Baudet’s sights on safety zone

CREWE Alexandra, Athletic’s opponents at Boundary Park on Easter Monday, are on the verge of pulling off one of football’s great escapes.

If the Railwaymen successfully stave off the threat of relegation, it will probably be an even greater achievement than Athletic’s dramatic ending to the 1992/93 season when they won their last three matches to stay in the Premiership.

Former Athletic central defender Julian Baudet, the Crewe captain, has been explaining how Alex have turned around their campaign under Icelandic manager Gudjon Thordarson.

When Thordarson was appointed two days before the end of last year, relegation appeared a certainty as Crewe had collected 16 points from 23 matches and were seven points adrift of safety.

But Thordarson has inspired Crewe to collect 28 points from their last 18 league games.

“There was a time when we were bottom, 12 points away from safety and looking dead and buried,” said Baudet. “But since Gudjon arrived our fortunes have changed for the better.

“He has a totally different approach to Steve Holland and Dario Gradi, who were in charge before him.

“We have some good players and it has been a case of finding the right balance between having discipline and being able to express ourselves on the pitch.”

Crewe strung together a run of five wins from six matches to climb out of the bottom four and they remain two points clear of the drop zone, despite not winning in their last five games.

Baudet does not attach too much significance to this recent run.

He said: “We had our left-back sent off against Leeds after eight minutes and only lost 3-2.

“We went down 1-0 to Millwall to a goal in the dying minutes and drew 2-2 at MK Dons, another of the promotion-chasing teams.

“We were involved in a goalless draw last Saturday at Swindon where we had enough chances to have won the game and these games showed the fine line between success and failure.”

Baudet believes Crewe, who entertain Hartlepool tomorrow, need six points from their remaining five games to guarantee safety.

“The job is far from done and it would be sad if we let things slip and get drawn back into the relegation zone,” he added.

Baudet is one of three former Athletic players at Crewe, where he lines up alongside Calvin Zola and Steven Schumacher.

Zola, despite struggling with injuries, has five goals, but top scorer is Tom Pope, a player captured from Midlands Alliance team Biddulph Victoria. He has hit the target 10 times.

Baudet is looking forward to returning to Boundary Park.

He said: “Since I have been at Crewe, we have played Oldham six times and, remarkably, I haven’t featured in any of those games through injury and suspension.

“I am fit and well this time and looking forward to playing as Oldham is where I started my career in English football and I had a fantastic time playing for the club.

“The fans were always great to me and the club will always have a special place in my heart.”


MONDAY’S FIXTURES
Cheltenham v Yeovil, Colchester v Brighton, Hartlepool v Scunthorpe, Huddersfield v Carlisle, Leicester v Leeds (12.15pm), Millwall v Peterborough, MK Dons v Bristol Rovers, Northampton v Southend, Athletic v Crewe, Stockport v Walsall, Swindon v Leyton Orient, Tranmere v Hereford (7.45pm).