The transfer window has slammed shut. This is it. This is this. So, in comes Andre Gray (Andre fucking Gray! I know, it’s crackers!), two young lads from Everton, the lad from Workington whom Brady worked with at Northampton and, of course, Ethon Archer from Luton. Out go James Plant, Mitch Clark, Ruari Paton, Jesse Deborah and Devante Cole.

The final roll of the dice.

And if we can’t stave off the inevitable, then let’s at least go down windmilling. Throwing some big punches. We’ve still got games ahead against clubs eyeing automatic promotion, clubs hunting down the play-off places. So let’s be the ones who ruin the party: the uninvited guests who wreck everything before them. The unholy rabble. Wipe some smiles off those faces.

We’ve got Lincoln, Stevenage, Huddersfield, Luton, Bradford, Stockport to face – all hoping for a crack at reaching the Championship. Let’s rain all over their parade. Then there’s Northampton, Barnsley, Wigan, Doncaster and Burton – three out of those five we could drag under the water with us. And we need to deal with Plymouth; we can’t have them taking the piss again. There’s more than survival at stake here, we’ve got a part to play in shaping the fate of others. What more could we wish for?

The likelihood is, of course, that we’ll be relegated. It’ll take something biblical to stay up. But it is within our gift to create a few tears among opposition fans. Petty? Yes. Childish? Of course. But there is a pure and absolute joy in tripping someone up just before they reach the finishing line. We shouldn’t deny ourselves that joy. A sneer and a smirk as we shatter a few dreams on our way back down to League Two may lift a few spirits and give some value to what has been an almighty disaster of a campaign. Give it a sense of purpose. Make it feel worthwhile despite everything.

I’m not disappointed to see Devante Cole go. Adam Yates’ comments about how Cole conducted himself in trying to get out of Vale Park tell us everything. We don’t need that attitude anywhere near the dressing room. There’s no doubting that he’s a cut above most of our squad in terms of ability – but there’s no room for mardarses, no matter how good they are. We’ve all worked with one at some point in our lives. It’s exhausting. They drain the strength and energy from everything and everyone around them. His departure can only be a positive.

Mitch Clark. I’ll miss Mitch. Seriously, I think he would have been the man for this battle. Particularly after Gabriel’s less than impressive performance when he came on at Orient. I’d have kept him, he loves a scrap does Mitch.

Paton’s gone. Comes over as a decent lad, a good laugh, definitely works hard, but he is just not a League One striker. He didn’t exactly convince as a striker in League Two – people can moan that he didn’t get enough opportunities, but did he really deserve many? Ruari found his level in pedestrian cup games. The league was always too much for him. The right call.

Ben Garrity returned on Saturday for that backs-to-the-wall, absolutely vital one-nil win at Leyton Orient. We needed him. With Ben, it’s all about leadership and the stomach for a fight. You can see his influence on the pitch – no downing tools, no spitting dummies, every single player giving everything they’ve got. Even Funso. It’s a quality that can’t be underestimated. Technically, Ben isn’t the most gifted of players, but when he’s on the pitch, we’ve got game. That’s a priceless commodity.

Despite the heroics in East London, we also got further evidence of what we miss when George Byers is unavailable. Our ball retention, especially in the second half, was horrific. And we’ll be playing far better teams than Orient. We need composure. We need know‑how. The sooner George is back, the better.

AFC Wimbledon visit tonight. I’ve got a lot of respect for that club – the way they rose from the ashes after being burnt down by their own Chairman and the FA; the ten‑year plan completed in nine; the absolute vision and resolve it took to make it happen. It’s a story everyone should know. Perseverance in the face of adversity. They’ll need to lose tonight, of course. There’s no room for sentiment, not when you’re in the kind of mither we’re in.

So here we are, then. Jon Brady has thrown the dice for the final time. Now it’s over to the players in that dressing room. From tonight onwards, they’ll carry the weight of this season on their backs. They’ll need to give it everything they’ve got to drag us out of this mire. It’s time to fight. Time to stand up. Time to show League One, and everyone else, what this club is made of.