Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Tuesday 31 May 2011

31 May 2011

Wipe the sleep from your eye. Only four days until the weekend.

Fleetwood Town, who missed out in the Conference play-off semi-finals, show their further ambitions with the signing of ex-Towner Peter Till from York City. You might scoff, fellow Mariners, but remember the days when we too were perked by the arrival of the likes of Till and Marc Goodfellow? It might not be wasted either, as the capture of tick-tock midfielder Keith Briggs from Kidderminster is a shrewd signing which improves Fleetwood's squad for next season, as does the season-long loan of Richard Brodie from Crawley. The management team there is moving quick to get something in place for next season.

At Town, though, we need to remember "it's not as straightforward as playing Championship Manager". So all of you trawling the web looking at what our rivals for next season are doing - get back into your boxes, leave the managers to it, and wait, yeah?

An update on the club's "proposed partnership" with Oasis Academy Wintringham indicates a "positive response" - at least least this is how the club paints this. In the absence of anything contrary is this such an easy sell? It's a common-sense approach which ensures that "our town benefits from a self sustainable youth system that is not solely reliant on the success of a first team". It's also something a number of clubs are looking into, and certainly will let young footballers schooled at the club have access to a more rounded education. How much the club will be involved, and whether it will help maintain or raise the standards in the club's youth system, is another matter, and difficult to assess in lieu of any detailed information. Given the impact on the club this might afford, anyone out there willing to do some further digging?

And finally, you'll be pleased to know that in these times of austerity you'll have less far to travel to all the away games next season. Great news! And while we're willing to overlook the SNOS neglecting to make clear its presumption that they are working on the logics of fans departing from Grimsby, it has us thinking: did anyone go to every away game last season?