Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Friday 25 January 2008
25 January 2008
Your Guest Diarist has just been watching the Ryan Bennett interview on Mariners World. It should be said that Dale is becoming quite an interviewer actually. I rather bask in his dulcet tones which (to me, and I suspect to me alone) are peculiarly reminiscent of Kirsty Young. Whether he would ever have the balls to emulate Caroline Aherne and ask: "And what first attracted you to millionaire Positive John Fenty?" is a moot point, but he steers his interviewees gently and calmly through their two minutes by ensuring that the answer to each point of discussion is contained within the question, and he has the guts to occasionally ask an awkward one, or quietly point out the reality of the situation when necessary. By the way, my days of fancying Kirsty are well over - it was just a teatime news crush about ten years ago, which was quickly overwhelmed when I was unexpectedly forced to become an unwilling go-between in a secret affair between my boss and that Kay Burley from Sky News which put me off newsreaders for life. More on that story later.
As for Ryan, well, we do know what you mean, Ryan, we really do. A confident, fast-talking performance from the young man, who stressed how desperate everyone is to play for the side during this strong run in the crucial middle part of the season. Bennett is everywhere you look today, sweetly kissing his younger sister in the Telegraph and the subject of implausible transfer prattle on the rumour mill. Well, good on him, and I hope good hopes for the lad - don't you, gentle reader?
Lord Buckley, who eschews league table study and often professes to know little about opponents, has worked out that in the last ten games Town have won seven, drawn two, and lost only one. He likes the sound of that, and can you blame him for having a quick bask? The word 'resilience' is his favourite when describing the team of late, and he readily admits that the side is playing nothing like as attractively as at the start of the season, when we passed the ball well but couldn't get a win for love nor money. Buckley doesn't like the current formation, but, as he said on Mariners World, it suits the current squad and the results are undeniable. Alan went on to confirm that Toner is still injured, but hopes to restart training on Monday, and that "we haven't got to the bottom of Butler's back yet - but we will". Buckley also mentioned (without actually naming who) that those injured in the reserve game hadn't trained on Thursday but were expected back today. So Peter Till may be available as a bench warmer after all.
When we played at the horrible New Meadow earlier in the season they were high-flying and we were basement strugglers, but now we seem to be meeting in mid-table obscurity. Except we are not supposed to call it the New Meadow, apparently. Shrewsbury want to give their nasty soulless stadium built on the ring road in the middle of a bleak industrial estate a suitably grimy corporate name. Thinking about it, the word 'meadow' doesn't really belong any more, does it?
And while I continue to rail against the seemingly inexorable trample of what is laughably called progress over our fantastic English heritage, the number of Town fans visiting Blundell Park remains resolutely stable. Despite the success-obsessed prawn sandwich brigade increasing to the point where the average top-tier home crowd is now over 36,000, Town have averaged 4,364 this season (according to this website). Now I have to admit that Mr Fenty is right and crowds are down on last season - down by an average of 15 people per home match. This massive reduction will cost the club at least five grand over the course of the season! So if you are one of those 15 people then shame on you! The club, according to our chairman a couple of months ago, is going to lose a quarter of a million quid cos of you! That's a lot of pies and programmes per head Mr Fenty, you know.
Town sit in ninth place in the division four attendance league, and in happy mid-table obscurity in the league itself. We are a middling fourth division club with average attendances, then. We can't afford expensive players and we can't afford a new ground. But despite the huffing and puffing from various quarters, I still say the football delivered is better than at various times when I have been at Blundell Park over the last 40 years. And at least we are winning a few and vaguely trying to pass the ball. And I can recognise all of the players, and believe that they are trying their best. Let's hope it is a good game tomorrow. See yer.