Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Tuesday 21 February 2006

21 February 2006

You know it's a slow news day when you have to lead with a story about a rearranged date for a postponed fixture. Town's visit to Rochdale, which was called off last Saturday when the referee had to be rescued from his pitch inspection, will now take place on the evening of Tuesday 14 March, reports the Mariners' official website. The OS adds that, having not quite been able to keep pace with Chelsea's squad-building in recent seasons, Dale are at least attempting to emulate the Stamford Bridge playing surface by chucking 40 tonnes of sand on it. "I know the pitch won't look very nice, but at this moment in time it is the only option available to us," says Spotland groundsman Phil Collinson, glaring menacingly at the Rochdale Hornets rugby league team.

Let us stay in the north-west and turn to Chester City, whose relentlessly violent long-ball style last season at least had the virtue of making Town's look palatable by comparison, and who return to Blundell Park this Saturday assuming that the pitch doesn't get torn up by a rugby team first. As yesterday's Grimsby Telegraph noted, the nicknameless Cheshire side, having just dismissed Keith Curle, will continue a theme this season of clubs sacking or suspending managers just before facing the Mariners (see also: Lincoln, Peterborough, can't remember whether there was another one). This time, however, a replacement has already been appointed in the form of Mark Wright, who previously managed Chester - and to great effect - from 2002 to 2004, in between his two 'controversial' sackings by Oxford and Peterborough. So will this mean a galvanised City team and another home defeat for the Mariners - and have Chester ethnically cleansed their playing squad?

As you have probably heard already today, this season's FA Cup final won't take place at Wembley after all, the Football Association having recently discovered that Fosters-swilling men wearing hats with corks dangling from the rim are not to be relied upon for large, time-sensitive building projects. Not that this concerns the Mariners in any way following their dismal ejection from the tournament by Bristol Rovers earlier this winter, but if Sladey's battlers can't climb back into the top three come May time, they could just be looking at a play-off final, and the Football League has likewise confirmed that these esteemed occasions will remain at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium for another season. Sunday 28 May is the date you hope you won't need to keep free.

And that's it. What a boring day. Between now and tomorrow lunchtime could somebody go and let Steve Evans' tyres down or something, please?