Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Tuesday 31 August 2010

31 August 2010

Mardy Diary writes: Is there really all this need for this knicker-wetting panic all over the messageboards? We won, didn't we? Let me just check. Yes. We won. It wasn't brilliant and it wasn't the worst performance we've seen at BP by a long way. We seemed comfortable to begin with - both Connell and Ademeno went very close to scoring. Then we had a bit of a fluff-up in defence, they took advantage and scored. We did our usual falling apart for a bit after that and then we got a penalty which we actually managed to score. It was a 'soft' penalty according to some, but I didn't realise there were different gradings of penalties, to be honest. You hear the usual 'I've seen them given/not given' lines, but I find my hard and fast rule for telling whether it's a penalty or not has suited me fine down the years. Basically, if the referee awards a penalty, it's a penalty. If he doesn't, it's not. The logic is solid.

So we've got another injury or two to add to the list with Ademeno doing himself over after running for a lost cause (not that I blame him: the service wasn't great). Arthur may return sooner than we think - although there is talk of a loan signing coming in today, along with possibly a midfielder.

Ah, that elusive midfielder. Now there's something everyone is talking about, including Neil Woods. There we have one fact that links all the support with the management - we are crying out, as ever, for someone with a bit of creative touch-and-go in the middle. A Burnett to pick up the loose ball and ping it forward on the wing or through the middle, to provide something for Connell and Eagle and Gobern and everyone to feed on and get forward with. To stop the defence having to come in to the middle to distribute the ball, to stop the attack from having to drift back to get the ball, to stop the wingers from having to drift in to pick up a pass. It is probably the last piece in the jigsaw - or we all hope it is, at least.

But where do you get a player like that, who isn't already an established first-teamer? Are we likely to be able to snatch a player like that from someone like Fleetwood - nah: if a team like that had that sort of player, he'd have been picked up by now, surely. Do we go with the promising youngster who has spent years on the books at a Premier/first division side, but who hasn't played a first-team game? Big risk - they may make it, they may not. So we look for someone who is out of favour in the League, or an older player who wants first-team games. Again, you need to be careful - Sweeney, on paper, and when we had him on loan, looked that kind of player. But mentally he wasn't up to the challenge and he just ended up frustrating us. So - a ball-playing, box-to-box creative midfielder who is available at the right price and wants to play in the Conference. Hmmm. I see where the difficulty lies. Woods has suggested (to Radio Humberside, I think) that 'discussions' are taking place and we may see a signing today. I hope so. But if not, we've got a month to find someone before the loan window reopens.

But let's not get all jittery and silly this early on. At the moment Town are largely inconsistent - which is better than being consistently rubbish. The result against Hayes & Yeading was poor, although the second-half performance was fine except for our ability to take our chances. But then only a disallowed goal stopped Hayes & Yeading winning 2-1 away at Luton yesterday - and I thought Luton were supposed to piss this league? Hmmm? The performance against Histon was shaky, but not terrible - and the result was fine. But this is just inconsistency - and this is the Conference. It's that sort of place. Luton are a bit up and down, Mansfield have started well but still got pasted by Fleetwood, AFC Wimbledon haven't played any of the bigger teams yet and Crawley lost to us - and we're shit, apparently. I think this league is going to be a lot more up and down than people first thought. As long as we keep ourselves there or there abouts, there isn't a problem.

Consistency, if we stick with what we've got, will come. Chopping and changing does not breed consistency - and unfortunately we've had to do a bit of that already with injuries and sickness. But six games - ten points. That's alright isn't it? Come on - Stevenage had nine points after six games last season and they finished top. Not that I'm suggesting we'll finish top, you realise. It's just a reference point for you.

Anyway, it really doesn't matter what we do as far as players and managers are concerned. A Spurs supporter and occasional Town watcher said after the match on Saturday: "It's like watching Grimsby. It doesn't matter if you change all the players and the manager, they're always the same, they always play like Town." And so it is.