Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Wednesday 15 August 2012

15 August 2012

Well, we really messed that one up, didn't we?

The language on Twitter got quite colourful last night, at roughly 21:32, when the Mariners managed to make a right pig's ear of a meagre contest that they were in control of. The players' ineptitude at least proved that the dialect of the sailor is alive and well in the Town. And if that was the language of the fans, then God only knows what Shouty was shouting in the dressing room. It's probably why Shorty was rolled out to give the sensible post-match thoughts - much to the relief of John Tondeur and anyone else within the vicinity of the press box. Shouty strikes me as a man who has poor saliva control when he launches into a tirade.

Now, your West Yorkshire Diary could be wrong - like the time I thought that the motion of 'chinning' someone was like a headbutt, only with the aggressor leading with the chin. But Shouty and Shorty don't look like the sort of men who ask their teams to sit back and defend a 1-0 lead - especially given some of the thrashings we gave out last season to the likes of Alfreton (twice), Bath and, of course, Stockport. So I think the players will have to take some of the blame on this one, for what was another pretty hurtful - and late - capitulation.

I don't think the managers are without blame either. As good as his goal was last night, the loan signing of Nathan Pond smacks of last-minute desperation. Our defence has creaked like Mandy Dingle's deckchair whenever the opposition has got anywhere near our penalty box. Southport only had one shot on target and scored from it; Stockport two and scored both. Pre-season is a long time and we spent the majority of it with just Ian Miller and Shaun Pearson as centre-backs before signing an unfit Ford and dragging in Pond with just a day to go.

These are hard times. Yesterday I was told that, due to the rise of inflation, an average family of four now has to pay £900 more compared to this time last year just to maintain the same standard of living. And with most wages failing to edge up at the same rate, disposable income is reducing and therefore a crowd of 3,670 isn't half bad to watch Conference football, especially given a small rise in some ticket prices. I just wonder how many of them will justify spending more money on Town if the team continues to suggest that it'll be nothing more than mid-table mediocrity. Still, maybe Deadly John (Topcat) can just throw more of his money into the player purchases pot and we can scrape eighth place or something.

And look on the bright side - we're one point and two goals up on this time last year!