The Diary

Cod Almighty | Diary

Cats for cats

22 August 2018

You don't have to hold your nostrils wide open to pick up a nasty smell from Twitter, or modern football, and when the two come together the odour can be sickening. But sometimes not. Let's begin today's diary with a really nice feelgood social media story. If you've not already seen, a Town fan who made his goalkeeping debut for his local under-11 side the other day has been invited to meet his hero James McKeown after highlights from the game went viral. Harrison Ogle's performance attracted Twitter comments from top keepers past and present (Southall, Seaman, Clemence and others) before the gates of Blundell Park were opened to the young stopper.

So well done to young Harrison for making his debut and well done to our football club for an excellent and kind gesture. There. Does the world smell slightly sweeter now, or what?

Your original/regular Diary was shocked but full of admiration when I read the other day that Danny Collins had suffered a broken arm in last Saturday's draw against Lincoln and carried on playing. Vast respect is due for Collins' fortitude in continuing to fight for the GTFC cause – regardless of whether he was aware of the fracture.

I suspect we'll remember this for some time. My esteem for Steve Livingstone was only enhanced after his comeback from that frightening incident when he bust his head against Derby on the telly so badly that there were about 12 minutes of stoppage time. And we all admired the grit of Kevin Jobling when he'd broken his leg and lifted up his entire body weight on his arms so they could slide the stretcher underneath him. I'm not sure Gary Harkins falls into quite the same category, having played several games for Town with a fracture in his leg without even realising, but his post-GTFC career suggests we may have missed out on a decent player there.

Perhaps we'll see some kind of reversal with Wes Thomas. Town's new frontman missed much of last season with an Achilles thing but Oxford fans were largely dismayed to see him released. Their loss, potentially our gain, we'll have to wait and see, hopefully etc etc. That there Grimsby Telegraph has an interview, and it's good to know that in his three or four months without a club Wes has been working hard on his own to get fit. If that were me I'd have spent the entire time in bed watching Cash in The Attic and eating Toblerones.

Last up today, it's disappointing to see our local paper make the headlines itself for the wrong reasons. The Football Supporters' Federation (FSF) has castigated a group of regional newspapers for reporting that crimes were committed by fans when no offence had been proven, and the Telewag features prominently. Nine out of ten conspiracy theories among Town fans that the paper is determined to portray them in a bad light are rubbish, of course, but it is right that this coverage was challenged by FSF rep, Town fan and fellow CA diarist Kristine Green. That's what'll happen if your owners decide you don't need sub-editors and pay poverty wages to the rest.