Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 8 November 2004

8 November 2004

"He raised his hands," said referee Nigel Miller of Jon Daly, after sending off the on-loan Mariners striker in Saturday's predictable 2-0 defeat at Scunthorpe. "He didn't," says anyone who has watched the incident on video. Yep - the ref got it right booking Stacy Coldicott for that embarrassing dive, but the ball was moving when the Iron took the free kick that precipitated their first goal, and he was suckered good and proper for the red card incident. Russell Slade is considering an urgent appeal to the FA against the decision, and given that the defeat owed far less to the appalling match official than to the continuing absence of Thomas Pinault and Town's gormless long-ball approach, the Diary is considering an urgent appeal to Russell Slade against his lamentable team selection and tactics. "It's taken 26 years for the Iron to beat the Mariners in this nail-biting derby," reports BBC Humber, which is exactly how long 90 minutes feels when you're watching route-one dross.

Darren Mansaram is nearing the end of his second month on loan at Halifax, and only a fool would let him stay there a moment longer. A fool, unfortunately, is exactly what Shaymen boss Chris Wilder takes his GTFC counterpart for, as the cheeky sod has told the Halifax Courier: "We have agreed terms with Darren." Excuse me? "But we still have to do a deal with Grimsby." Damn right you do, pal. Any appeal against Daly's red card is bound to be turned down by the FA, since we are Grimsby, and the recent fine form of Dazmaz in his spell in West Yorkshire is a resource with which the Mariners can ill afford to dispense right now.

Town's seemingly improving youth team travel to Staffordshire's former coalfields this Wednesday to face their counterparts from Hednesford Town, and Neil Woods' boys will be hoping to mine a rich seam of goalscoring anthracite without getting their heads cracked open by the police. The game is their first in this season's FA Youth Cup, and the victorious youngsters will face Bury in the tournament's second round later this month, explains the Mariners' official website breathlessly.

Jimmy Gilligan has become the second former Town player currently in temporary charge of a Football League side. After Shaun Cunnington was named caretaker manager at GTFC's next league opponents Kidderminster following the recent resignation of Jan Molby, Blundell Park's one-time record signing from Watford (I think) has been made the short-term boss of the preposterous sham of a football club that now goes under the laughable monicker of Milton Keynes Dons, after their sacking of Belle & Sebastian's lead vocalist over the weekend. One-time Mariners playing legend and unsuccessful manager Paul Groves may have hoped to follow suit at his current place of employ, York City, after the struggling Minstermen gave Chris Brass the heave-ho just now, but somebody called Busby has got the job instead, which, admittedly, is a promising name. Craig Shakespeare, meanwhile, is not believed to be on the shortlist for the vacant manager's position at West Bromwich Albion.