Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Thursday 15 April 2004

15 April 2004

Probably not even Nicky Law himself believes in his heart of hearts that Town will still have anything to play for in his final game as GTFC manager, but in the unlikely event that the Mariners are still in with a shout of second division survival when they head to Tranmere on 8 May, Brian Little might end up helping them more than Law ever could. The not-Scousers' manager has accepted what the rest of the second division has known all season: that his team won't make the play-offs - and Little could be set to do a Wenger for the last couple of games and field players whose squad numbers are double their age. "There are lads like Steven Jennings, Chris Dagnall and others I would like to see play in the first team," the former Leicester and Aston Villa boss tells the Liverpool Daily Post, but adds: "However, we owe it to ourselves and the other clubs in the division to try and win our remaining games." The Diary is tempted to joke that Town have been fielding under-strength teams all season, but I did that one last April.

Troubled GTFC sponsor Jarvis - whose relationship with the club is not expected to outlast the latter's second division status - is back in the headlines. Before you go jumping to conclusions about fatal rail crashes or government contracts won after donations to the Labour Party, though, the ailing engineering group has woken up to find its share price tumbling by around 20 per cent after issuing its second profit warning within the space of 12 weeks. In an uncanny echo of the financial situation at Blundell Park, an expected £5m profit in the firm's 'accommodation services' division has become a £5m loss. Jarvis shares are now worth half their value of a year ago, and finance director Robert Kendall has resigned in the wake of the company's latest wobble. "The loss for the division has primarily been caused by overruns on construction costs for a number of refurbishment contracts," says chief executive Kevin Hyde, "and that bloody idiot who got us into this football sponsorship thing wants a good kick in the knackers."

Scunny have only been and gone and done it! Just when you thought it was safe to quite like them again in a condescending sort of way, Brian Laws is back in charge at Glanford Park, three weeks after being sacked, after a GTFC-style game of boardroom musical chairs restored former head prefect Steve Wharton to the top job. "Mr Wharton pledged himself to work hard to try and reverse the recent poor results of the football team," reads a statement on the club's official site, adding with no apparent irony: "To that end he will be asking Brian Laws to return as manager." Peter Furneaux, meanwhile, has called a press conference for 10am tomorrow, at which he is expected to wear a blond wig, false moustache and dark glasses and announce the reappointment of Graham Rodger as Mariners boss while speaking with a lisp.