Friday, October 2, 2009

Thordarson sacked as Crewe boss

Gudjon Thordarson
Gudjon Thordarson was appointed as Crewe boss on Christmas Eve 2008

Crewe Alexandra have sacked manager Gudjon Thordarson after only nine months in charge at the club.

The decision to part with the former Stoke City boss, 54, comes in the wake of Tuesday's 3-2 home defeat by Bury, which left the Alex 15th in League Two.

After relegation from League One under Thordarson in May, Crewe have won only four times in 15 games this term.

Former boss Dario Gradi has taken over as caretaker manager for Saturday's home game with Rotherham United.

Gradi, 68, is the longest serving manager in Crewe's history, having taken charge of over 1200 matches between 1983 and 2007.

He stepped down in May 2007, handing over team selection responsibilities to first-team coach Steve Holland.

But Holland lasted just 16 months before leaving his position in November 2008, following which Gradi resumed caretaker control until Thordarson took charge in early January.

Crewe chairman John Bowler has told BBC Radio Stoke that the club are in no rush to appoint a successor to Thordarson.

"We have ambitions of getting back into League One as soon as possible," said Bowler. "The recent run of results has not been good and changes had to be made as soon as possible.

"We're very fortunate to have a safe pair of hands in Dario Gradi, but he won't be here forever.

"We need to seriously look at a longer-term successor. It's important that in the same way you develop young players, you need to develop young coaches and managers."

Former Stoke City, Barnsley and Notts County manager Thordarson took over at the Alexandra Stadium in December 2008.

The Icelander helped the Alex win eight of their first 13 league matches under his control, helping him to pick up the manager of the month award for February.

However, a run of 10 games without a win followed, which saw Crewe relegated back to the Football League basement for the first time since 1994.

And, this season, the Alex have been unable to build on a positive start to the campaign.

They have gone out of both cup competitions and have lost their last four league games, a run which ultimately cost Thordarson his job.

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