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Diary - Monday 13 February 2006

13 February 2006

The hilarious consequences of Steve Mildenhall not being sent off at the weekend are causing southern Lincolnshire's greatest outcry since the great potato blight of 1841. Boston manager and book-cooker-in-chief Steve Evans, you will recall, spent most of Friday telling the media that Russell Slade's mind games weren't working and he didn't feel any pressure at all, only to chuck an absolute mental in the 53rd minute of Saturday's match when referee Paul Armstrong declined to penalise Town's goalkeeper for appearing to handle the ball outside his penalty area. The happy consequence of all this shenanigans was, of course, Evans' ejection from Blundell Park by Humberside Police - allegedly for swearing at the fourth official Keith Lawson, but word on the street is that Laughing Steve flicked the Vs at fans in the Main Stand. Pilgrims chairman Jon 'Straight as a Die' Sotnick has weighed in with a frankly disrespectful slur on our brave boys in blue, calling for investigations by the local constabulary, GTFC stewards, the League Managers Association, the Home Office, the United Nations and the lead singer out of Broken Social Scene. Don't be demanding too many inquiries though, Boston... you never know what they might find.

Diary reader John Pakey is one of many very nasty and vindictive people who will doubtless find cause for amusement in the plight of poor Mr Evans. So much so, in fact, that JP has emailed gleefully to draw attention to a BBC report on the incident which claims that "Evans was forced to watch the rest of the game from the team coach". "Now, I'm not saying it's not possible to watch the rest of the game from the team coach," opines John, "but I would say it would be a bit of a challenge. Unless of course Steve Evans has special x-ray specs? Either that, or he quickly set up a clever system of mirrors? Answers on the back of a postcard?" Smoke and mirrors are the usual way of things at York Street, Mr Pakey, but if any other Diary readers would like to reflect on the matter, diary@codalmighty.com is the email address to use.

Mr Russell Slade's unexpected recent blabbing to the BBC about his new contract has brought forth what was presumably the desired response in a public confirmation from the club that Sort It is to be offered an extension of his terms to 2008. "We think that it is time to reward the manager for the tremendous work that he has done," Positive John Fenty has told the club's official website, not meaning to suggest that Russ hasn't been paid since he joined GTFC in 2004. Negotiations should be over by the end of the month - much like Steve Evans' hopes of reaching the play-offs.

No sooner has Jean-Paul KK returned to England and the Town team than he is out again, having collected his fifth booking of the season in his impressive cameo role against Boston on Saturday. This tally of yellows will suspend him from this weekend's visit to Rochdale: a game also to be missed by former Town striker Michael Reddy, who has been in tip-top form since his £325,000 transfer to Luton last month, scoring his fourth goal in as many games last weekend and notching a fifth yellow of his own as a punishment for smiling, or something. Never mind, though! Fen Butcher will be back in the team by then!