Cod Almighty | Diary

Prawns in their game

6 October 2020

The international transfer window closed without Town adding to their squad. The much anticipated arrival of Kyle Bennett from the blue half of the manager's home City failed to get over the line. While Casual Diary has often said that previous club performance is not necessarily a good indicator of who will prove a good signing, looking at Bennett's stats does provide optimism. He has clearly held his own in some decent teams at a higher level with regular appearances for Doncaster Rovers and Portsmouth as well as Bristol Rovers.

One thing he should be is fit enough to figure. The Telegraph website made the point last night that some players may need shifting out to get game time, naming two of the recent signings. Not only will we be going into Saturday's game against Bolton pointless and bottom of the table but with our already questionable match fitness eroded further.

In his intervew with BBC Humberside on Saturday, club chair Philip Day cast doubt on monies being received anytime soon from the top of the football pyramid. The government stepped in last week to offer financial security to conference clubs to allow their season to commence. This was allegedly to protect the integrity of the FA Cup, presumably in ignorance of the fact that clubs below the conference also take part in it and that frankly the FA wrecked the integrity of its own cup some years ago. An open letter from high profile clubs lower down the league ladder has drawn the attention of both the government and the Football Association to the plight of grassroots football.

The client media meanwhile are falling over themselves to hype up the "best league in the world"™ as the most competitive and open in memory, due to lack of fans in the ground. The fact that the collective memory doesn't extend past 1992 is the first flaw in their argument. The second is that I doubt fans of top flight clubs make that much difference. Setting aside the opinions of Roy Keane on prawn sandwich munchers, Town visited Selhurst Park, said to be home to the most passionate fans in the Premiership two seasons ago. Granted a third round tie against a fourth division side was unlikely to get the blood boiling, but you'd have thought 5000 away fans being loud and proud may have caused a stir. The response though was at best underwhelming.

Bringing the debate back to Town, one can only speculate on the reaction of the Blundell Park faithful had they been present for the performance and result against Salford. It is reasonable to guess it would not have been likely to raise the players' spirits. Those players are now further hampered by both a lack of matches and inability to train. Players and manager ma be wise to hope the ban on fans lasts until their form improves. UTM