Former skipper says Steve and the players are determined to prove the bookies wrong again.
Crewe Alexandra have once again been installed as relegation favourites in League One and the club’s former captain Dave Artell says that the management staff enjoy proving those doubters wrong. Being written off acts as a motivational spur and Artell says that the experience of surviving on the final day of the season twice in succession shows the resilience within the club.
Crewe appeared dead and buried heading into the last two Christmas campaigns and Artell feels that the club do not get the credit they deserve for turning things around those situations, especially when you now see Tranmere Rovers in non-league and the likes of Notts County and Leyton Orient, with their budgets, going down last season.
Dave Artell, the Academy Operations Manager told the club’s official web-site: “We have seen the odds again and again we are written off. We are the favourites to go down, like we were last season.
“Now they say the bookies don’t get it wrong, but they did last season and the season before going into Christmas when not many people gave us a chance of getting out of it.
from bottom and we don’t want to go through that again but sometimes you have to step back and think that is was an achievement to avoid relegation last season, especially after getting four points from our first 11 games.
th“We won’t be settling for 5
“We all want to do better and have a better season but when you see the likes of Leyton Orient go down with the amount of money they were spending last season, then you have to say it was an achievement to compete against clubs like that.
“Two years ago Tranmere had a much bigger budget than ours and they went down and now they have gone into non-league. We are even behind on a lot of League Two budgets, but we do things the right way here.
He added: “The chairman and the board are very astute. They care deeply about the football club and what it means to the community and the fans and they won’t risk its future by spending money we don’t have. They won’t jeopardise the future safety of the club for quick gains and that is right.”