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Diary - Thursday 24 November 2005

24 November 2005

The Bermuda Triangle. Jack the Ripper. The Loch Ness Monster. Why REM didn't call it a day after Automatic for the People. These are universally recognised as the world's greatest unsolved mysteries, and this week they are joined by what the flaming hell is going on with Calvin Andrew. Yesterday's Grimsby Telegraph quoted Russell Slade as saying that the on-loan forward "has gone back" to his parent club Luton, only for the Mariners' official website to report later that the player remains at Blundell Park and will be available for Saturday's trip to Oxford. Are there gremlins on the starboard bow, or could it simply be that the Town manager didn't know, when he spoke to the Telegraph, when one of his own players would be available to play? Stay tuned for tomorrow's Diary, when we explore a fascinating new theory linking the Mariners' record of penalty misses last season to the assassination of John F Kennedy.

Lingering for a moment on the same page of the OS, isn't it nice to know that the inability to distinguish one's hindquarters from one's arm joint is not restricted to the club's web department and team manager? With the Lincoln game on 28 December now turning out to be an evening kick-off, that's me and Mrs Diary having to re-plan our entire Christmas itinery... itinerara.... initer... schedule.

Anyway, Terry Barwick seems to have completed his loan move to York City, where he will apparently fill in for the injured but fantastically named Emmanuel Panther. Russell Slade, meanwhile, has hit a brick wall, presumably meaning that Graham Rodger will take charge of the first team while he recovers in hospital. Oh, right. Damn my short attention span again. Russell Slade has hit a brick wall in his attempts to bring in more loan players before today's mini-deadline. "Clubs are reluctant to let players go out because of the busy Christmas schedule coming up," says the Town boss, referring to loan transfers rather than the UK's newly liberalised licensing laws.

The Diary has been passed an email from Rachel Branson of Grimsby Town Supporters Trust confirming that the trust's ace buy.at fundraising thingy is still working and has a load of new stuff and that. "There's currently an article about it on the trust's website," writes Rach. "You can't miss it. It's the one surrounded by the flashing Christmas lights." Actually, that's precisely the reason the Diary did miss it, too easily mesmerised as I am by all manner of twinkly things. It's probably just me, but here's a link just in case.

Diary readers now having settled the issue of where to go for a pre-match bevvy this Saturday, all that remains is the matter of where to get off the M40. It's good, this, isn't it? We should do it for every away game. Grimsby Tim has emailed to say: "Fans travelling to the game against Oxford United on Saturday could always exit the M40 at the next junction, 8a, and head through Wheatley thus avoiding the roadworks [referred to by Andy Lumbard in yesterday's Diary] altogether. Plus you could drop off for a pint in the Railway." Thanks, Tim - though dropping off seems to be the thing to do at Town matches these days rather than beforehand.

Don't know which guest you'll have Diarising for you tomorrow, but thanks for reading this week and I'll see you all soon. Good night and God bless.