Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Friday 24 October 2008

24 October 2008

Manager Newell has 24 fit players to choose from tonight for the dreaded Friday night home game against Bradford. Your Guest Diarist thinks he is spoilt for choice in the team-picking department and would respectfully suggest he send one or two loanees home. Ameobi, Kamara, Heslop - do we need them? We have quite enough of our own uninspiring players without having to borrow them from other clubs, surely? Only Bolland is not available for selection tonight, and mumbling Stu ventured the opinion to Mariners World that Boshell (a naturally fit young man, he told us) had looked very sharp in the two training sessions in which he had participated since his return from injury. So it will be interesting to see if he returns to play at least part of tonight's match.

Bradford are blessed with a decent front line in Boulding, Conlon and Thorne, but declining form and a couple of injuries (Bower and Bullock) have meant manager McCall is looking round for loan players. Of Town's performance on Tuesday he had this to say to the Telegraph and Argus: "For parts of the game they were very good and for others it was poor. But it was the same with Luton." No doubt he will think, like me, that he has enough pace and mobility up front to ensure that the rock of Heywood can be circumnavigated before the Town skipper can react.

So with that damoclean threat it is even more important that Town win and keep possession in midfield better than of late. Having the option to use fresh legs later in the game will surely help. Being honest, at the moment the problem is finding opposition we are capable of beating. The clubs below us are in a false position; the clubs above us have better squads, more confidence - division four is a scary place for Town at the moment. The senior players and the captain really need to prove their worth and instil the right work ethic and confidence through the rest of the squad. It is a tall order. A win tonight would be a massive boost but you can't bet on it, even at better than 2/1.

Mr Newell, though, has reminded the Telegraph that recent matches have all been against in-form teams and that, although a tough one, there is no reason to fear the Bantams: "I went to watch them this week and they are well organised and have experience down the spine of their side, like the centre-backs Clarke and Lee, and Peter Thorne up front. But Darlington proved that playing football can get you a result and that's what we'll be aiming to do. I'm looking forward to it and hopefully we can play like we did in the second half against Luton and like we did in the previous two games. It's nothing to be scared of just because Bradford are expected to do well."

Off the field the disquiet over Mr Fenty's new stadium project continues to grow, with the council's head of regeneration suggesting that the club consider a 'plan B' in terms of location. It seems to me that the club badly needs support from the council to have any hope of making a new ground a reality. But to get practical help surely means that that the club will have to make concessions too. Mr Fenty may have engineered complete control within his boardroom, but to turn a pipe dream in to reality needs hard cash and a plan that is viable in 2008. A stadium project plan is needed that is both endorsed and practically supported by other interested parties in the local community, and Coun Fenty (Con) of all people should recognise this.

The world has changed since the Great Coates project was first sketched out all those years ago - the club's finances have declined, the economic viability of out-of-town retail has been drastically eroded and the planners' support for this type of development is, I bet, now non-existent. I would respectfully suggest that it is time to accept this and to have a frank and open discussion with the fans, the council and the community, Mr Fenty. The club needs regeneration and so does the town, and working at arm's length has been a failure. Draw a line and start again is my advice because you can't succeed alone. See yer.