Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Friday 15 December 2006

15 December 2006

The big questions are being asked. Will Lincoln lose their bottle tomorrow and abandon their new-found habit of trying to pass the ball to each other? Last Saturday they reportedly passed Chester off the park but came away having been thumped 4-1. Mr Schofield, the Lincoln manager, said: "There's no point playing nice attractive football and getting beat. It's all about getting results and we're just not doing that at the moment. It's very much a business where results are everything." Jamie Forrester looks certain to feature in the match tomorrow, having been rated a bit doubtful earlier in the week. A man who likes to score goals, thinks your Guest Diarist, who has long admired the Impy whippersnapper.

Will Lord Buckley work out who to play in Town's back four in time? At 2pm on Thursday, in front of the Mariners World camera, he was visibly scratching his pate - particularly as he had just seen Sir John of McDermott break down in training like, like an injured person would. "No point going on about it," Alan ventured in his endearing-yet-gruff way. "We'll just have to mix and match somehow. Luckily I have to decide at two o'clock Sat'day. Not two o'clock Thursday." Quite right, Alan, quite right. The interview is succinct, enjoyable and illuminating - never more so than when Alan tells us that he wishes he saw a bit more of what is worked on Monday to Friday in the game on a Saturday. And when he says something to the effect that a new manager normally improves a team and then starts seeing the benefit by way of improved results. Town started winning straight away and the playing improvement is mostly yet to come, he asserts.

The Telegraph thinks Buckley will decide to slot Tom Newey in at centre-half with young Hegggaaarty deployed as emergency left-back. But I'd give Harkins a go at centre-half and play Newey at left-back on the basis that Newey stands where the centre-half should be most of the time anyway. We'll have to wait and see, won't we?

Contrary to the advice of young Durham Diary on Wednesday, I will be taking the train to the match, albeit approaching the county town from a southerly direction. Actually, you don't need to know that, gentle reader, do you? Better I tell you how hard I laughed at Look North last night when they showed the film of the Grimsby Christmas tree. The most magnificently awful tree I have seen since the Young Ones put one up: small, very wonky and with three sad bits of tinsel only adorning it. But that's why we love the place. I see from the Cod Almighty match factfile that Town are slightly generously priced at 5/2 to win tomorrow, with the draw at 11/5, and the Imps slight odds-on at 10/11. Two weeks or so ago that would have been about right, but if the Town midfield performs then they look generous now. For that is where the match will be won or lost, I reckon. A cracking match in prospect so, if you haven't already, snap up one of the last few tickets and get down there. Remember it's a one o'clock kick off. See yer.