Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Wednesday 29 June 2011

29 June 2011

"Boston fans wish [Shorty and Shouty], and Grimsby, well. Through gritted teeth, obviously. And please don't steal Spencer Weir-Daley. Please?"

These were the words of our Boston United-supporting mate and ImpsTALK editor Pete Brooksbank back in March, shortly after the Mariners nicked his club's managers. So far the latter have shown no sign of pulling Weir-Daley up the A16 after them, but all that goodwill may be evaporating quickly. It's not just the acquisition of Shaun Pearson - and now, it would seem, Anthony Church, his erstwhile teammate at York Street. It's the manner of it too.

Deadly John (Topcon), of course, last week dismissed as "derisory" the testing-the-water bids Town had received for Alan Connell from Stevenage, Wimbledon and Luton. In the next breath he seems to have tabled similarly feeble offers for Pearson and Church and refused to negotiate. Naturally, the Pilgrims are hopping mad, and in many ways this will be of little concern to Town fans. But perhaps it should be. A chairman capable of such brazen double standards might be capable not only of harming our relations with other clubs but of causing great damage to our own club as well. Who knows? One day he might give his very full public backing to a team manager, only to fire him within 24 hours and then be forced to spend the next few weeks contemplating why no bugger else wants the job.

Further to Town's interest in Church, by the by, your original/regular Diary is just a little disappointed with the Grimsby Telegraph's coverage. It's not just the inclusion of the sentence "It's certainly a signing Hurst hopes will happen" - although that's bad enough. It's the missed opportunity of the headline. Come on, Telewag - you know better than this! If the club is interested in a player called Church, you don't mumble something about a pipeline. You say CHURCH COULD BE MARINERS' SALVATION. Must try harder. A bit like Town's midfield.

Lastly today, let's be grateful to FIFA for maintaining a sense of humour in these troubled times. Not content with denying England the chance to host a World Cup, the guardian of football has rubbed our nation's nose in it by placing Capello's battlers fourth in its latest world rankings. Isn't it good to see that irony didn't die when Steve Evans talked about morals and ethics?