Crewe Alexandra

Maynard yellow card angers Gradi
Crewe Alexandra boss Dario Gradi says he was angry with the referee for booking striker Nicky Maynard during Saturday's 2-1 win over Port Vale. The 19-year-old was booked for simulation following his unsuccessful first-half penalty appeal. \"I don't normally get myself involved with referees but that was a disgrace,\" Gradi told the club's website. \"One day I'll pluck up the courage to take referees to court because he is calling my player a cheat.\"

Crewe extend Taylor's loan deal
Crewe have extended the loan deal of Blackburn defender Andy Taylor. The 20-year-old left-back was initially brought in for four weeks to cover for injured full-back Billy Jones. Jones has since returned from injury, however, knocks to Neil Cox and Julien Baudet have prompted manager Dario Gradi to extend Taylor's stay. He will now stay at Gresty Road for a further four weeks and will be available for Saturday's home match against Chesterfield.

Crewe v Chesterfield
Crewe are set to be unchanged, with strikers Luke Varney and Rodney Jack and defender Billy Jones expected to overcome minor niggles. Darren Moss (hernia), Julien Baudet (hamstring) and Nicky Maynard (hamstring) are back in training but are unlikely to be involved. Chesterfield top scorer Caleb Folan is banned after collecting five bookings. Colin Larkin or Wayne Allison will partner Paul Shaw up front, while Phil Picken (knee) is fit to start.

Tranmere P-P Crewe
Tranmere's match against Crewe has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. The match has been rearranged for next Tuesday, 19 December with a 7.45pm kick-off. :rant:

Rodgers opts to stay with Crewe
Crewe striker Luke Rodgers has rejected the chance of a £40,000 move to an un-named League Two club. The bid was accepted by Crewe but transfer-listed Rodgers opted against the January move. Boss Dario Gradi told Crewe's website: \"I'm in no particular rush to get rid of him, I'd be happy for him to stay as he is still of use to me. Rodgers, 24, joined Crewe from Shrewsbury in July 2005 but is looking for more regular first-team football.

Crewe 1-3 Swansea
Lee Trundle inspired Swansea to a comfortable victory at Gresty Road. The striker opened the scoring in the third minute from a well-worked free kick, Andy Robinson dummying a shot before freeing Trundle who fired home. Trundle then flicked up an innocuous ball with his left, swivelled, and volleyed in a superb second. After the break Trundle set up Dennis Lawrence to power in a header for the third, Luke Varney getting Crewe's consolation in front of an empty goal. Swansea goalkeeper Willy Gueret parried a Nicky Maynard shot, but pushed it straight into Varney's path to give the visitors some anxiety in the closing half hour. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crewe: Tomlinson, Otsemobor, Cox, Baudet, Jones, Roberts, O'Connor (Rix 74), Vaughan, Lowe (Matthews 82), Varney, Maynard. Subs Not Used: Williams, Rodgers, O'Donnell. Goals: Varney 59. Swansea: Gueret, Tate, Austin, Lawrence, Painter, Robinson, Pratley, Craney (O'Leary 65), Britton, Trundle (Butler 89), Fallon (Akinfenwa 73). Subs Not Used: Oakes, Amankwaah. Booked: Painter, Craney. Goals: Trundle 3, 23, Lawrence 47. Att: 6,083 Ref: R Shoebridge (Derbyshire).

Gradi happy with 'scrappy' point
Manager Dario Gradi says he was satisfied with the point Crewe earned from Tuesday's 1-1 draw at Cheltenham. \"I was satisfied with the point but only in the final ten minutes when they had a couple of chances,\" he said. \"I really think the gods would be against us if we had lost it in the closing minutes. \"Overall it was a rather scrappy game but I thought we played some good possession football and certainly deserved something from the game.\"

Rodgers set for Port Vale talks
Crewe manager Dario Gradi has revealed that striker Luke Rodgers is set for transfer talks with Port Vale after accepting a bid of £30,000. Rodgers has scored just three goals for the Alex this season. And Gradi told Crewe's official website: "I think Luke is set to have talks with Port Vale. "He has said he wants to remain playing in this league, so I would imagine Port Vale have a good chance of him accepting their terms."

Jones approach snubbed by Crewe
Crewe manager Dario Gradi has revealed that Championship club Stoke made a late inquiry for Billy Jones in the January transfer window. The interest was knocked back by Gradi who sees the defender as a key member of his squad. He told the club website: "Stoke made an inquiry about Billy in January but we were not particularly interested in selling him during the window." The 19-year-old's contract expires at the end of this season. Gradi admitted he expects there to be renewed interest in the teenager this summer. "Stoke are interested but there are a number of clubs watching him. Some of those are Premiership clubs, it'll be interesting to see what materialises when the season ends."

Crewe duo set to sign new deals
Crewe strikers Shaun Miller and Tom Pope are expected to sign new deals. The pair have both been offered two-year contracts after forcing themselves into the first-team picture. Miller, 19, has scored twice in his last three games, while Pope, 21, has made three recent League One appearances for the bench. Boss Dario Gradi told Crewe's website: "We are offering them two-year deals because we have been pleased with their progress and they deserve it."

Cutting Crewe may be Gradi option
Crewe boss Dario Gradi has warned he may have to operate with a smaller squad next season to balance the Gresty Road books. Gradi told Crewe's website: "I've been discussing budgets with the chairman, there may not be as much room to manoeuvre as in the past. "With the transfer fees we generated I was able to play safe with the numbers over the past two seasons. "We went with a large squad but we can't afford to do that as much now."

Crewe insist Gradi will stay on
Crewe chairman John Bowler insists Dario Gradi will remain as manager next season despite a change of job title. Gradi, who has spent 24 years at Crewe and is the longest serving boss in the Football League, becomes the club's football technical director on 1 July. He will be responsible to the board for all of Crewe's football activities. Steve Holland has been appointed first team coach and will play a pivotal role in training, team selection and management of the first-team squad. Holland will also stay on as manager of the club's academy. Neil Baker continues as assistant manager and continue his direction and management of the club's scouting activities, along with Glyn Chamberlain. Gradi says the move was decided after talks with Bowler and feels it will "be good for the club". He will stay in charge of team selection but intends to gradually hand over responsibility to Holland. "I didn't want to be a 75-year-old manager working seven days a week, 52 weeks a year," Gradi told Crewe's website. "That is not healthy for the future of the club. I will probably drop dead doing the job at some point but I wanted to put that day off a bit. "This is a better way to do things, to introduce this gradual transition because it will take some of the workload off me. "I'm actually very excited about the situation. I think it will be good for the club and Steve deserves this opportunity. "We have discussed things with the chairman and we knew eventually that Steve would become closer involved with the first team. "He will have more responsibility with that but I will still oversee the football side of things."

Crewe's Vaughan is out for season
Crewe midfielder David Vaughan will not play again this season after undergoing surgery on a hernia problem. The 24-year-old Wales international has been hampered by groin injuries since the start of the year. Vaughan has been restricted to just making just four appearances for the Alex since the end of January. He will miss the final two games of the campaign - at home to Tranmere and away to Nottingham Forest - and Wales' Euro 2008 qualifier with the Czech Republic.

Matthews set to leave Gresty Road
Crewe boss Dario Gradi expects centre forward Lee Matthews to leave Gresty Road this summer. Injuries have restricted the former Bristol City and Port Vale forward, 28, to just 10 substitute appearances in this campaign. "I think Lee has just run out of time here to prove that he can keep himself fit," Gradi told his club's website. "He is not in my long-term thinking and I would imagine he has been seeking a new club for a while."

Crewe in talks to sign O'Donnell
Crewe have opened talks with Liverpool about the possibility of signing Daniel O'Donnell on a permanent deal. The 21-year-old Reds defender has been on loan with Crewe since the start of the season and has provided cover for Julien Baudet and Billy Jones. Boss Dario Gradi told the club website: "I have spoken Liverpool about signing Danny on a permanent contract. "There would be compensation involved but I don't see that as being a stumbling block."

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