My Crewe story - The Railwaymen on track to the top…

December 2015

EURO Cup Group I
Crewe – Rubin: 5 – 1
Goals: Conti(2), Svensson, Nellins, Rebenok own goal

Premier Division
Newcastle – Crewe: 1 – 3
Goals: Gro(2), Svensson


Premier Division
Crewe – Everton: 2 – 1
Goals: Gro, Bruno Ecuele Manga own goal / Mouche

Premier Division
Crewe – West Ham: 1 – 0
A goal from Gro on the 61st minute following an incisive counter attack secured the win for us. Up to fifth in the table.




EURO Cup Group I
Olympiakos – Crewe: 1 – 0
I gave fringe players a game since we were already qualified. They did well though we could not score. Olympiakos got the winner on the 74th minute on a speedy counter just after they were reduced to 10 men.


We have been drawn to play AO Skoda Xanthi in the EURO Cup 1st knockout round. If we qualify, then we will get Dinamo Moscow or LOSC Lille.

Premier Division
Arsenal – Crewe: 2 – 0
Arsenal’s Carlos Fierro was our butcher on this day. Injury to Catalano who will be out for around 2 months is another blow and he will miss the League Cup semifinals against Man City

Premier Division
Sunderland – Crewe: 3 – 1
Goals: Robbie Townsend / Connor Wickham(2),David Vaughan

Premier Division
Crewe – Blackburn: 1 – 0
Goal: Townsend
A morale boosting win, after 2 defeats, before our match against Man U

Premier Division
Crewe – Man Utd: 3 – 1
Magnificent! We rode our luck at times when Hernandez hit the post and O’Brien cleared off the line, but we were full value for this win!




Premier Division
Crewe – Bolton: 3 – 1
Goals: Gro(2), Townsend

Elsewhere



With my current standing in the league in 6th place, my board have asked me whether I wished to review my season’s expectations and I have revised it to a top-half finish now, giving me extra wage budget to sign players.
Gro won the player of the month and I claimed the manager of the month for December

January 2016

FA Cup 3rd round
Charlton – Crewe: 0 – 3
Adrojan gave us the lead in the 19th minute with a sweet low shot from 30 yards out into the bottom left corner of the net. Pogba doubled out lead with a great shot from just outside the left corner of the area. Mensah got a third with his head.

Premier Division
Crewe – Man City: 1 – 4
I think the absence of Catalano was clearly felt today. Our defense missed him and was time and time again hurt by the pace of Man City’s players. But also at the other end, we did not finish our chances. I wonder how it could have turned had Townsend not been injured so early in the game.

Premier Division
Everton – Crewe: 1 – 1
A well-earned draw. We took the lead though Gernsoe but Berbatov equalized for Everton with a exquisite lob. Up to 5th.

League Cup semifinal 1st leg
Crewe - Man City: 1 – 2
Man City took the lead on the 3rd minute through Mauser. We equalized on the 32nd minute through Gommers. However, right after the start of the second half, Man City were ahead again through Dzeko to get a firm option on the final. Man City were too good for us.


After intense negotiations, I have managed to close a deal to bring wonderkid Jan Jonker to Crewe for 3.5 million. He is touted as the next Clarence Seedorf. Arsenal was as well interested and submitted a bid at one time, but then withdrawn from negotiations. I know I paid high bonuses to bring this talented kid but I think he will prove a very good purchase, now and in the future. If I can make a nice profit later on, that will be good as well…


I was as well bidding for a new centre back, but wage demands were too high and I withdrew from a couple of possible transfers.


Premier Division
Crewe – Aston Villa: 1 – 2
Jonker scored a debut goal but Aston Villa equalized through Jack Hobbs from a corner and they went on to win it with a great goal from Stanislau Drahun from long range on the 55th minute. We had a goal from Gernsoe ruled out for offside late on and it was defeat for us. I was disappointed by this defeat and made it known to the team in the post-match team talk.

Premier Division
Fulham – Crewe: 2 – 3
Fulham took the lead via a Lennon goal from a well worked free-kick, but we equalized through Gernsoe and then took the lead through Townsend. Fulham equalized through Welback on the 80th minute, but we hit back 5 minutes later through substitute Gommers to record a precious away win. Still 5th in the table and closing on Liverpool in 4th!


League Cup semifinal 2nd leg
Man City – Crewe: 2 – 0
Edin Dzeko and Xherdan Shaqiri were the scorers for City, who proved to be too strong for us.

In the other semifinal, Liverpool won the first leg at home against Chelsea 2 – 0, and won the second leg away 1 - 0, 3 – 0 aggregate win for Liverpool, setting up a Man City vs Liverpool final.

February 2016

FA Cup 4th round
Barnsley – Crewe: 1 – 3
Goals: O’Brien, Townsend, Mensah / Foster own goal
Good win, Kasper Kaas assisting in all 3 goals.

Premier Division
Ipswich – Crewe: 0 – 1
Goal: Lainton own goal from O’Brien’s header

Premier Division
Crewe – Sunderland: 3 – 1
Goals: Gro(pen), Devlin, Townsend(pen) / Adam Matuszczyk
I opted for a more attacking approach today and the brand of attacking football the team played was great to see though it did not result in a lot of goals. Svensson out with a pulled hamstring for up to 5 weeks. Up to 4th while waiting for Liverpool’s match versus Man City.

Premier Division
Crewe – Southampton: 1 – 2
Oh dear. A winnable match and we lost! 2 nil down at half time. Gro scored one at the start of second half but we could not get another goal this time to get something from this game.

EURO Cup 1st Knock Out round 1st leg
Xanthi – Crewe: 1 - 3
Goals: Gro, Devlin, Kaas
Good win putting us in a great position for the return home leg.

EURO Cup 1st Knock Out round 2nd leg
Crewe – Xanthi: 4 – 3
Goals: Conti, Gommers, Gernsoe(2)
Rested some players and played Gernsoe up front and he put in a MoM display with 2 goals.

Premier Division
Wolves – Crewe: 0 – 2
Goals: Catalano, Gro(pen)
Only blemish is Gernsoe’s ankle ligament injury. He will be out for up to 8 weeks.


March 2016
African Nations Quals Grp 1
Nigeria – Sudan: 4 – 1
Goals: Temile, Anichebe(2), Ujah

Premier Division
Crewe – Tottenham: 0 – 2
Tottenham got their 2 goals in the first 15 minutes by Hamsik and Fofana and were good value for their win. No complaints!
Down to 7th. Leap frogged by today’s opponent. Though we are performing well in the Premier League for our first season there, we are on a learning curve, with the average age of this team at just 20 years! That’s 6 years less than the league average!

EURO Cup 2nd Knock Out round 1st leg
Lille – Crewe: 2 – 0

FA Cup 5th round
Birmingham – Crewe: 1 – 1
Goal: Conti

EURO Cup 2nd Knock Out round 2nd leg
Crewe – Lille: 0 – 2
Out of EURO Cup! But good first taste of Europe

FA Cup 5th round replay
Crewe – Birmingham:4 – 1
Goals: Gro(2), Conti, Lebourg

FA Cup 6th round
Crewe – Leicester: 2 – 0
Goals: Tirloni, Mensah

A semifinal against Arsenal now awaits us.

African Nations Quals Grp D
Madagascar – Nigeria: 1 - 5
Goals: Ighalo(3), Anichebe, Temile

Premier Division
Crewe – Wigan: 0 – 1
Disappointing, poor finishing cost us this game!

April 2016
Premier Division
Crewe – Birmingham: 1 – 0
Goals: Gro
Good win

Premier Division
Crewe – Newcastle: 1 – 1
Goal: Svensson
Only a draw due to wasteful finishing . Down to 8th

Premier Division
Chelsea – Crewe: 0 – 1
Goal: Gommers
Had a good goal ruled out for off-side, but in the 55th minute, Gommers put us ahead after Gro’s shot was blocked and rebounded into his path. Catalano marshaled the defence expertly and Siadankay pulled off some great saves as well to keep us ahead. We have done the double over Chelsea in our maiden season!

FA Cup 6th semifinal
Arsenal – Crewe: 2 – 1
Goal: Gro
No luck again against Arsenal. We are just not up to that level yet I guess! Fierro and Fellaini scored for Arsenal

Premier Division
West Ham – Crewe: 0 – 4
Until the 55th minute when Sadlock was dismissed for a late tackle on last man Townsend, we had not had a shot on West Ham’s goal but we were still in front from an own goal from Rodrigues. Devlin made it two on the 62nd minute. Gro got the 3rd three minutes later. Jonker got the 4th goal late on after coming on as a sub.

Premier Division
Man City – Crewe: 1 – 0
A 1 nil defeat, goal by Kompany. We could have got something from the game in the end but did not hit the target on a couple of occasions.

Premier Division
Blackburn – Crewe: 0 – 0

May 2016

We have 3 difficult last matches to finish the season, Arsenal home, then Liverpool and Man Utd away! Let's see how it goes...

Awesome progress, cudos for getting those results! even against bigger teams

Thanks, it's not easy at all. Sometimes, my tactical changes and player rotation do not pay off as well... That's the ups and downs of being a manager...
I think that to get to the next level sooner, I need some more experienced players. I did win with youth but some extra wiser heads are needed to challenge for the title at this point

very goood job so far with this crewe team. have you got any real stars from your youth academy??

Thanks. Yes, I have Frankie Devlin, centre back, who at 20 years, has already played 4 full seasons, 125 apps and 20 goals!
Barrie Foster is an up and coming left back.
Eddie Singleton is a central midfielder, 18 yrs, who should get his chance in the first team next season as well as Bryan Vince and Mark Webster who are promising strikers.

Premier Division
Crewe – Arsenal: 2 – 1
Goal: Devlin, Tirloni.
Brilliant! We beat the newly crowned champions. They played with some fringe players though but it does not lessen the performance of my players, especially after Gro’s dismissal on the 61st minute. Though they scored late on through Bendtner, we hanged on for the win.



Premier Division
Liverpool – Crewe: 1 – 1
Goal: Mensah
Still in 7th, with same number of points as Tottenham and Chelsea. Last match will be crucial for European qualification places.



Premier Division
Man Utd – Crewe: 1 – 2
Goals: Mensah, Gernsoe
We won against an under-strength Utd team, but the score could have been bigger had it not been for De Gea’s performance in goal. Jovetic scored a consolation goal on the 91st minute. Up to 6th on the final day due to Chelsea’s defeat away to Aston Villa, thus securing European football again next season.



Great achievement for our first season in the top division. Hopefully, we can kick on another gear for next season, instead of being a one-season wonder!

Here’s the final league standings



Southampton beat Arsenal in the FA Cup final on penalties.
League Cup won by Liverpool 2-1 against Man City.

June 2016

World Cup Quals (AFR) 2nd Rnd Grp 6
Central African Rep – Nigeria: 0 – 2
Goals: Odion Ighalo, Jude Agu
Great start to the world cup qualifiers with an away win.

Steven Gerrard has announced his retirement at the end of the current season.

I have submitted an offer to Lyon for their young promising keeper, Aymeric Grange. I want to have a top quality keeper between the post and I am not sure Siadankay is the long term solution.


World Cup Quals (AFR) 2nd Rnd Grp 6
Nigeria – Sudan: 5 – 1
Goals: Ighalo, Anichebe, Temile, Amadi, Obi Mikel(pen)
I gave a first cap to Laurence Amadi after I brought him into the squad following Victor Moses injury. The boy did not disappoint with 3 assists and 1 goal and a MoM display.

Well, we return to Crewe and unfortunately, Lyon want around 23 million for Grange! Dead-end…

Board expectation for the season 2016/2017

Upon being asked to formulate my expectation for the new season and being confident that we can build upon last season, I have informed my board that they can expect the team to be in the top half come the end of the season.
I just need to add a couple of players that will further add value to this team.

Grange being too expensive, I have now turned my attention to Daniel Oliveira from Leira and Paco Bau who has been released by Barcelona.
I have also bid for Bastia player Mohamed Haddad and Pavel Novotny. However, I face serious competition for Pavel’s signature with Sevilla, Real Sociedad, Braga and Sporting Lisbon also in the running.

Here’s the friendlies arranged as well as start of season fixtures



Mohamed Haddad has signed for 250K.


Paco Bau has gone to Mallorca.

Oliveira signed for 4.7M.


Friendly results:
Crewe – Anji: 3 – 0
Goals: Mensah, Gommers

Crewe – Maritimo: 3 – 1
Goals: Kaas, Mensah, Conti

Crewe – Dinamo Buc.: 2 – 1
Goals: Devlin, Gro

Novotny has accepted SLB’s offer. I won’t be pursuing anymore strikers now as no one as good as Novotny is interested to join Crewe. I’ll try to give Bryan Vince and Mark Webster first team chances whenever possible to help them develop into good players for the first team.

EURO Cup 3rd Round 1st leg
Banska Bystrica – Crewe: 0 – 4
Goals: Gro(3), Devlin

Queen’s Park – Crewe: 0 – 6
Goals: Preston own goal, Gro, Catalano, Haddad, Pogba, Mensah

EURO Cup 3rd Round 2nd leg
Crewe – Banska Bystrica: 1 – 0
Goal: Gommers

Crewe – Fiorentina: 6 – 1
Goals: Catalano, Devlin, Gernsoe, Lebourg(2), Mensah

And now the new season awaits...