Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Wednesday 23 March 2011
23 March 2011
When Dave Moore became assistant manager, he was subjected to the very special torrents of abuse that people on messageboards bring out just for assistant managers whose jobs they generally haven't the remotest understanding of. When he oversaw back-to-back wins in his first two games as caretaker manager, the messageboards started to wonder whether he should get the job until the end of the season. But Moore was mindful of the circumstances in which he'd been placed in charge. The chairman, who makes all his big decisions by reading the messageboards, had backed Neil Woods one day and sacked him the next - the same wanton charade he'd performed with several managers beforehand. Moore took one look and decided he wanted no part of that mugs' game.
So Moore was an unusual sort of caretaker manager. He took care over the job. But he approached it without a care in the world. After the shameful handling of Woods' sacking, the disgrace of the directors' public squabbling, and the serial humiliation of public snubs from potential new managers, Moore and Woods are the only figures who can move on from Town's most recent spell of turbulence with their heads held high.
That's not to say Moore's tenure as caretaker was all roses. There was a great performance against Wimbledon. But there were some terrible shows against Kettering and Rushden. The supporters responded predictably at home to Gateshead last night - by not turning up, despite another springtime special offer whereby local people who boo at the football and leave ten minutes early could pay just 38p to watch the match and wipe their feet on a season ticket holder. And in the end, of course, despite what the players had Told The Telegraph again, Town didn't Get Better Soon but remained Rubbish, spinelessly chucking away a two-goal lead in the game's final act. And your original/regular Diary was wishing I'd followed the lead of the missing thousands and bloody well stayed at home.
And let's just pay a little attention to an interesting snippet of news that emerged on Town's superb new official website last night. According to the SNOS, the suspension issued to Charles 'Charles' Ademeno after his sending-off for the reserves last week won't begin until 30 March. The player was accordingly restored to the subs' bench for the Gateshead game. But the SNOS chooses not to remind us that Charles was omitted, when he didn't need to be, from the squad for the last-gasp defeat at Bath City last weekend. So first there was Danny Butterfield leaving on a free because nobody at the club understood the Bosman ruling. Then there was the FA Cup game where Town only named five substitutes because nobody at the club knew you were allowed seven. And now there's the star striker who missed a crucial fixture because nobody at the club understands how the league's disciplinary system works. Champion.
Fixture rearrangements now, and similar embarrassment results from the announcement of a new date for Town's home game against Rushden & Diamonds. The original fixture, as we know, took place last week, when Deadly John (Topcon) made his most useful contribution to the football club so far and pressured the referee into abandoning the game with the Mariners losing 2-1 and down to ten men. Town's superb new official website, sadly, now reveals that the game will take place on Wednesday 13 April "because of a clash with the Manchester United v Chelsea Champions League tie on the Tuesday night".
Just in case that's not quite mortifying enough, the SNOS adds an apology for any discrepancy between this announcement and its own official fixtures page: "Unfortunately we do not have control of our fixture list on gtfc.co.uk and that will be changed in due course." The Diary is going off shortly to crawl through the local park on all fours, naked except for a large rubber George Osborne mask, because just at the moment it will be that bit less degrading than wearing a GTFC shirt in public.
Next up, here's an email from Diary reader Matt Pakes, sent after Town's visit to Bath last Saturday. "This weekend was my first away Grimsby match," writes Matt. "Now that I live in Bristol (moving from the Isle of Wight) it was the perfect opportunity to watch the 'Mighty' Mariners away for the first time. Far from there being a roar from the terraces, the only noise was one bloke ranting about the absence of chanting and how we should be 'supporting the lads'. He promptly disappeared after they scored their second. Some support." Well, you know what they say, Matt - empty vessels keep the doctor away. And the season doesn't start 'til March.
Finally today, in minor administrative details, GTFC have made a change to the personnel responsible for signing and training players and deciding on tactics. The new appointees, Paul Hurst and Rob Scott, have recently performed the same role to great effect at Ilkeston Town and Boston United, achieving promotions with both clubs and this season taking the Pilgrims to the brink of a second successive step up.
This, of course, is only significant if you believe that the identity of the people who carry out the job of manager at Grimsby Town will currently make any difference at all to the fortunes of the club. This assumption, however, is a serious error. Deadly John (Topcon) has shown himself many times to be a man bereft of judgement, who has turned the post of GTFC manager from an attractive opportunity to a poisoned chalice. Witness the several managers who decided it was preferable to stay at smaller, financially unstable clubs - in some cases, clubs whose very future existence is in serious doubt - than to work for John Fenty. And despite these multiple damning snubs, the chairman still shows no sign of understanding that his own conduct over the sacking of Neil Woods has left both him and our football club devoid of all credibility.
While overall control remains with the fool, then, there can be no hope for the redemption of the club. Cod Almighty, nevertheless, would like to wish Paul and Rob well, and we hope they enjoy their time at the club - until that fatal moment, in about a year's time, when the chairman announces that he believes completely in what they're doing, is thinking in the long term, and has no intention whatsoever of changing the manager again.