When was the last time ATC actually helped a flight in trouble other than calling the crash crew out to meet you?
Please don't let this deteriorate into a them and us debate. Based on the information in this thread - and I haven't looked for any other sources - there is no question that the ATC involvement in this event was not as good as it could have been. That is why we investigate what happened and try to learn from incidents - and this applies both to the airborne and ground-based parts of the system.
In my part of the world there have been huge advances in the way that ATC are trained to handle unusual and emergency events. In many cases this has led to a far greater understanding of what ATC can do to help a crew with a problem - even if that is just to shut up for a while to let the crew sort things out - and, for the crews who get involved in the ATC training, a much greater understanding of what ATC can do to help and even some of the constraints that ATC have.
Nothing is perfect though, and there is always room for improvement and learning. One of the things that took a while for ATC to learn about was TRM. But it is there now in many places - and, hopefully, it means that ATC can do more than just call out the crash crew out to meet you.