Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Friday 6 February 2004
6 February 2004
And a very good afternoon to you, dear reader. Are you sitting comfortably? Then we shall begin.
The olde world of the printed press carries news that Oldham's Les Pogliacomi and Paul Murray are on their way to Crystal Palace, but only after they've taken part in Sunday's game. Meanwhile, Oldham, taking advantage of the latest InterWeb technology, have let it be be known that Pogliacomi has rejected the move. Whichever way you look at it, the two players will be turning out for Oldham on Sunday, so, er, I'm not quite sure what the point in all that old versus new technology comparison lark was, but there you go. One player who might not turn out for the Latics is Calvin Zola who is hamstrung.
Oldham manager John Sheridan tells the Manchester Evening News that he wants his players to start taking their chances and pull away from the relegation zone. As is the norm for opposition managers, Sheridan casts jealous eyes over Town's squad, before noting "Grimsby...like to play football, which should suit us." Yes, playing another football team sometimes helps, John. Incidentally, the bottom of the MEN's preview carries the line "Last season: Different divisions" which is an album title if ever I've seen one. And if you've seen any more potential album titles you might fancy dropping them the Diary's way.
Closer to home, Town manager Paul 'Grovesie' Groves says his boys want to win for the 1,500 Town fans who will be at Boundary Park on Sunday. The club, you see, have shifted their full allocation of tickets, so they must have all gone to Town fans, and all of those Town fans are going to turn up aren't they? In what should be a cutting jibe at the other-worldly atmosphere at Blundell Park these days (that other world being Pluto), Groves comments "it's always good to play in front of a full house wherever it is. So it's one to look forward to." He continues: "Hopefully we can get a positive result from it as well." Could be an idea, Paul, otherwise I can see elements of the Town support imagining the front page of Monday's Grimsby Telegraph carrying a picture of your face under the headline THE FACE OF EVIL. Maybe.
The Riby Square hacks also decide to extend a warm, welcoming hand to Town's new loan signing Lee Thorpe with a story titled IT'S WELCOME TO (C)LEE THORPE!. A story which bears an uncanny resemblance to another story from 30 January called IT'S WELCOME TO (C)LEE THORPE!... Good to see the boys and girls at the GET are taking their recycling policy seriously. If you've got a sr>
"This thing about 'Lee Thorpe' becoming 'Cleethorpes' with a letter at either side of his name," writes a Diary reader. "Coincidentally, I noticed the same thing at the weekend regarding electropoppy composer Vangelis and the word 'evangelist'. Not as apposite or exciting as the one about Town's striker, but it still works. Have any Diary readers got such names? I have. Yours, Mr Ucking Cun."
On a less profane but ultimately more wholesome final note, John Arrand has emailed with a series of pub 'n' grub (heh heh, that rhymes!) recommendations for Guest Diary, who is this week hauling his progeny around Whitby. "I read last night in the Rough Guide to England that the Tap and Spile (near Trenchers and the train station) is a popular real ale haunt in Whitby. Middle Earth, which is on the same street as the Duke of York but down the other way, is also supposed to be good. For eating I can recommend the White Horse and Griffin - fantastic gourmet fish dishes - and the Magpie Café is great for fish and chips. Trenchers is also supposed to be good." Marvellous stuff, John; I will thank you on Guest Diary's behalf, and only hope the information superhighway extends to the North Yorkshire coast so that he can actually read all this stuff. In other news today, John McDermott's return to action has been put back by a week to the middle of March because the surgeon is going away on holiday and Macca didn't like the look of the kid from Pertemps; the final few weeks of Jarvis' sponsorship before Young's takes over are heralded by the club shop doing a two-for-one deal on replica shirts; and Nick Daws apparently calls fans "speccies". Without the Telegraph explaining that last one, the Diary would have assumed that Town's experienced loan midfielder was referring to all the opticians in the Main Stand. Warmest thanks go to my guest/substitute/apprentice diarist for filling in here last Friday in the alarmingly efficient manner of a Mike Edwards to my Simon Ford. Wor22http://www.grimsby-townfc.premiumtv.coably, slung us a vitriolic email taking issue with Guest Diary for describing the languid scouser's new role as "non-scoring midfielder" - five goals in eight games are all very well, but the white boots still look like a hand-me-down from Don Johnson in Miami Vice - and Miles Moss has come forward with a Whitby pub recommendation. The Duke of York, he says, is "a great pub... it's on the Abbey side of the bridge, and some seats look out onto the harbour (although you have to get in pretty early to nab one of those). The ale is real (they do a wonderful pint of draught Black Sheep), and the food's pretty damn tasty too." Thoughtful Mr Moss even provides a Multimap link for Guest Diary's convenience. While we're at it, then, can anyone recommend a good B&B in Cleethorpes for the forthcoming Cod Almighty editorial board meeting? We would appreciate vegetarian breakfast options and scant regard for alcohol licensing regulations. Dentists. Sorry.hospice is. Turning in desperation to TeAmTAlktet@we find an unsourced Paul Groves quote denying the suggestion in yesterday's Diary that Kevin Donovan would come back to BP now that Marcel Cas has gone. Ha, joking! Got you! Oh, and it's Wednesday, so Hull are signing a new striker. Guest Diary has emailed to say: "Please pass on thanks to everyone. We arrive in Whitby on Wednesday so the advice came nicely in time. I am taking my drinking trousers, and a spanky new pair of shoes bought in Lidl this very morning." Which, if you haven't been reading the Diary since last Friday, would seem almost as peculiar as today's other arrival in my inbox, to wit: "To: 'Stevens, Jan'
Having just got absolutely trolleyed in three different cities in three nights, my body is telling me today that you can have too much of a good thing. And Paul Groves seems to agree with it: after stating last week that not having to play football very much was a good way for his football players to get better at playing football, his team has today been hosting a behind-closed-doors friendly against third division neighbours Boston, lest they forget what that round white thing lying on the grass is for. The 'under-fire' Town boss contacted his Pilgrims counterpart Neil Thompson over the weekend to suggest the practice match after both clubs saw fixtures rained off. "Their pitch is supposed to be OK after the downpour," says Thompson in the Lincolnshire Echo, "and it is a decent surface to play on anyway." I dunno the result or owt, cos there's nothing about it on Town's website yet, but the Grimbo Tello says this Thorpe character was "making his unofficial Town debut". Oh, and hiMare beforehand. In fact,