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Diary - Thursday 14 February 2008

14 February 2008

Jamie Clarke, what have you done? Not content with his stunning goal at Macclesfield on Tuesday night, which powered the Mariners to an eighth win in 11 unbeaten games, Town's crap right-back turned ace midfielder gave an interview to the Grimsby Telegraph afterwards in which he sought to play down the side's chances of promotion this season, insisting: "Nobody is outwardly talking about the play-offs." The genie is out of the bottle now though, with today's Telegraph talking up "the prospect of not one, but two trips to Wembley" and enlisting the indefatigable Dave Otter to evoke the spirit of '98 (shortly to be available from the club shop as a sophisticated unisex fragrance for metrosexual Town fans everywhere, except Grimsby). "We all remember what it did for the town 10 years ago. It galvanised the community and brought everybody together. People were happy going to work and it gave them something to look forward to," says the supporters' trust chairman, enumerating a flock of young poultry yet to break out of its shells. Shush, everyone! If you think about it, it won't happen!

Mark Wilson shares these concerns and has emailed the Diary to say: "Oh no! The BBC website has said it, the Telewag has said it, my mate from Stockport has said it and now you've bloody said it. It's official: Town are going for a play-off place. I liked mid-table obscurity by March and a season sliding away to nothingness because it was good for both my cardiac and mental health. Please don't mention it again and I'll promise not to post those pictures of the Diary and the 'lady' from Thailand on the worldwide interweb."

But the fragility of Town's hopes of making even the final of the Dulux Cup, never mind the play-offs, has been underlined by the Football League's choice of referees for the two legs of the northern area final against Morecambe. And if you had the power to choose them, who'd be top of your list? Not Nigel Miller and Paul Taylor, I'll be bound! Yet these are the wayward officials appointed to oversee the games, whom you may remember from such judicial disasters as Scunthorpe away in October 2004 and Darlington at home in March 2005. Take the positive? In Town's FA Cup win over Carlisle Five last month Miller appeared to have been replaced by a considerably more competent body double, so there are hopes to cling to; and at least the league seems to have listened to our concerns about that wanker from Hull.

Lastly today, before Guest Diary takes you gently into that good weekend, Al Wilkinson has emailed in response to the severe beating meted out earlier this week by Dave Clark to your poor defenceless Diary and the rest of the Cod Almighty team, who are unable to write pre-match factfiles until their counselling sessions are over. "Just to make whatsisname from Tuesday's Diary aware that not all members of the CA team sing from the same hymn sheet," writes Al, "I'd like to point out that I don't like the red socks, and I have no strong opinions either way on the new ground." Thanks, Al. When did you last write something for the site, by the way?