Cod Almighty | Diary

Empathy is a gift

14 December 2018

When your West Yorkshire Diary saw that the club had revised Crystal Palace ticket plans following ‘criticism from some supporters’ I was ready to give them credit. They still get some, but the club’s explanation for this change did not reference the fans and, instead, simply stated it was ‘in view of the Christmas period’.

I mean, how difficult would it have been for someone in the offices at Blundell Park to say: “We’ve listened to the fans and appreciate that, with Christmas coming up, many will want to secure their ticket to our biggest FA Cup match in a few seasons. That’s why we’ve decided to adjust our plans to help all fans get the tickets they want before the busy Christmas period.”

It’s very possible that this is what they meant to say but, since the club lacks so desperately a warm and empathetic tone towards the very people that give it an admirable budget to work with every season, it came out as six cold words in a passive prepositional phrase.

I’m sure there will be fans who think I’m nit-picking, and that there are bigger problems ‘in the building’ to focus on. Maybe. But to me, it’s these little details that come with such a simple solution that add up and underline the wider, deep-rooted problem we have. It’s a little peek into the internal workings of the club; its a subconscious reflection of its attitude towards the fans.

“We don’t want to be pandering to all that they ask for because there’s no telling what more they’ll demand or where it’ll stop,” I imagine them saying to each other in a board meeting. “Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile,” another responds. They nod in agreement and move onto the next item on the agenda: flasks.

Tomorrow we welcome Swindon Town. Following last Saturday’s fixture against Cheltenham, that makes it back-to-back games against the Robins. Well, ‘tis the season, after all. I don’t have particularly strong views or cherished memories of playing Swindon, but a quick glance at our head-to-head record shows that we’ve beaten them on the last three occasions. The time before that was a 3-0 defeat at the County Ground, in 2006-7, when future Mariners Andy Monkhouse and Lee Peacock both found the back of the net.

Swindon have won their last three in the league, while the Mariners are five unbeaten at Blundell Park. In fact, we’ve picked up 14 points at home and they’ve picked up 14 points on their travels. It seems quite evenly matched, all things considered, so they’re either ingredients for a stalemate – something we haven’t registered against them in our last ten – or we could get a classic, like the time Mendonca scored a last-minute equaliser in a 3-3 draw back in 1996-7 (a game in which Swindon fielded a very young Marlon Broomes).

The general consensus from last weekend’s defeat was that we played well but somehow managed to lose. Those concerned by this should take comfort from the time we played badly but managed to steal a win against Crawley. We’re certainly not as bland as the Slade team that sleepwalked into that awful winless run, but we do still seem to be a little erratic. I literally have no idea how we’ll play tomorrow, but one thing I’d like to declare with a generous amount of certainty is that I think we’ve seen the last of those horrible performances that we got against Forest Green and Bury.

Let’s end today on a positive. The club has joined forces with the Mariners Trust to set up a food and toy appeal ahead of Christmas. It’s the season of giving [insert obvious joke about Town's defence] and, as we know from previous Trust initiatives, the people who support Grimsby are very giving. A little gesture goes a long way, particularly at this time of year. Wouldn’t it be brilliant to bring a smile to those less fortunate than us? We ask the players to give all they’ve got when they step across the white line. All that’s being asked of us is to donate one small item – and if we all did it, we’d make a pretty impressive difference.

Enjoy the match tomorrow and UTM!