TM – an interesting question and I agree with your analysis, with cause and effect added. The impact of Antwi and Martin at the back has had the effect of boosting confidence throughout the team. The fuller squad has given Coley the option of dropping those not contributing to the cause – I suspect that the debacle at Rochdale will be the last we’ll see of Rogers in a Stanley shirt, ditto Mangan’s actions at Hartlepool – and has, in theory, added some much-needed competition for shirts. And though we know that Coley has been ultra-loyal down the years (too much so at times, for some) it’s in situations such as these that loyalty comes into its own.
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Antwi has been excellent at the back, though I wouldn’t go as far as saying he’s one of the most promising defenders in English football. But he has what we’ve lacked all season at the back: physical presence, positional solidity and the ability to hold up strikers without diving in. Ominously, it seems clear that we need at least one player at the back with Antwi’s qualities if we are to move on next season (assuming we survive, as I now expect us to). Where he’s going to come from is anyone’s guess, but it’s my bet that we’ll be using our connections at Anfield for help with this one. Relying on loanees is a perilous business, but is part and parcel these days, even at the higher levels (cf. Foster at Watford). And it really is imperative that we move on. Allowing a culture of hand-to-mouth struggling at the bottom of Div 4 to take hold at the club will lead to one thing only – the Conference.
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I’m also wondering about the impact of Cavanagh’s return, which has also coincided with our revival. Sure, the lad is a little short of what is required in the 4th division, and an ideal world would see Cav as a squad member covering for a bigger and quicker right-back, but that canny free-kick against Torquay could turn out to be the moment that the team really started to believe that – with the new-look defence and with what was then a rare three points in the bag – the escape was on. Cav isn’t the most vocal of captains on the pitch, but I suspect that his influence is felt all the same, maybe because of his status as one of Coley’s most trusted lieutenants.
Rommy’s return to full fitness has also been important. He’s finally firing on all cylinders, and though he still misses Craney and has not been nearly as effective since IC left, he has begun again to add that bit of pace and thrust to the midfield that neither Proctor or Grant possess. And he now has easily the best hair-do in the team. How to make the most of Rommy’s attacking abilities is a crucial issue for Coley to sort out next season.
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Ultimately, TM, the answer to your question might be about receiving in return that bit of luck that deserted us for a while. Rochdale and Boston apart, we’ve played okay away from home this calendar year and often managed to shackle the home side, only for a dubious decision to undo all the good work. Yesterday we had all the luck. We were frankly awful in the first-half, but went in 2-1 up against ten men, and even then they hit the bar just before the break. A Grimsby equaliser then would have made it a different game. In the second-half, we laboured to finish them off and were helped by a referee that I would have put down as a blatant ‘homer’ if I had been a visiting fan. Still, we were owed those decisions.
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As you say, it’s been an extraordinarily difficult few months and the lads have done well to fight back into a position where we need just another point or two for safety. Can Coley build on this to achieve more at the Crown? He’s a tremendous character and a talented motivator, but ultimately it’s about players – and at our level it’s more specifically about extracting improvement via coaching, and perhaps the dynamic duo need more help here than they are receiving at the moment. A coach with a defensive pedigree would be at the top of my shopping list.
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Phil