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Diary - Friday 2 July 2010

2 July 2010

Well, by Friday lunch time, your Guest Diarist was expecting (and sort of hoping) that the Town squad would be thoroughly knackered, stiff and aching after their return to pre-season training on Tuesday. The superb, new official Town web site has interviewed (for those rich enough to listen) the redoubtable Dave Moore however, who mused wistfully about how pre-season training was not what it used to be in the old times. No longer is he allowed to 'kill them in the first few days'. The long runs are gone and the main parts of the first session were stretching to warm up, stretching to cool down and then the ice bath beckoned apparently. On the second day the film showed them hanging about as one by one they did a little shuttle run recorded by Pro-Zone. "To get some baselines" said Mr Moore airily, who hid his desire to play sergeant major and get them running fast, hard and long to his raucous encouragement well.

Charlie Ademeno. There can be only one Charlie Ademeno. His post-signing interview revealed a pleasant, stocky young lad who believes in his pace, and in his ability to 'get on the shoulder' and score goals. He believes in Grimsby too. A big league club is what he sees. And he believes with better players around him and professional coaching he can have a great season. Let's hope so - I said before I wanted a striker on the way up not one on the way down. Well I didn't say that exactly but my other words should have led you to that pithy conclusion. Maybe, just maybe, we've got one.

At last Macca has got a job which he can say is the first rung on the management ladder. He's been taken on as the number two at Harrogate Town in the Conference North. Harrogate seem to have a bit of ambition these days after a few wobbly economic years, and, as the job is basically only three days a week, Mr McDermott plans to carry on coaching at the Grimsby Institute (where I'm sure he teaches the secret of successful defending without tackling to the yoof of Grimsby). Good luck to him to eh?

So the fixtures came out yesterday at the predicted time and Town will start away at Crawley on Saturday August 14th, with the first home match against York the following Tuesday. Poring over the games seems slightly pointless - we play everyone twice and we have no idea who we can beat really have we? Mr Woods mentioned in passing to the Telewag that the lads have been enthusiastic in training and also noted there are lots of games to get stuck in to in August. For once, just for once, can we have a good start?

Chris Casper, the Town assistant manager, who struck me when he arrived (in that instantly judgemental way of mine) as intense, fidgety and ambitious has left. He got offered a job by the premiershite as a club support manager in the north west so has gone back to roots, yoof and family. Woodses didn't sound too devastated by this news and has resolved to take his time finding a replacement.

So live football is back this afternoon with some tasty World Cup games this weekend. And how the pressure is off, and how the pleasure factor rises with England out. Canadian-based mariner James Booth has been in touch to wish us all a happy Canada day adding:" I also wanted to let you know that England's poor effort in the World Cup has made me look forward even more to the Mariners new season. After watching the supposed "Golden Generation" fail to even be mediocre, somehow the further away from the Premiership you can get the better it would seem to be. Perhaps this was something the Grimsby team already knew last year, hence their concerted effort to get down to the BSP." James adds a postscript to complain that the Canadian coverage has taken to the ubiquitous and intensely annoying 'three lions' nickname. As was beautifully documented in Catch-22 by Joseph Heller willfully invented nicknames never stick. Well they ruined rugby league for me anyway. See yer.