Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 24 October 2005

24 October 2005

Tom Newey, Jean-Paul Kamudimba Kalala and Andy Parkinson are all feeling a bit sore after the Mariners' defeat by Leyton Orient at the weekend, reports the club's official site - which is a coincidence, because so are the 4,500 Town fans who watched it. Cross your fingers as Gary Croft undergoes a scan today which could determine his fitness to boost GTFC's faltering form or bring an early end to his fitness-dependent contract at Blundell Park and make Newey a permanent fixture in the first team. So is it a real injury crisis or is crafty Mr Russell Slade up to his old tricks by tricking Newcastle as to the team he will field this Wednesday? For that matter, are Leyton Orient and Wycombe really better than Town or did we just lose to them on purpose to dupe gullible Mr Souness into resting half his team this Wednesday? I'll be glad when this bloody cup run is over.

Panic buy Jermaine Palmer has made his third loan move of the season, just days after making his belated not-exactly-first-team debut for the Mariners. The young forward, lest you forget, joined from Stoke in the summer and had already spent time borried out to York and Scarborough in the Conference before coming on as a substitute against Morecambe in the Vans last week. Before the weekend he had moved on once again, this time to Hinckley United of the Conference North, with whom he registered his first goal in English senior football in Saturday afternoon's 1-1 draw at Stalybridge. "The 20-year-old striker is the son of assistant boss Charlie," notes Confguide.com, immediately before quoting Hinckley manager Dean Thomas: "The lad is only 19". Ask Charlie - he should know.

Oooh, guess what? Bristol Rovers don't want Russell Slade to be their manager, and Russell Slade doesn't want to be Bristol Rovers' manager. That means the News of the World must have been making it up. Well, well. Who'd have thought that, eh.