Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Tuesday 15 July 2003
15 July 2003
Paul Groves has given the clearest indication yet that he is looking to manage from the bench next season rather than the pitch - in the announcement of new squad numbers. The player-boss - who played the odd stinker in defence last season but found a new lease of life in midfield - has elected to take number 22, handing his old 4 shirt to young defender Simon Ford. Tony Crane and Marcel Cas are the newbies who nab first-team numbers, with 5 and 6 respectively, while Disco Des Hamilton will wear 20 and Iain Anderson 21. Tony Gallimore's exit from the club is all but confirmed by Darren Barnard's accession to the 3 shirt; and the vacancy for a first-choice keeper means number 1 remains unallocated for now. Michael Boulding and Darren Mansaram are handed striking duties with the 9 and 10 shirts, while north bank returnee Phil Jevons will wear number 12.
One unexpected name with a number next to it is that of Bradley Hughes, the teenage goalkeeper quietly reported last week by Town's official site as having left the club. The site lets slip today that the player "has returned to Blundell Park and is expected to sign on for another year", so that's everything explained there then. Hughes has been given the number 30 shirt, anyway, so the Diary presumes that he will now be remaining at Blundell Park - unless the club asks him to wear it for four minutes, takes it back, sacks him, and then auctions it off as a fantastic collectable unique piece of GTFC memorabilia.
Town's website also trails the possibility of two trialists turning out in this afternoon's top-secret friendly against Lincoln at BP, which is kicking off any minute now. Team news and latest scores can be accessed via the site, which saves me having to do it.
And speaking of fund-raising exercises, the Mariners are borrowing the excellent idea hatched by cash-strapped Bury last season and auctioning off a place in the playing squad. One lucky Town fan with more money than sensibility will be handed a squad number, get officially registered as a player with the Football League and appear in the team photo and all that stuff. I note that Diary reader Marnix Kolder currently leads the bidding with an offer of £600 - but the lad remains 400 notes shy of the reserve, so if you're a member of the middle classes benefiting from the UK's absurdly low rates of taxation, then why not make a bid yourself.
On the subject of Bury, that's where Terry Cooke is. The former Mariners winger is training at Gigg Lane, reveals today's Grimsby Telegraph, but has yet to receive a contract offer from any club anywhere in the world all summer - which may surprise some of those who believed that his greater involvement with Town's first team last season would undoubtedly have kept the side in Division One.
And whaddayaknow - the Diary has been well and truly emailed by the Telegraph's Stuart Rowson, who wishes to dissociate himself publicly from all things Hillsborough. "Keep up the good work and call me anything you like," he writes, "but NOT a Sheff Wed fan!!" Nice to hear from you, Stu, and thanks for being a good sport. Readers wishing to take up his kind offer are referred to the email address on the left.
It's been the best day ever for cheesy daytime TV-style links between Diary items, and remaining with Sheffield for our final story today, your friend and mine Neil Warnock continues his bid to sign every player ever mentioned in the same breath as Grimsby by snapping up Mark Rankine, the antiquated Preston midfielder linked with the Mariners last month, on a free transfer. Development work at Bramall Lane continues apace, meanwhile, with the construction of a 300-foot Italian-style tower over the Hallam FM Kop.