Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Thursday 7 December 2006

7 December 2006

It's Thursday, it's 12:44, and it's... Crackerjack! Of Town's two forwards with long-term injuries, it was Gary Cohen who was believed for a long time to have been closer to a return to fitness - until last week, when the Grimsby Telegraph revealed that the former Gretna and Workington hotshot was suffering painful complications in rehabilitation from his knackered knee. Today the local rag completes its brace of exclusives on the Mariners' broken strikeforce by revealing that Luton's Michael Reddy could be given the OK to return to full training at a consultation today. Reddy contributed 11 goals to Town's failed 2005-06 promotion campaign before joining the Hatters in a £325,000 deadline-day move - and remarkably managed three more afterwards - but has been sidelined for most of this season, recovering from the hip operation he underwent in September to rectify a long-standing thigh problem, the hip bone being connected to the thigh bone, and so on. The player travels to London's Posh London today to see the doctor, and is looking forward to playing again in January if all goes well. "There's nothing worse as a footballer than sitting in the stands not being able to take part," Reddy told the Telegraph from his bed in the club shop.

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat. Please put a penny in the old man's hat. If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do. If you haven't got a ha'penny, then you'll probably struggle to afford a half season ticket for Blundell Park. Yes, it's that time of year when part-timers and foot-draggers are invited to commit themselves on a more regular basis to the cause of Grimsby Town Football Club, and the club's marketing department has gone into overdrive, offering new supporters the chance not only to attend the Mariners' stadium but to become it. "Imagine their delight on Christmas morning when they find out that they are going to be an ever present and Blundell Park," purrs the official website surreally if not seductively. The tickets come in at £150 and £170, with the usual big discounts for the very old and very young. There's also a stupid competition to win one, if you can even call it that, which costs a quid to enter, but no mention of the fact that if ever there were a season to watch only the second half of, that season will surely be the current one.

That be all for the week from yer regular Diary, but do come back tomorrow, when a guest diarist of as yet uncertain specification will be here to update you with all you need updating on as Town prepare to take on Shrewsbury and continue the Buckley counterrevolution. Toodles!