Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Friday 25 September 2009
25 September 2009
The decline of the proper local pub, decent local cinemas, and readable local newspapers are a source of great sadness to your ageing Guest Diarist. The fact that tomorrow's away fans don't have a large traditional boozer serving good ale in friendly surroundings within five minutes' walk of the ground is tragic as far as I am concerned. I hate when that happens to me at away games - half the good-day-out feeling has gone before it starts. And all too often these days. Put it this way - what is memorable about going to a match at Shrewsbury now? Come on, be truthful: who would remember a day out at Great Coates?
The revived cinema down Freemo has gone the way of Darley's Hotel (Leaking Boot) too. Within a month of reopening, the Telegraph tells us. But Blundell Park appears safe for the foreseeable future. Chairman Fenty has admitted in a pay-to-view-only mini Q&A that the club doesn't have a cat in hell's chance of getting the tenants to enable the club to start building the Fentydome. In this (or probably any other) economic climate. Coun Fenty (Con) still clings to his dream though, and has again teased his viewer(s?) with a silly hint about a way of progressing the scheme without needing tenants with fat rent wallets. It is too sad to even indulge in a minute's idle conjecture as to what this might involve. The only honest truth from the whole piece was Fenty's response to the five-year plan question: "We will strive to do the best we can." The forseeable future, by the way, is not very far, I suspect.
The Grimsby Telegraph may be relentlessly hysterical with its Daily Mail owner style of twisted right-wing 'sick filth' journalism, but the back page gives you more truth and more accurate reporting about Town than the club itself at the moment. And free to anyone with an internet browser. It might not reach the dizzy height of a high-quality Flash stream (whatever that is, ermm, moving pictures and sound, I think), but it does tell you everything contained in manager Newell's weekly Mariners Player interview. And without the awkward pauses and nervous giggles. Town have all their strikers fit, unsuspended and raring to go. In fact the only unavailable players at the club can be counted on the fingers of a Norfolk hand: Heywood and Boshell. Some would say, then, that the only two players we haven't got are the two we don't want. Which would be a very harsh way to characterise the situation, wouldn't it? But whatever, it has to be good to have a balanced choice.
Tomorrow's game is between two teams in the doldrums. Town may have won three of the last five but the performances have not been anything better than bottom six level. Darlington may have only won one point but they play passing football and have a couple of new players. If Town were in their position, folk would be philosophising about how we only need one win to start a little run and all that fatuous nausea. It could go either way tomorrow, believe me.
Now, gentle reader, there are two tasks for you today. One is to read our excellent pre-match factfile, which contains important refereeing news as well as the sad litany of how often those damned Quakers beat us. The second is to send us your entry for the Cod Almighty 'team of the month' thingy. In which you nominate players along the lines of "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone". We've had a load already, but if you haven't taken part yet, give us your twopenn'orth so we can publish the results next week. As for weekend homework - get behind the bloody Town while we still have them. See yer.