By Jules Hornbrook
28/03/2008 - Alex Sentinel: Cut Holland some slack
Most of us love to be critical, perhaps because we care so much about our club.
So it’s only right that we also praise those who turn out to represent the Alex each week and genuinely deliver the goods.
Now I know Steve Holland and the Crewe Alexandra players are paid (and it is a decent wage), but I often ask myself what it must be like having to endure some of the abuse that is dished out from the touchline?
Footy fans have always been quick to hand it out, with terrace wags from the 1970s and 80s sometimes as famous as the players themselves.
That all changed with the arrival of all-seater stadia, with fans split up and forced to sit much further away from the sidelines. Players enjoyed a little more protection!
Still, that doesn’t stop some hurling obscenities and it’s not hard to see why some “professionals” within the game give it back, often overstepping the mark with some vicious words and actions. Who can forget Eric Cantona?
The Crewe staff – much in line with their numerous Fair Play awards – has, largely speaking, conducted themselves well over the years.
Rarely do you see the coaches responding to taunts, and the players just tend to get on with it.
However, I recall an incident away at Bristol City a few years back when Shaun Smith (he of the trusty left foot and Wembley winner) lost his rag with a few fans.
They had been on his back all game and he just flipped. If nothing else, it showed he, too, cared and was bothered about what supporters thought of him.
Back to the current campaign and there has been some nasty stuff coming from certain sections of the Gresty Road crowd.
It’s led to fans falling out as some, whatever the results, continue to stand by their men.
So the timing of Crewe’s recent mini-revival couldn’t have been better. It looks as though we’ll avoid the drop and few can argue the Crewe gaffer hasn’t delivered.
Most expected more, but he stopped the slide and over the next few months he has the chance to shape HIS team.
Whatever the club said over the opening months of this dreadful season, Holland did not seem to have full control over team selection and player involvement.
We’ll probably never know how much power Dario Gradi still enjoys, but from this summer I’d expect to see a truly Holland-esque (if only) team.
So, with some vital points on the board and some heartening displays of late perhaps it’s time to cut Holland et al a little slack ... until the end of August that is!