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Diary - Thursday 13 December 2007

13 December 2007

Welcome to a Thursday diary so packed with fascinating quotes from the Town glitterati that there is neither need nor space for your Guest Diarist to get on his high horse about much of owt really. My presence today is necessitated by it being the morning after Mr Diary's works Christmas party - an event that appeared to go well judging by his ever-so-slightly hungover email to me earlier this morning. As for me, I am still confined to barracks with a cough so racking that any self-respecting hypochondriac would consider labelling it pneumonic. As usual in these circumstances I have abandoned conventional medical remedies (like a bottle of original Benylin a day) in favour of Wood's 100 navy rum. This delightful grog is 57 per cent alcohol and is made along the banks of the Demerara river in Guyana. Drunk neat, it cures anything. Or kills it.

So who has been saying what and to whom, gentle reader? Well, to kick off, Lord Buckley has been chatting to the Grimsby Telegraph. After reminding us that we ain't seen nothing yet, but soon will, with regard to ace signing and much-coveted forward Mr Martin Butler, Buckley decides to tear in to that notoriously sulky and heterosexual young dandy Mr Peter Bore. Utilising his undoubted talent for speaking his mind, Lord Buckley adopted what he may consider a carrot and stick approach: "Pete Bore, meanwhile, hasn't shown enough desire or enthusiasm. It's not a case of having favourites as I said to his parents when I met them recently to talk about Pete. There is no question he has unbelievable ability aligned with pace and power. If he had the passion of a player like Danny North, then there is no doubt, for me, he would be playing in the Premiership because he has all the raw materials." Oh, and work on your left foot while you are at it mate, as well as pulling up those macho socks of yours, eh?

Diehard Town fan and fluent Norwegian speaker Jostein Jensen has obtained a fascinating insight into the mind, spelling and organisational ability of the modern estate agent. He has managed, via Facebook, to get the thoughts of Gary Croft. You can read them on Jostein's website. Or, if your Norwegian is a bit rusty, and with thanks to Jostein, here is what Gary has to say about Buckley in a verbatim extract from his email:

"Hi, me and bucko did not really see eye to eye and i dont think he liked me around the club as i think he thought i undermined him, which i never. but i organised a few other things around the place and he did not like that. I was still looking good football wise and am doing well personally at lincoln so it was a really strange decision not to offer me something when he had a lack of players and he knew what i could offer to the club and how committed to the club i was. i had a feeling about this from christmas so when it panned out like that i thought it backed up my thoughts and i know i am correcct in my thinking."

This may go some way to explain the paucity of cover at full-back that the club has experienced this season, eh? Gary goes on to talk about how the club is right to go for a new stadium and then talks about Town's chances of avoiding the drop:

"I personally think that gtfc will rise up the league as there are too many players there capable enough to get them out of trouble, i think a goal scorer is needed but of course all teams could say the same as it is a pre requiset for a sucessful team."

Gary goes on to partially explain what 'other things' he had tried to organise as alluded to in his opening paragraph:

"The training facilities are poor, pitches are poor and until i changed things the off field changing and eating facilities were poor. But the investment hopefully is coming with the new stadium so you could understand the chairman not wanting to spend too much on the existing training ground."

What could he have had the temerity to do? Labels on the changing pegs? The introduction of Tupperware plates? Vol-au-vents after the shuttle runs? Sadly we may never find out.

And I cannot leave you without noting the politician-like wording of Mr Fenty in his statement published on the official site yesterday: "Our developers are now in a position to tangibly go to the retail market with a planning permission, which will be the decisive test in the delivery program. The retail enabling development has always been the key to this project becoming a reality and that remains the case." So now he has the planning permission, Mr Fenty starts to hint that the whole thing may be just a pipe dream. No doubt he would rebut this with bluster about chickens and eggs, meaning you can't get tenants to sign owt without planning permission first. But it is interesting that he has only in recent days admitted that the project has little base in financial reality without significant amounts of cash and a major anchor tenant in place. Maybe there is a rich rabbit lurking in his hat but somehow I doubt it.

But wait, Mr Fenty has spoken to us again this very morning explaining that the club has developers working on finding the right retail scheme. There follows a stitherum of sub-management speak which, boiled down, says the club is desperately trying to get the finance together and now dream of moving in to the Fentydome in August 2010, not 2009. "Overriding intention to deliver the scheme" my arse! See yer.