Slightly off track and I'm sure someone will correct me if I've got my facts wrong but one player I remember having a great impact on a struggling Alty side was Carl Dyson at the tail end of the 87-88 season. As I remember it, Jeff Johnson had taken over from the Tommy Docherty managerial debacle and after a few solid and promising results, the team was in freefall with a 1-4 stuffing at home to Runcorn in the CSC semi 1st leg the lowest point and performance (Nicky Daws debut I think, had a nightmare at fullback with Mark Carter in close opposition). Anyway, I seem to remember Dyson came into the team then and, while he wasn't the best player ever, he was something different and suddenly sparked the team into a decent end of season run and he got a few goals too.
We could also do with a Keith Russell BEFORE he signed for us... top goalscorer when he was on loan to us, as good as Darren Royle once he'd signed a contract...
Paul