Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 14 July 2003

14 July 2003

Now that Clive Platt has become the latest in a long line of strikers to turn down a move to the Mariners, Paul Groves may be forced to turn his sights to Cleethorpes beach for a new frontman, because it's only the donkeys who are left. That's the impression given, at any rate, by today's Grimsby Telegraph, which insists that Platt is set to reject the bigger bucks on offer from Blundell Park in favour of a move to Notts County - despite the Magpies' transfer embargo looking likely to remain in place until next month. The local rag further suggests that a succession of strikers have said no to Grimsby and that the Town boss will be forced to resort to an ageing lumberer. "It's just about dead now," admits Groves, meaning the Platt deal, not the experimental clone of Livvo strapped to a table in a secret lab under his office. "There's still no sign of him changing his decision and it's time for us to move on." Damn those cycle lanes.

The picture looks slightly better as regards a new keeper, in terms of both the possibility of signing one and the quality of the image that accompanies this story on Town's official site. Maybe this one's from Empics. Paul declares that a deal with his number one number one remains a possibility. "We're still talking to our main target," he says on Mariners Net, which repeats that Aidan Davison is rumoured to be the man in question, yeah, like they don't already know.

One man unlikely to become Town's new centre forward is one of Town's old centre forwards, namely Robert Taylor, whose obvious quality cruelly raised the hopes of supporters during his assorted loans and short-term contracts with the Mariners a year or so back. Having seen out last season in the Glanford Park treatment room, the talented but chronically injury-prone striker has landed a trial with third division Cheltenham - as has the former West Brom and Bolton forward Robert 'Bob' Taylor. Could be interesting.