Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Tuesday 30 August 2011

30 August 2011

First there was the entirely predictable home defeat to Darlington. Then there was the exchange between a Pontoon moaner and Rob fackin' Scott. Then our chairman identified the aftermath of said exchange as the most appropriate moment to open a debate and get some things off his chest. And then we lost at Gateshead to slip back into the relegation zone. It's never dull; let's give ourselves credit for that.

Your West Yorkshire Diary continues to wonder why our chairman feels compelled to react to everything all the bloody time. Not only that, but it's the minority - or 'small sections' of fans, as he puts it - that he keeps reacting to. If he's directing his words to a handful of people, you'd think he'd at least avoid addressing the article to the entire town by using the rather inflammatory headline 'What is wrong with Grimsby?' What he doesn't seem to realise is that by reacting to the minority he continually gives them a voice. Ever remember the times when you were at school and the teacher would tell you not to give any attention whatsoever to the prat at the back? Just ignore him and he'll go away. As soon as he realises he hasn't got an audience he'll stop being a seditious twat.

Anyway, there have been lots of opinions about the incident that has yet to acquire a suitably witty title, so I won't use today's diary to talk about it. Suffice to say, if you're on that Twitter thingummyjig you'll find a handful of links to some interesting thoughts on the issue - or you could do what Fenty does and read the messageboards.

Shouty has apologised for his Saturday night shoutiness in a very long, unedited interview with Burnsy, which you can watch for FREE on the superb new official website. The actual apology is just a few seconds long and comes at a time when, ironically, the seagulls circling the Gateshead International Stadium are being particularly shouty. It's an interesting discussion and one worth listening to if you have about 15 minutes to spare and you're interested to hear a cautious Burnsy tiptoe through the interview - very much like a prisoner creeping up on a sleeping guard to steal his keys.

As someone who didn't go to the Darlington and Gateshead matches, my thoughts on our latest two defeats that have left us second bottom have been formed from snippets of information I've garnered from those whose opinions I trust more than others. So the general consensus is that we actually played quite well in both matches and probably deserved a point from each, but our starting team on Saturday was "lob-sided" and the opposition keeper had 'one of those games'. Yesterday we came up against an organised side which ground out a win based on something to do with our forward line, banjos, barn doors and cows' arses. Some 'small sections' of our fanbase have been wondering whether this poor start to the season is a sackable offence, but there is an underlying feeling that, in the past two matches at least, we haven't quite got what we deserved. I thought losing 5-0 at Braintree was the lowest ebb, but according to the managerial duo it's now. They're spoilt for choice in that department, quite honestly.

It reminds me of the time Town played Chester City off the Blundell Park pitch three years ago but managed to lose the game 3-1 because one-time Town target Kevin Ellison scored an incredible hat-trick which belied the standard of fourth division football. It was just one of those quirky games. Fenty, ever the pragmatist, didn't like the scoreline and sacked Alan Buckley. The rest, as they say, has been bollock-breakingly depressing. The tone of Shouty's post-match comments at Gateshead means we're once again talking about Fenty's itchy trigger finger. It might be a good time to remind everyone that the one manager our chairman never got round to sacking was the only manager to give the town of Grimsby a promotion-chasing season under Fenty's tenure - and it took him a year to build a capable squad.

Even if Fenty were to come out this week and announce that he has no intention of sacking the managerial duo, it's hardly as if we'll believe him. So that's why he should just keep quiet and have a little patience.