Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 10 September 2007

10 September 2007

In my idle moments - which, admittedly, is most of the time - I tend to wonder what I might be if I were not the Diary. If I were afflicted by an addiction to unnecessary initial capital letters, and a strange tendency to confuse Gainsborough with Southport, I could write for Town's superb new official website instead. If I had a peculiar compulsion to use the word 'has' when I mean 'as', I could write for Vital Football. If I began every utterance with the phrase 'very much so', I could be Graham Taylor. But best of all, if I were not the Diary, I wouldn't have to read every media item ever published about the Mariners, and could just ignore all the reports about Saturday's dismal pasting at Accrington, which leaves the Mariners second from bottom of the Football League. You know what, though? I've just about managed to pad out this first paragraph to its requisite length, so just this once I reckon I'll ignore them anyway.

This disappointment of the weekend's turn of events at the Crown Ground is all the more acute given the performance - and, perhaps more significantly, the result - achieved by Lord Alan Buckley's side just four days previously in doing to Huddersfield what Accrington ended up doing to them. Those who are already viewing the Football League Trophy as a potentially welcome distraction from another season of indifferent league form will have noted Town's reward for thumping Huddersfield: an away tie at Rotherham in the second round. The match will be played on Tuesday 9 or Wednesday 10 October, once the managers of the two clubs have decided whether it's Coro or Eastenders they won't mind missing an episode of that week.

"I'm sure you are aware of this," writes Brian Robinson, "but this week sees the start of the Women's World Cup. Let's give it a plug as there isn't enough coverage of the women's game." You're absolutely right, sir (Brian provides a link to the BBC's web coverage of the event), and tomorrow afternoon, as they take on Japan in their opening fixture, the Diary will certainly be cheering on the England football team you can support without feeling morally compromised.

After last Wednesday's Diary returned to the much-discussed issue of Grimsby goalkeepers, superstition, and the colour green, I must say I anticipated a flurry of correspondence on the topic that would dwarf the stack of emails dealing with the altogether less arcane subjects of Viagra, Cialis and the length of my penis. The only response thus far, however, has been from Ancient Mariner 64, who dares to defy convention on the matter. "Sibbo and others who question the wisdom of wearing green jerseys might like to ask old timers about Harry Wainman and Nigel Batch," writes Ancient. "As keepers during significantly successful campaigns, both wore green most of the time." It's certainly an interesting contribution to the debate, and Sibbo is sure to be flattered by the assumption that he's too young to remember Batch and Wainman.