Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Wednesday 7 November 2007

7 November 2007

Right, first of all, the Grimsby Telegraph, Milton Keynes Dons, as they are known to some people, are not "the side who made their name as the Crazy Gang". That was Wimbledon. Milton Keynes Dons are a different club, who happen to have stolen Wimbledon's identity and league position. Do you think you could just stop insulting football and its supporters and start recognising this really quite important distinction?

As sharper Diary readers may have figured out by this point, I'm really not in the bloody mood for it today, so I'll hand over to Ben Gresswell, who emailed a few days ago in response to, well, someone else who wasn't in the bloody mood either: Doldrums Diary, who expansively and fairly eloquently bemoaned the state of Grimsby and Grimbarians on this page last Thursday. Ben writes:

"At first I was a little shocked by the nature of today's diary but then after finishing my Quaker Oats Oat Bar I began to feel some sympathy towards how Doldrums Diary is feeling.

"As a regular visitor to Cod Almighty and especially the Diary (which automatically puts me into the 'bright' section of society - oh, and I don't live in GY either), I too have supported Lord Buckley through thick and thin. However, I do believe that we have a tendency to wear rose-tinted Buckley glasses and look back too often to our past glories. We will never forget the good that he has brought to our beloved club over the years but we must admit that Alan is a stubborn man who is not adept at shaking things up and ringing the changes. Playing attractive passing football is one thing. Playing attractive passing football and getting out (or staying in for that matter) of division four is another.

"Let's look back to our former glories with Al for a moment. When we secured successive promotions in '89-90 and '90-91 we had some absolutely top-class (at our level) players who played exciting, attacking football. Gilbert, Rees, Childs, Birtles, Futcher, Cockerill, Cunnington and McDermott to name but a few. I remember watching these players and thinking that every time we moved forward we could and probably would score. The same could be seen in the Wembley seasons of the late 90s. I don't see this today with our current squad however. Yes, they are capable of playing some pretty football but do we actually look like we are going to score? Well, no actually.

"I guess the point I am trying to make is that if we are going to survive or indeed thrive in this league, things have to change. Not necessarily the manager, nor so the chairman, but our tactics and to some extent our players. It would be refreshing for Lord Buckley to admit that our current system is not working. I can imagine that for a manager who has built his reputation of producing quality teams playing passing football that this will be hard for him to do but until he does, our beloved Grimsby are going to be staring at the basement trapdoor for some time to come.

"So, come on Al, most of us are 100% behind you and the team but even you would have to admit that it's not looking good at the moment. Swallow your pride, try something different. If you don't succeed, we can't blame you for not trying."

Personally I reckon it's bugger all to do with the system and the quality of the players, and everything to do with the slough of negative thinking that afflicts almost every set of footballers from time to time - and which the moan-for-most-of-the-game then leave-10-minutes-early to-avoid-non-existent-traffic nesbit minority at Blundell Park is exacerbating among the current team. But I still like Ben's email, because it's calmly and clearly reasoned and doesn't say BUKCLY OWT in capitals 80 times. What do you think? Tell us at diary@codalmighty.com - if you've still got sufficient will to live to compose an email!