Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Tuesday 16 September 2008
16 September 2008
So, where are we up to? Andy Ritchie's agent is placing stories in the tabloids and John Fenty (Con) says he'll make the right decision next time. The Grimsby Telegraph has done a quick ring-round for opinions, and come up with, well, very little, really. Sir John McDermott is controversially "disappointed for Alan"; supporters' trust chief Dave Otter has his cake and eats it ("I am a big supporter of Alan Buckley but, at the end of the day, I don't think the chairman had any alternative"); and self-appointed voice of the fans Dave Boylen seems to have slept through most of the last two matches ("we are letting goals in too easily and getting beaten too easily"). Yes, it was an absolute stroll in the park for Chester, wasn't it. Give that man the key to the manager's office.
The Diary notes with approval, however, a rediscovered willingness at the Telegraph to have a go at John Fenty (Con). For the last three aeons our local rag has been too terrified of provoking another tantrum from the notoriously thin-skinned Town chairman to even imply any fallibility on his part, but today's paper points out slyly that "less than 48 hours after revealing in his programme notes for Saturday's home game with Chester that the club were 'committed to stability', the Town board met with Buckley to dispense with his services". The best entertainment to be had so far, however, comes from Telegraph journo and MU Glazersox consumer David Pye, who writes: "One thing you can't fault Buckley for is his commitment to the cause and his workmanlike approach." No-one expects the Spanish Inquisition, Dave!
Your emails have been coming thicker and faster than usual, of course, and as an counterweight to the anti-Buckley invective that everyone else has been spurting, Cod Almighty is planning to publish some readers' happy memories of AB's association with the club (use the feedback form to contribute yours) but in the meantime Dave Chambers was first off the mark yesterday, asking John Fenty: "What made you change your tune from someone who wanted to give Alan Buckley and his team time this season to someone who is a stupid, stupid, stupid, reactionary, short-term-planning twat?" Well, if there's one positive to draw from yesterday's events, the sack-happy Tory in the chairman's office has at least given a clear indication of the fate that awaits thousands of public servants if his party wins power at the next General Election.
"In complete sympathy with the Diary," writes Tom Carpenter. "What would have been a sad day for the club in any circumstances is made all the worse for its confirmation of the fact that the club is run by a board who take their lead from the kind of people who manage to find the time between scrounging off work and generally being worthless to hurl ill thought out and shockingly punctuated insults at their club's officials. Has anyone at CA considered an alternative forum for Town fans with more than two brain cells, or at least some sort of pledge for people to take never to visit 'The Fishy' again. Some of the crowing observable on it today is surely the last straw for decent Town fans." Thanks for your support, Tom. I don't think the editors of a website should be held responsible for the content of its messageboard though, and CA policy is not to discourage our readers from visiting other Town sites. There is an alternative forum, however - an email list which most of the CA team take part in, so I'll ask the administrators to send you an invite. If anyone else would like one, do feel free to ask the Diary (and be prepared for a knockback if we don't like your face).
James Parrott is another who spreads the blame between the chairman and certain sections of Town's support. "Like you, I also have little real hope that Mr Fenty will manage to appoint a good, ultimately successful manager," he writes. "That's for another day. I want to address the clubs 'fanbase'. I get the falling gates. I understand that the ticket prices are ridiculous, the ground is horrendous and the atmosphere there is unpleasant. I struggle to get to games myself. But I wonder what thought processes grip drive intellectual giants who spend their time posting such online wisdoms as (generic example) 'Buckley out. I told you he didn't know what he was doing, etc. Relegation blah blah blah'. Great. Well done. I notice that relatively few of these people castigate the players for not being able to defend as a team or take scoring chances. Instead, they blame the only really successful manager we have had in recent times. He could only play the hand he was dealt. The club is at a low ebb and resources are limited at best. I would have thought that was obvious every matchday. So good luck with the new manager John."
"So what's the cause and effect here?" asks Dr Phil. "Was AB sacked because of the stock market meltdown, or has the market collapsed because AB has been sacked? I think we should be told, Mr Fenty." The stock market has collapsed because of the large hadron collider, obviously.
Chris Beeley is next. He begins: "What a sad day for the club. What short memories people have. Buckley's had no money, little support from some 'fans', and his players (it has to be said) have sometimes let him down too. Yet last season he took us to Wembley (again), got close to the play-offs for a time, and even this season we knocked a higher-division team out of the League Cup and gave a decent account of ourselves against a fabulously wealthy (by our standards) Premiership club. I'm the first to admit I've moaned and groaned about some results in the league this year, but I've never advocated Buckley's sacking - who else are we going to get that would do better? Here we go with another attempted quick fix by the board which no doubt will end in disaster both financially and on the pitch. I'm more miserable about the club today then I've been for ages, and that's saying something.
"OK, rant over," concludes Chris. "I'm off to prepare my CV and will be applying for the job on the basis that I'm probably better qualified than many of the people who will actually be interviewed, and at least I wouldn't just be there to make a fast buck or two before I was sacked when we lose the relegation race in May, with the embarrassment of having had a 17-point start." Let's hope Andy Ritchie is reading, eh.
On a related but separate topic to conclude today's Diary, the reserves are playing away at York tonight, and sadly it doesn't look like Straight Peter Bore is playing. You'd think he'd have energy to burn after being subbed off at the weekend ten minutes into the second half.