Crewe Alexandra: Journey to the top

EDIT: I will not cover friendlies, as there is no point in them.
EDIT 2: Thanks to AlexTHFC for the banner, it is fantastic!

Will be following, good luck.

http://www.brentfordfc.co.uk/cms_images/competition/league-one-sky-bet277-932139_478x359.jpg

Crewe versus Rotherham

My regime begins with a draw with Rotherham, who were predicted to dominate us, but instead were on the back foot for most of the game until Abdul Osman was sent off for an awful challenge. After that, it was even. Then, Rotherham launched a counter-attack and got a penalty and scored it. So, a good point overall, but in reality we deserved all three.

http://www.football-league.co.uk/javaImages/8f/5/0,,10794~10945935,00.gif

Crewe versus Burton Albion

I win my first game with Crewe against Burton Albion in the Capitol One Cup. Aneke opened the scoring in the third minute, skinning two players before lobbing the 'keeper while just inside the box. Clayton then scored from two corners in the thritieth and thirty-second minute. The game then became pretty drab, with Crewe passing and missing chances. We will play Nottingham Forest in the second round.

http://www.brentfordfc.co.uk/cms_images/competition/league-one-sky-bet277-932139_478x359.jpg

MK Dons versus Crewe

Another late penalty denies me my first league win as Crewe Alexandra. It was a pretty even game, and in the fifty-second minute, we started a counter-attack and Clayton scored a tap-in after Ryan Colclough forced a good save from David Martin and the Dons failed to mark Max. Then Billy Waters, in his league debut, tackles Alan Smith and brings him down. The result? Alan Smith's first goal of the season. Very disappointing since we had some good chances in the first half.

http://www.brentfordfc.co.uk/cms_images/competition/league-one-sky-bet277-932139_478x359.jpg

Crewe versus Tranmere

It is becoming a trend now! ANOTHER late penalty denies me, except this time I wasn't in a winning position. I was angered by the fact that even though we had more possession for most of the game, we couldn't turn it into goals. Two points from three league games is not bad, since we are predicted to finish twenty-third. We really need to work on our finishing though.

http://www.brentfordfc.co.uk/cms_images/competition/league-one-sky-bet277-932139_478x359.jpg

Leyton Orient versus Crewe

A pityful display by us ensures that Leyton Orient come away with an easy three points. Chuks Aneke and Harry Davis were the only players who looked like they wanted to play. Mark Ellis, my other CB, was so bad that I took him off as soon as he conceded the penalty. He made an error that led to the Moses Odubajo's goal and was generally all over the place. At the moment, things are not looking good for us.

http://www.football-league.co.uk/javaImages/8f/5/0,,10794~10945935,00.gif

Crewe versus Nottingham Forest

Wow, this might be my best upset since I started playing FM11!
We started poorly, even though we had possession. Our passing was nowhere near as good as it was supposed to be. After Greg Halford and Simon Cox scored, I thought it was over. But after Uche Ikpeazu scored a screamer and Brad Inman headed a corner in, I though we could win the game. After normal time and extra time had passed, we had to decide it on penalties. After each team's outfield players scored their kicks, it was time for Etheridge and Aoute to show what they're made of. Etheridge went first, and sent Aoute the other way. Then, Aoute took the penalty..... AND ETHERIDGE HAS SAVED IT! That's it! We are through to the third round! Who will we get? The draw is made..... And Crewe Alexandra will face the mighty Aston Villa! Who knows what will happen next?

http://www.brentfordfc.co.uk/cms_images/competition/league-one-sky-bet277-932139_478x359.jpg

Swindon versus Crewe

Finally, I have won my first game as Crewe Alexandra manager in the league!
We started well, testing Foderingham numerous times, before Brad Inman finally breached the Swindon goal and three minutes late Colclough scored. Colclough bagged another in the fifty-second minute before Coulthirst grabbed a consolation goal in the seventieth minute. Overall a great performance and the Railwaymen return home with the three points in the bag. 5 points from 5 games this month is not great, but it is a decent start. Hopefully September will be a better month, who knows? Football can be unpredictable like that...




P.S League table will not be added until I reach November, as I am that far in my game.

Magic start to your story mate. Seems we have the same problems in management! Beat the big guns and then lose to the nothing teams! Will be following.

Well, our first win didn't provide any momentum, instead we lost to Fleetwood 1-0 with a slightly weakened team. David Ball scored in the thirty-first minute and from there, we dominated, but our finishing was poor, shown by our fourteen shots, with only five on target. Robin Shroot made his debut, playing the entire match, making a nice few passes, but ultimately couldn't save us from defeat. Our defence, of the JPT, is over.



With Neil Etheridge away on international duty with the Philippines, and with only two other 'keepers in the squad, experienced Steve Phillips and inexperienced Ben Garratt, I thought I would pick steve due to his experience and place Garratt on the bench. The result? Well, Robin Shroot scored on his league debut with a well worked passing routine. Then, four minutes later, on the half-hour mark. Perterborough won a free-kick. The free-kick was taken, and it was heading straight towards Phillips, he should of caught it. Instead, he pushed it towards Salvatore Foti and he had the leisure of an easy tap-in. Another error by Phillips, and Foti got his second. In the last minute of injury-time, Daniel Kearns won the ball from Aneke inside his own half, ran the pitch, and beautifully lobbed Steve as he was rushing out. Easily the goal of the season. From there on I decided never to play Phillips again.



Another rare good performance from the Railwaymen gets us the three points. Chukkers got the opener before James Baxendale equalised eight minutes later. But Robin Shroot scored his second in three games to restore the lead, and AJ Leitch-Smith rounded off the win with a goal in the sixty-nineth minute. Hopefully this will be the starting point of an upturn in form.



Well, what did I say? This is the first time this season (excluding friendlies) that I've won consecutive games in all competitions. Shroot scored AGAIN to give us the lead in the thirty-third minute, but Danny Philliskirk scored for Oldham to level things up. It was thirteen minutes from time when Byron Moore cut inside from the right wing to score a goal to grab us a late victory. This will give us a bit of momentum for when we face the mighty Aston Villa in the Capitol One Cup.



I sat on my chair for 3 minutes just staring at the screen, trying to see if my eyes were playing tricks. What a result! I'd never thought that I would top the Nottingham Forest result! Wow! Robin Shroot is turning out to be a bargain signing! His screamer four minutes from half-time was enough to secure a famous 1-0 victory over Aston Villa, but it wasn't easy. If it wasn't for a fantastic display from all our back five (apart from Kelvin Mellor), we wouldn't have won. Billy Waters got the Man of the Match deservedly, shining brightly with all his 23 passes meeting his target and successfully completing 8/10 tackles. Villa are actually interested in him! I'll see what will happen if they make a bid. We will face....oh God no...Chelsea Football Club, in the Capital One Cup fourth round. Anyway, three straight wins in all competitions! Hooray!



Well, we left it late, but we come away with a 2-0 win against fellow relegation candidates Gillingham. The turning point was the sending off of Darel Russell, where his first booking gave away the free-kick that George Ray headed home to give us the lead. He then began to protest because he was sure that Ray was offside, even though he clearly wasn't. Rushton booked him for his troubles and he was gone. And in the first minute of injury time, Lee Molyneux scored his first goal for Crewe to make sure of the victory. First clean sheet in the league too, maybe there will be many more to come. Fourth straight win!

I promise that there will be a league table in the November update, but for now you will have to rely on my points total. So, in nine league games, we have accumalated fourteen points. Not bad, we just need to improve defending and our finishing, and that points total will rocket up. Next month, I'll bring you all our league matches and our Capital One Cup match against Chelsea. Will my boys continue our march to Wembley, or will Chelsea humiliate us? The October update should be up at around Thursday.

That's it for September, stay tuned for more.

Great result against Villa mate

Thanks, didn't really expect it to happen, I thought they were gonna pound me. Benteke had so many chances but he either blazed it or Etheridge saved it.

Looks like my disappointing start to the season has ended with my fifth straight win in all competitions. AJ opened the scoring seven minutes before the break, and Molyneux finished the win with a nicely taken finish to ease our relegation fears for the time being. A good win on the road, now we must turn our attention towards the next game, away to Preston. That will be a very tough game, a game that I expect Preston to win pretty easily, they are doing quite well. Well, whatever, lets hope we can shackle Preston to avoid being humiliated.



Wow, just wow. This is a great result. Robin was simply just outstanding this game. Opened the scoring before assisting Moore to make it 2-0 to the Railwaymen. Shroot would just not stop terrorising the defence, and eventually it paid off. Robin burst into the box and was clumsily taken down. Harry Davis stepped up and converted the kick to make it 3-0. Shroot made another run into the box, and guess what? Brought down again! Davis takes the kick, and its 4-0! We are tearing Preston apart! They are looking shell-shocked! If our finishing was better we would be five or six up. Fantastic result as we go into another tough game, against Bristol City. Maybe it will be five-nil this time!



Ben Garratt makes his debut in style, making three very good saves as we beat Bristol 3-1, while controlling possession. Leitch-Smith scored before Tyrone Barnett equalised eleven minutes later. Clayton scored midway through the second-half, before Abdul Osman scored in the last minute of injury-time to guarantee the three points for the Railwaymen. I'm really enjoying the upturn in form, I hope it will continue.



Neil Etheridge returned from international duty to put in a good display against Stevenage. Robin Shroot was not at his best today. We got off on a flyer with a very early penalty, the first big talking point, conceded by Jon Ashton after putting in a lazy challenge on Aneke. Captain Davis steps up and...GOAL! Great penalty! Right into the left side! It remained boring untiltwo minutes after the break, when the second big talking point of the match happened when John Mousinho recieved his second booking. We took advantage immediately, Billy Waters, my eighteen-year-old starlet, ran into the box and was taken down again by Ashton, the third big talking point. Davis steps up and scores, 2-0, easy as that. Aneke scored after rounding the 'keeper, Steve Arnold. Ashton was sent off for protesting when he recieved his second yellow, as he claimed Aneke was offisde, another big talking point. Shroot was taken off at the eight-third minute mark and was replaced by Brad Inman, my awesome Aussie. He made an immediate impact against nine-man Stevenage easily skipping past Capocchiano and curling in a great shot from an awkward angle. Another great three points, we are STEAMING (haha) ahead! We face Sheffield United next, another tough game. Can we hope for another game like Preston?



Another great result against the big guns! Obika opened the scoring very early on, and I thought our early season blues were back. But no, Ryan Colclough equalised almost immediately. We completely controlled the match, shown by our fifty-seven possession and twenty-three shots. Our dominance payed off when Colclough struck again before Tootle made it 3-1 three minutes later. Tootle was unfortunatly injured seven minutes later, and will miss our big match against Chelsea in the Capital One Cup. Can Crewe pull off another massive shock?



Not exactly a shocking result, but it is a bit annoying that we couldn't hold out another narrow lead. Ikpeazu got us off to a great start after going clean through on goal after Gary Cahill misjudged his header. We held this one-goal lead for fifty-three minutes, until when Demba Ba jumped above Ray and headed downwards towards goal, which Etheridge really should've saved, as it was practically right next to him. I was hoping it would go to extra-time, but alas, it was not to be, as some poor marking allowed Willian to ghost into the box and tuck home a low Mikel cross. Well, we look forward to the Bradford game, where we are looking to take an easy three points.


Well, that is all. The update came earlier then I said because I had it written up, and I felt it would be safer posted then sitting around on my laptop.



A fantastic month, unbeaten in the league and only narrowly losing to Chelsea in the cup. We are on a eight game winning streak in the Sky Bet League One and we should make that nine games against Bradford on Saturday. But who knows, football is unpredictable....

What is the youth setup at Crewe like in-game? It is raved about in the real footballing world.

Great start to the story and it seems like you are doing better than I am, I'm only in the play-off spots compared to your fantastic start! Keep it up.

2014-05-18 13:48#175319 Jamesg237 : What is the youth setup at Crewe like in-game? It is raved about in the real footballing world.

It's really good. In the next update you'll see me playing one of my youngsters. The facilities are great, junior coaching is excellent, scouting range is well established. The only problem is that Stoke are in the same area, so they might get the good regens. Maybe not, we'll have to see.