Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 24 September 2007

24 September 2007

So, gentle reader, it has come round to Monday again. After last week's FentyDoom© statement it was a relief to go to Sincil Bank and watch some football with eleven hundred and twenty three other kindred souls.

Surprisingly the weakest part of Town's performance came in midfield where poor old Bolland had a bit of a stinker. Despite playing 4-5-1 the Mariners didn't really hold on to the ball and control the game as well as they should have done in the second half, against a very poor Lincoln side. But we made better chances than them: the penalty was nailed-on; the disallowed goal was for an obvious push; and we still love our man Mr Croft. These are the things that your Guest Diarist knows.

Lord Buckley backed up my opinion of the game in his post-match interview saying that "it was a good performance for the first half hour of the game" and that Lincoln's only first half threat "came from long throws and set pieces". But in the second half "when we got it we gave it away a bit cheaply". The gaffer also mentioned the Barnes save in his despatches, and ended by saying that at least he had sent the Town away fans "home happy."

At least the ever-superb all new Official Grimsby Town web-site had the restraint to avoid sending a 'Town sign new striker' alert to the faithful masses when they took the plunge with young Nathan Jarman and offered him a month to month contract at the end of last week. Jarman has apparently lost weight and got fit as Lord Buckley pointedly explained to the Grimsby Telegraph: "He's done absolutely marvellously well when you look at the 'roly-poly' lad that came here six to eight weeks ago. He had no definition in his face, no definition in his body - but he had got some talent." Jarman was a clever young player a year ago - he is ideal for us at this stage to come under Buckley and Watkiss and improve his way back in to professional football. Let's wish him luck.

Town are lying tenth in the fourth division attendance table, ahead of the top three in the division proper (Darlington, Hereford, Chesterfield) and with an average league gate of 4303. It is also interesting to note that despite their new stadium only having an eight thousand capacity and it being brand spanking new and everything that Shrewsbury are only averaging 5847. And this for a play-off team that has been winning its home games against respected opposition like Bradford and Grimsby. I am intrigued as to what our Chairman was expecting the home crowd against Stockport to actually be. Town fans have a long track record of thinning in to the shadows of aisle eight of B&Q whenever we don't win at home.

I have been trudging down to Blundell Park since the mid sixties and it was ever thus (although folks tended to watch the wrestling on world of sport rather than think about DIY in the earlier days). So 3700 hardly came as a shock after no home-wins-yet-this-season, surely.

I've read the Fentydoom© statement a few times now and when Mr Fenty says "the Club requires a substantial financial injection within the next two months, in excess of two hundred thousand pounds, to pay its way" I am not sure what he means. Does that mean over and above the projected income for the period? Surely not, because even if average gates drop below 4000 in that period this would not explain such a poorly budgeted shortfall (unless the club has deliberately adopted a policy of living beyond its means).

Grimsby Town are an average fourth division club these days; average standard players; average gates; average costs. They were that type of club when I first watched them in the sixties, and although we have punched above our weight a few times in between, that's what they are again now. The crowds we can expect for the foreseeable future are going to fluctuate between four and five thousand - only dropping below when the team performances are considered unacceptable. And no amount of insulting cajolery from the Chairman is going to change that.

The best action the board of the club can take is to ensure the GTFC coat is cut according to the cloth available so the club will survive. Stop club expenditure on the FentyDome pipedream now and ensure the day to day bills get paid is my advice.
FentyDoom is a copyrighted Starbucks Lincoln and Tony Butcher product by the way. See yer.