Crewe Alex: Quick-fix has treated wounds with sticking plaster
I'LL nail my colours to the mast.
Ditching Steve Holland for Dario Gradi was a spectacularly dull move.
Nothing has changed. There's no fresh blood, it's the same names, with just a shuffle of the pack to dazzle the crowd.
As sleight of hand tricks go, it wasn't even well executed.
However, when you take a careful look at the situation, there was no other way out of this mess.
Appointing Gradi might have been the easy way out, and yet it was the only escape option available to a board of directors that must have felt cornered.
The vocal fans have what they wanted – I'm just not sure what they have got! So I will contain my ongoing frustration and await the next move, just thankful that the fire has been smothered, but conscious that the debris is still smouldering.
An all-out sacking would have been wrong. Holland was simply following the Crewe Alexandra dream, acting out the ascension plan.
The man who has now stepped back into the managerial shoes wanted his apprentice to succeed, even coaxed him across the years.
So that's all failed. They now have to admit that.
And for the man relieved of first-team duties, there is some serious thinking ahead. He can't be feeling too good, and even the most hardened supporter should be empathising with him.
He's had a very rough ride. Unfortunately, his fast-deteriorating record was diabolical.
Such match-day statistics would not have been tolerated at any other club. Finally, after what seems like months of further demise, we are back to square one.
In fact, it's like winding back the clock two or three years and wondering who, if anyone, can ever replace Mr Gradi.
For now, many will be content that Crewe Alexandra's seeping wound has been bandaged.
The bleeding has stopped. Sadly, it's been fixed with a sticky plaster.
There's what amounts to a Cheshire derby game this Saturday and I doubt too many supporters will tolerate more misery.
Harsh, maybe, as Gradi is no mug. He's been around. He's a vastly experienced manager.
But this quick-fix (and it is) does no more than get us through the week.
This is no fresh start and I just hope that Gradi isn't considering another lengthy stint at the helm.
Nobody can deny that he has made the club what it is, a stable League One side with superb facilities.
But we're still in danger of dropping down to the bottom rung again. That would have knock-on effects throughout the football club.
Personally, I'd be delighted to see the great man in place until the end of the year. That would give Bowler et al six weeks in which to do the Christmas shopping and wrap it up nice for the fans.
The reality is that any recruitment process might take much longer. Perhaps the end of the season is a more realistic ambition. Until then, Gradi does his stuff, hopefully working sufficient magic to keep us up.
As for the next manager, there must be a new face brought into this stale club.
Unfortunately, talk of bringing in people such as Steve Coppell, Iain Dowie or Steve Cotterill is surely pie in the sky.
One thing for sure, with three million expected to be out of work by the end of next year, there will be a lengthy queue forming along Gresty Road when the managerial position is finally advertised.
We can only hope that this time they get the right man.
Jules Hornbrook is a Crewe Alexandra supporter. His views do not necessarily reflect those of The Sentinel
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