Cod Almighty | Article
by Simon Wilson
9 November 2004
Clueless. The one word that immediately spring to mind when describing referee Nigel Miller's handling of Saturday's derby at Scunthorpe. In a game that started as a battling and heated affair, the referee's ability to show no semblance of balance and consistency in his decisions between the two teams saw the temperature rise - in the heads of those aligned to Town, at least - with the visitors' exasperation leading to two bookings clearly dished out to silence their questioning of the official's actions.
After the break an eagerly anticipated fixture was reduced to a disappointingly muddling, tepid affair, with only the home team's goal and probable success over their arch-rivals keeping the home fans enthralled. A second viewing of Jon Daly's dismissal confirms the absence of malice, as suspected by those who actually saw it rather than the one person who bowed to the wishes of the baying crowd. The referee's interference during the first 45 minutes induced a meekness in Town's second-half performance that wiped out any prospect of a fightback - how can you fight back if you're punished for matching your opponents? Not that the referee was alone when it came to blame.
Clueless. A word that is just as apt when it comes to describing Town's contribution to the game - and not for the first time in recent fixtures. For the second successive away match, Russell Slade had found the performance of referee a convenient smokescreen to his team's increasing limitations. After surprisingly halting Town's pathetic away record by picking up six points against a poor Cambridge and in a doggedly determined performance at Northampton, the points dropped at Shrewsbury (quite literally by Anthony Williams) have proven to be a sign of what was to return on the road. While Town fans endured the misery at Glanford Park, beleaguered by the referee's inability to allow their team to compete, well after the game many will then have reflected on their own team's shortcomings. Shortcomings that have also been obvious at Blundell Park.
If, at the start of the season, you'd have been told that going into the derby Town would be the team in the bottom half and Scunthorpe were fighting to stay on top of the table, you'd wouldn't have taken it seriously. The Iron didn't show fully why they are where they are, but did display resilience and doggedness, little football, but a quick-wittedness in taking two contrasting positions to gain advantage. The two goals aside, though - unarguably handed to them by Town - Scunthorpe created only two other chances, with a Hayes header straight at Williams and substitute Cleveland Taylor's late strike across the Town goalie, who parried low for a corner. Contrastingly, Town gave a full illustration as to why they currently lie 19th.
On paper the squad should be in a higher position than they are. Worryingly, this was exactly the case in the previous two seasons as well. After another summer of promising recruitment, the team is misfiring and ill-directed, and this season continues its slide into the murky depths of nothingness. To their credit, at home Town have a solidity at the back, helped no doubt by the pleasantly unexpected arrivals of Dean Gordon and Terrell Forbes: two players who have experience and talent above the bottom rung of the Football League. John McDermott, after several seasons of injuries and a feeling that he was on the wane, is enjoying a fine Indian summer in a role well suited to his natural game, while Jason Crowe is also revelling on the opposite flank.
What Town - and to that extent Slade - haven't done is fully exploit their strength at the back as a chance to go forward. Town's have barely scored more than they have conceded. Despite recording only one home defeat - and recently eking out draws against two high-flying teams in Bristol Rovers and Swansea - there are too many draws, too many dropped points, with the team's lack of ruthlessness and inability to convert home advantage exposed. Unfortunately, on their travels the Mariners concede far more goals, generally through their own inadequacies rather than the opponents' strengths. Scunthorpe's second goal summarised this: a moment of pure slapstick that wasn't far off the Three Stooges in their prime - a poke in the eye and a slap in the face. Combine that with the lack of goals scored and the league position explains itself.
In fairness to Slade, he was coming into this season openly admitting that he was still looking for another more physical forward to add to his options. These 'last pieces in the puzzle' have struggled to impress, though, when given the chance. Remember Chris Williams and Paul Robinson? Both were given one start each. Such were Slade's seemingly exasperated remarks during his search, it seemed once he was offered one player, any player, he grabbed whatever was being offered.
His continual drafting in of forwards from Stockport suggests he's either best mates with Sammy McIlroy or Slade once saw a decent forward playing for the Hatters' reserves and just can't quite remember his name. One by one he'll keep loaning them in until he finds the one. Colin Cramb's recruitment appeared to bring an end to the hunt for a 'traditional' forward but, having awarded the player only a month-to-month contract, it seems Slade is having a flutter on a doubtful outside bet. While his appearances haven't been the most convincing, the big Scotsman has still netted twice in seven appearances - a better ratio than those of the more vaunted summer arrivals.
Slade wooed us by declaring Michael Reddy the fastest player in the division, but the former Sunderland man has shown little of this searing pace nor the kind of sharpness expected of a killer frontman. Ashley Sestanovich, after such a bright start, continues to frustrate and shows his undoubted talent only fleetingly, unable to exploit and harness his skills to do the obvious when needed. Andy Parkinson flits in and out of games, playing like a winger who thinks he's best used up front but impresses in neither position. Usually there's no end product, and that's on the rare occasions when he actually receives a pass or is able to run on to one of those maddening big punts upfield.
This hoofing has become habitual and it is difficult to justify it. When the team passes the ball about, regardless of the opposition, it is obvious that more chances appear to be created. A fan is more likely to react enthusiastically if a couple of passes followed by a through ball fail to come off than when a ball is launched straight onto the head of an opposing defender to effortlessly knock away.
It is no coincidence that Thomas Pinault's absence from the team is when they are at their most long-ball happy. Pinault is one of the few players in the squad who can consistently steer passes along the floor (and to their intended target) rather than lumping it long, but is currently having to make do with a place on the bench. Recent games have seen Slade draft in Stacy Coldicott, ostensibly to bring further mettle alongside Terry Fleming in the centre of midfield. Yet, earlier in the season, when Town confronted teams that promised to be just as spiky - such as Bury, Rochdale, and (most obviously) Mansfield - Slade was more than happy to employ the Frenchman. Against Bury his presence was obvious as the Mariners romped to a 5-1 win.
Pinault has more of a right to feel aggrieved than Sestanovich when it comes to questioning why he isn't starting games, as he at least was contributing more than just a shrug and an amble to the team. Or is Coldicott's inclusion down to the matter of him being one of the few players on a contract granted under a previous managerial regime and presumably higher wages which need to be justified at this level?
Coldicott's most notable contribution to Saturday's game was an unconvincing and desperate dive (an increasingly annoying aspect to Town's play when all other ideas fail), which warranted the only correct booking of the afternoon from referee Miller. Pete Green has argued that by removing Pinault, Slade is lowering Town to the non-footballing level of most of the teams in this division. In terms of league position, we are currently even lower than the majority. But the manager has to take responsibility. He dictates which players play, and how they approach the game. Yes, this is a call for Slade to dispense with "all that long ball to Parkinson nonsense" but it is also a call for everyone associated with the club to realise this is all adding up to a sense of missed opportunity.
With the number of the squad on one-year deals - loans or 'permanent' contracts - Town aren't taking full advantage of the talent available to them for this season, while wildly ignoring the future beyond next summer. But by then most of the current squad will have gone, able to pick up a pay cheque elsewhere, probably indifferent to the missed potential of this year's Grimsby team. Of course, it isn't too late to turn that around. While it is seven points to the second relegation spot, it is also only five points to the play-off berths.
On Saturday, Town faced the top-of-the-table team, who were on their own patch and below par. The defeat saw them come away battered and bruised with their limitations in full view. This Saturday Town take a flight down to the south coast for a very tricky first-round FA Cup tie with Exeter. An away game devoid of the pressures of the league might be just want Town need at this moment in time, a chance for Slade and his players to regroup; to take stock of themselves. If they don't... we Town fans will be looking back on yet another season of disappointment. And over our shoulders at the relegation places in no time.