Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 7 February 2005

7 February 2005

If that Luke Rodgers lad still plays for Shrewsbury then his lips will today be overly moist from excessive licking following the news that Justin Whittle will be missing from the Grimsby defence he comes up against at Blundell Park this Saturday. Town's skipper came off the bench at half time during Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Bristol Rovers in a move that at least prevented the Gas extending their, er, 3-0 lead at the interval but, before the world had turned very much further, managed to acquire his fifth yellow card of the season, incurring an immediate one-match ban. Funnily enough, exactly the same thing happened to reborn yard dog Stacy Coldicott. The Mariners' Whittle-less defence has now conceded nine times in the last three games and has failed to keep a clean sheet in five. GTFC manager Mr Russell Slade was quick to issue a statement upon learning of the players' suspension, announcing: "Oh, bugger."

Coverage of the match has been mixed, with most reports giving credit to the Mariners' all-round performance and pointing out the outstanding display by Rovers keeper Ryan Clarke, and the statistics confirm that Town enjoyed more possession and as many shots on target as their hosts. Most reports are written by people who saw the match, and Cod Almighty's will be with you later this afternoon, written by our man in the south-west, guest reporter Sean Carr. Keep 'em peeled.

And thank you to those of you who have emailed to congratulate CA on our write-up in the new When Saturday Comes, which waxes very lyrical indeed about Tony Butcher's match reports. You'll have to excuse me for not reproducing your emails; it's just that we need Tony back to report on Town's next match after his absence at Bristol and Cheltenham, and if we go on much more about the WSC piece then we'll never fit his head through the Pontoon turnstiles.