Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Friday 31 October 2008

31 October 2008

"Glad the Diary is back, but could Thursday's Guest Guy be a bit more upbeat next time he is asked to put trotter to keyboard? I don't need reminding how crap and poor (on and off the pitch) we are: all I want is a daily 'happy pill' from the Diary, even if it is all made up and lies. I hope I am speaking for more than myself on this matter - 'quote me happy' (or something like that)." So said Jeremy Baily in an email to the Diary yesterday afternoon. Well, mate, I don't know if you are alone in wanting to hide from the magnitude of Town's plight, but assuming you are not I won't mention today that Town still owe about £180,000 in tax, according to Chairman Fenty in his Q&A with the supporters' trust, and the overdraft also remains up to the hilt.

You might be pleased to hear about the two loan signings though - JP Kalala from Oldham yesterday, and Rob Atkinson from Barnsley this morning to shore up our leaky defence. Mr Re-Newell seems determined to improve the spine of his team and says that Kalala will add inspiration, enthusiasm and a much-needed element of closing down and competing for the ball. Your Guest Diarist always felt that he never saw enough of JPK to really form a considered opinion, as Slade favoured the 'Frenchman' on his bench rather than in the team, but it can't be bad news that he is returning until at least January. Quite how the team shapes up, assuming both loanees play (and I think they will), is an interesting conundrum to solve. Drop the skipper? Is that allowed? Drop Bennett - surely not? Drop our best of a bad bunch in Hunt? We'll have to see. But you have to admit the players coming in strengthen the squad, at least on paper.

Newell was quick to remind folk again in his free Mariners World interview that there can't be any new injuries after Tuesday's debacle, as no player put a foot in all night. So he has plenty to choose from to face a totally in-form Darlington, who have three good strikers out of four fit to play against us. Somehow we have to avoid going a goal down with confidence at such a low ebb. Newell feels that the younger players will respond with better performances after a win, but is patently shit-scared that he may have seen the best of the more senior members of the squad during the recent awful run.

October has been a tough month, when we came up against both good teams and in-form teams - sooner or later surely we must be lucky enough to face opposition who cock it up or who are on as big a slide as we are? Heart says yes, head says no, I'm afraid. But maybe the manager can find the right formula with Atkinson and Kalala to at least staunch the goals and introduce a bit of creativity in the middle. A fiver on Kalala having a shot at least tomorrow then, which will double the amount of efforts on goal we have been having lately, eh?

Any road, I'm still looking forward to an afternoon at dear old Blundell Park, cheerful or otherwise. And if you see a bloke there with a red hat, don't stick a poppy on it - he doesn't like being deflated, apparently. For me, it's part and parcel of being a Town fan these last forty years. See yer.