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Diary - Thursday 16 April 2009

16 April 2009

Supporting Grimsby Town is a serious and sometimes complex business. Your Guest Diarist has lately been forced to find more about what makes internet video tick than is perhaps healthy, mentally juggling words like 'codecs' and sentences like 'why does Mariners World give me audio but not fucking video?' The superb new official site is definitely great in every way; provided you use that Internet Explorer. Rebels like me who use Firefox are up to about one in five of all web users these days, and among regular users just about everyone I know has cast Explorer into the local lime pit. Any road, I heard Mr Newell but could not see him as he joked his way through the pre-Port Vale match interview.

Illuminating it wasn't, really. No question like 'what was that 4-3-3 first-half aberration at Notts all about?' No particular predictions about who will beat whom, Newell coming from the 'no-one can predict a game of football' school. The only fact came right at the end when the manager and his interviewer sounded like schoolboys giggling over the question that asked whether JP Kalala would be seen again in a Town shirt this season. Perhaps you needed to see it to be able to guffaw along with them. But Mr Newell did admit separately to the Telegraph that the three up front idea had backfired. Apparently the lads forgot to attack or pose a threat and without the ball we looked very vulnerable, so thank God we have a brave and reliable keeper these days, eh?

The Re-Newell also explained that Hunt and Lulu have had a rest and would be coming back tomorrow and that he has a full squad available, bar JP and Bolland. With three games to go it's worth pausing a second to savour that. No niggles, no mystery ailments and no suspensions. Discipline has improved and so has squad spirit with everyone chasing a game. Skipper Bennett will have his hundredth game tomorrow, by the way. Hats off to the lad.

The official site has also announced that Town have an initial ration of a thousand Bournemouth tickets and that season ticket holders get first grab next week, with ticket stub holders from the last two home games getting second priority from Monday, and riff-raff only allowed to buy from Wednesday onwards. Hang on, I think he told you that yesterday - sorry.

Let's just hope that Town start well tomorrow and then get better. We played well in the second half back at Vale in December, I'm told, and deserve revenge for that late defeat. Keep the faith, folks, and try to turn up if you can. See yer.