Bell has to let Murphy leave
ONE former Burton Albion player has told another that his time is up in a summer of change for relegated Crewe Alexandra.
Popular former Brewers midfielder Lee Bell is the new assistant manager, under Alex Morris, at Crewe.
And he has had to tell former Albion loanee and fellow midfielder Luke Murphy that he will be leaving the club.
Bell was with Burton from 20122015 after two loan spells earlier in his career, while Murphy had loan spells with the Brewers from Leeds United during both of their Championship seasons.
Both began their careers with Crewe and Bell returned to the club to join the coaching staff when he retired from playing in 2015.
He and Morris were appointed as the management team when David Artell left following Crewe’s relegation.
Murphy was one of eight players released as Morris and Bell rebuild the squad for next season. He had played 272 games in two spells with the club.
“It was really tough. I had a good chat with Luke,” said Bell.
“I must say he was brilliant. He understands the reasons. He was very professional.
“He has been unbelievable for this club, both on and off the pitch. You won’t come across a nicer fella.
“I just hope he goes on to get another club now and plays for a few more years, which I know he wants to do.”
Murphy moved from Crewe to Leeds for £1m in 2013, making more than 100 appearances for them in the Championship as well as his loans with Burton.
He then had two years with Bolton Wanderers before returning to Crewe and played against Burton
several times – it was always evident that he remained popular with former Brewers team-mates.
Murphy joins Will Jaaskelainen, Chris Porter, Scott Kashket, Tyreece Onyeka, Joe Robbins, Nathan Woodthorpe and Sam Booth in leaving the club.
Morris and Bell had four games in charge at the end of the season, with Crewe’s relegation already confirmed, and took four points from them, ending a run of eight straight defeats.
“It is a fresh start,” said Bell.
“It is the old cliche, isn’t it, but it really was because I saw some slightly different things in players that weren’t really getting any game time, which I think is going to be a benefit to us.
“I will be honest with players, I will be there with them all the way
“I think the most important thing is that they get honesty from you and they know exactly where they stand.
“So, when it comes to telling them where they need to improve and they have to do X, Y and Z, they will take that information in and, hopefully, that will transport on to the pitch.”