Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Wednesday 27 May 2009

27 May 2009

Since Jamie Clarke joined the Mariners two years ago, as a putative replacement for Sir John McDermott, Town fans have seen little to challenge the immediate impression given in the pre-season friendlies of 2007 that Clarke is, in fact, no right-back at all. Why, then, has he been given a new contract tying him to the club for a third season? There are a number of reasons. He can play to a reasonable standard on the right of midfield or in the centre. He doesn't seem to mind being essentially a squad player. He is a good professional. He can pass a ball better than just about anyone else at Blundell Park. He can chip in with the occasional spectacular long-range goal and dangerous free kick. Most importantly of all, he won't be on very much money.

The Grimsby Telegraph has been very good recently at transcribing pity-poor-me sulks from Tom Newey and Phil Barnes concerning Mike Newell's mysterious and bizarre decision to release them, after which the Mariners mysteriously and bizarrely started playing really well. The local rag seems to have struggled, however, with the actual news side of things and has only today let us know that Barnes spent the end of the season with Gainsborough Trinity and picked up a man of the match award in his only appearance for the Conference North side. The news comes in a piece about Town's goalkeeping situation in which Mr Re-Newell reveals that Jonathan Lund's GTFC career is over and says finding a new number one is "a priority" but that "there is no rush". Just as long as you don't leave it until the last minute and Anthony Williams plays really badly in a trial against Brigg and you sign him anyway.

"Like yourself, I have found myself being pleased with Scunny's promotion, although I cannot get any enthusiasm for Hull for some reason. I think your open-minded attitude sums up what I like about Cod Almighty. The daily summary of Mariner life, the ability to see beyond conventional wisdom, inject some wit and offer (fair) criticism of the team keep myself and probably many others coming back, so thanks for that and keep up the good work." Thanks very much, James Booth - it's very nice of you to say so. "With regard to seeing beyond conventional wisdom," continues James, "presumably it is only the media who think Newcastle are everyone's second team? Anyone I have spoken to who has expressed an opinion on it is pleased they have gone down, even non-Mariner fans (assuming all our fans are chuffed to see Shearer unhappy). I would be interested to know if there are readers of your Diary who are not pleased about this turn of events, although many probably do not care?" Well, the Diary decided a few weeks ago that I'd be delighted to have seen either Newcastle or King$ton Communication$ FC bite the dust - the latter, of course, being nothing to do with local rivalry and everything to do with the way 20,000 people suddenly decided they liked football because there was a new place to watch it. Both would have just been greedy, though.

James has some thoughts on Town's recently announced price cuts too. "Even though I live in Toronto so it does not affect me, I think that the reduction is season ticket prices is a good move and should be taken as a positive by the club who seem to have actually listened for once. By comparison it makes the tickets here in Toronto look expensive for our MLS team; our mid-priced season tickets cost $50/game = 28 quid. The football is mediocre (although better than the UK media makes out) and you still have to wait most of half time to have a piss. You can have a beer in your seat though if you are prepared to pay $9 (about a fiver) for a can of Carlsberg. They must be doing something right though as they sell out 20,000 seats every home game and have a huge waiting list for tickets. Anyway, thanks again for keeping our chins up during a dismal season, UTM." An interesting perspective there - so, readers, if you have an opinion about the cheaper tickets at BP, this season's relegation from the top flight, or indeed why the Post Office still 'needs' to be privatised despite making record profits, please email diary@codalmighty.com and let us know.