Crewe Alex: Welcome Danny

On Friday, Crewe Alexandra announced the signing of experienced centre midfielder, Danny Hollands. Hollands put pen to paper with ‘The Railwaymen’ on an initial 5 month contract with the option of a possible extension in January. The main reason the centre midfielder only agreed on 5 months is that before joining ‘The Alex’ he had only played as far north as Charlton permanently.

Despite the fact Danny Hollands hasn’t been involved in preseason with any club after leaving Portsmouth in the summer, I still believe he can be a great addition to the squad. The signing of 30 year old Hollands adds to the ever growing experience inside the Crewe Alexandra camp. Davis brought in Lowe, Dagnall, Bakayogo and now Hollands who can all act as lieutenants and leaders for the younger members of the squad. They have a mean age of 32 compared to the rest of the squads average age of 21.

Like Zoumana (Bakayogo), Ryan (Lowe), and Chris (Dagnall), Danny Hollands brings in a lot of experience himself, having notched up exactly 370 appearances in his career thus far. And those 370 appearances have been predominantly in higher divisions than league 2. With Danny’s ability to be a sustained and well thought of holding midfielder in the higher divisions he will be a brilliant recruit for ‘The Railwaymen’, providing he can catch up with the fitness he may be lacking due to lack of preseason training and preparation. I am sure he will be able to catch up with the squad, due to his professionalism and his passion for the beautiful game. However another factor which may affect his success at Crewe, is the huge change of location compared to what he has been through in his career. A career which has predominantly been based in Southern England. To put the move into perspective, Gresty Road is 191 miles away from The Valley (Charlton Athletics ground), which was as far north as he’d been previous to the most recent move.

Danny Hollands very much fits the bill of ‘The Illusive Midfielder’, which has been promised to Alex fans since the departures of Luke Murphy, Ashley Westwood and Nick Powell, and hadn’t arrived pre-Hollands. Many supporters of Crewe Alexandra thinking the lack of ability in midfield, not being able to launch enough attacks, not having a ‘rock’ in front of the back four, being the reason for lack of success and even the relegation. But with a new look squad, a strike force at the Alex permanently and the illusive midfielder, no longer illusive – many of the Alex supporters have renewed optimism and faith in the side.

Going back to the fact he has tallied up an impressive 370 appearances in his career, and obviously knows the game well, he should be an important member of this Crewe Alexandra team. He played 52% of his total career matches down on the south coast at AFC Bournemouth, who are otherwise known by their nickname ‘The Cherries’, scoring 77% of his 31 career goals during his time there. 31 in 370 isn’t the best games to goal ratio, scoring one goal in every twelve games, however that record isn’t as bad as it sounds considering Hollands role as a holding/defensive midfield general. He should have a better defensive record than offensive – and that defensive ability will help the Alex greatly this season, despite our back four appearing solid in the first few matches of the campaign.

Hollands made his first appearance in Crewe Alexandra colours on Saturday (20/08/2016), coming off the bench in the 1-1 draw with Newport County, however he is yet to start a game for the Alex – but joining just five days ago, that is understandable. Hopefully we will see him in action at Ewood Park tonight in the EFL cup round 2 match with Blackburn Rovers, in which the Alex will be hoping to cause another cup upset.