Cod Almighty | Article

by Tony Rogers

2 September 2002

Ask the average Town fan who makes the midfield tick, and nine times out of ten they'll plump for Alan Pouton. Pouton with his gangly legs snaking in to nick the ball away. Pouton with his stylish passes. Pouton with his powerful surges forward from midfield. Pouton bewitching defences with his stepovers and flicks, Pouton with his rasping shooting.

If you overlook all the times Pouton makes mistakes - the times when he misses his tackles, the times when the passes go astray, the times his runs are halted by an easy tackle, the times when another stepover is exhibited without a player around him, Pouton with his God-given ability to put his shots out for throw-ins - sure.

Pouton's consistent games are one in four, maybe touching on three. Stacy Coldicott, by contrast, is steady. Occasionally he has the odd bad game; mostly they are unspectacular performances; and once in a while he's out of this world. But you are assured that you will get the job done by Coldicott.

He is selfless. He is tireless. He is tigerish.

But to portray Coldicott as just a grafter is a slur on the little man. Devoid of skill?

Coldicott might hold back on occasion to protect the Town back line, but his reading of the game is a skill that Pouton is yet to master. Need someone to get stuck in? Stacy's your man.

Crowd-pleasing tricks and fanciful passes with the outside of his boot are not Coldicott's forte, but do they need to be? He plays it simple, he plays the ball - he plays it if he has possession, he plays it if he doesn't have it.

And going forward - the rare times he does saunter forward - he can do a job. Ticking passes back and forth, pinging his way upfield - it does happen. And to a greater degree than you'd expect from the Geordie admired by the Blundell Park faithful. Coldicott's neat passing, while not destructive eye-of-the-needle stuff, is precise; and he displays a level of close control that escapes Pouton on occasion.

Not for a second would I suggest that Coldicott can replace Pouton in midfield - the way the two bounce off each other creates a mutual dynamism. Coldicott is willing to cover as Pouton runs forward, as others surge forward, and he's willing to cover up others' mistakes. And in a team that is priceless - games are won, and lost, in midfield.

Maybe when Coldicott places a errant pass the Blundell Park faithful could show the same reverence and acceptance they do for their barnstorming midfield favourite. After all, Stacy's a barn-stormer too - just he bursts into the barns rather than storms out of them like his midfield partner.