Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 15 August 2005

15 August 2005

The season may have begun a week and a half ago, but the human traffic of trialists into Blundell Park is still driving on. This afternoon, reports Town's official website, the reserve team takes on... er... well, it doesn't actually say who, but the salient point is that Stuart Edwards and Kyle Armstrong will be playing. Edwards, lest ye've forgot, is the former Leeds kid who played right wing-back in the Mariners' pre-season friendly win at Lincoln the other week and came on for part of the subsequent bout against Blackburn. Armstrong, lest ye didn't know in the first place, and I certainly didn't, is a former Preston trainee who started three games in defence for York City late on last season and came on twice as a substitute. Oh, and Ciaran Toner will play, but Jean-Paul Jean-Paul will not. Now that you know that, and your life is complete, we will move on.

Oh, all right then - I'll have a look round the rest of the OS and see if I can find out who it is that the reserves are playing against. There we go - Darlington. That'll be a bent ref robbing Town of three points then. Incidentally, I wonder who the first team are playing this Saturday? Oh.

Despite the Deva Stadium stewards having earmarked tomorrow night for Town's rearranged visit to Chester, it appears likely that the fixture will now take place next month. After Saturday's seemingly over-hasty postponement, the Grimsby Telegraph today reports that eight out of ten Mr Russell Slades prefer September - and given the unfitness of two key midfielders in Ciaran Toner and JPJPJPK and the fatherhood-related unavailability of another in Paul Bolland, you wouldn't really blame him, would you?

The business leaders of New South Wales (I think) have responded magnificently to their local football club's financial miscalculations since last week's appeal for emergency funds to begin the season. With over a million Aussie dollars pledged in just 24 hours, it looks like the Central Coast Mariners have been well and truly kept afloat. Assuming the Australian dollar is worth somewhat more than the old Italian lira, then, the capitalists of North East Lincolnshire are being made to seem tighter than sharks' arses by comparison.

And finally today, if the Diary sees the Germoloids ad one more time then I'm gonna go on a crazy killing rampage.