Crewe Alex 25/26 Monthly Review - February

I said January was a month where the Alex drifted along. Well, February was fantastic for them wasn't it? A 4-1-1 record, surging up the table from 10th to 6th, pushing them right back into the hunt for a play-off spot. What more can you ask for?! Here is my review of a great 28 days for them:

Looking Back

Fresh off the back of a relatively decent January, they faced another long Tuesday trip to London, this time to face Barnet. They fell behind early and it looked set to be a difficult evening, but they found their feet, recovered well and an Owen Lunt finish got them back level. Neither side found a winner, but the Alex were more than content to take a share of the spoils back north with them.

However, it was another trek south that awaited them a few days later to take on Crawley. A tired group battled and scrapped with a Red Devils side in good form, but neither side could find the breakthrough. Crawley thought they had, but Danilo Orsi turned in with his hand to deny them a goal. Then 13 minutes from time, Tommi O'Reilly fired in a brilliant volley to give the Alex their first away win of 2026 and bring to an end a great week where they bagged 4 points from 2 lengthy away trips.

After a free week to recover, they had back to back home games against Gillingham and Fleetwood to keep the points rolling in. They started well, beating the Gills 1-0 thanks to a well taken 2nd half finish from Adrien Thibaut, who once again stepped off the bench to great effect. Unfortunately, they couldn't back that up as they fell by the same 1-0 scoreline to Fleetwood. The Cod got a lead thanks to Mark Helm and in truth, they could have had more goal but for some wasteful finishing. The Alex struggled to muster anything in response and fell to their first home defeat since October.

That defeat felt particularly damaging as they headed south yet again, this time to Wiltshire to play 2nd placed Swindon. However, despite fearing a battering, the Alex held their own as Swindon put in a subpar display. The Alex then grabbed a goal through Matus Holicek just before half time. Josh March then snapped a 7 game goal drought to double their lead in the 2nd half. Swindon did get a goal back, but a strong Alex rearguard action ensured they bagged arguably their most impressive 3 points of the season.

To finish the month, they welcomed local neighbours Tranmere to Gresty Road. After the Alex beat them at Prenton Park back in December, they were hoping to do the double over them for the first time since 2001. That didn't look likely as they were sluggish and the Wirral side punished them just before half time, as one of their many former Vale contingent James Plant fired home. The Alex huffed and puffed, but did eventually find 2 moments of quality, as 2 O'Reilly crosses were buried by Conor Thomas and March. It gave them a dramatic win and meant they ended the month 4-1-1, sitting 6th in the table.

U21s

More of the same for the U21s unfortunately. They gained just 1 point from their 2 league games in February. They lost 2-0 away at Fleetwood with what was likely a very young group. They looked on their way to a rare win at home to Peterborough, but they blew a 3-0 lead late on to only draw. They remain cut adrift at the bottom of the league and have a lot of games to catch up on, with 10 games left between now and the end of the season.

In the Cheshire Senior Cup there was better news, as they progressed past Nantwich Town 2-1, with goals from Luca Moore and Dion Rankine getting them into the final. They now have to wait to see who they will play in the the final from Stockport Town, Runcorn Town and Vauxhall Motors.

U18s

The U18s had a good month in the league, going 2-2-0 in their 4 league games. Impressive points against Wigan and Sheffield United were the highlights. The only downside was their exit from the Development League Cup, going down 5-1 at home to Wimbledon. Still, their league form remains impressive and they sit 2nd in their division after 21 games played.

Injuries

The Alex have managed to shorten their injury list, but 6 players remain absent. Thankfully they have welcomed back Lankester, Thomas and Bogle, whilst Sanders and Tezgel are due back imminently. Moult, meh who cares. Losing Lunt is blow though, his return date is unclear.

Player	Injury	Possible Return Date
Max Sanders(CM)	Hamstring	Early March 2026
Louis Moult(ST)	Calf	Early March 2026
Emre Tezgel(ST)	Ankle	Early March 2026
Owen Lunt(CM)	Back	April 2026
Shilow Tracey(RW/ST)	Broken Leg	Summer 2026
Joel Tabiner(RW/CM)	ACL	Summer 2026

Loans

How's this for a wild stat. Zac Williams hasn't appeared in a game his team have won since Grimsby at the start of last April. He made just 1 sub appearance for Kilmarnock in February, in their 5-1 defeat at Rangers.

Fin Roberts & Phil Croker are battling away to try and get Chester into a play-off spot, but time is running out for them. Croker to be fair found the net and he's getting a decent amount of game time with the Seals.

Jordan Hodkin got off the mark for Nantwich in February, but then he ended the month by switching to Bamber Bridge, so that will be his 3rd club of the season.

Player of the Month

Ian Lawlor

The keeper has made an impact for sure, as the Alex's goals against total has dropped from 16 in the 11 before he arrived to 9 in the 11 he's played. He was very good in February, conceding 4 in 6 games, keeping 2 clean sheets and making some big saves.

Previous Picks:

August: Josh March

September: Max Sanders

October: Max Sanders

November: Emre Tezgel

December: Max Sanders

January: Calum Agius

Step It Up

Calum Agius

It was difficult as I don't think anyone really struggled, but it will have to be Agius. He went from 3 goals and an assist in January to nothing in February. I get young attackers will have peaks and troughs, but I felt he was pretty anonymous this month, which given 10 other players contributed either a goal or an assist isn't ideal from him. With players returning from injury, hopefully this forces him to up his game.

Previous Picks:

August: Emre Tezgel

September: Tom Booth

October: Calum Agius

November: The depth

December: James Connolly

January: Matus Holicek

Underrated Player

Mickey Demetriou

Is he underrated? No, probably not, but I think the busy run over the last few weeks showed just how much better a team the Alex are when he's in the team. Without him in 3 Tuesday games, the Alex went 0-2-1. With him, they won 5 Saturday games in a row. Keeping him fit for the final 11 games is absolutely vital to their play-off ambitions.

Previous Picks:

August: Max Sanders

September: Conor Thomas

October: Tommi O'Reilly

November: Owen Lunt

December: Lewis Billington

January: Reece Hutchinson

Analysis

What is the Alex's style? In truth, I don't think they have a style. Some times they seem to really struggle. Like, looking like a relegation outfit type struggles. The first 15 minutes against Barnet. The majority of the game against Fleetwood. 75 minutes against Tranmere. But then when it clicks, like it did at various points, they look very good.

I worried about their goalscoring after going a bit dry in the first few weeks of February, but they responded with 4 goals from their final 2 games. Their defence has been their backbone, with just 4 goals conceded. The big worry remains in midfield, where they only have 4 senior options and none are fully fit. Owen Lunt is out with a back injury, Thomas has been in and out with calf issues, Max Sanders isn't back yet from a hamstring injury and Jack Powell doesn't seem 100% either.

Still, they are winning games by any means necessary, even if the performances aren't always beautiful. You have to tip your hat to the manager, who has juggled a tired and depleted group really well. He should get a manager of the month nod for sure.

Looking Ahead

My Previous Predictions:

August: 2-2-2(Actual: 4-0-2)

September: 1-2-1(Actual: 1-1-2)

October: 1-2-1(Actual: 2-0-2)

November: 1-1-2(Actual: 1-2-1)

December: 2-1-2(Actual: 1-2-2) January: 3-2-2(Actual 3-2-1)

February: 2-2-2(Actual 4-1-1)

The Alex surpassed my expectations and then some on the road by taking 7 points from Barnet, Crawley and Swindon, which was way beyond what I had hoped. The Fleetwood defeat was disappointing, but winning the 2 other home games made up for that.

February Predictions:

Optimistic Prediction: 3-1-1(Beat Cheltenham, Shrewsbury & Oldham, draw with Walsall, lose to Bristol Rovers)

Pessimistic Prediction: 1-2-2(Beat Oldham, draw with Walsall and Shrewsbury, lose to Cheltenham and Bristol Rovers)

Realistic(My) Prediction: 1-3-1(Take 4 points from Walsall and Oldham, draw with Cheltenham and Shrewsbury, lose to Bristol Rovers)

Final Word

March is a strange month for the Alex. They only have 5 games, but all are tricky in their own ways. You could argue they could go 5-0-0 if things break right for them. Or they could fail to win a single one. A good run will put them in a strong position come Easter and their final 5 games to make the play-offs. A bad run will probably kill their promotion hopes for good. Let's hope for the former.