The dust had not long since settled on Crewe’s sensational day out at Wembley which confirmed their elevation to League One, as Steve Davis and Neil Baker sat down to prepare for the negotiation of next year’s campaign in the third tier.
As everybody spoke about Nick Powell’s suggested move to Manchester United, the club had the sensitive issue of the release and retain list to get through and one thing the careful planning of Davis and Baker didn’t manage to neglect was the ability to surprise.
The club announced a loss of £1 million to the accounts only two months ago and while the sale of the majestically talented Powell will go a significant way to wiping away that figure, the club still quests to remain economically stringent and the wage bill had to be trimmed to create room on the bankroll for the obligatory delve into the transfer market which comes hand in hand with the rise of division. Davis, as well as any Crewe fan, will be perfectly aware that whilst the basis of a successful squad is in place as indicated by a nineteen match promotion winning unbeaten run, some areas of the team will need improving and the management had the thankless task of culling some players who had made a worthy contribution to a remarkable season in order to ease some margin off the wage bill.
Heading the list of victims on the Alex released list was, almost shockingly, David Artell who had captained the side at Wembley just a few days earlier. The 31 year old is placed on a free transfer despite a very strong end to the season in which he has formed a reliable partnership with Adam Dugdale, however Artell has played his trade in the bottom tier for a decade following a League Two relegation with Shrewsbury in 2002 and there lingered a suspicion that he might not be at the standard required for league above. His undertaking of a forensics degree at Chester University will play a role in the location of his next club, but he will leave with the best wishes of any Crewe fan regardless of where he goes, after two years of cultured defensive service to the club.
Time had also fallen short on Lee Bell’s second stint at Gresty Road as the 29 year old midfielder leaves after a two year spell following a transfer from Macclesfield in 2010. Compounded with Luke Murphy and Ashley Westwood ahead of Bell in the pecking order, a few poor performances this season would have played a role in the decision not to offer him another contract, yet he still remains an able passer of the ball as his impressive performance as stand-in for the injured Murphy in the second leg of the play-off semi-final at Southend showed. Bell will be a decent catch for a League Two team and as with all graduates from the Alex academy, he will get a fond farewell from the Crewe faithful who saw him initially break into the first team back in 2002.
25 year old Carl Martin has also been released following a three year spell in which he has made 40 appearances, including the first leg of the playoff semi-final against Southend and a five minute cameo against Cheltenham at Wembley, and has proven to be a solid, versatile defender who can play both centre-back and full-back. Following him out of the door will be left-winger Danny Shelley who has not started since a 1-0 win over Bradford on March 20th as Davis has preferred the on-loan Billy Bodin who himself returns to Swindon Town. The 21 year old, who made a total of 29 appearances for Crewe this year despite not featuring since the home game with Bristol Rovers on 9th April, had become something of a luxury player with his ability to hit free-kicks belying his inability to beat a man or drive with the ball down the flanks.
Also on the release list are Mike Koral and Caspar Hughes, both physically too slight for the step-up to League One, Danny Ting and Jason Oswell, both academy graduates who have not tasted first-team exposure, and finally Jordan Connerton as the patience finally snaps on the 22 year old striker who made just 2 appearances for the Alex since his promising move from Lancaster, where he scored 35 goals in one season, back in 2010. Following a series of loan spells whilst at Gresty Road, six in total, the striker has struggled to find anything like the form he displayed in the Northern Premier League with Lancaster City and will probably head back in the direction of the non-league.
There was better news for Steve Phillips however as the much lauded goalkeeper would be offered a new deal as will the scorer of Crewe’s second goal at Wembley, winger Byron Moore. There is a feeling that Moore, who had flirted with interest from other clubs last summer before signing a one year deal, may prove difficult to tie down once more, but after a strong campaign which concluded with what he called the “best moment of his career”, he could be tempted to commit his immediate future to Davis’ bright new era. A new batch of youngsters including right-back Ollie Turton and left-back Andy White will be offered terms in the hope they will follow in the footsteps of versatile 21 year old Kelvin Mellor, who has been rewarded for a seamless emergence into the first team with a new deal. Also on the retain list were reserve goalkeeper Alan Martin and rookie 19 year old forward Harry Clayton.
The duo of Davis and Baker spoke of how tough it was to inform some players of their fate which could affect livelihoods and families, just a matter of days after they had reached what for some of them, would have been the pinnacle of their career before announcing plans to sign up to five new players for the assault on League One. Davis has so far proven himself to be a shrewd operator of the transfer market in his short-lived spell as Alex boss, signing Greg Pearson, scorer of a few vital goals most notably a priceless last minute winner at Oxford, energetic Jamie Lowry who is available on a free following being released from Chesterfield, and the highly-rated Swindon winger Billy Bodin all on temporary spells.
It remains to be seen who the five targets are though as the players and management teams embarked on a well-earned holiday to cap off a tremendous year, but there will be a feeling of burgeoning optimism that Davis will deliver the correct player to supplement what is already a very talented and ambitious squad. For any Crewe fan, next season and the journey of League One can’t come quick enough.
You can follow me on Twitter @AdamGray1250
[ad_pod id=’writer-2′ align=’right’]