Gareth had two spells at the Alex. His first spell was back in 1992 where he spent 6 years with the Alex and was part of the last promotion winning team. After a 4 year period at Bradford he was released after major finance problems at Bradford and so Gareth came to the Alex for a few months towards the end of last season, before he signed for Cardiff in the summer of 2002. Whalley is expected to start tomorrows game after Cardiff manager Lennie Lawrence said he wanted everyone on their game, and with Whalley missing out on the previous 3 months of the season he will need a game.
"The set-up at Crewe is light years ahead of many first division clubs, let alone second," the 29-year-old told the Western Mail.
"Crewe haven't got the financial backing that Cardiff have, but they do have a great training ground and great facilities.
"I'm not surprised they've gone up. Most of the players there have come through the youth system and they know the way Dario wants them to play.
"Before the season started I felt Wigan, Crewe and ourselves would be challenging for a place in the top two and that's how it turned out, people who have experienced his coaching courses rate Dario as one of the best coaches around.
"I don't think there's another manager out there who coaches like Dario or who knows as much about football as he does."