Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 6 April 2009

6 April 2009

Another great performance from Mr Re-Newell's side in securing a point at Shrewsbury was overshadowed by wins for every bugger else down the bottom on Saturday. But one thing the weekend's fixtures have made clear is that it might have been wiser for Town, before allowing Tom Newey to join Rochdale on loan for the rest of the season, to check which teams Dale had left to play. After the player's spell at Blundell Park coincided with the Mariners' worst spell in 130 years of history, it comes as no surprise that, since Newey's move to Spotland, Rochdale's promotion challenge has collapsed like a trifle under a tram. Even before the former Cambridge United left-back got on the pitch, his new team's form plunged with a 3-0 defeat at mid-table Chesterfield - which left manager Keith Hill scratching his head and wondering: "I am bemused by it because in training on Tuesday the lads were up for it but it just didn't materialise on the night" - and Newey's debut on Saturday as a half-time substitute found him on the wrong side of a crushing 4-0 defeat - by Town's rivals in the danger zone Bournemouth. When the Newey effect ratchets up as the player makes his full debut this Saturday, Port Vale's huge win at Spotland is expected to remove them from the relegation mix entirely.

As a card-carrying member of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Apostrophe Abuse, the Diary finds frequent cause for outrage in the shop signs of Great Britain and was naturally stoked into an almighty fury by the emergence in 2001 of 'reality' TV pop group Hear'Say. It is with some distress and a heavy heart, then, that I am obliged to tell you of the Mariners' latest special offer on ticket prices. After a five quid admission charge brought in big and surprisingly supportive crowds to recent games against Gillingham and Aldershot, GTFC chiefs have decided to see if they can still get good support without giving away quite as much money and are charging a tenner to get in to this weekend's match against Accrington Stanley. The name of this promotion, I am appalled to have to inform you, is "ACCRING'Ten". Quite aside from the flagrant misuse of the apostrophe, it also strikes the Diary as a bit stupid to put the ACCRING part in capital letters rather than the ten part, because it's the ten part you want to emphasise, isn't it. You can have that one for free, Town.