Josh March In - Let the Puns Commence

Crewe Alex?! Making a signing in May?! Well, it might feel early, but it's actually more common than you think. They had 3 signed in the summer of 2022 before June, but it's been a while since then, so it's always nice when they get a bit of business done early. It usually helps to settle down the fan base.

Yes, the Alex have got their first signing over the line with the addition of striker Josh March on a 2 year deal. The 28-year old comes in after leaving Harrogate and as with any signing, there are plenty of discussion points around him. So, let's get into them and we'll do it in the standard pros and cons format:

Pros

March will likely be hungry for success. Whether the Alex can provide that remains to be seen, but he's 28 and approaching the last few good years of his career. He's spent the last 6 years in the EFL bouncing around 3 different clubs trying to find a long term home. He's enjoyed one promotion with Forest Green back in 2021-22, but will be likely to want more as he approaches 30 and after spending 2 seasons at a mediocre Harrogate side.

He's coming off the most productive season of his career, where he scored 9 goals and provided 3 assists. Kane Hemmings and Chris Long had 10 combined this season, so the hope is that they've replaced them both in 1 player.

He's a fairly consistent player for durability. In the last 4 seasons, he's appeared 35, 35, 33 and 34 times in the league respectively. His FotMob profile(see left) paints him favourably as an all round striker who can do a bit of everything.

His 9 goals for Harrogate this season look especially decent given the lack of service he worked with, given they had the 2nd fewest goals scored in L2, 6 fewer than the Alex even. Whilst I won't profess to know a lot about his playing style, a watch back of his goal highlights from this season show goals scored from 1 on 1s, headers from set pieces. He looks like a player that wants to play on the shoulder of the last man and even has some stunners in his locker, if his finishes against Accrington and Walsall are anything to go by. There is plenty to like about this signing.

And best of all, he clearly wants to be at the club. He was announced by Harrogate as being in discussions over a new deal, yet he quickly closed those talks down to sign with the Alex. That has to be a positive sign that they have a highly motivated player on their hand and, whisper it quietly, after spending time with FGR, Stevenage and Harrogate, he'll be playing for the biggest club of his career so far.

Cons

There are some detractions. His goal record, 24-25 aside, is fairly ho hum. Only once has he cracked 5 goals in an EFL season. Is he the player that scored 9 goals in 24-25, or closer to the one that struggled to start consistently and only usually hits around 5 goals a season? Also, 23 goals in League Two from 73 starts isn't terrible, but him only starting 73 games in 6 seasons raises questions about why he's not started more games. Whilst appearing in 35-ish games a season is decent, it does suggest that he will likely miss 10 games through injury, which is 2 months. That's not a short space of time.

Then we have certain pictures showing him with fingers in his ears. And him celebrating against Doncaster by shushing his own fans. Does this suggest they have signed another Chris Long, a player that walks around with a chip on his shoulder and feels attacked?

He's coming from clubs where the fans aren't particularly partisan or vocal on social media and whilst Crewe fans are hardly vicious in their criticisms, we've seen players over the last few seasons take issue with criticisms on social media. Should March's performances slip, will we see a similar hard-done-to attitude emerge? Because the Alex need players the fans can get behind, not ones that will get their backs up. Again, this could all be massively wide of the mark, so please don't take it that this is my personal criticism, because he's only just arrived.

Conclusion

So, what to make of this all? Well, all in all, I'm pretty happy with this signing. Yes, his goal record didn't stand out, but then the likes of Bowery, Agyei and Nevitt were hardly impressive either when they joined. He looks very different to the likes of Hemmings and Bogle, a lively player that can operate across the forward line and gives you a threat in behind, a player that can score a wide range of goals and, when he plays, a handful to play against.

I think if you put him alongside Lankester, Tabiner, Holicek and Agius, you've got a reasonable core of players to start really building your attack up around. If he gives you similar production to what he gave in 24-25, then you'll definitely take that. They need another winger/creative player or two for sure, but this looks to be a decent enough start to their summer business in their weakest area.