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There has largely been nothing but negative news surrounding Swindon Town in recent weeks.
They lost at home to Oxford United in the always-bitter A420 derby a fortnight ago, manager John Sheridan appeared on the verge of resigning a few days later following a string of poor results and increasing pressure from supporters, and the team sat 23rd in the League One table ahead of the weekend’s trip to Fleetwood Town.
Therefore the return of Anthony Grant from a back injury that was followed by a spell out with concussion has gone somewhat under the radar – even if there have been suggestions that his absence was a result of a falling out with Sheridan rather than a genuine medical issue.
Grant was an instrumental member of the Robins’ side that got promoted from League Two last season whilst on loan at the County Ground from Shrewsbury, anchoring the midfield under former manager Richie Wellens and utilising his calmness in possession and an eye for a pass to contribute significantly to a style of play that became known as ‘Wellens-ball’.
His move was made permanent towards the end of January 2020 on a contract until the end of the season, although that was arguably the beginning of the end of the positive feeling around the club that Wellens generated.
Last summer’s transfer window was a fairly alarming one for Swindon supporters, particularly considering they should have been basking in the euphoria of the club being awarded the League Two title on points per game and with it a return to League One for the first time since 2017.
Top-scorer Eoin Doyle chose to remain in League Two with recently-relegated Bolton Wanderers at the end of his loan from Bradford, his striker partner Jerry Yates signed for Blackpool instead of the Robins, and there were even rumours that Grant would join him at the Seasiders as he decided where his future lay.
Grant eventually committed to remaining in Wiltshire, yet by November even Wellens had left the County Ground as he made an ill-fated move to Salford City that this week came to an abrupt end.
The experienced midfielder was therefore left without several of the stars that he had enjoyed success with in the previous campaign and entrusted with the responsibility to lead a fairly youthful side to survival under the stewardship of Sheridan.
Swindon’s form was largely miserable even before Grant’s absence – they won just five of their first 21 games of the season before he suffered his injury in training, although he had begun to be left on the bench regularly by the turn of the year.
Alleged issues with the manager aside, there can be no doubt that his return has lifted Swindon in recent weeks.
He made his comeback as a half-time substitute against Oxford, winning a penalty that would have levelled the game had Brett Pitman not seen his effort saved, before making his first start in more than three months against Gillingham – a game which ended with Sheridan saying he was considering walking away from the club after a dispiriting 3-1 defeat.
The former Republic of Ireland international was still in the dugout for last weekend’s trip to Fleetwood though, and his presence on the touchline was not the only mildly surprising aspect of the afternoon.
The defeat to Gillingham caused him to completely reshuffle his backline. Out went the experienced centre-back partnership of Tom Broadbent and Dion Conroy to be replaced by the youthful pairing of Akinwale Odimayo and Ellis Iandolo, and even less expectedly, Grant was hauled back from his more familiar starting berth in central midfield to the middle of a back three in between the young centre-backs.
The entirely new defence managed to keep a clean sheet against Fleetwood in a 2-0 win, preventing the hosts from having a single shot on target in the process and providing Sheridan with a blueprint for plotting League One survival.
On Tuesday night against West Country rivals Bristol Rovers – a side Swindon were level on points with just outside the bottom four at the start of play – Grant was again selected at the heart of Robins’ back three.
Despite losing out to Rovers’ forward James Daly in an early test of pace, he hardly put a foot wrong in the opening 45 minutes.
His composure in possession has undoubtedly helped to relax a Swindon side that has often looked frantic throughout this testing season and his intelligent use of the ball allowed midfielders Jack Payne and Matty Palmer to have a platform to build attacks from.
A more impressive, and arguably unexpected, aspect of Grant’s first-half performance was the number of headed clearances he made.
Standing at 5 ft 8, the one time England youth international could have been expected to be vulnerable to balls being lofted into the penalty area, particularly with Rovers’ 6 foot plus forward Jonah Ayunga hoping to take advantage.
However, the 33-year-old’s reading of the game and subsequent ability to position himself in the ideal position to clear the ball meant Ayunga rarely threatened to dominate him in the air, let alone get on the scoresheet.
Transferring his capacity to interpret the game from midfield to defence was also shown through the fact he ended the 90 minutes having made four interceptions, double the amount of any other player on the pitch.
The second-half saw the Pirates manager Joey Barton make a double substitution that altered his side’s formation and changed the complexion of the game.
Pressure began to ramp up on Grant and his youthful defensive partners to either side, and they were fortunate not to fall behind when a Zain Westbrooke strike was ruled out by a belated offside flag from the referee’s assistant.
Having survived that scare, Swindon took the lead midway through the second period through a deadly strike from Payne after Scott Twine’s free-kick had deflected back off the wall.
Although Rovers failed to muster a late onslaught of kitchen sink proportions, Grant remained alert and assured until the final whistle, continuing a theme of the evening by heading away a looping ball into the penalty area in injury time.
He was also ably supported by both Adimayo and Iandolo, who both had excellent games in their own right in a promising nod towards further solid performances from the defensive unit to come.
Two clean sheets and two wins since Grant’s change of position is ample proof that he still has plenty to offer for the team, particularly in terms of guiding the two young defenders through games – even if Sheridan and his assistant Tommy Wright try their best to provide all the assistance they could need as they bellow from the dugout.
His inconsistent playing time has probably been a big reason for why this season has been such a struggle for the Robins, and should he continue to perform so well he could be the driving force behind Swindon moving even further clear of the drop zone than the three-point gap they now possess.
“You can put teams out in whatever formation you like, but it’s about players going across the white line knowing their job description, knowing what they’re good at and what they’re not good at.
“We looked really solid, Akin Odimayo was good, Anthony Grant looks a different player in the middle at the back. Young Ellis (Iandolo) has been very good, and (Lee) Camp has the experience too with (Paul) Caddis.”
– Swindon Town manager John Sheridan
Aside from a one-minute cameo at Old Trafford as a substitute for Chelsea in 2005 when he was only 17, Grant has spent the last 15 years playing in the bottom two divisions of the Football League.
After playing over 150 games for Southend United between 2008 and 2012, he never spent more than two seasons at one club during spells at Stevenage, Crewe, Port Vale and Peterborough before joining Shrewsbury in 2018.
He has remained an eye-catching player throughout his nomadic career, picking up several Player of the Season awards at various clubs mainly thanks to his committed and combative midfield displays.
Whilst these skills have hardly abandoned him since his return to the Swindon starting eleven, even at the age of 34 he might just have found a new role to excel in that can highlight his qualities in an even more impressive way.
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