The imminent arrival of a permanent successor to Maurice Malpas could not really come at a better time for a side desperately in need of a dose of New Manager Syndrome (NMS).

The long drawn out saga of who will actually take the helm is expected to be concluded this week and whoever breezes in on the arm of Town chief Andrew Fitton will hopefully inject that almost magical quality that sees an immediate upturn in results.

Swindon need it after failing to arrest their eight-game winless run against a Crewe side propping up the rest to leave more than one member of the camp muttering the words 'relegation battle' for the first time this season.

The scientific evidence that NMS actually exists, or for how long it lasts may be inconclusive – if the effects encompass the next three games it would be a good start.

Town are now just one point off a place in the relegation zone and only a failure of fellow strugglers Yeovil (21st) and Brighton (20th) to win over the weekend prevented David Byrne's side from suffering the ignominy of slipping into the bottom four.

Both of those sides arrive at the County Ground before the end of the year and sandwiched in between is a trip to Leyton Orient (18th); a failure to earn a respectable points return will see the words 'relegation battle' being positively screamed rather than merely muttered.

"I don't know what the script is with the new manager," said striker Blair Sturrock, who made his first appearance of the season as a late substitute.

"We can't use it as an excuse, but a new man coming in would probably serve to settle things down. We are right down in amongst it now and we need to find this win that has been eluding us."

Even caretaker manager David Byrne, who has made no secret of the fact that he would like the job on a more permanent basis, admitted that a swift resolution to the managerial situation would serve to 'lift the spirits' of a side currently resembling one suffering from a more negative form of NMS: No Manager Syndrome.

"It was very disappointing," Byrne admitted. "For the first time since I took over from Maurice, I can say we weren't good enough. We need to get real because you only have to look at out position in the table to see we are in a bit of trouble.

"We didn't deserve anything and I hope it acts as a reality check. Unless we improve dramatically we will be in a relegation battle for the rest of the season."

The ironic thing is that Town had managed to negotiate a sticky start where they were almost behind inside three minutes – striker Shaun Miller just failing to connect with a Joel Grant cross to the back post with an empty net gaping – to enjoy much the better of the opening period.

Striker Billy Paynter directed an Anthony McNamee cross into the side-netting before diverting a free header from a Jon-Paul McGovern corner straight into the grateful arms of goalkeeper Stuart Tomlinson as Town dominated the early exchanges.

Tomlinson then pulled off a smart save at his near post to bundle out a vicious low drive by Cox after he was the eventual beneficiary of a mistake by Crewe full-back George Abbey.

The Railwaymen had produced little in the way of attacking prowess up until that point, but managed to punish Town for missed opportunities in first-half stoppage time.

The slick passing move was orchestrated by wideman Grant – the most impressive player on the pitch – who started on the left before drifting out onto the other wing to fashion time and space to fire off a blistering low shot from distance.

Town goalkeeper Phil Smith could only parry the effort away to leave striker Miller the simplest of opportunities to sweep the rebound high into an empty net.

"We looked the most likely to score before that and to concede on the stroke of half-time is always a blow," said Sturrock. "We should have been the positive ones coming out after the break and instead we handed the initiative to them."

Miller's intervention certainly served to shift the balance of power in favour of Dario Gradi's desperate side and they should have doubled their advantage soon after the break when Miller showed expert ball juggling skills to confuse defender Hasney Aljofree and create a one-on-one opportunity.

Phil Smith was quick off his line to extinguish Miller's hopes of grabbing a second goal, but the gradient of Town's uphill task increased when they were reduced to ten men following the sending off of Paynter with just over 20 minutes remaining.

The striker tangled with Crewe skipper Michael O'Connor, in a similar incident - with the same player - to the one that also saw him sent off in the corresponding fixture last season, and his attempt to take the law into his own hands signalled the end of his afternoon.

"Billy got kicked and the referee missed it," said Byrne. "There are still no excuses for what he did. He knows that and it didn't help us."

Or did it? "We did better with 10 than we had done with 11," Byrne observed.

"We managed to keep the ball and move it better. I don't understand why we couldn't do that when we had everyone on the pitch."

The improvement still failed to yield an equaliser and Byrne added: "The performance was poor and the supporters have every right to be peeved. It is now up to me to pick the players up and that is what I will try and do."

Crewe Alexandra (4-4-2): Tomlinson; Brayford, O'Donnell, Lawrence, Abbey; Bopp (Murphy 82), O'Connor, Bailey, Grant; Elding (Donaldson 77), Miller. Subs Not Used: Collis, Pope, Daniel.

Swindon Town (4-4-2): P Smith; J Smith, Aljofree, Ifil, Kennedy; McGovern (Timlin 72), Pook, Peacock (Easton 46), McNamee (Sturrock 72); Paynter, Cox. Subs Not Used: Brezovan, Morrison.