Cod Almighty | Diary

Every Which Way But Lose

12 September 2025

Ahead of tomorrow's 1-0 home defeat to a spirited but rather agricultural Cambridge United, Artell and Sweeney were pushed in front of the cameras to continue the relentless pronouncements of positive progress and development. Gardner's injury, Carson's exit, Eastwood's infectious personality – his smiles were stickier than his gloves – and our new number three's burgeoning midfield and centre-forward qualities were all highlighted.

Let's start with the man who would never be a cowboy, neither good nor bad nor especially ugly. Eastwood was very much the nearly man between the sticks. While he was obviously competent and could go several games with barely a whisper of complaint from the friendly goalkeeping coaches in the Pontoon, he was always just one mistake away from some kind of meltdown that would necessitate a month or three of rehabilitation. Your A46 Dairy's favourite memory is of him climbing McJannet, kneeing him the back, spooning the ball off his fist for a corner and then conceding from the set piece while McJannet was on the sidelines for that completely fair compulsory 30-second absence. Them were the days. Tomorrow, he will, of course, put Donarumma to shame.

Injuries remain, for the most part, our only source of bad news right now, and the language around Gardner's injury, "swelling", "bleeding" and "hamstring" is a blow to his personal development and that of the team. He was looking ready to make this his breakthrough season, not just an occasional cameo but the one we can look to when defences look tough. Just look to the Manchester United game for evidence of that; I was looking forward to him bothering League Two defences, scattering them like so many autumn leaves. Sadly, it's not to be, at least not immediately, but fingers crossed for a speedy recovery and a renewal of the career climb.

Artell's words on Carson were very interesting. I've rarely heard such brutal honesty stated in a such kindly way. The lad wasn't making progress, so he had to go. Get better or get out, was very much the message, and that must've been clear since well before the end of last season, Carson obviously not using loan spells at Alfreton and Radcliffe to make sure he could stake a firm claim on his return. Brutal and yet it sounded like a parting of good friends.

Sweeney speaks well. It's always a risk bringing in the southerners; homesickness seems to bite harder for those who enjoy a barth rather than a bath – or a barf rather than a baff - but he is clearly excited about his role and his own development. To hear a Grimsby left-back talking about being on the end of moves and accepting the challenge of being a six or a nine is exciting and still new enough to have that shine of the novel. New times, new Town, new fluid football, not just pass move or even pass and groove, these boys are full on fluvial.

A riverine or bankside element so far is Soonsup-Bell. I can't wait for him to get into the river current proper and showing us what he can do at BP. The Cambridge game will hopefully be his home debut, perhaps a 25-minute upstaging performance as he tears apart a stubborn yellow defence. It's written in the stars.

So why assume we'll lose tomorrow? That's just a naughty opening sentence slipped in to make you smile, like Jaze Kabia impersonating Tom Cruise in Risky Business, sock-sliding across polished wooden floors, lip-synching and dancing his way into the box, ball at his feet, energy and pace and determination to make us all stand and hope and cheer. It's a risky business this fluid football and we'll lose when we shouldn't, but the wins will be all the sweeter.