Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Friday 26 January 2007
26 January 2007
Our beloved Mariners have a big away game tonight against fellow strugglers Torquay United. By saying this your Guest Diarist is rigidly sticking to the journalistic mantra which says "always tell the reader the bleedin' obvious that he or she undoubtedly already knows". But today all the talk is straying away from the fundamentals of survival in the fourth division towards a rather distasteful and certainly triumphalist celebration as fans view the granting of outline planning permission for a new stadium as some kind of indubitable proof that success is just around the corner, and will come easily in a new stadium.
Without the funding being anywhere near in place yet, and with the team performing so very poorly at the foot of the basement division in the league, it is time to stop cocking those hoops, maties. Mr Fenty may be making adrenalin-laced statements to the official site that "a move into a new stadium by August 2009 isn't overly ambitious" but there are still many aspects to the whole project which remain worryingly ambiguous.
The more the chairman browbeats us, the less he seems to tell us. Give us the economic truths please Mr Fenty. What is the minimum ongoing average crowd needed to support the new ground? Who will own it, and on what basis? How much funding does the club have to provide to ensure its completion? Stop just telling us that without a move the club is doomed, and start providing detailed and realistic financial justification for abandoning over a hundred years of heritage for an anodyne legoland monstrosity in the middle of a windy field. And as a final point, folks, just consider Steve Meek's poignant comment that people are entitled to view collecting mushrooms from an open space as as valuable and enriching an activity as watching Tom Newey try to play left-back. Well said Tench.
Town appear to be losing central defenders as fast as they find them, with the news that Mr Whittle's groin has ruled him out and that Mr Fenton has had to go down to the doctor because of an indescribably bad headache caused by a sinus infection. So young Grand and A N Other (Harkins, according to the Telewag) will debut as a centre-halvian partnership of somewhat inexperienced proportions.
Speaking to Mariners World, Lord Buckley again made reference to the perpetually injured nature of some of his squad, adding a delicate (for him) rejoinder that it is time some players stood up to be counted and that it is the duty of the existing squad to pull the club out of relegation trouble. AB clearly implied that he is sick and tired of the 'bring players in, let players go' merry-go-round, and that the squad will stay pretty much as it stands for the rest of the season. This interview took place on Thursday and Lord Buckley declared that at that point he had "no idea for a team" as several players were complaining of feeling unwell. The Telegraph interview with our Lord reveals that Messrs Newey and Toner have been feeling under the weather and Mr Croft has estate agent's ankle but may recover. It goes without saying that Mr Reddy has not graced the training pitch and is not able to be considered for selection again. Forget about the Fentydome dream and pray for an away goal tonight, folks. If ever we needed one it is now. See yer.