The FA have confirmed that Crewe Alexandra Manager David Artell has received a touchline suspension for one match.
Artell was shown a yellow card during Saturday’s impressive 1-0 win at MK Dons. It was his fourth yellow card of the season and therefore automatically triggered the suspension under new rules introduced for technical areas.
The Crewe boss will now be absent from the dug-out for the visit of play-off chasing Colchester United to Gresty Road on Saturday.
The Alex boss received the caution for his reaction to a late challenge on James Jones by Kieran Agard which has left the talented midfielder with a suspected cracked bone in his fibula.
Explaining what happened via the club’s website Artell said what angered him was the official’s refusal to stop play after the challenge, telling Artell the injury wasn’t serious enough for the referee to blow his whistle. He said “I was just annoyed by the tackle and made my feelings known to the fourth official because it was a serious one. I don’t think the fourth official liked to be proved wrong and I know I have to bite my tongue and not say anything even though they are wrong. I will just let them kid themselves on that a tackle like that, and an injury like that one is not a serious one.”
“It was serious; all the players on the pitch and the coaches saw it, and the game should have been stopped.”
He also admitted he must learn from the incident in his future conduct but believed his absence from the touchline would not hurt his team’s performance. “I don’t think it will affect the players too much. It is no big deal because I spend the first half in the director’s box anyway. I did that at MK Dons on Saturday, and when I did come down in the second half I was at the back of the technical area for most of it, and Kenny (Lunt) did much of the instructions. It is good for the lads to hear another voice.”
One defeat in their last six games has seen Crewe quietly move up the table. Speaking to Cheshire Live after the win on Saturday, Artell believed things were slowly starting to improve for the Railwaymen. “We are heading in the right direction, we haven’t cracked it, but I am a proud man. We have a squad of players who gave their all for the club and got three points.”
“The mentality is changing; you can see that realisation. The tone or content from me hasn’t changed, but know they realise maybe I was right and they are delivering.”
Our View
Artell is undoubtedly a passionate manager, but some have questioned his ability. His Crewe sides were often easy on the eye but looked naive at the same time. Their recent good run is a credit to Artell and the board at Crewe who stuck by him when many might have pulled the trigger. He is right to say they have a long way to go but wins at MK Dons and beating Lincoln City quite easily at home over Christmas appear to suggest they are on the right track.
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