Cod Almighty | Diary

Where's he been all season?!

18 June 2026

Eng-er-land! Eng-er-land! Mate, did you see the match last night? The one where the sons and grandsons of immigrants from Jamaica, Nigeria, Grenada, Angola, Ivory Coast, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and even Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, came together with other sons and grandsons of folk from Scotland and the Republic of Ireland — and a guy from Germany — to play their hearts out for the Three Lions and beat Croatia 4-2 at the World Cup?

Maybe we should’ve named just Jordan Pickford, John Stones and Dan Burn, and seen how far we’d have got with the only players in the squad that appear to fit the strict definition of English in the eyes of those who have access to any history book and still like the sound of fascism.

Ah, but the likes of Ezri Konsa, Noni Madueke, Reece James, Nico O’Reilly, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Morgan Rogers, Marc Guéhi and Djed Spence are okay, though, because they’re providing a service that Tommy Robinson likes. You’re welcome here, as long as you’re doing something for me. That’s the nub of it. As long as they’re obedient and subservient. Those are tones that existed centuries ago during our country’s most barbaric and shameful period, and yet they still exist today.

Right, that should’ve filtered out the right-wing snowflakes and sent them on their way, so now your West Yorkshire Diary can crack on with lighter stuff.

It’s hard to say at any moment in time these days whether England has a so-called golden generation — and perhaps that’s evidence of the FA’s conveyor belt in full flow. Cast your net wider. Keep an open mind. Be more inviting and welcoming! Certainly, pundits have said the golden generation thing about Belgium, but they’ll say it about any country based on the simple metric of how many players of that nationality they see play in our Premier League.

Perhaps Albania is on the cusp of a golden generation? If they are, then you’ll have to credit Jamestown, because Grimsby Town have swooped for Edon Pruti, the former Albanian under-21 international who could, and probably will at some point, partner current Albania under-21 international Maldini Kacurri in the heart of the Mariners defence next season.

The real tragedy about Evan Khori leaving was that we’d never be able to name Khouri, Turi and Kacurri together in the same XI. But I’m glad to see the Mariners remedy that situation by bringing in Pruti from Sutton, so now we can look forward to the Turi-Pruti-Kacurri combo. Other players whose surnames or nicknames end with ‘i’ (I’ll even accept ‘y’) are more than welcome.

Pruti joins after Foulkesy and Cooky penned deals with us earlier in the week, and you have to say that our defence is looking sorted. Two quality full backs each side, with two Albanians and McJannety and Tharmey in the centre (where Rodgersy could also play). Come on, Smithy, kung-fu kick your way to Clee please and sign on the dotted line. I've bought two season tickets behind the Pontoon goal to witness your pre-match crossbar assault especially (well, almost).

UTM!