Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Wednesday 16 April 2008
16 April 2008
Today's Grimsby Telegraph headline "Buckley vents fury at fans" seems to the Diary profoundly and wilfully misleading, as the Town manager's response to his team's latest defeat includes only the mildest of retorts to a small number of spectators who voiced their disgruntlement last night. Indeed, it can only have been a small number of spectators, since the attendance at Blundell Park to see the side go down 1-0 to promotion-chasing Wycombe dipped to its lowest for a league game for 20-odd years (probably, if I could be arsed to look it up). Citing the lack of resources available to build a team, a not-apparently-all-that-furious Buckley told the press: "It's a very difficult job and it is a shame one or two people who probably would have been first on the bus travelling to Wembley don't understand that." It is also a shame one or two people at the Telegraph, which did very well out of inflating the significance of Wembley and distracting everyone concerned from Town's important programme of league fixtures, seem happy to relieve their end-of-season ennui by stooping to shit-stirring hyperbole.
And if I hesitate be kind, cos in the darkest night I know the sun shines. The Telewag does rather better, in the absence of an update from Town's superb new official website, in informing us that Ryan Bennett has made the starting line-up for tonight's England under-18 friendly against Austria. With 36 starting appearances for the Mariners behind him, the London-born central defender, who turned 18 last month, will kick off tonight's game alongside teammates from some of the four big rich clubs out of that Premier League who win things. "Getting the call-up to the squad was amazing but to be starting my first game in an England shirt is unbelievable," enthuses our lad, already displaying a firm grasp of the sort of adjectives players are expected to produce at the highest level. Good luck, Ryan!
I'm told there are many readers who have been concerned about the gloomy tone of the Diary this past week or two - which is kind of touching - and Dave Chambers has gone so far as to write a smashing little piece about why things aren't so bad. So subversively uplifting are his reflections, in fact, that the Postbag (remember him?) has already started to receive emails from miserable Mariners demanding that Dave and everyone else claiming to be a Town fan must follow their example by reverting immediately and irrevocably to wearing a face like a wet weekend at all times. Nice work, DC!
Lastly today, Alan Warren has emailed to take issue with the Diary's use yesterday of the term 'focus group'. "Get a grip, Mr Diary!" he urges. "I thought Cod Almighty was an advertising and marketing bullshit free zone!" I'm sorry, Alan - you're right. Thanks for putting us straight. With brand awareness like that, you could be a key driver in facilitating the deliverables of CA's new branding and marketplace refinement steering group!