Cod Almighty | Article

by Various

1 July 2004

Pacy Jase. The man is like a food processor, with two speeds: on and off. If only he had the consistency to chop things down, sorry, up like the Moulinex in my kitchen.

He used to play for Arsenal once upon a time, you know, a career that amounts to three substitute appearances. Can you imagine being sent off seconds into your debut? Our Jase doesn't have to imagine it – he did it against Birmingham in October 1997. The Arse connection, the fling with first-team duty – they're the sort of things the man could dine out on. Since he's now playing for Grimsby, an honest day's – or even an honest 90 minutes' - toil should amount to the odd free bag of chips with scraps if he bumps into a suitably gracious and humble fan at the Seaway every once in a while.

Waffley versatile, he played right across the back line and midfield for Town in his first season (2003-04), proving quite a capable emergency central midfielder when placed there and surprisingly effective when employed in the middle of defence. But it is from the flanks that Crowe's strengths are best utilised – his speed, his moderate tackling, his erratic crossing, his occasional spot of the through ball, and those times he 'cuts loose' to get into the box.

Crowe seems a bit wayward and indisciplined to be a full-back (not that this stopped Galli) but lacks the conventional trickery to be a winger. Russell Slade's requirement for those wing-back things should fit Crowe's neither-here-nor-there approach to the game quite well. He's making the most of his early season from those positions, bursting through - like a hose pipe that is suddenly switched on - whenever he gets the chance. He has the occasional game where his absence is notable, despite apparently still being on the pitch, but he has ability. He needs some consistency. Maybe he'll profit from playing in a settled position for a stretch of the season. 

If it wasn't for his woeful shooting we might as well have given him a go as a striker, one of just two positions he hasn't tried for Town. Still, he's under contract until the end of the season. If this campaign peters out into nothingness (which would be a pleasant, if dull, change), we can at least stick him in between the sticks for a couple of minutes.