Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Thursday 23 January 2003

23 January 2003

Terry Cooke will be fit to play Bradford this weekend; Bobby Gould is now manager of Cheltenham; and Cod Almighty does not condone the use of illicit psychotropic compounds of any description. The only substance the Diary will be offering you today is a pinch of salt, with which to take yesterday's Diary.

Now, as right-wing comedian Jimmy Tarbuck was once fond of saying, we have a difference of opinion, Geoffrey. Following reports yesterday that Paul Groves' loan target Curtis Woodhouse was wavering towards Rotherham instead, because it's closer to his people in Driffield, Town's official site is of the opinion that the Birmingham midfielder has indeed signed for the Millers. Rotherham's official site, rather excitingly, explicitly takes Town's to task, insisting that the deal probably won't go through until next week. Fight! Fight! Fight!

Either way, it doesn't look much like young Curt is Blundell-bound. Although one Diary reader has calculated that Driffield is 70 kilometres from Rotherham and only 54 kilometres from Cleethorpes, another has pointed out that geographical and emotional promixity are two very different qualities so far as Yorkshire is concerned. With Groves now turning his attentions elsewhere, both Town's official site and BBC Humber Sport suggest that not one but two exciting new loanees could line up against Bradford on Saturday. Wonder which site said it first. Groves himself it plays down, however, telling the Grimsby Telegraph: "I'd say it's unlikely that we'll get anybody in before [the weekend]."

Undeterred by the failure of innumerable previous attempts to release the club's unissued share capital, Town chairman Peter Furneaux is to attempt to release the club's unissued share capital. The Diary's understanding of the situation is that there are lots of shares in GTFC that haven't been sold, and lots of people want to buy them, which would be good because GTFC would get lots of money, but some of the people who already have shares don't want the new ones to be sold. These people aren't the people who are on the board, but a lot of fans think they are and start singing "Sack the board" when we let a goal in. I know - it's confusing, isn't it.

Major bloodsuckers - sorry, broadcasters - Carlton and Granada, who you may remember ripped Town off for several zillion pounds some months ago, have had a rummage down the back of the sofa and miraculously come up with £3million to pay the liquidator of ITV Digital, so that they can avoid the further embarrassment of having to ask former customers for their set-top box things back. Mind you, it's all relative, isn't it. I dread to think how much it'll cost the taxpayer for the British army to go and fight the Americans' oil war for them. Either way, it could have bought Steve Kabba and John Oster and still had change for a round in the Rutland.