Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Thursday 11 January 2007

11 January 2007

Nostalgia, they say, ain't what it used to be. I don't know who 'they' are exactly, but they probably read the Diary and became all wistful yesterday when we quoted Sporting Life's report that Town had taken a step back to the era of half-time Bovril, orange footballs in the winter snow, actually having winter snow, Match of the Day being any good, and paying transfer fees for players by offering Leyton Orient £30,000 for the services of Paul Connor. No sooner had 'they' started to reflect pensively on the days when the Mariners could shell out hundreds of thousands of pounds on Kevin Donovan, Lee Ashcroft and, er, Tommy Widdrington, though, than Lord Alan Buckley snapped them rudely out of it by denying that any such offer had been made. The hard-headed GTFC manager has told the Grimsby Telegraph he is interested in Connor and has spoken to the player's agent, but "it is not right to say that we have put a bid in". Buckley also scornfully dismisses suggestions of a move for Tom Newey by Huddersfield Town, which, again, were reported in yesterday's Diary - but then again, so did yesterday's Diary.

Thanks to the Lincolnshire Echo, though, we also know that Buckley has been knocked back in a bid for Boston United's Jamie Clark. The potato county's local rag has run a story about the player's freakish 60-yard goal in a recent friendly and mentions briefly that the Mariners made an approach last week for him. Clark is a utility man who "admits his versatility often hinders his chance of holding down a regular first-team place," which makes Town's offer a mystery given that Danny Boshell signed a new contract just the other day.

Town's first team may be somewhat in the doldrums, but their four-match losing streak has at least been equalled in length by the reserves' recent run of wins. Until last night, anyway, when the second string hosted Maplins Holidays League Division One East table-toppers Rotherham and lost by the only goal, scored by the Millers' Zeph Thomas after two minutes. And with that, reader, your regular Diary says adieu until Monday, but do come back tomorrow when one of CA's team of Friday diarists will bring you the news that Buckley has admitted his interest in Jamie Clark but denied making a bid. Cheerio!