Cod Almighty | Article

by Alistair Wilkinson

5 May 2025

As the dust settles upon a year of living less dangerously Al Wilkinson eschews the snooker and a trip around Pennell's for some perennials to complete an annual report for Artell's first full season. And he likes what he sees, mostly.

The worst thing about the defeat to Wimbledon is the failure to secure that play-off spot that so many of us had convinced ourselves we were going to get, and the best is that this is the first season in the Football League in the last 20 years that I've not wanted to end. Seeing Danny Rose sit down at the end felt more like plain old disappointment than the depths of despair, and he was soon on his feet again, making Dave Moore's lovely little send off when the players re-emerged a pleasing way to seal the final goodbye.

Lots to smile about, very little to complain about and, to fall back on clichés, the table doesn't lie - and neither does goal difference! We weren't good enough this year. One win in six and none in the last five show that. We couldn't consistently convert chances, couldn't concentrate fully at the back and, in the end, we just ran out of legs. Saturday's game was our season in microcosm. Perhaps a 2-1 defeat rather than a 1-0 would've been more pertinent; chances have come this season, and goals too. We've had some great moments.

I was speaking to a Pontoon pal even before the end of the game about a feeling of reluctance to leave at the final whistle. A pre-emptive nostalgia for what has been a remarkable season. In the last 20 years, we both said, we've been desperate for an end, desperate for the season to be buried, put out of its misery, like a patient that's been on life support not just for weeks but months, wretchedly bleeping its refusal to die, and forcing even its closest, most loving relations to insist that it's time to switch that machine off.

So, coming to a more dignified end is a pleasant removal from years of morbid reflection as we pick over that year's corpse. This year, there is no death (don't say "yet"), just a body in need of rest and rejuvenation. There will be exits, the likes of Wilson, Pike and Ainley will, I assume, be gone. The best ability is availability is the cliché de rigeur, and the first two have failed massively in that. Wilson, in particular, has been a frustration. He is a player on whose hill I have offered to die (there's a striker in there somewhere!) but he can’t prove me right or wrong given how little time he's been out there. As for Pike, well, if ever there was a player to symbolise some of Hurst's seemingly random transfer activities, it's him. The swap of Orsi for the lesser-spotted-striker-cum-winger-cum-wing-back will be a tale we can laugh about in the future but still seethe over right now.

Ainley is, perhaps, the most disappointing. I felt that at the end of last season he had been a brighter spark than most and was looking forward to him making his mark on Artell's new team, a midfielder with an eye for a forward pass and the ability to get into the box. I had assumed he would be doing what Green has done, but it's the latter who's been one of this season's sparks. I've already written a glowing review of his and others' contributions this season in my diary last Friday, so I won't go over it again here. It's enough to say that he and the other sparks have ignited many memories this season that will burn long in our imaginations.

Hume and Eastwood are also out of contract. The former is definitely someone we'd like to re-sign, the latter not so much, but his improvement is still clear. Perhaps he's finally ready to be a number one and has certainly looked more comfortable than Wright. The former Lincoln man, while being an excellent shot-stopper, has struggled for consistency and confidence. The goalkeeper position is another example of those bizarre transfer plans of Hurst. Just how hard did we try to keep hold of Crocombe and was it the availability of Eastwood that meant we let him go? Seems like a crazy choice now.

The annual loan review is only barely more positive than our trio of dissatisfaction as availability again sticks its thumb in our eye. Barrington, Luker and Obikwu will return to parent clubs, perhaps feeling that this hasn't been the breakthrough they wanted; either because of injury or a lack of effectiveness, this trio have not been what we hoped they would be.

Luker can and will be pleased with the half-dozen or so good performances and goals, but he's still looking for his most effective position and how to affect games consistently. Ditto Barrington. We had higher hopes for him in these last few games after his cracker against Morecombe in what turned out to be our final win of the season, but as so often happens with these young academy players, he couldn't push on. Their talent is clear and they obviously have a future in the game; we may see the pair of them move on to other things and develop more quickly because of their time here. Good luck to them if they do, I won't begrudge them any progress they make, and I wouldn't be against a return for either of them.

A fit Obikwu in these last couple of months would have probably made a difference, and it's been his loss that we've felt the most. I hope we get him back next season, and I hope he has that proper breakthrough he's been looking for with us. If he can prove his fitness in pre-season, however, I imagine he will have his sights higher than League Two Grimsby Town. The draw for him this season was Artell's promise and clear evidence of improvement for individual players. Obikwu, Luker, Hume, Warren, Green, Khouri, Svanthorsson have all made huge improvement this time around and that could work again in our favour.

Progress is obvious – individually, for the team and for the club. We are most certainly more attractive than we were this time last year and we will most certainly raise our expectations. Consequently the moments of discontent will be amplified next season. But we already have a half-decent starting 11 under contract and I feel confident that Artell will have a squad that will weather that.

Disappointment not despair. We move on.