I was friendly to Steven Gerrard and feared we would need four ambulances
LEE BELL has recalled the day he thought Crewe Alexandra would need FOUR ambulances on standby because of an angry Steven Gerrard.
The Railwaymen boss was in the team for a pre-season friendly at Gresty Road against Liverpool, while Gerrard received dog abuse for flirting with a move away from Anfield.
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He said: “It was rumored that Gerrard would leave not long after Rafa Benitez came as manager.
“Stevie G had a face like thunder on him and he was going around like a chainsaw – cutting people down and in a bad mood. I thought, ‘How can this guy not be in Rafa’s plans?’
“I thought we’d need four ambulances that day!”
But he is finding success at Crewe by placing himself in the PlayStation 5 era.
Even though you have the third LOWEST budget in League Two, the Railwaymen host Morecambe on Saturday and sit third in the table.
And anyone who says you can’t win anything with children should tell it to the Crewe boss, who is challenging his young team for promotion.
The 41-year-old former Crewe, Burton, Mansfield and Macclesfield midfielder says the key to his early managerial success was his ability to put himself into the young man’s world.
He told SunSport: “I still play the Master System and have to ask my 14-year-old son to fix the TV and WiFi when it breaks.
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“Neil Baker, who was an assistant here for many years, once said to me, ‘You have to get into their world, not them into yours.’
‘He said, ‘You had a different upbringing than they did. Look at your son, he doesn’t live in a council house like you and he sees his father all the time.’
“So it’s important to do a lot of listening and understanding – finding out how they are doing, what family they have, what needs they have.
“You want to create a good group, so you have to get to know the dynamics of the individuals.
“I sound old-fashioned, but when you look at football boots now you think, ‘Wow, they’re different than I remember.’
“But my son Noah, who is at our academy, plays his music in the car while I drive. So if one of our players puts on a song in the locker room, I can comment on it.
“It’s a small example of how you get into their world, instead of forcing them into yours.”
Bell has quickly built a reputation as one of the brightest young coaches in the EFL.
His love affair with the Railway Men goes back to the time when he started as a youth player at the age of twelve and went on to make 148 appearances in two spells.
Bell was in a Crewe team that included Dean Ashton, Rob Hulse, David Vaughan, Dave Brammer and club legend Kenny Lunt.
The Alex boss laughed: “The day before I made my debut, manager Dario Gradi said to me during shooting training: ‘If you hit the target, you will be in the squad tomorrow.’ So I put a shot straight at the keeper and I was in action for the last twenty minutes against Northampton!”
But while Bell loved life as a pro, he soon realized he had to string his bow for the day he retired.
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And through current England assistant manager Steve Holland, who was part of the Crewe staff, he started working on his coaching badges.
Bell is passionate about teaching young footballers about the importance of a career for life after playing.
He said: “I believe the support network needs to be better for lower league footballers, especially in their mid-20s.
“When we sign a player and give him a tour of the training ground, I show him our classroom. I say, ‘Use this room, think about what you want to do after playing.’
“We have a few players who are graduating now. For example, Conor Thomas, who is now 30, is doing coaching and a master’s degree.
“There is a group of four or five boys who are going to get their UEFA B license at the club.
“Some footballers retire in their early thirties and don’t know what to do with their lives. We must do more to tackle this problem.
“Footballers are largely working class, so the people I played with or against ended up in the construction industry.
‘If I hadn’t become a coach, I would have done bricklaying or something like that.
“But there is so much room for players to continue in football – with the experience they have. It doesn’t necessarily have to be at a club, it could be working for the PFA or another organisation.
It’s a win-win situation for everyone: we get good young talent and top clubs introduce their players to competitive league football.
Lee Bell
“You also have to look at the mental health of footballers who retire because they have families.
“The divorce rate is so high among ex-footballers.
It is the largest of all sectors: about 60 percent of marriages fail after retirement.
“Unless you’ve done it, it’s hard to explain what it’s like to be around a group of people every day and get paid to do something you love, and then suddenly stop, as it did for me because an injury.
“Luckily at the age of 24 I realized you don’t make life-changing money outside the top divisions, you have short-term contracts of one or two years, so I started with my coaching badges.”
Crewe has had an excellent reputation for developing young talent for decades – which is why Premier League and Championship clubs are happy to loan some of their own to learn the trade at the Mornflake Stadium.
Bell’s children include 20-year-old Liverpool goalkeeper Harvey Davies, the fantastically named Brighton defender Ed Turns, 21, and Huddersfield midfielder Josh Austerfield, 22.
And Alex’s boss said: “The minutes that loan players are getting here are excellent.
“At the end of the day, Liverpool, Brighton and Huddersfield have given us players, not because they care about Crewe, but because their players are going to develop. They want to know what we do for them.
“Because we play them, we get that confidence. Brighton gave us James Beadle last season and now they’ve given us Ed. It’s a win-win situation for everyone: we get good young talent and they introduce their players to competitive football.”
Bell has been a coach for nine years now. He worked with under-18s and under-23s before becoming assistant boss and then manager in November 2022.
He said: “I am ambitious and want the club to progress. I want to achieve something and for my career as a manager to be better than my playing career.”