Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Thursday 25 August 2005
25 August 2005
Well, that'll learn them for having this rather smug and self-assured promotion on their website won't it?
Hello! How the devil are you? Takeover Diary here. Did anyone else walk into work today with the cloud of misery that employment hangs permanently above your head dispersed with a cheery smile, a springful step in your stride, whistling Up the Mariners, and greeted as your walked to your desk by a couple of "Hey! What about Town, eh!" congratulations? And what's that funny, almost dizzying feeling? That'd be the sense of deja vu, as Town followed up last year's defeat of then-Premiership aspirants Wigan in the first round of the League Cup, by beating... Premiership aspirants Derby County. Huzzah!
Just to recap - in case you fell asleep early last night, or destroyed your short term memory cells celebrating - in the 11th minute of last night's match, Gary Jones, with the laconic air of a man with all the time and space in the world - which is effectively what the Derby defence allowed - cushioned a long throw with his chest before turning and slapping a volley past the startled Grant. Just to confirm, that's Gary Jones. GARY JONES. Not Michael Reddy. After that the lively Gary Cohen went close to increasing Town's advantage with a brave header that flew inches wide of the post, and Steve Mildenhall gave a thumbs-up display in goal, notably in the last fifteen minutes of the game as the home team realised they were losing, saving a well-struck Adam Bolder attempt. "They had shape, they had passion, they had skill" is a phrase that recent Town performances never hinted would be how Radio Humberside would sum up 90 minutes in the company of the mighty Mariners. But last night they did. Believe.
Over in the visitors' dressing room Russell Slade was in chirpy form, happy with the performance of his team, rejigged due to injury and stupidity to feature four changes and three full debuts. And no less hampered by the half-time introduction of the elusive Downey Glen as well. Since Russ has been a bit STERN recently, it's pleasing to see his facial muscles relaxed, his mouth curved upwards, and his eyes wide with gay abandon, like a child on Chrimbo morning, such was his joy with the win and his team's performance. "We've worked on it over the past couple of days and we played very well, NUR NUR, you boo boys who thought I couldn't organise a team and haven't got the players for the job," he might as well have said. "The pressure was on the other team, which was a change for us." Whatever is the newly rediscovered Chuckle brother getting at?
After a quick flick through his revised edition of Big Club Football Management For Dummies ("Priority 1: The European Cup. Priority 2: The League"), Smiley Russ - much like the quiet lass at school after a couple of shandies - decided to loosen up and talk about his feelings to the assembled media throng, no doubt taking advantage of the top class facilities at the state-of-the-art Pride Park (these things are relative - the press box at Town was once the Nimbus PC or Acorn Archimedes of its day). "It's about getting that consistency in the league; if I thought that we were going to play like this every week we would not have a problem. It is a different kind of football in the Championship, more like a game of chess - you have more time to pick your pass." Of course! If only the opposition would wait for us to make our move and stop the clock!
"Hopefully this will give us the confidence to do it in our league on Saturday [at Barnet]. This result is a big boost for the club because before I came, we'd had two seasons of relegation and last season we had to play for stability. This season, we are hoping to push on and try to put a smile on the face of the fans and the chairman," added the manager, hopefully meaning not by witnessing a comical farce every week.
But with Russ singing a song as he walks into the sunset, ready to spread happiness across North East Lincolnshire, spare a thought for Phil Brown. The Derby manager, sucking on his first sour gobstopper of defeat at the hands of minnows (which is what we are these days), took the blame after sending out a side featuring eight changes, five enforced through injury. "I emphasised to the players who came in that metaphorically I was looking for them to kick my door down and make themselves available for Saturday but I didn't get too many of those pictures," he explained, not quite grasping the concept of 'analogy'. Despite that, Brown was quick to acknowledge Town's feat: "Grimsby came with a game plan tonight and went away deserved winners."
The draw for the second round is on Saturday morning. Keep smiling.