It's no surprise to me that the original works amazing as well, but maybe you just don't have the squad for Mr Hough tweak. Also if you have a few new players it's no surprise when form comes mid season after players gel.
I've used Locksmith original and Abomination_V3 (which is the same formation and what Locksmith original is based on) with great success as well, I'd say about the same success as Mr Hough tweak overall. Sounds like you had 1 amazing striker and 1 amazing AMC, obviously playing them to their strengths is going to be a lot better than trying to play a 3 striker formation with no AMC. There's no question about Mr Hough tweaks qualities, there's tons of proof of that in this thread and it also was top of the tactic testing thread for ages until that "Unreal (defense)" took over. But Locksmith original is also great, as I've said before very early in this thread.
If you enjoy Locksmith original and have the players for it I suggest also trying Abomination_V3 as a rotation. I personally swap between the two several times within the same match just to keep the opposition confused when I use them. It's here if you wanna have a look:
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/shar...cs/159376-almighty-weirdo-57.html#post2130088 (post #564 has a link to it).
When I started with Crewe I obviously brought in what ever free transfers and loans I could to fit Mr Hough tweak, as that was the tactic I was gonna test. Several quick strikers on free/loan, defenders good in the air, DMC the same and creative hard working MC players (all relative to the league ofc, it's not possible to get really good ones with Crewe first season).
If I was gonna test Locksmith (and Abomination V3) I would have brought in just a couple of strikers, a very creative AMC, a goal scoring MR (this position is amazing if you have a goal scorer here, CR7 is a God in this position), and a very offensive DL (second most important role in the formation imo).
Anyways, great job on changing your formation to fit your team mid season when things weren't working for you. It's the way the game should be played.