Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Thursday 25 January 2007

25 January 2007

Hi there! Pay day is indeed the best day, as a flush Stand-In Diary contemplates spunking 100 notes on an environment choking return flight to Torquay tomorrow. Must. Resist.

So, tonight's the night to end all nights: North East Lincolnshire Council meets at Grimmo town hall to decide if there's any reason why they shouldn't give FentyDome the green light. Given the club's new ground will provide for the local community in a way that the council should be anyway (football pitches, IT facilities, etc etc) - saving NELC a few pennies - it's a certain shoo-in.

The torturous process has been worth it for the reactionary reaction of Great Coates's residents in recent years, showing antagonism at its best. The latest, and possibly greatest, contribution from the objectors was on Radio Humberside this morning, in the pre-amble to Tony Butcher's vehement on-air dismissal of a move away from Blundell Park. A Concerned Resident warned of an increase in traffic through the village, presumably along the serene A1136, and - alarmingly! - more pedestrians doing some healthy, non-polluting and enjoyable walking along the pavements of DN37 (as long as they don't tread in any dog muck). People of Great Coates: if you hate FentyDome so much, when the chairman's legacy finally gets erected don't bother going to the conveniently placed generic shopping centre that will be built next door to that terrible grey eyesore on the immediate horizon.

The noise about the new stadium has provided an unnecessary and annoying distraction, hanging over the club at the worst possible time, at least in terms of results. After tonight everyone connected with the club can get back to concentrating on something more immediate and actually important, namely affairs on the pitch as the players make the long trek to Torquay for tomorrow night's game. One man who could possibly play a part in turning things around is Michael Reddy, with Leyton Orient deciding not to pursue their interest in the striker due to doubts over his fitness. Note, I said possibly.

In other football-related news, the reserves showed the first XI how to score more goals than the opposition (more commonly known as 'winning'), as a side containing seven first-teamers came from behind to beat Hull's stiffs 3-1, Peter Bore tormentor-in-chief with a rejuvenated second half display. Some of those goals sound yummy, donchathink?

Which brings us to the end of today's instalment. Tune in tomorrow lunchtime when Guest Diary will bring his considered view on tonight's meeting, and possibly even bring us news of which team members went to bed early enough so they could catch the coach down south. Cheers!