Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Friday 15 February 2008

15 February 2008

You can get a T-shirt, you know, which says Alan Buckley's black and white army over and over again. Demand for them strangely fell off between mid-September and Christmas but if the Mariners keep up their excellent unbeaten run then the Cod Almighty T-shirt man might be having to fetch a load down out of the Cod Almighty attic as the fair weather (and its fans) comes into view.

This morning you can't buy a ticket for tomorrow's game against Dagenham & Redbridge for love nor money. The club phone just rings out endlessly. Now that might mean it has gone on the blink yet again, rather than all hands being at the ticket office pump to deal with an excited queue, but you never know. Your Guest Diarist dreams of buying his ticket online and, indeed, that most superb of all official sites offers that facility. But if you want to go in the Pontoon it would be nice to have a bit more choice as to which bit you get to sit in, and the whole process is, to say the least, unwieldy. Still, after 30 years managing software projects which caused strikes in Greenland, bankruptcy in Hong Kong and absolute mayhem in the stevedoring sheds at Immingham, who I am to talk?

The bad news, though, is that manager Buckley has confirmed that Boshell will not be risked tomorrow. A slight thigh strain, which should clear up within the week, could deteriorate into something that would keep him out for a month, Lord Buckley has explained in his weekly audience with Mariners World. With Bolland straining at his leash and yapping excitedly while Toner languidly pees on a lamp-post and eyes up that poodle from number 37, Buckley has, shall we say, options.

Alan also hinted that he might not pick Hird for his last match before the lad returns at the end of his loan spell. Whether this was a managerial 'if picked' retort or a real possibility I will leave you, gentle reader, to decide. He made it plain, though, that he likes the cut of Mr Hird's jib and forecast that we may see him again, explaining that he just didn't want to pay him more than players of similar experience and ability already at the club. They have categories, you know.

In case you were wondering about the reserves and how they did against Hull, they didn't, because the Hull lot threw a sickie. Mr Diary has been that busy dealing with your correspondence this week he never got chance to tell you. It is a shame because players like Toner would have benefited from a match.

Well, I just cracked, as the club phone is still not getting answered, and bought a ticket online. I am now the proud possessor of a Grimsby Town 'purchase order'. The whole process made this most experienced of internet shoppers feel slightly seasick as I waded through screen after screen like Alice down the flipping hole. It was also a nice touch to make me fill out all my personal details once when creating my log-on ID and then making me do it again when I bought a ticket.

But hey, it's gonna be worth it as we watch our Mariners start to become mighty again. Buckley said Macclesfield manager Ian Brightwell had told him that his side had been chasing Grimsby shadows in the first half the other night. And that on a night when we didn't play ever so well. Town have resilience; they bounce back after conceding, and the passing is improving. Get down to Blundell Park tomorrow and see it. But if you're buying online don't forget the Kwells. See yer.