Cod Almighty | Diary
Too much to ask
30 April 2018
No, we shouldn't have been in that mess in the first place. But yes, we can celebrate the fact that we'll be watching a Football League club again next season. Yes, it's absurd that a club of Town's stature should be celebrating the mere fact of our survival in the top 92. But no, this is not the first absurd position we've ever been in – and it sure as hell won't be the last.
So let there be parties, and singing of songs. Let there be downing of pints. Let there be wild outpourings of relief. Actually, there will have been all of those things already, on Saturday night. Whatever – let there be a bit more if you like. Your original/regular Diary appreciates the viewpoint that there exists no cause for celebration, but I think just a modicum of festivity is understandable in the circumstances.
However, I am concerned to observe some GTFC supporters allowing their imaginations to roam a little too freely. One month ago our team was mired in a winless run which was approaching the duration of the club's record sequence of results without a victory, which presaged relegation in 2010. Now there is talk of promotion next season. So I am today issuing a solemn appeal for my fellow supporters to just calm the fuck down a bit, eh.
This is important because for years and years now we've been promised a club that's configured and run with the long term in mind, rather than ripping it up and starting again every year because the insecure man with the biggest number on his share certificate doesn't like getting called nasty names on the internet. And the worst thing that could happen now would be for the narrative to be controlled by those fans who go on and on about not being happy with mid-table in the fourth division.
Grimsby Town fans grew up watching teams built by Alan Buckley and George Kerr and Tim Ward fighting their way up to the second division. None of us are happy with mid-table in the fourth. The question is how you respond to that. You can acknowledge that the only way we'll ever climb back up is by letting a good manager build and develop a team, a youth system and a whole backroom set-up over a long period of time. Or you can go on and on about it, and demand a sacking because you don't have the stoicism and backbone to accept that this process of building and development will inevitably involve periods of slow or stalled progress.
So if we're running with the assumption that Michael Jolley will prove to be not just an escapologist but a good appointment for the medium to long term, let's continue to give him the support that's been necessary these past few weeks. Let's also give him the patience that will become necessary later, when success will likely turn out to be less than immediate.
And let's be cautious, at the very least, about the overall running of the club. Let there be no repeat of the disgraceful scenes at Bournemouth on Kirk Hudson Day in 2009, when John Fenty was lauded as a hero as Town escaped relegation by virtue of Luton having been docked 30 points. Let there be nowhere to hide this time for those whose unfitness for their positions led to the mess we should never have had to fight our way out of.
Certainly let there be credit where it's due. Imagine a jumbo jet plunging at 5,000 feet per minute as its pilot suffers a heart attack. Rather than hand over the cockpit to their experienced co-pilot, their final act before losing consciousness is to entrust the controls to a passenger who once read a book about aeronautical engineering but whose total relevant experience amounts to the throwing of a paper glider. Imagine, with just seconds remaining before impact, that passenger regaining control, stabilising the aircraft and landing smoothly, and no-one on board has even spilt their cup of tea. That's Town appointing Michael Jolley, that is.
I'm happy to apportion credit for the good things done by the club. This year they've finally ended the practice of putting season tickets on sale two months after every other club – and cancelled the price rise. That's great. They took an outrageous gamble on Jolley and it paid off. That's great too. We can now look forward to the summer, hoping Jolley brings many good players into the club, to replace the many good players thrown out of the club by the previous manager whose appointment ultimately plunged GTFC to the brink of oblivion.
Note that Jolley left his job with Eskilstuna because he felt inadequately supported by the club hierarchy. Note that nothing very much has changed behind the scenes at Blundell Park, and despite the loss of many cherished players in recent times, the club still neglects the renewal of contracts. And now James McKeown – whose superb form since Jolley's arrival and astonishing performance against Notts County have played an indispensable role in keeping Town up – looks set to follow Tait, Amond, Nolan, Andrew, Pearson, Nsiala and Arnold out of the door.
Someone has to say it – and after the chain of events since Town returned to the league two years ago, can you really call yourself a Grimsby fan if you're not thinking it? Without regime change at the club, there are any number of reasons why anything could go wrong again at any moment. But, you know. We are staying up, say we are staying up.