Cod Almighty | Diary

NASA gives it 15 years

27 March 2014

If you think a manager should be sacked on the basis of a few weeks' dodgy form, you're obviously a massive pillock. Town's apparently-under-pressure boss Paul Hurst isn't doing himself any favours, however, with his stance on Andy Cook this past week. Just seven days ago the manager told the local paper:

"I felt that his performances recently in training, and the way he's been, meant he deserved an opportunity… when he's been on the pitch he's looked livelier and had an impact… when he gets it right, he's as good a centre-forward as I've seen in the air. He's not got bad feet for a big lad either, so he can certainly be a positive for us – whether that's starting or from the bench."

And yet two days ago Cook was omitted entirely from the match day squad of 16 when Luton came and did their thing. Hurst's explanation?

"I picked other players. It was just a selection decision."

Right – as opposed to one of those choices you make about who's going to play which isn't a "selection decision". That's cleared that one up then.

Maybe it's your original/regular Diary who's wrong. Maybe "selection decision" is one of those terms used by people in the game which carry some meaning unknown to the likes of you and me. Maybe it's like some of the terms pundits use. Like when they say teams have "a lack of quality". To you and me, a lack of quality means being not very good. But that can't be what the pundits mean. Anyone can see when a team's not very good. And pundits are paid a lot of money to talk about football. So they must have some kind of special knowledge. So when they say "a lack of quality" they can't possibly just mean "not very good". Right?

Oh.

Ah.

In other, far more important news of official incompetence, did you know that 900 people have died as a result of working on infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar? Nine hundred people. And did you know that, unless conditions improve, the total is expected to reach 4,000? Four thousand people. Dead. That's, what, more than one in ten of the population of Cleethorpes? Or a thousand more than were killed in the 11 September terrorist attacks in 2001. For football? For Blatter's tea party.

Fuck that shit. Sign this petition calling on FIFA to improve working conditions now.