David Artell says the club’s head of recruitment Neil Baker returns to Leek with his blessing. The Alex boss admits that he will speak with Baker later today and then decide if there is still a role for him at the club in our recruitment department.

Artell says that he ‘cannot blame’ Baker for having a strong desire to have another crack at management. Baker has served Crewe with great distinction over the last 23 seasons, serving as a fantastic assistant to managers Dario Gradi, Gudjon Thordarson, Steve Holland and Steve Davis before being appointed head of recruitment under Davis.

His eye for a player has seen him recruit the likes of Steve Jones, Luke Varney, Justin Cochrane and more recently Dan Udoh from the non-league scene over the years.

Artell told the club’s official web-site: “I’ve seen that Neil has accepted the role at Leek and I wish him all the best. He goes with my blessing. I can understand that he wants another crack at management.

“I have not spoken to him since but I will do. I don’t know what the future is. We will sit down and have a chat about it but any decision I make will be in the best interest of the club. It won’t be for Neil Baker, David Artell or anybody else for that matter. Every decision will be made for the Football Club.

“We will have to wait and see. There is a possibility that he could stay in some role, but we will have an open conversation, discuss things with the staff and see where we go with recruitment.”