Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 18 September 2006

18 September 2006

He signed in the summer. He made five appearances, one as a substitute. And then he disappeared from the teamsheet without a trace. As far as the club's supporters are aware, the playing registration of Gary Harkins remains with the Mariners, but the former Blackburn midfielder has been absent from the lists of 16 players called upon by Grahams Rodgers for his side's last three matches, and has not been named on Town's injury list at any time. It remains to be seen whether the club's marketing department is working on an innovative and fun new game designed to attract a new and young generation of supporters to Blundell Park, under the title "Where's Gary?"

Another recent development that has gone unreported by the club is the arrival of a goalkeeper on trial. The News Post Leader, a local newspaper based in the north-east, reported last week that Kevin Morton has been trying out for the Mariners for a little while, yet no mention of the news has yet been made by Town's official website - probably due to negligence but possibly to avoid Pontoon jeers of "Booooo Town, no ambition, giving a trial to the second-choice goalkeeper at Ashington FC of the Northern League!"

"Has Mr Diary been watching Big Ron Manager' on Sky One?" asks Danny Wignall in an email to Mr Diary. "It makes you think about what it might be like in the Town dressing room after our latest defeat. Rodgers'es giving the players an all-round rollocking and Justin Whittle standing up and confronting 'the gaffer'. It's a top show and gives a real insight into how a footy team works behind closed doors but in the end just shows what we already know, that Barry Fry is an idiot." Well, Danny, Mr Diary doesn't have Sky, so I've not seen the programme, but it has just led to Fry stepping aside as chairman of Peterborough - so I imagine Peterborough fans must love it.