Cobblers FanStand: Leader could be key
Neil Egerton: The transfer window has now shut and with the loan capture of Clarke Carlisle I hope we have signed our very own Superman.
Carlisle is an experienced defender but, more importantly, he is a leader of men - which is exactly what we require.
I would give him the captain’s armband and then sit back and watch while he organises the defence and the rest of the team into a cohesive unit.
Do not underestimate how big of a signing Clarke Carlisle is for Northampton Town, he will be the man to mould our bunch of individuals into a team.
He is a winner and he won’t accept second best from anyone.
With Ben Harding signing a permanent deal on deadline day and the addition of Luke Guttridge last week, the spine of our team suddenly looks strong and full of character.
Providing we can steer clear of injuries to key players, we suddenly look well placed to pull ourselves away from trouble, which may seem a ridiculous statement considering we last won a game of football at Sixfields in 1962...
There seems to be some panic coming from sections of our support regarding our transfer activity on deadline day, I have heard lots of grumbles about too many loanees at the club and the fact that there was no experienced striker signed.
Firstly, in our position as the team bottom of the entire Football League, it must be nigh on impossible to persuade players to come here on loan, let alone put pen to paper on a permanent deal, so we have done pretty well all things considered.
That is in no small part down to Aidy Boothroyd.
You only have to listen to Carlisle’s recent interview to see how much of an influence Boothroyd had on him in signing for Cobblers.
I have even seen some fans saying that our January transfer business has consigned us to relegation. That is laughable and indicative of the crass over-reactions from sections of our fan base. Supporters get caught up in the furore on transfer deadline day, which is usually fuelled by Sky Sports News’ crazy antics.
It needs to be stated that we have undertaken our transfer business throughout January and not just panicked on January 31 and bought players randomly as a last resort.
In January we have gradually put a spine in place consisting of Chris Weale, Carlisle and Guttridge.
The one missing piece in the jigsaw is a leader of the forward line, maybe Bayo will get some fire in his belly, instead of chicken, and show us a side of him we have been missing.
But more likely is the signing of a striker on loan when the loan window re-opens.
We have also added Lewis Wilson to the squad, a young striker signed from local team Newport Pagnell, he seems to be one for the future and is worth looking at considering his prolific goal scoring record with Pagnell.
Wilson was also part of the Rushden & Diamonds youth set up before it disbanded, and for all the ribbing we used to give Rushden, you could never question their youth set up as it was fantastic and a real credit to them.
We have not lost any of our key players, such as Michael Jacobs, and we have managed to add quality to our squad in the shape of permanent and loan signings so all in all a successful January, right?
We have a big game against Macclesfield on Saturday and providing the game beats the recent arctic conditions and goes ahead I am 100 per cent confident that come 4.50pm on Saturday we will have three points in the bag towards our quest for survival.
The Macclesfield game is the first of five games in February, and there is no reason why we cannot win all five. Granted, one of them is away at moneybags Crawley, but if we win the next three, Macclesfield, Dagenham & Redbridge and Wimbledon, then confidence will be sky high and the players will feel they can match anyone in this division.
We might still be bottom of the Football League, but our bags are packed and we are primed and ready to start our ascent up the table.
The good times are just around the corner, keep the faith!
Sean O’Donovan
wHILE some of the big name strikers rumoured on transfer deadline day did not materialise, Aidy has continued to strengthen the team in key positions.
The spine of the team has vastly improved with the signings of Chris Weale, Clarke Carlisle and Luke Guttridge. With those three organising the defence and midfield I confidently expect our opponents’ goal opportunities to finally dry up.
Indeed, to use one of the old County Ground sayings from the 1970s era of Alan Starling, Stuart Robertson and Billy Best, the Cobblers will soon have ‘more clean sheets than St Crispin’s laundry’!
Carlisle will play a major role, not just in our current struggle for survival but in next season’s promotion push from League Two. He is a leader on the pitch and off it as well in his position of chair of the players’ union, the Professional Footballers Association.
Clarke famously appeared on Countdown in 2010 when he beat the reigning champion. Perhaps another reason for his recruitment was to reinforce the players’ team in future quiz nights at Sixfields.
Clarke was also the first footballer to appear on Question Time in January 2011. He was on the panel with Alastair Campbell and George Galloway, two great beasts of the political world. If Clarke can handle them our opponents’ forwards should be no problem. He was considered to be a success on the show, particularly when he spoke movingly about his cousin serving in Afghanistan.
Answering a question about battles in political parties, he drew on his football experience when he said: “The best teams and most successful teams are the ones that have every worker pulling in the same direction”.
Clarke will find a strong echo of this philosophy at Northampton Town, with the supporters, chairman, manager and players all uniting to pull the mighty Cobblers away from the brink.
The one area that has not been strengthened yet is the forward line. However even in the darkest days of this season, our attack has always had the potential to score goals. The problem up to now was that we couldn’t concede less than we scored.
There is one striker that I hope will be given a chance to prove himself soon.
It is sad to note that the man who handcuffed himself to a goalpost at Everton has spent more time in the penalty area this season than Tadhg Purcell. Stick him on Aidy and he will score!
Our next three matches against Macclesfield, Dagenham and Wimbledon can all be won.
Just remember Countdown Clarke and make sure we keep playing until the final seconds, ‘Da da da da da-da-da-da BOOM’
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