14th - Crewe Alex

The return of Crewe Alexandra brings to an end the Gradi years and the success that he brought the club during that time. I know he's still connected to the club as technical director, and aside from a brief spell as caretaker last season, it's been a while since he was proper manager, but relegation back to the place whence they came brought with it some sort of equilibrium to a team who have finished bottom of the league more than any other side.

The days when we'd be fighting over the re-election places alongside Crewe, Stockport, Halifax (ask your Dad), and Tranmere seem a long time ago now and such reminiscing would bring a tear to Elton Welsby's eye. You could argue that for all the relative success that the Railwaymen have enjoyed over the past twenty years, eventually it has seen them return to their natural level, suggesting that any progression as a club can only be a short term thing. On that point, much will depend I guess on how long they remain back down here.

Ah Gary Jones' favourite manager. Gudjon Thordarson or Guðjón Þórðarson to give him his proper name. If we're being brutally honest, we fail to see what Thordarson offers as a manager. Since a relatively decent spell at Stoke almost ten years ago, he's had a dreadful time of things in this country with a dismal spell at Barnsley and a spell at Notts County which almost proved our pre-season predictions correct as he got the boot with the Magpies in 21st.

Of course, his spells in foreign management may prove to have been miracles if we had the time or inclination to research them properly but even if they were would they have any impact on a manager with a seemingly proven bad track record in England?

Since stepping into Gradi's shadow at Crewe, he had a decent opening spell, and even scooped a manager of the month award before ultimately leading them to the drop without a single win from their last ten games of the season. Hardly the sort of form to whip the fans into a frenzy of anticipation for the forthcoming season.

Looking at their squad, they've certainly got enough about them to mount some sort of challenge for next season. In terms of strikers, they've certainly got enough with the pedigree to give them one of the most feared forward lines in the divison. Antony Elding has been a bit hit and miss throughout is career, but he should easily be good enough get double figures. Calvin Zola isn't prolific but will definitely be a handful, and Clayton Donaldson is another who suggests that the right level, he can score goals for fun.

The concerns we do have is something that we've referred to with other clubs. Crewe have become a side not accustomed to winning. You have to go back as far as 2003 to find the last time they actually won more games than they lost during a season. Ever since, it's been fighting relegation, admittedly in the two divisions above, but can they sufficiently change that mentality from trying to avoid defeat to actively trying to win games to ensure they are pushing at the top end?

There are concerns over the size of the Railwaymen's squad too. At time of writing, they'll be going into the new season with just sixteen first team players, which is not even big enough to fill the subs bench. The new signings have come from non league, plus former Dale keeper David Button who we had on loan from Spurs a year or so ago.

Overall we reckon there's plenty of quality to be as good as any side on the day, but not enough deep down for any sort of sustained push towards the top. It's inevitable that they'll pick up injuries along the way and the small squad will takes it toll when that happens.

Relegated sides traditionally don't always do so well. History suggests that out of the four sides that come down, more will struggle down here than do well, and the lack of new signings of real quality will hardly sweep away the clouds of disappointment that the relegation brought with it.

We have to go back and question the management too. We feel there are big question marks over Thordarson's ability and whilst Crewe are definitely most likely to stick with him over the course of the season, it probably isn't in their best interest to do so.

Mid table only for the Alex.

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