Cod Almighty | Diary
Focus on Accrington. Stop it, I said focus on Accrington...
22 August 2025
Focus on Accrington, focus on Accrington, focus on Accrington, focus on Accrington, focus on Accrington, focus on Accrington, focus on Accrington, focus on Accrington, focus on Accrington, focus on Accrington, focus on Accrington, focus on Accrington, focus on Accrington, focus on Accrington, focus on Accrington, focus on Accrington...
Your A46 Diary is very excited to focus on tomorrow's trip to Accrington Stanley, a football club that we've all been annoyed with at one time or another in the recent past. They're one of our favourite we-need-to-be-beating-the-likes-of-them clubs, the kind of club that makes us feel big and important and only where we are now through some cruel injustice of fate, the forgotten plaything of a footballing god who smiles on the lesser lights and frowns on the mighty who have fallen.
It doesn’t go that way, of course. We haven't won at the Wham Stadium since Boxing Day 2016 and have only beaten them once at home since then. A bogey side, then, a side that lurks under the bed and we daren’t let our feet stick out from under the quilt. And there might be something else on the players' and supporters' minds as well, a midweek fixture against another team that plays in red...
Stop it! Focus. Stanley have just signed Paddy Madden on loan from Chesterfield. The 35-year-old often scored against us in a losing cause for Stockport. Being the Hatters' bogey team had its benefits when they had the free-scoring baldy-bearded one. If he’s playing with footballing fate on his side, what damage could he cause? Lots. Not much. Some. None. The defence will keep him quiet. Pym has shown he can take on all comers. It'll be good practice for...
Stop it! Focus. Artell says they’re a good team. He's complimentary about the coaches and the players, quality and experience, and he’s keen to point out that Accrington’s solitary point has come because of fixtures against the early pacesetters, Salford and Crewe. But wait, we're early pacesetters too! (I hadn’t forgotten, I just like saying it!) So, maybe it’s our turn for a win and we’ll wave our toes at the thing under the black and white bed.
Who am I trying to kid? We’re heading for our first defeat tomorrow, so I might as well look forward to...
Stop it! Focus. Artell again brought up Bristol Rovers, concerned that the magic of the cup will cast its spell after the game, not before it, and so our next home league fixture is the one that will be tricky. Maybe. Right now, it's too much to think about Accrington without being distracted, so Rovers will just have to wait - although his mention of a "big recruitment meeting" is interesting and could suggest a signing or two before the Rovers game. What do we need? He’s deliberately vague on that, focusing instead on who's already here and how well they're doing.
Distraction is Artell’s main idea here. And it's the perfect distraction: are you not entertained? Imagine an avuncular Yorkie Roman tyrant delivering that line; Artell is no despot throwing bread and circuses at the plebs. His easy manners in interviews allow us to understand that tomorrow is an important game but it's just another game. Take the pressure off, let our players play and let theirs think of their own tie against Doncaster. Not a glamorous fixture but they'll have ideas of being in the hat for the third round, maybe thinking of Manchester, maybe thinking both red and blue will be available...
A very pleasant distraction for us is Artell's memories of corresponding fixtures from last season. Now that he's been ours for so long, he’s joining dots, linking moments, getting us ready for new memories. The storm of last year, his sympathy for the fans in the wind and rain, the frustration of the result, his insistence that we've grown together, improved together, that this is not a side that will let a two-goal lead slip. Did he actually say that or am I happy to imagine it? I'm happy to focus on Accrington.
But before I go, I’m going to have to let myself have a little look; Manchester United are playing away at Fulham on Sunday at half past four. It's a long trip and they’ll be late home. It'll be a hard game, both sides looking for their first win. Lots of pressure. Imagine that they've only got one or maybe no points at all by the time they come to us. Amorim will be forced to field the first team. The first team will need to get over the culture shock of Blundell Park. And, speaking of bogey sides, Pat Bell’s lovely piece shows that the Red Devils shouldn’t be taking anything for granted on Wednesday night.