Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Thursday 7 June 2012

7 June 2012

Mardy Diary writes: There's always a slight bit of diary envy when a fellow diarist gets a decent story to write about - especially during the summer months when nothing much happens. And so it was yesterday when West Yorkshire Diary (the bastard) got to report on the (official) signing of Cook. Of course this news, along with the new shirt design, had already leaked out slightly on messageboards - although these days it's more and more difficult to pull out the real in-the-know gems from messageboards for all the other it's-either-this-or-watch-more-porn banality that generally fills the void.

Barrow manager Dave Bayliss doesn't seem too chuffed about Cook's move - which shouldn't come as a total surprise given the player's goalscoring record last season. There are accusations that Cook agreed verbally to re-sign with Barrow before changing his mind - again, nothing to be too surprised about in modern football, but then nothing to get a bit sneery about either. Bayliss is within his rights to be pissed off with that sort of behaviour and it's not our position to dismiss his anger just because, this time, we're on the right side of the deal.

What was of interest in the interview was the mention that Cook had joined the club without a medical. How Bayliss would be party to this information I'm unsure - I don't know how these things work. However, and my memory may be playing tricks on me here, I recall the club/Fenty saying that they were no longering bothering with medicals to save on costs. A risk that presumably didn't pay off when we signed Charles Ademeno, but difficult to quantify without knowing how much a full medical for a player costs. Does it really cost that much though? More than paying Ademeno to do, largely, nothing for a season?

With little other news, there will at least be some distraction tomorrow when the European Championship kicks off. This year everyone seems a bit more balanced around their expectations of England's likely performance. Of course, aside from Euro 96 on home soil, England haven't really performed in international tournaments since Italy in 1990. I wonder why...

"While the League hierarchy will bitterly resist any moves to break up the 103-year-old competition, several clubs have already expressed an interest and it is hoped that, if the Big Five - Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool, Everton and Manchester United - will support the idea, others will follow.

"The prime motive behind the scheme is to create an environment which will give the England team a better chance in the World Cup and European Championship. The proposers hope to catch the mood of last summer when England reached the semi-finals of the World Cup and only went out to West Germany on penalties.

"Taking German football as a model, the plan is to regard the England team as the flagship of the domestic game and subordinate everything to their needs. It is believed that a Premier of 18 clubs would mean fewer injuries, less strain on players, more time for coaching and longer preparation for the England squad before important games."
The Guardian, 6 April 1991