Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Monday 5 May 2003
5 May 2003
Ahem. First of all, the Diary owes you an apology for yesterday's dog's breakfast of an entry. I started drinking early and didn't stop. It was an interesting session, though. I tried several times to leave, but people kept buying me pints; and by the time Mrs Diary and I had finished the pizza I was dead to the world and could not be awoken for either the snooker or the Fast Show repeat. But I felt absolutely fine this morning! Which was nice.
That entirely self-indulgent digression over, we can progress to the more momentous issue of Georges Santos' future employment, which Paul Groves and I, and probably you too, hope will be with Grimsby Town Football Club. Such is Town's keenness to retain the services of the hot-headed continental, in fact, that the club is making him a second new contract offer without even waiting for him to refuse the first. "We've made Georges an offer and we'll be making Georges another offer," confirms Mr Groves, hoping the Grimsby Telegraph is listening and stops running stories saying even the tea lady is moving to Hull on a Bosman.
The Grimsby Telegraph runs a story saying John McDermott is moving to Hull on a Bosman. Tigers boss Peter Taylor, who admits: "I've seen him before and I know what he can do," has clearly developed a better eye for a player since he famously paid £5m for Ade Akinbiyi while Leicester City manager. The former England under-21 coach watched Macca in yesterday's Town-Brighton match but might not have showed up had he not been doing some radio work. "I need some experience and I'm here watching him today as well as working for the radio," says Taylor. Hmmmmm.
There was a bit of aggro after yesterday's match, adds the Telegraph. A group of 80s nostalgia freaks apparently started the odd scuffle down the seafront, resulting in three arrests and one hospitalisation. I suppose it's all good practice for Cardiff next season.
Back to inconsequential trivia now, and having clocked that horrible tattoo on Michael Keane's back after the loan midfielder celebrated his goal yesterday by getting his kit off for the Pontoon, the Diary is now in a position to comment on what it actually says; and I agree with the reader who last week suggested that it reads ARSENAL. Which is interesting, but not quite earth-shattering. I would be far more impressed if Patrick Vieira turned out to have a tat that says PORTSMOUTH.
The Diary's recent hatchet job on Town's new sponsor Jarvis has, I am both delighted and relieved to announce, got right up someone's nose. I don't know whose nose it is, because their email is anonymous, but it reads as follows. "I enjoy reading the Diary every day on the great website Cod Almighty. However, the recent outbursts regarding Town's new sponsors worry me. Forgive me if I'm wrong but I thought Cod Almighty was a football website. Not a political one. To me the sponsorship news is good for the club. It will bring much needed cash into the club at a time when we need it most. You had your say on the situation regards Jarvis yesterday and fair enough, but leave it now eh? You risk turning the Diary into an editorial or an opinion column. Is that what your readers want?"
In response I would point out that the subjectivity of this column is its raison d'etre (apologies to any accent pedants there; I don't know how to get a circumflex in Notepad). What our readers want, I believe, is an alternative. The whole point of the Diary - and probably of Cod Almighty as a whole - is to give you something to read that isn't exactly the same as every other GTFC website out there. I'm not claiming we're better than other sites; we just try and give a different take on things for those who want it. In the case of the Jarvis thing, a lot of Town fans I spoke to didn't know anything about the company, and other coverage of the sponsorship deal wasn't giving much background on the Potters Bar crash and the education consultancy - an editorial decision every bit as "political" as the Diary's choice to include it. So the Diary wasn't telling you what to think; it was just trying to help you make an informed decision by giving you information that other sources omitted. In any case, I wasn't intending to denounce Jarvis every day for the next three years. I don't really have the attention span.
"I, for now, will continue to read the Diary," adds our mystery correspondent, "as usually it's a good read and I'm sure the style similarities between it and the Guardian's Football Unlimited Rumour Mill column are purely coincidental." You're right - I've never heard of it. In fact I don't even know what the Guardian is. Anyway, the Diary is genuinely grateful for your feedback, whoever you are, and would be interested in hearing from other readers about the way we cover events in this column. codalmightydiary@yahoo.co.uk is the address.
As the Diary drunkenly alluded to yesterday, two members of the Cod Almighty team were interviewed before the Brighton match by Radio Five Live's Mark Clemmit for his weekly programme The 92 Club, which chronicles his "epic journey to visit all 92 league grounds in one season." You can hear Clem's visit to Blundell Park and his natter with Messrs Si Wilson and Mark Shephard on Five Live tonight in Sport on Five, which begins at 7pm.
And finally, the Diary missed Corrie again on Friday and yesterday. I was watching a band on Friday and, er, well, you already know about yesterday. Can anyone fill me in on it again? Has foxy Maria been sacked from the salon yet?