Cod Almighty | Diary
Dances with Wolves
13 February 2026
"I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like that," I chattered excitedly as I left BP on Wednesday night. Not the insane amount of chances compared with goals scored, nor Sellars-Fleming's long-range effort on his first start in the Football League. Not even a referee who refused to let the game be disrupted with soft landings from slow-falling Stanleyites. No, this wonderful 'first' was the Football League debut of Maldini Kacurri.
That's not how debuts go, not even the best ones. There is often excitement, potential, some lovely moments, some delicious anticipation, some trepidation. There usually isn't cool, calm, striker-cracking competence. Lavelle had better watch out; he ain't getting back in the side at this rate. Isn't it nice to have a squad? Two experienced centre-halves out and we're... well, we're not bothered.
It wasn't all delighted first impressions on Wednesday night. For a long time, it looked like the woeful finishing on show last week at Newport was set to continue. As Artell said, we'll rarely see such a one-sided 1-0. And yet, Stanley remain one of the eight sides who have conceded fewer goals than us. Eight feels high, given recent form, but cast your mind back to 14th December, the day after the last league game that didn't feature Jackson Smith. On that day, 14 teams had better defensive records than us. That's a huge turnaround in just ten games.
Artell's comments this week about quality of performances in defence and numbers of "big chances" given away before and after the arrival of Smith indicate that we were defending better before, at least from the point of view of data, seem to bode ill for Pym. Anecdotally, the evidence is not better for the former Mansfield man; we are defending better with Smith in goal. Perhaps we give away those "big chances" more frequently because we are more confident, more willing to be on the front rather than the back foot, with Smith behind them. Again, not boding well for Pym.
We were checking ourselves on the way home, trying not to be too effusive in our praise for Smith. Remember how pleased we were with Pym at the beginning, we told each other. And then I remembered away at Harrogate. Second game of the season, the first away and the first goals conceded this campaign. The very first? A bobbling, hopeful effort from just outside the corner of the box that bounces into the corner of the net. Sound familiar? Grumblings of discontent in the away end, and then that rarest of things: let's give the guy a chance. And we did. And we thought he would be okay. We thought he was okay. We thought we'd traded up. We had another think coming.
So, have we seen the last of Croudson's holiday buddy? That depends on what happens in the summer. For now, let's enjoy Smith while we can, keep climbing the defensive record tables and hope for sharper finishing at the other end.
Wolves on Sunday. A fixture with a lot of history in both cup and league. We were the thorn in their side a few times in the 90s when they struggled to get out of the second tier, labelling fixtures against the likes of Grimsby devilish ingredients in what they saw as the division from hell. I remember victories over them home and away. I remember a Steve Bull hattrick at a sunny Blundell Park opening another second-tier season. In our last, 02-03, they did the double over us and the home fixture had fewer than 5,000 spectators. You don't know what you've got until it’s gone.
This Sunday, then, is a little taste of the past, a little reminder of what we had and what we were. There was always a gulf between the clubs, but we always gave them a game in our little slice of footballing England. On Sunday, we'll give them another, and we'll take pleasure in renewing an old acquaintance.
No team news or pre-match interviews at the time of writing, but as I got the prediction of Maldini's debut right (in last week’s A46 Diary I said Maldini would play on Wednesday), who needs news from inside the camp? Smith will start. The defence may remain unchanged, depending on whether or not Sweeney is off the naughty list/has finished enforced paternity leave. Lavelle may hope to challenge for a place but if anyone passed an audition for the big stage this week, it was Maldini.
McEachran left the field with cramp on Wednesday so will be available. Turi wasn't risked against Accrington because of 'tightness' in groin or hamstring. More evidence of our deepening squad? Was the Faroese saved for Wolves? Khouri could be preferred ahead of Walker simply for energy. Surely, we can't go into a game like this without Green? And Cook will lead Vernam and Kabia.
That will mean a strong first XI and a strong bench. Strong enough to have your A46 Diary chattering excitedly after the game on Sunday? It shouldn't be. Wolves should be far too strong. And they can't make an excuse to play the kids; they're a side who have little to play for except the FA Cup. Sixteen points from safety in their own division with 12 games to play. They're doomed. They won't want to add to that with a defeat to the likes of Grimsby Town. But football's a funny old game and if things go to plan down in DN35, there'll only be one division separating us next season. Now, there's a thought.