Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Tuesday 4 December 2007

4 December 2007

Had he not made a career as a football manager, Lord Alan Buckley could very well have plonked out a handsome living by playing bass guitar if his response to Saturday's defeat at Huddersfield is anything to go by. Why? Because he can hold a riff like no-one else on Earth. In both his Mariners World interview and his natter with the Grimsby Telegraph the rock-steady Town boss sticks doggedly to the theme that his players are to blame for all ills, when it might, you know, help a bit if they knew which formation they're meant to be playing in before it gets changed to a 5-2-3 with overlapping fries and mayo. "It seems we do OK if we score first but if we concede then we struggle to respond. Maybe that's in the mindset of the players, I don't know." If you don't know then the Diary will tell you, Alan: it's because there's no leadership out there. Returning-from-suspension midfielder Danny Boshell will return from suspension tonight, adds the manager, when Darlington will win 1-0 with two goals from Ricky Ravenhill.

The Diary likes the snazzy cardigan Buckley's wearing on Mariners World though. If only Mrs Diary were reading, this would be the perfect way to drop a hint for a Christmas present.

There have been more petitions to get John McDermott an MBE than Town have kept clean sheets since their longest-serving player retired at the end of last season (it's 3-2, if you're that bothered), and the local paper has revived its 'Gong for Macca' campaign in the wake of his admission to BBC Yorkshire & Lincolnshire's sporting Hall of Fame. The heroic right-back was recognised at a posh ceremony last night "for his outstanding loyalty to the club", and the Grimsby Telegraph is attempting to display comparable persistence by urging local people to add their names to the almost 500 already recorded on its petition. If the Mariners continue to defend in the way they have this season, meanwhile, then Cod Almighty will shortly be opening a petition for Macca to come out of retirement.