Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Thursday 3 August 2006

3 August 2006

Fifty hours from now, twenty-two men representing the Lincolnshire towns of Grimsby and Boston will be starting to kick a bag of air around a bit of grass. This curious ritual is generating interest already - possibly because of the last time they did it, when the man in charge of the Boston side became quite irate and vociferous, to the extent that the local constabulary deemed it necessary to eject him from the vicinity lest such gross offence be caused to the eyes and ears of bystanders that they initiate serious disorder. Or, as Lincolnshire folk would say, Steve Evans got chucked out by the coppers for gobbing off. Evans is still to answer FA charges of, um, serious gobbing off in relation to the incident, and has been joking to the Boston Standard about it as he prepares to return to the scene of his torment. "I'm going to take £2.99 with me this time in case I want a Big Mac meal at about half four," giggled the mascara-daubed Pilgrims manager, failing to convince the watching world that he isn't still filled with fury about the whole thing and certainly wouldn't fly off the handle again this Saturday if the Main Stand gives him enough lip.

While we're rubbing our hands in anticipation of this weekend's fish and chips derby, then - and because Town still haven't signed any more players, so I've got to pad out the Diary somehow or other - you may care to know that Cod Almighty has opened its coverage of the 2006-07 season by reinstating the popular pre-match factfile thingy that we did the year before last (and it now incorporates Mark Stilton's Refwatch). The site will also be running full-length previews alongside the factfile thingies whenever Si finds time to write one in between earning a living, raising a family, commentating for Mariners World and hangin' with Justin Whittle.

With Grahams Rodgerses still to finish assembling his squad, then, and no new clubs joining today's Reddy Rumour Roster, all that remains for your regular Diary before handing over to tomorrow's guest diarist is to point you towards a really quite nice Rob Jones interview in the Scotsman newspaper. I'm sure the Mariners' former star defender doesn't mean anything nasty when he enthuses about new club Hibernian: "There is a really nice atmosphere about the place, nothing like I have ever experienced before." And he sounds dead chuffed with his new life when he says: "For them to them go out and buy you and offer you a four-year contract, it just makes you feel ten foot tall." Indeed, four years represents quite an extension from Jones's time at GTFC, where shorter-term contracts remain the order of the day. In the Stick's case, however, ten foot tall represents something less of an extension.