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Diary - Wednesday 30 March 2011

30 March 2011

HotPob's much vaunted win record has taken a fair old battering since their move up the east coast from Boston to Grimsby. In their initial management appointment at Ilkeston Town they won a staggering 65 per cent of their matches en route to promotion from the Northern Premier League. Then, at Boston, they won a tremendous 61 per cent of games in their first season as they scooped another promotion, and an outstanding 58 per cent this season as they challenged strongly for a second successive step up the pyramid. So far at Blundell Park, of course, the figure is zero. Along with notably more 'direct' tactics in their two games in charge, and HotPob's breathtakingly audacious willingness to substitute an underperforming player, there are GTFC supporters already calling for their dismissal. It would be hysterically funny if we didn't have every reason to suspect that Deadly John (Topcon) will remain true to form and sack them both next week.

If you ask your original/regular Diary - which you sort of implicitly have by coming to this page - then it's a shame Alan Connell hasn't been subbed off a few more times this season. Even ace players like our Al must never feel they're in a comfort zone, and one or two more withdrawals when he's been contributing little to a game might have sharpened him up a bit. No player's position should be beyond question - and I can't help thinking that, paradoxically, fewer minutes on the pitch for Connell might have meant even more goals.

Sadly, the Diary is unable to bring you any quotes from Town's under-pressure management duo following last night's dismal but easily anticipated home defeat by Darlington. This is for the very good reason that the quotes all seem to have appeared on the web in audio or video format and Baby Diary (who is now two and a quarter years old and able to sing "Mariners!") is asleep on the sofa next to me. Hey, we never claimed to be the Grimsby Telegraph. We can write, for one thing.

By the by, in case you think I'm kicking back in my ivory tower right now and congratulating myself on what a clever chap I am for thinking of the term 'HotPob', please know that I am not. It's a makeshift term that I'm not particularly delighted with, but it'll have to do until we think of something better. If you can help out, please email the Diary. Dynamic duos and gruesome twosomes need not apply.

With nothing much else to report today, it's a good thing my rantings and ravings here about the appointment of HotPob yesterday prompted Alan Richardson to take up cudgels on behalf of Town's not notably successful chairman Deadly John (Topcon). Alan's excellent email is reproduced below in its entirety.

Having read Tuesday's diary, I can't help thinking you're being a little harsh on John Fenty (can't believe I've just written that!).

Agreed that he has presided over the most spectacular decline you could ever imagine - even the most pessimistic of Town fans wouldn't have predicted Championship to Conference in less than 10 years. He's made dreadful decisions with hiring, firing and not renewing the contracts of managers. And the whole club seems to be run by a bunch of amateurs. Let's be honest, if any other business treated its customers as badly as this, then we'd have moved on - and Fenty has to take pretty much all the blame.

However, on the new managers, as far as I can see he has done nothing wrong. The article below came from the Boston Standard website.

The Mariners approached Newton with a request to speak to Hurst and Scott on Sunday morning, a day after Scott had categorically denied speaking with Grimsby Town, the move being rejected by the Boston board. Newton then approached his managers, suggesting confidentiality and additional compensation clauses be written into their contracts, before allowing them to speak to Grimsby. This would also include covering the potential loss of revenue were Boston unable to finish the season in the play-off spots.

However, Newton says his suggestions were turned down by Scott, who, along with Hurst, hoped to go full time next season, whether with Boston or another club.

"We thought this was a reasonable thing to do as most chairmen would just say 'thanks but no thanks'," Newton added.

However, with the managers resigning instead of re-writing their contracts, Newton has been left to find a new manager.

It reads to me that Fenty approached Boston United and they said no. The Boston chairman then told Hurst and Scott of Town's interest and tried to re-write their contracts as they only had six weeks left to run. It was then that Hurst and Scott quit - we then approached.

So who is at fault? Hurst and Scott for showing no loyalty to Boston? Yeah, they probably should have done things the right way. The Boston chairman for not tying them to a longer contract? Definitely. If he thought that highly of them, then don't let the contract get down to six weeks (the kind of stupid thing I'd expect from Fenty) and then moan when they say no to re-writing their contracts after learning of Town's approach.

So for once, I think we should lay off Fenty. Personally I think he's got this right. I'm much happier with these two than Cooper/Brabin/the bloke from Kidderminster or indeed anyone else who was mentioned. And I don't think Fenty has done anything wrong. It looks to me that the guy from Boston has dropped a clanger and sees an easy way to raise a bit of extra cash.

Rant over - must keep telling myself to behave like the rest of Grimsby and not care what happens!

Now, don't be doing that, Alan! You've helped this website enormously on a slow news day and made some very good points. They'll all be academic by next Thursday, when HotPob get the sack, but for now that's neither here nor there. What do the rest of you reckon? Email diary@codalmighty.com with your thoughts on anything that appears on this page, and if none of the other diarists can be arsed to pick it up, I'll publish it next Wednesday!