Cheers Tilty!

So, it’s goodbye to a load of players and hello to a load more. It’s hard to shed many tears about most of them going, seen as we’ve either never seen them play, or when we did, they were pretty average. I think Callum Guy will do well at Carlisle but whilst he’s liked for trying and ‘having a go’ I can’t think of many games where he’s really put in a definitive midfield performance. Michael Nottingham is the living definition of the phrase ‘a squad player’ - I honestly don’t have any thoughts about the rest.

The one notable departure is Curtis Tilt. I for one will miss him. 

When we ‘came home’ - for people like me, who'd given up altogether, it was like going to a party with a load of strangers and one mate (Fonz.) A potentially awkward affair. - Tilt was like the lad who you instantly took a shine too, who checked you had a beer and had a bit of a natter and made you feel welcome.

In other words, there wasn’t a whole lot to latch onto on the pitch. The team was wholehearted for sure, but skill and quality a bit lacking. I’ve nothing against Nick Anderton but it’s hard to really imagine him as a ‘hero’ (which is probably a bit unfair, giving he’s a grafter.) Ollie Turton is very competent but whole games go by without me really accepting he exists. Chris Long might have been quick, but watching him run after the ball and nearly get it, but not quite wasn’t going to set my heart on fire. Was this team really 'mine?'

That’s where Tilt came in.

He wasn’t a thoroughbred but there was a charm in seeing him go from his relaxed, slightly awkward looking gallop to putting on the afterburners and gliding across the pitch at a superhuman speed. He reminded me of a computer game sprite going from normal, to turbo mode. 

We might choose to remember a few recent mistakes, but I think there were countless occasions when he appeared from nowhere, dived into a tackle and came out with the ball, leaving the opposition crumpled and digging us out of a hole or putting us on the front foot. He could be imperious, dominant and when he headed it, it stayed headed.

He wasn’t an anonymous graduate of some academy, playing football according to a theory he'd had drilled into him. Tilt had got to us the hard way, via Birmingham non league and via (as his twitter account illustrated at new year) manual labour on the way.

(left) not the sports science department of a billionaire funded Premier League academy

It showed (in the best possible way) in the style of his game. He still played like a lad on the park, like a lad in his school team, like a lad in Sunday football. Galloping forward from centre half, arms going ten to the dozen, eyes blazing with intent. Yes, once, or twice, it put us in trouble, but sometimes it came off. He had that manic intent that wasn't trained out of him, to take the game and grab it, shake it and change it.

He wanted to score, Tilt going up for a corner wasn’t just a training ground exercise, it was an expression of desire. You could see he wanted the roar, the scream of ecstasy, to clench his fists to the crowd and drink in the moment. It was a delight to see him move in the box, twist, jump and stretch every muscle to reach the ball. The lad tried so much when he was on it that it looked like his desire might burst out his skin.

Yes, there was a patch where it seemed like his head had gone. Why? I don’t know. It could have been a loss of form. He was that good when he was good, we forgot quickly that he was only in his third season of League football. It could have been having his head turned, it could have been living in the hotel, it could have been just about anything. I don’t know. I don’t know Tilt the man and can pass no judgement on his character or psychology, but I liked Tilt the footballer.

More than computer code

He had the odd strop and I don’t mind that. It shows feeling, it shows that the lad is more than a FIFA 2020 animation and is actually a living breathing soul. He’s not an over coached, media trained drone. Sometimes he got upset. Like you, like me. I don't have any insight into the training ground, the contract negotiations, his agent or anything else. All l and 99% of other fans can do is guess what is going on behind closed doors and watch what happens on the pitch.

He led from the back, he brought a bit of soul to a team that needed it. He scored the overhead kick that helped us remember how much we love the Pool.

It also has to be said, though he had one patch, where I think Grayson almost had no choice but to let another centre half have a go, when he was recalled, he was decent. It would be wrong to dismiss him as a sulker as the evidence of his recent starts (from Sunderland onward) showed commitment, fight and quality.

Here’s one final memory of Tiilt that will sum him up for me. I think it was from the Rotherham home game (but it could have been from any of our home defeats) - we were playing poorly, being bullied by them. Our display could best be described as ‘insipid.’ One of their players picks up the ball on their right and make for a run. Tilt strolls out to meet him, he turns inside and shields the ball. Something in Tilt’s head says ‘I’ve had enough’ and he shoulder charges him with a superhuman strength. The lad bounces off him, like Tilt is covered in rubber and hits the advertising hoarding with a thump and Tiltinho ((c) Terry Mac 2019) has it, looking up, coming through the challenge with a cool head, as if he's just flicked the lad out the way like a Subbuteo piece. We’re on the front foot again. I shout ‘Good lad Tilty’ and the ground claps encouragement and roars in that desperate way it does when the game is shit, but someone has finally done something half decent.

We lose anyway, but for that moment, Tilt was way above anyone on the pitch and an inspiration. He wasn’t perfect, but who is? He gave us someone to cheer and he mostly, he played like he was living a dream he didn’t think he would get to have. What’s not to appreciate about that? 

Good luck Curtis.

UTMP