Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Tuesday 13 January 2004

13 January 2004

Of course you remember Jonny Rowan! Town's injury-hit local hero made an unheralded return to first-team proximity in last Saturday's draw against Plymouth, as an unused substitute, and continues his quest for fitness and hey, maybe even a new contract, in this afternoon's reserves fixture against a club called Bobby Robson's Newcastle. The second string kick off against their fellow black and whites at Blundell Park at 2 o'clock, and a quick glance down the teamsheet reveals a return for Jonny's fellow fragile frontman David 'Digger' Soames, a run-out for the recently suspended Jason 'More stamps than the Royal Mail' Crowe, and somebody called Howard. The Magpies' stiffs may be looking to avenge the 3-0 defeat inflicted by the Mariners up in the north-east back in September. Or on the other hand they might just not give a toss.

Town fans can sleep a little easier in their beds with the news that Gillingham have signed Patrick Agyemang, and unless you've been somewhere really out of touch recently, like Mars, or Ulceby, you'll know that's because the Kent side had been strongly linked with a move for the Mariners' leading scorer. Boulding is out of contract this summer, of course, and having sold Marlon King and Paul Shaw, the Gills were in the market for a striker but have elected, happily, to deprive the appalling sham of a football club formerly known as Wimbledon of one of theirs. Where this leaves Gillingham's alleged interest in Alan Pouton - another of Town's better earners whose playing deal expires in a few months' time - is uncertain, but let's all just take it easy, here, shall we?

Staying for the moment in the garden of England, Diary readers are urged to support the petition set up by Michael Cole, who has done what all sensible people do when they need a massive nationwide publicity boost and contacted Cod Almighty. Michael is quite frankly appalled by the state of the council football pitches in Adisham (six miles from Canterbury), and having looked at the photographs on his website, the Diary can see why. If you have a moment to spare then why not pop along to the site and sign the petition to help put pressure on the local authority to provide proper grass? After all, the alternative could be a Gillingham team playing the long ball.

I have been asked, furthermore, to point out that Cod Almighty is currently switching to a new server. There was something about codalmighty.net and codalmighty.com, but I don't think the actual address that you have to type into your web browser has to change, any more than currency devaluation affects the pound in your pocket. Look, the bottom line is that I don't understand a bloody word of it, right, but if you're on this site and something weird happens then that'll be why, and can you please let somebody know, using the CA feedback form, if that's all right. Cheers. And when I say 'something weird happens' I mean like the left-hand navbar thing comes up on a page but you don't get any body text, not like you think about swimming lessons in PE and then a load of schoolkids walk past your window on the way to the pool. Although you could tell us about that as well if you want.

Finally today, the Diary is amused to note the departure of stroppy egomaniac George Reynolds from the Darlington boardroom. The Quakers chairman built the 27,000-seater Reynolds Arena for the club now lying 91st in the Football League, publicly denounced a teenage fanzine editor by likening him to a Nazi, and bought up billboard space alongside the ground to display posters suggesting that a local journalist was gay (he wasn't; this was Reynolds' idea of an insult). Just as anyone who actually wants to wear a uniform should be banned from ever doing so, anyone who wants to name a football ground after themselves should be run right out of town and kicked hard in their most sensitive spot.