and utter negligence to once again push the club close to dropping out of the football league when our 1 division buffer disappears, and in doing so are demoralising our young players who this club will be expecting big things from next season, the biggest job will be rebuilding the entire playing squads confidence which has been seriously damaged by some pretty abject management from the board and Artell.

[MikeSB]

At least I think I have been vinicated that 'coaching' is useless and is a job creation scheme here and I will give two examples...Our GK stuck on their line like I have never seen in my life over the years and we have a GK 'coach'.

Full backs that don't or won't tackle and allow crosses to come in...and Long had the ball at Sunderland with only the GK to beat and yet blasts the ball 20 yards wide of the target? Why don't these players just go on youtube and see HOW others did it like Jimmy Greaves who never blasted the ball in his life and stroked the ball past the GK....We don't need a million pound a season academy to know this??...

You are either good enough or not good enough and imv our team will struggle in the National League never mind L2. Rodney Jack was a coach here and so I ask again, how many academy players came along to play the game like he did? I will tell you...None! Not one player in the old days were coached or had the facilities and pitches they have nowadays and yet some fans think we could not exist without one.....They really do have blinkers on....and coaching 5 year olds? Please do me a favour!!!

[gazan]

What I don't get, is how people who claim to love this club ONLY ever criticise it. And, that disagreement with the constant whine somehow means we accept everything is okay and all is rosy in the garden. Well, I've got news for the naysayers and doom merchants...you're wrong! What most of us are, is balanced in our approach and, what's more, realistic. It's the easiest position in the world to just dismiss something without thought, e.g. the knee jerk response of 'he hasn't done what I wanted so he should be sacked' or 'they haven't thrown money at something, therefore they're useless'. Believe it or not, reality isn't like that. Virtually nothing in this life is black and white. Those who think it is are either incapable of or unwilling to engage in in any depth of analysis. Furthermore, these people are blind to consequences and future considerations. To sack someone is to cause someone to lose their livelihood. Is that a viable consequence of being irritated by your football teams performance. If the manager and BoD were sacked, who would take their place and would the resources be any different?
I believe, considering that we truly love the club, enough to physically support it AND criticise it, that we have been quite patient with the doom brigade (who have almost never been positive about the club). I, for one am getting a little fed up with the grindingly oppressive tone of the doom-mongers so IF you REALLY support this club, let's see some of that actual support and a little less (NB. "less" not none) droning and moaning.

[MikeSB]

What I don't get, is how people who claim to love this club ONLY ever criticise it. And, that disagreement with the constant whine somehow means we accept everything is okay and all is rosy in the garden. Well, I've got news for the naysayers and doom merchants...you're wrong! What most of us are, is balanced in our approach and, what's more, realistic. It's the easiest position in the world to just dismiss something without thought, e.g. the knee jerk response of 'he hasn't done what I wanted so he should be sacked' or 'they haven't thrown money at something, therefore they're useless'. Believe it or not, reality isn't like that. Virtually nothing in this life is black and white. Those who think it is are either incapable of or unwilling to engage in in any depth of analysis. Furthermore, these people are blind to consequences and future considerations. To sack someone is to cause someone to lose their livelihood. Is that a viable consequence of being irritated by your football teams performance. If the manager and BoD were sacked, who would take their place and would the resources be any different?
I believe, considering that we truly love the club, enough to physically support it AND criticise it, that we have been quite patient with the doom brigade (who have almost never been positive about the club). I, for one am getting a little fed up with the grindingly oppressive tone of the doom-mongers so IF you REALLY support this club, let's see some of that actual support and a little less (NB. "less" not none) droning and moaning.

My training was in engineering probelms and solutions. I have seen all sides of this club from applying for re election to the Championship. I think its some here that won't engage in any analysis of what is wrong and what is needed to put things right. I have asked this question many times and none of you have ever come back with an answer and so I will just ask it again...

What difference would downgrading the academy to Cat3 or Cat4 make on kids and youths applying at CAFC and indeed the parents who have to take them in the car etc? I very much doubt that any of these ever know the academy category. We don't play PL academy teams and so what is the point? OK two questions but please advise. I'm suggesting as usual that instead of us paying 760K for the academy PER season due to FA regs we could be paying a lot less and that saving could go towards paying better wages and attract better players. How's that for some analysis?

All kids, youths and anybody else wants to play this great game and that is playing in matches not being coached by non entities who mostly have never played the game at a high level and so what do they know about natural ability only what the manual says? My reason that you fail tp realise is we can compare football BEFORE coaching came along and AFTER and so please be honest here...Can you admit that the games are more exciting to watch as a result? Apologies even more questions but say anything you want but not that I fail to engage in detail and you probably won't accept that at ANY other club in football, the manager would have been sacked by now and of course I would feel sorry for DA but there is a vacancy for head of recruitment and so he didn't need to be sacked!

[gazan]

Who once said,"There are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics"? This is NOT to suggest that all stats lie, just that CONTEXT is very important. So let's consider some factors: when were Sheff Wed.; ipswich; Sunderland; Bolton etc last all in the same division? When was that division the third tier?" When was the last time half the Alex team were sold to the second tier? When was the last time 2 senior players retired at the beginning of a campaign?
So, lots of unprecedented factors. What is not unprecedented is the fact that we have had an awful run before. But wait a minute! Time for some more context. Wasn't that in the bottom tier? Therefore, not comparable to the present moment!
No doubt the doom-mongers will say I am making excuses. But, this is where those of us as reasonable supporters will point out this is not the case. The above are factors that influence our current position. This is, of course, not to say we accept the situation. No, I think most of us recognise that things are bad at the moment and mistakes have been made. But then, who has not made mistakes? I've certainly made them and ,fortunately, the doom-mongers haven't had a say in the consequences as, no doubt, I would have been hung, drawn and quartered by now.
I also urge people to listen to the interview on The Railwaymen Podcast and listen with an open mind to what is said. There are no excuses, just reasoned responses.
In these times through which we are all living, it should be apparent how important reason is.

[MikeSB]

If I may please...I tend to think of the old days..LOL and we have to remember that Div1 we play in is actually the third division and I suggest that we should be able to be able to exist in this league season after season and not Div4 and so I cannot see why we cannot have an academy that local youths (Not kids) can come and play games and at the same time have some coming into the first team but perhaps about a third and no more because the ambition of the club was to have the whole first team from the academy and that is not practical although noble...Its no accident that the more players we have had this season from the academy in the team, the worst we have had results because most other teams throughout football actually have wordly wise athletes in them.

[gazan]

I also remember the relegation AND reelection campaigns so please don't give me that 'Old Father Time' line. I also remember that the only 'local lads' we produced were Les Wain and Glyn Osborn, neither of whom set the world alignnht. I also remember that the pay disparity between top-tiered players and those of the 4th tier was probably on a par with that of present day between 'big' and 'small' clubs in League 1 alone. So we can can all reminisc about the old days, if we're that inclined, and talk lovingly of players who smoked and drank and played on ploughed pitches. And of the violence and the brick wall that served as a urinal at the Gresty End, and cultured players such as Summerhill and Riley and Gater and the shale and concrete at both ends and a Gresty end that didn't actually cover that end. All these lovely memories that were interrupted by Dario Gradi and his new-fangled vision of an academy, coaching and better provision. Oh I forgot, he was just here as job-creation!!!

[MikeSB]

I also remember the relegation AND reelection campaigns so please don't give me that 'Old Father Time' line. I also remember that the only 'local lads' we produced were Les Wain and Glyn Osborn, neither of whom set the world alignnht. I also remember that the pay disparity between top-tiered players and those of the 4th tier was probably on a par with that of present day between 'big' and 'small' clubs in League 1 alone. So we can can all reminisc about the old days, if we're that inclined, and talk lovingly of players who smoked and drank and played on ploughed pitches. And of the violence and the brick wall that served as a urinal at the Gresty End, and cultured players such as Summerhill and Riley and Gater and the shale and concrete at both ends and a Gresty end that didn't actually cover that end. All these lovely memories that were interrupted by Dario Gradi and his new-fangled vision of an academy, coaching and better provision. Oh I forgot, he was just here as job-creation!!!

Haha..

I could not care a less about the facilities and the new stand as we are only there a couple of hours a fortnight etc..and I loved watching us back then as each one were characters and played for the fans. There were some great players here over the years or have you forgotten them? Today they play for themselves and no game of football is as enjoyable as they were and yup that is Grand Father time for you....I also didn't care what they did in their spare time or how much training they did...It was a great time to watch football at all levels, no matter what you say..

Its a bit like tennis? Now its all about staying on the baseline with no net play ala Nastasi and how hard they can hit the ball. That to me anyhow is not how tennis should be played and we go most football matches now with hardly any shots on goal and likewise forgot what the object of the game is...To score goals more than the opposition and to entertain the fans...Are we doing that do you think? You pay the money and put up with what you will...Not for me, I have far too many memories of HOW the game 'should' be played...Youth players are not suited to the modern game or even in the old days. That is what is wrong with the academy and our success under Dario was that we signed a lot of good players along which we don't do now...Why? Money! We cannot afford a million pounds youth training centre...simple as!

Can I offer some advice? Stop 'sneering' at other fans! At least that is how you come across here even though you maybe a very nice chap to talk to....

[gazan]

.....and best wishes with your op. Hope it works out well.
By the way, I hope you realise that the nurses may not appreciate you telling them ad infinitum about Jimmy Greaves and your antipathy to coaching!😉

[MikeSB]

.....and best wishes with your op. Hope it works out well.
By the way, I hope you realise that the nurses may not appreciate you telling them ad infinitum about Jimmy Greaves and your antipathy to coaching!😉

Thanks mate, I appreciate that and am looking forward to explaining to the Nurses our current predicament....

I'm not sure if you ever watched JG in the flesh as I did but he was a genius and OK he played in the top league although never watched him on the Saint and Greavsie TV programmes but he had his own devils to contend with in later life and he should be applauded for getting through them as he did...I guess all geniuses have them as indeed as I do....