Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Thursday 29 April 2010
29 April 2010
Armchair Diary writes: When I was a kid one of the many crazes to sweep the nation was "choose your own adventure" books. Rather than being read like a traditional book, from cover to cover, you were directed to jump about the pages based on the choices you made in the story. A typical example would see you as a bold adventurer, stranded deep in the jungle. To the right is a path from which some very worrying screams seem to be emanating. In front of you, blocking your progress along the current path, is a huge lizard. If you take the path to the right turn to page 38, else you must fight the lizard so turn to page 54. You then turn to the relevant page as directed and continue through the book that way. If you make the right decisions along the journey you complete the quest and victory is yours but any wrong turn usually sees you hideously killed. Oops!
You are a football club chairman. For the first few months of the season your team were doing quite well and were they to maintain their current form they had a real chance of making the play-offs, at least. However the start of 2010 has not been kind to you and the club is rapidly slipping down the league table. You look to the teams below you as this slide happens and see they are picking up points and closing the gap to you. Lincoln, Cheltenham, Torquay and Macclesfield all breeze past you as your plummet continues. Accrington Stanley appear to offer you a lifeline only to cruelly deny you a chance of safety. Now this is it, it's you versus your greatest rival in a fight to the death. This is crunch time. Do you: stand solidly behind your first-team manager confident that despite a run of five defats the four-point cushion and superior goal difference you have will keep you safe and that you will live to see another season in the basement division (turn to page 38) or do you sack your manager at perhaps the worst point of the season and let his predecessor take charge for the remaining two fixtures of this campaign (turn to page 54)?
Tony Kleanthous of Barnet FC has turned to page 54 dear reader. For the first time in his 16 years with Barnet he's sacked the gaffer, Ian Hendon. Stepping up to the plate is Paul Fairclough who "has experience and knows this club and players" according to the Bees' official site. Hendon had been in charge since midway through last season when he led the club away from the relegation zone so surely he also knows the club and players too. It could even be said he has experience of exactly this situation, saving the club from the dreaded drop, but what do I know?
I have to admit the timing puzzles me greatly. For the last few weeks the noises coming out of Blundell Park have generally been positive. Neil Woods thinks we can survive and his players seem to think the same. And the power of positive thinking has shone though in recent weeks to the point that we could still see another season in this division, which is most unexpected given the long streak without a win earlier in the season and the need for various players to have a go at the Telling The Telegraph We've Not Been The Best Lately, But We'll Get Better Soon, Honest game. While Town have tried to keep a level head it seems that Barnet have done exactly the opposite and are panicking. Either this is some Alex Ferguson-style mindgames but on a whole new level or Barnet really are falling apart and are there for the taking this weekend. Nothing short of victory is good enough for the Mariners but the opposition seemingly set on self-destruct the chances of a home win look good to me.
That's enough optimism for now, let's get back down to business. The club have moved to dispel rumours that the fact that the Main Stand is mostly wooden would prevent the Mariners from re-joining the Football League the season after next. Exactly why this has come up now I don't know. For a start we haven't actually been relegated and then to presume that we could bounce straight back next season is rather presumptuous. It has all the hallmarks of messageboard rumour that has gone too far and Fentycon has felt the need to respond. At least he hasn't lied and used this is an excuse to drive forward plans for the Fentydome I suppose.
I'm not expert on football management by any means but I know what it takes to make a team, and in association football that's 11 players. Paul Ince, Les Ferdinand, Des Walker, Paul Merson, Lee Sharpe, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Dion Dublin. That's only seven players but they will apparently form an All Star XI for the Keith Alexander tribute match at Sincil Bank on Monday. You can insert your own jokes about some of those players having put on a few pounds and now weighing the same as 11 professional footballers, I can't be bothered. I will say though that it looks like they need a keeper and to bolster that defence a bit. Walker is the only defender named isn't he? Perhaps they are playing rush keepers and plan to pack the midfield and have goal-hanging strikers just like when we were kids. One can hope, eh?
According to the news, house prices have gone up 10.5% this year so who better to ask for an opinion on Town's plight than an estate agent? What about an estate agent who used to play for Grimsby Town? What a great idea! Gary Croft fits that description and reckons Town have a psychological edge this weekend. Citing Barnet's recent results and that they may try to play for a point knowing that would be enough for them, Crofty says the Mariners have the freedom to go for it with little to lose. He could be right and it would be typical of Town to drag it out for yet another week, especially since I booked a holiday for the final weekend of the season assuming we'd be relegated by then and I wanted to get out the country and away from all the coverage of our final moments in the Football League. I'm not sure the missus will be too pleased with me trying to find a bar in Rhodes that shows coverage of League Two matches.
Look at that, another week done without mentioning the reserves, who lost 3-0 to Leeds the other night with Luke Sharry getting a match or the various youth sides who dished out spankings to the corresponding Hartlepool sides. Oh.