Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Wednesday 25 March 2009
25 March 2009
He might have "one of the best left foots in League Two", according to Town's superb new official website for two-year-olds just learning to talk, but Tom Newey will be using it for Rochdale and not the Mariners from now on. Nearly four years and 170 appearances after Russell 'Sort It' Slade signed him from relegated Cambridge United, Newey last week became one of the Luton Three - a trio of players dramatically excommunicated from the squad for their disruptive influence as Town prepared to travel to Kenilworth Road - and is about to sign on loan at Spotland until the end of the season, when his contract with Town expires. Depending on your point of view, Newey is a very able footballer who offers penetration at set pieces and a very high assist ratio or a lazy liability with no positional sense and a hopeless hoof who will stand off and let the other team cross six times a game, rejecting a loan move to Lincoln because he wasn't fit enough to do himself justice but happily continuing to underachieve for the side that pays his wages and seemingly giving two penalties to the Imps on purpose just for good measure. The Diary's point of view? Let's just say there can't have been much in the world that would have made me hanker back fondly to the days of Tony Gallimore.
The other members of the Luton Three, meanwhile, have had their contracts cancelled by mutual consent, eight days after Town's superb new official website wrongly said they'd had their contracts cancelled by mutual consent and then had to issue a hasty clarification after being publicly and embarrassingly taken to task for its inaccuracy by Mike Newell. Assuming that the SNOS has got it right this time, Phil Barnes and Gary Montgomery have now left the building, and Barnes will be drawing admiration for his ability as a 'good shot-stopper' while scampering across the six-yard box under crosses, failing to command the confidence of his defence and making snide remarks to Sky TV about his contract situation at another club when he finds one.
Newey's fellow former Town full-back Graham Taylor has said "Would I not like that" to the prospect of the Mariners being relegated from the Football League. Seemingly speaking to the Grimsby Telegraph, Taylor - who is also known to some football fans for his period as manager of the England national team - urges Town fans to continue the great backing they gave the side in last Saturday's victory over Gillingham. "The club needs their support and I don't care what anyone says, if Grimsby get relegated they will miss their team's name being read out at 5pm on a Saturday afternoon," says Taylor, adding: "You really miss something when it has gone, but then it is too late," possibly in another reference to Tony Gallimore.
The Diary has been pulled up on yesterday's assertion that, although coverage of Town games on Compass FM is rubbish, at least "most people can't receive the Compass signal because they live outside a 200-yard radius of the Dock Tower". An email from Simon Wilson points out that this distance is immaterial to folk who "just have to put up with paying £3.99 a month for the club's Mariners World service which carries the Compost FM commentary coverage for matches, home and away". I guess he's got a point - although Simon adds: "I cancelled my subscription a few months back and went back to enduring Radio Humbs Hull and Scunny commentaries for the little snippets of John Tondeur. That is a sign of how good the man is. I feel for those that live far beyond the reach of the Radio Humbs transmitters and have no choice but to tolerate the dilly-dallying official site service (when it works)." So when GTFC are apologising to subscribers for "commentary problems" - as they seem to have to do every other week - does that mean people can't listen to the commentary, or that they can and it's rubbish?
Lastly today, the Grimsby Telegraph reports that Jimmy Hernon, an inside forward in Bill Shankly's famous Mariners side of the 1950s, died earlier this month at the age of 84. The Diary must admit to being unfamiliar with the name but the Telegraph provides an excellent summary of Hernon's career at Blundell Park and beyond (maybe Mr Re-Newell could try that porridge and whisky diet on Andy Taylor). Thanks for reading - see you tomorrow.