Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 23 August 2004

23 August 2004

Today's Diary is amazed at how horrible people are being about Paula Radcliffe, and would very much like to give her a big hug.

So, just like last season, Town have a squad that looks on paper like one of the best three or four in their division, and just like last season their manager is lamenting their inability to turn their superior skill into points. "I don't blame anybody but we need to put our finishing boots on," Russell Slade says of Saturday's 1-0 defeat to a Rushden side who were outfought and outplayed by the Mariners in just about every way. "We need to do things better in both boxes - that's where games are won and lost," adds Noddy. Any day now the Grimsby Telegraph will start running interviews with senior players about how the players all know they can do better and they're still only six points off the play-offs and they'll start winning games very very soon, no, really, they will. Oh, look - they have.

And with three defenders sidelined through injury already in Tony Crane, Rob Jones and Glen Downey, what's the very last thing in the world that you need? That's right, readers - a fourth. Thus the Doc Marten of Fate plants itself squarely and firmly into the testicles of Town's promotion hopes, as Simon Ramsden - the side's best defender so far this season - "pulled his neck" in Northants at the weekend, to use the words of the club's official website. Mr Slade is now down to the bare bones of Justin Whittle, Greg Young and Dean Gordon for tomorrow night's League Cup game against Wigan, and you get the feeling that if Kirk Wheeler were any good then he'd already have made it into the first team. Ulp.

The Diary nearly choked on my Ty-Phoo the other day as footage of three Town players popped up on screen during Football Focus, and not just because the caption for one of them said IVAN BONNETTI. As part of its 'Cult Heroes' feature, the BBC's venerated but increasingly lacklustre Saturday lunchtime footy show is inviting supporters to vote for their favourite, er, cult heroes, and GTFC are featuring early on. Fans are asked to choose from a list of three comprising John McDermott, Clive Mendonca and the aforementioned misspelt Italian, which seems slightly wrong to the Diary, as these players are not so much cult heroes as, well, just heroes, really. Cult hero status surely requires something a little unlikely about the player, such as being incredibly old (Futcher), not staying around for long (Okorie) or being likeable but not actually very good (Livingstone). Email your suggestions for Town's true cult heroes to diary@codalmighty.com.