After a shocking 1-0 win against Rotherham at the Alexandra Stadium, could we keep up and edge for a top half-finish or will we start the season off near the relegation zone?

nPower Football League One

Football League Cup

Football League Trophy

Player of the Quarter: AJ Leitch-Smith

Goals: 9
Assists: 1
Appearances: 15
Avg Rating: 7.14





Next Time...
-2nd Quarter: November-December
-Mathias Pogba’s return?
-FA Cup
-Football League Trophy Quarters
-Loan Signings + Future Signings

After an up-and-down start to the season, can we finally find our form and push towards mid-table or will we find out that we may get relegated this season?

nPower Football League One

We went on a 4 game streak that saw us not win a game - when we should have defeated Bradford at home had it not been for some dodgy decisions by the referee. We didn’t deserve to lost to Sheffield, conceding from a corner and a penalty - while Preston North End shattered us. A win against our rivals Port Vale got the fans in a great mood after a tense game… while we had a deserved draw against relegation candidates Carlisle, a win against in-form Crawley and a stupid loss to Coventry. A win against Shrewsbury Town proved vital for our relegation fight, as we undeservedly lost to Wolves in the return of Mathias Pogba. Goal 1: Our goalkeeper jumped over a ball that was a clearance from the opposition defence… and it went in. Goal 2 & 3: clear offsides, what was wrong with the ref!? A poor loss against Colchester followed up before we ended it off in a great win against Carlisle.

FA Cup

We won against Thamesmead Town with a weakened squad, a game I was very happy with while we followed up with a shit loss at home to Bristol who are in the relegation zone of our league - pick it up lads! Second Round, good enough.

Football League Trophy

The win against Hartlepool was a great game for both of our strikers and I am loving the chemistry between them. Chesterfield’s game was an extremely tense game in which all penalties were scored until we won on sudden death at the 19th or so penalty.



We return to Wembley for the 2nd time in a row, but not for the Final just yet - we play Notts County in the North Final. A trophy this season would be topped off perfectly by avoiding relegation.



We are still 18th, but we are edging away from the relegation zone with every point we get - and I like the fact that we are on 29 points. 45 points, and I guess we’re safe.



Something also to be happy about.

Next Time...
-3rd Quarter: January onwards
-Football League Trophy Wembley Return
-On form?
-Signings

RS - Robbie Savage (Green)
AJ - Andrew Jenkins (Carlisle United Chairman)
SP - Steve Phillips (Red)
JB - James Berrett (Blue)
KH - Kevan Hurst (Orange)
JC - Jamie Carragher (Yellow)
VO - Vadaine Oliver (Purple)

RS: “Hello Andrew, is James on his way?”

AJ: “Sure he is, he’s just packed his bags and he’s giving his goodbyes. Robbie, he’s one of our best players. Make good use of him… it would a shame for us to beat you today in James’ first match?” *chuckles* (as Carlisle play Crew later that day)

RS: “Mate, you can f*ck right off. Thanks for James, but do you really think I’m going to let my players accept to lose to a team like Carlisle? Jog on.”

AJ: “Now I know why people want me to avoid doing business with you, you’ve literally just bought one of our best players and you end up treating me like a pile of shite. Hope you “Railwaymen” go down to League Two, mugs.”

RS: *laughing*

JB: “Hey boss, how are you? It’s great to be here, and I want to get started immediately. What time does training start?”

RS: “I don’t expect you to play against Carlisle tonight, but I want you to train with the squad today so come along.” *hugs, pat on the back*

KH: “Jamie! You’ve signed too?!”

RS: “Lads, you know each other?”

JB: “Yeah, we played together at Carlisle in 2009/10. It’s great to have a friend I know here.”

RS: “That’s great boys, get some rest now! You’ll both be in the squad tonight but you won’t start.”

Both: “Cheers boss.”

JC: “Hi mate, how’s it going?”

RS: “JAMIE CARRAGHER! This is a surprise! You’ve accepted my offer as the u18 coach!”

JC: “Yes I have, and hopefully I will work my way up to becoming a coach or even a bloody assistant manager!” *chuckles*

RS: “haha! Anyways, I hope you like the facilities here so you can get to work ASAP. We have a big relegation fighting game today against Carlisle.”

---

EMAIL: From: Football League -- To: Robbie Savage
“Due to not applying by the Financial Fair Play Rules and exceeding over the amount of wage budget, Crewe Alexandra will be placed under a transfer embargo.

Regards, the Football League”

---

RS: “Shit! I’ve just broken the rules! Steve, Vadaine, in here now!”

SP: “Yes boss?”

RS: “Due to there being problems with some financial ruling at the club, I am saddened to tell you that we have to terminate your contract. Vadaine we have just got an offer from Rangers, you can review it - and hopefully you can leave as we need to offload some players.”

SP: “That is quite sad to hear boss but my career is coming to an end. It was great working with you, I’ll be packing my bags.”

VO: “Yeah, yeah yeah. The offer looks sound. I guess I’ll be packing up. Thanks Robbie, I know I haven’t scored any since you came but… football is a fickle game. Good luck, I’ll go say goodbye to the boys.”

---

RS: “Now… I’ve just broken the rules. If the embargo stays until summer - we are screwed!”


James Berrett
Kevan Hurst

30 games into the season, and you’ll never guess where Crewe are right now. Robbie Savage is in an untouchable position right now and his team have been racking up the points heavily since the turn of the year! The transfer embargo seemed to do the team well and learn from their mistakes as a business - but as a football club they have been fantastic. Nothing short of it.
January saw Robbie Savage claim the prestigious Manager of the Month Award - winning 7 games on the trot! SEVEN. This run has seen AJ Leitch-Smith scored 5 in 7 to go to the top of the goal scoring awards with 18 goals - one more than Wolves Loanee Apostolos Vellios. Their greatest win was arguably the win against Leyton Orient, as they won 3-2 in a very entertaining game. They led twice, 1-0 and 2-1 before Yohan Lasimant equalized for Orient in the 81st minute. Harry Davis showed why he is one of Crewe’s most important players - as he scored a 92nd minute header to win it for Crewe.


Is Robbie Savage a tactical genius - or is he just on a lucky run of form? Well the league table can’t tell you anything right now as one loss and you’re down to 10th, one win and you’re up to 4th. Let’s have a look at the league table.



10 points separating 4th and 18th, with only 16 games left to play. Can Crewe keep their form up to solidify a play-off place? They are playing above all odds and they look certain to avoid relegation. Can Robbie Savage’s boys do it?



Sean Kavanagh, the star left back is out for 3 months which is a big blow for Crewe. Can they cope without him?

With 16 games left, can we confirm our credentials as play-off contenders in this league? Can we also reach the Final of the Football League Trophy at the same time?

nPower Football League One

4 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses. I am happy with that as we mostly won the games, while we should probably cut down on our losses and turn them into draws - while turning the draws into wins. The Youth intake should be coming soon and we will have more depth in the squad as we have one of the best facilities in the country.



We are in 5th place right now which is great, but we need to keep getting more points. I’d say, a minimum of 12 out of our next 21 points should guarantee us a play-off spot.



These are our final remaining games. All our home games are tough, but can our fantastic home record help us here?

Football League Trophy

A loss to Notts County in the 1st leg by a beautiful free-kick was something we could not stop, but a fantastic turnaround in the second game booked us a Wembley place for the 2nd season in a row.





MK Dons are the only team stopping us from that trophy.

Good News

Avoided relegation, and to top it off:

This is the most important game of my career yet. More important than the JPT Final. Why? This is because against all the odds, Crewe Alexandra have finished 5th in the Football League One and are one win away from promotion to the Championship. PROMOTION! Crewe were predicted to finish 23rd, and we have been fantastic going 18 places above.
Who would have thought that Crewe Alexandra would play at Wembley two times in their first season under Robbie Savage? Those pricks who laughed when I first signed here in Cheshire… will not be laughing again.

I have my team set. I know who’s playing. Preston North End will see their end today, we will have no fucking mercy. I can see it; “Robbie Savage leads Crewe to JPT Trophy and Play-Off Promotion in his 1st season”. That would be bloody fantastic.

Nick Powell is coming to watch the match today, but he’s said he wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t score today. I’m going to prove that lad wrong tonight – big time. I love him, but I can’t wait to get bragging rights over him.

The Line-Up – 1 hour prior to kick-off

“Lads, come on in. Everyone sit down, the line-up is going to be shown on the projector. As I have done countless times this season, I will mention the instructions you need to follow in the game.” I said, giving all the players’ an eerie glance.

“Today, we play with our 4-4-2 Diamond that we used to dismantle teams away from home. Why am I using this formation? They play a 4-1-4-1 with a DM, and I want Aneke draw him way from protecting his back 4. Jody Morris will be good enough to handle their 2 CM’s.” I claimed, just before I announced the line-up.

“Sam Slocombe in goal. You’ve started in our past 47 leagues games including the play-offs, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t start today. Let’s keep a clean sheet today?”

“Our back four (R-L); Matt Tootle, Mark Ellis, Harry Davis, Sean Kavanagh. – Our full backs… you guys have been fantastic this season for our standards, and I expect the same thing as you have done every game. Support the midfielders, but DO NOT forget – as soon as we lose the ball YOU GET BACK IMMEDIATELY! Understood? Mark, remember how I left you in the reserves for a few weeks? Prove me wrong. You haven’t had the best season, so try and keep a clean sheet today. As for you Harry, you have been my best player this season. Do what you need to do.”

“Midfield (DM, MR, ML, AMC); Jody Morris – contain those to CM’s. It is a tough job, but you’re 34 and you’re experienced enough to go out and do it. Ryan Colclough and Joel Byrom - Ryan this is your last game for Crewe – do us all well, smash their left back… and Joel do the same to their right flank. Chuks Aneke, this is also your last game for the club. Do your best to draw their DM away. That will be vital to our potential success.”

“Attack (R-L); Sadly, AJ Leitch-Smith our top scorer is out due to injury since 4 months… so our strike force today will be: Mathias Pogba and Ashley Harris. Uche Ikpeazu, I know I usually start you and bring Ashley on later but today Ashley’s job is going to be our winning formula. He will stay on the last man while Mathias helps him with one touch passes, flick-ons and more to let him through on goal for a couple of times today.”

“In 35 minutes I expect everyone back in here for the team talk before we leave for a warm-up.”

TEAM TALK

“Our biggest match of the season is today. We’ve won a trophy, and we’ve been to Wembley this year already. We know this turf, Preston don’t. Let’s do it for the fans. Don’t you want to here them sing “The Railwaymen are 1-0 up”?! Don’t you! We can do this today. LISTEN TO MY INSTRUCTIONS, and we’re halfway there. We did not fucking beat Bradford for nothing. We beat them because we wanted to win! ALL IN! 3… 2… 1… ALEX!!!”


(1): Please don’t let me down boys… *fans in the background: Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole.. Aleeexxxx! Aleeexxxx!

(19): Pogba gets the ball with his back to the goal! Come on Mathias, do what I told you to do… WHAT A THROUGH BALL! GOALLLLLLL! ASHLEY HARRIS!!! YEEEESSS!! 1-0!

(45+2): Half-Time. 1-0 TO US! 45 minutes until promotion lads.

(45): Kick-Off.

(84): Tootle.. find a cross mate. Oh! Smart move. Aneke with the ball in the box.. can he end it here… find Ashley mate! Yes! SHOOT! GOOOOOOALLLLLLLLLL! 2-0! PROMOTION IS HERE! PROMOTION IS FUCKING HERE! THE SCENES! I RUN TO THE FANS! … I realize that the game isn’t over yet and I am sent back to the stands by the ref. Bollocks.

(90+4): Final Whistle? YES! WE HAVE BEEN PROMOTED! I JUMP DOWN FROM THE STANDS (Xabi Alonso-esque vs. Atletico Yesterday) AND I JUMP INTO THE PLAYERS ARMS! THEY ARE THROWING ME IN THE AIR! OLE, OLE OLE OLE.. ALEEEEEXXX! ALEEEEXXX! ALEXANDRA ARE GOING UP, GOING UP, GOING UP, ALEXANDRA’S GOING UP, THANK YOU ASHLEY!