Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Wednesday 12 February 2003

12 February 2003

On Sunday he wanted a midfielder; on Monday he wanted a defender; and today the topsy-turvy world of GTFC sees Paul Groves again switching the focus of his player search towards a forward. Fears early this week that occasionally fit centre-half Steve Chettle would need a hernia operation have dwindled; and with two regular frontmen, Steve Livingstone and Darren Mansaram, suspended and injured respectively, Groves has decided to turn his obsessive scouting impulses elsewhere. "We're very light in the striker department," the manager has told Radio Humberside.

This despite the tremendous performance of Chris Thompson up front at the weekend, and the words of reserve team coach Paul Wilkinson, who believes Jake Sagare - the American forward given a short-term contract last week - will soon be knocking on the door of the first team's bijou maisonette. "We would be looking for him to be in or around the first team squad fairly soon," says Wilko in a quite good question-and-answer thing on Town's official site.

Mr Wilkinson takes his side to Brigg this afternoon for a friendly with good neighbours Lincoln City. The half-dozen trialists who flooded into the club recently, taking our jobs, cheating the benefit system, threatening our way of life and mugging our babies, were denied a chance to shine last week when Town's meteorologically persecuted reserve team suffered its 108th postponement of the season; so today's fixture gives the Pauls a belated chance to check out Messrs Kelly, George, Ghaichem, Self and Fleetwood.