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While Burton Albion continue to turn over players at a rate that is threatening to earn the club a place in the Guinness Book of Records, supporters must be casting more than the odd bewildered glance across the river to the Moat Ground.
For one of the key figures so far in the great Gresley Rovers revival has been Brewers’ discard Clive Arthur.Arthur, a kind of Jack-of-all-Trades but master-of-none figure in the best part of ten seasons with Albion, has been given the role he enjoys most by Gresley manager Frank Northwood.
Instead of shackling him to defensive duties – as often the case at Eton Park – Northwood has given Arthur the task of setting up chances for the 22 goal partnership of Brian Beresford and Dave Butler.
And Arthur answered the call by proving himself as effective a winger as is likely to be found in the West Midlands League.
Last Saturday he was decisively involved in the goals that enabled Rovers to sustain their challenge for league honours with a 2 – 0 victory over Wednesfield Social.
His contribution which led to Butler’s ninth goal was particularly startling, for he found himself in a tight spot on the right flank but still managed to produce a cross of such precision that the big number nine merely had to pick his spot.
Add to that Arthur’s ability to score goals himself and it is little wonder that he has quickly become a popular player at the Moat Ground.
All this must be perplexing reading for Albion supporters, many of whom were loath to see him go in the first place.
There were times when talent was in abundance at Eton Park that Arthur’s regular omissions could be easily explained.
But in light of the problems the Brewer’s have encountered this season, he would probably have been an asset particularly since manager Neil Warnock’s search for a winger has so far proved unsuccessful.
Certainly, worse players have appeared for the Brewers.
Gresley fans do, however, have cause to be puzzled themselves about the role Roger Davies may – or may not – play during the course of the season.
Davies, many thought, should have been in the side at Leyton-Wingate, where Gresley’s cup run came to a shuddering halt.
In the event, he was finally recalled to the side along with David Nish when Steve Dolby and Mark Bromley were ruled out of the game against Wednesfield.
Northwood, however, has made it clear that Dolby and Bromley are regarded as his first-choice central defensive partnership.
Nish is unlikely to be upset by that assertion since he no longer wants to be considered on a regular basis, but Davies still has a great deal to offer either in defence or attack.
It will be interesting to see whether he is happy to settle for a role of emergency cover at either end of the field or whether his expectations differ from those of Northwood.
