Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Wednesday 17 March 2004

17 March 2004

Well, it could have been worse - not the place where we were born and the football team we had to support, but last night's results in Division Two. While Town were sitting on their hands and sweating on Stacy's groin, the rest of the third tier were kicking bags of wind around fields, the result being defeats for Notts County, Peterborough, and Chesterfield and only moderately annoying draws for Brentford, Oldham and Stockport. We don't have to worry about Wycombe, do we? Although down to 19th place in the league and facing almost certain death at Swindon tonight, those plucky old Mariners remain four points above the bottom four - until this weekend, at least.

Team news? You want team news? Contrary to reports emanating from certain sources yesterday, Stacy Coldicott and Iain Anderson are in with a chance of some action tonight - playing football in Wiltshire, I mean, not having casual sex - according to Mr Nicholas Law, who also has right-back news to share: John McDermott "is fit now but needs to get the games in" while Jason Crowe could be in contention for the visit of Hartlepool this weekend. Swindon's Sammy Igoe now looks OK to start the match, but midfield duo Steve Robinson and Stefani Miglioranzi are crocked. Yeah, like it matters. Incidentally, Law's latest efforts to put a positive spin on 'direct' football are taking on something of a lyrical quality: "Sometimes it isn't pretty, sometimes it isn't nice," he tells Town's official site today, strumming a battered old acoustic guitar... so, hey readers, email to diary@codalmighty.com your suggested next two lines for The Ballad of Long-Ball Nicky.

The media are having one of those feeding frenzy things about Cod Almighty's rather fabulous T-shirts this week, tearing great strips of flesh from poor flailing Pete Green, who thought his work was done after he designed the things last year. No sooner was his interrogation by Radio Humberside broadcast live this morning - they began with a vox-pop survey of random Lancastrians most of whom believed that Grimsby was very much in Yorkshire, and then kookily demanded to know whether a shipment of GINIY baseball caps was on its way - than the Yorkshire Post rang up to bend his ear, with the result that a piece will appear in tomorrow's paper. And if all of that were not enough, PG is being whisked off to a television studio later today to record an interview for tonight's Look North programme. Diary readers are invited to tune in at 6:30 this evening and wonder just how it is that Pete gets his hair so damn straight.

And while you're at it, folks, get thinking of some questions for John Tondeur. Radio Humberside's greatest living commentator is to occupy the hotseat in the first of a new series of exclusive interviews conducted for Cod Almighty by seasoned Town-watcher Paul Thundercliffe, who is inviting CA readers to submit questions before he sits down with the great man next Wednesday. Have a ponder, then, and send your questions for the eminent Mr Tondeur to Paul at thundercliffe@codalmighty.com.

Finally, to cheer you up before Town bring you back down tonight, we return to last night's football for some gratifying tidings of Blundell Park's most recent departees. Alan "I'm a first division player, get me out of here" Pouton, who has seriously struggled to establish himself in the Gillingham side since leaving the sinking ship for Priestfield in January, proved the catalyst for his new side's undoing against Norwich on Tuesday by breaking the deadlock at Carrow Road with a 63rd-minute own goal, which was followed by two further strikes within four minutes to seal a 3-0 thumping for the relegation-threatened Gills. Did you enjoy that? Well, there's more, because Michael "I'm not going to Barnsley... yes I am" Boulding will be denied the chance to register his first goal for the struggling Tykes for at least another six weeks after, er, not realising he was injured in his side's 2-1 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday last Saturday and knackering himself up even more by playing on. It's not funny at all, so I don't know why I'm laughing.