Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Thursday 3 October 2002

3 October 2002

Bloodthirsty Frenchman Georges Santos speaks of his confidence that Town will beat the drop again. The ferocious midfielder tells BBC Sport Online: "I think we have a team that could be in the top 10...I'm very surprised Grimsby are at the bottom because they have good young players and a good team." Leading grammarians say Santos' switch from the first to the third person may reflect vocational uncertainty resulting from his short-term contract.

Twiddling its thumbs, the Grimsby Telegraph goes for some 'shock injury crisis' stuff: the minor strain Shaun Allaway picked up for the reserves yesterday threatens to leave Town without goalkeeping cover for Danny Coyne this Saturday, with Steve Croudson and Bradley Hughes also being crocked. Steve Chettle will miss out again against Reading, with doubts over Steve Kabba, Stacy Coldicott and player-boss Paul Groves, who laments: "We haven't got the numbers to cope with what's happening."

The Telegraph also says Town have received 100 grand they were owed by FLPTV, which I think is the company that turned all the Nationwide League official sites into pop-up-ridden online betting shops. Under a new deal, says the local paper, the club gets "80 per cent of any commercial revenue through the official website. That means fans spending £10 on GTFC goodies on the website will put an extra £8 into the club coffers." As opposed, presumably, to an extra £10 in those distant days when clubs ran their own sites. Yay, capitalism.

Cod Almighty remains mystified as to why some GTFC websites are presenting Tony Gallimore's impending suspension as some kind of doomsday scenario, what with three other players being able to fill in and Gallimore having played like a spanner all season anyway.

Second division Barnsley have been placed into administration.