Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Tuesday 15 April 2003

15 April 2003

Running through my head today is the mystery bug that has members of the GTFC squad dropping like flies. After Richard Hughes was forced to withdraw from the devastating 4-1 defeat against Crystal Palace last weekend with symptoms that I won't go into in case you're in the middle of your lunch, his fellow midfield loanee Michael Keane is also coming down with it, says today's Grimsby Telegraph, as are Tony Gallimore, Steve Livingstone and Shaun Allaway. Training was cancelled yesterday in an effort to prevent the illness spreading still further. "We've had to clear the place and we've virtually closed the building," laments Paul Groves. "It's driving me mad, going out of my head."

I keep closing my eyes but I can't block you out, Georges Santos, and the good news is that Sheffield Wednesday could be experiencing similar feelings this Saturday, when Town's very own Angel of the North, after sitting out the Palace match, could return to the side that visits Hillsborough. BBC Humber Sport reports that Santos - who was all mixed up, feeling cornered and rushed, but is now reported to be ready to extend his contract with the Mariners - is expected to return to training today after recovering from a strung ham. The player is thought to be invulnerable to the bug that is sweeping through Blundell Park after threatening to deck any germs that come near him.

If I'm asking for help it's only because there isn't a great deal of black and white striped news to report at the moment. I'm in serious shit, I feel totally lost, so keep your emails to the Diary coming in. Today's is from Cod Almighty's gambling man Mat Hare, who would like to make Danny Ashmole feel better by sharing the culpability for Town's imminent descent. "If Danny Ashmole thinks his fiver is to blame for us being relegated to Division 2 then I wouldn't be surprised to see us in the depths of the Ryman League soon," says Mat, cheerfully, "because like Danny I too bet on us staying up. I had £20 on with a Wolves fan and a tenner with an Arsenal fan. So I must take 6 times as much of the blame as Mr Ashmole. Sorry!!" Hoping to wash away all the shame, Mat also reminds me that that I had a bet on with a Walsall fan of a bottle of Jack Daniels; but this wager rested only upon which of the two clubs would finish higher in the league and not upon the preservation or otherwise of Town's first division status, so the Diary can accept no responsibility for anything. Not even the war, as it happens - I voted for the Socialist Alliance, and I bet there aren't many of you can say that.

This is not enough as far as Mat is concerned, though; he also draws our attention to today's Sun newspaper, where GTFC are immortalised in Striker, a computer-generated cartoon about an imaginary football club, Warbury Warriors, who last year were relegated from the Premiership. The ignominy of Warriors' plight is highlighted by a 2-2 draw with Grimsby, in which forgotten striker Jonny Rowan puts Town ahead only for Tony Gallimore to gift an equaliser for our fictitious opponents. That man Macca (apparently wearing Darren Barnard's shirt) restores the Mariners' advantage but Warbury grab a predictable equaliser - presumably in the third minute of injury time.

I can try to pretend, I can try to forget about Town's relegation struggle, and sometimes things happen that help you get some perspective. The Diary would today like to pay tribute to one of a very small number of public figures who have spoken proudly of their Grimbarian roots - namely the Labour peer, leading trade unionist and Town fan Lord (Derek) Gladwin of Clee, who has died aged 72. The Diary's mum says that even at the peak of his political career in the 1970s, Lord Gladwin - a former pupil of what was then Carr Lane Juniors and Wintringham Grammar and one-time Grimsby dockworker - often found the time to get back home and support the Mariners, and for that as much as for his devotion to the cause of the working people, the Diary salutes him.