Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Friday 16 September 2011
16 September 2011
The top copper in Nottingham has a trick or two that Fenty and the Town managers should copy. Yesterday, she explained to a parliamentary committee thing that "they didn't have 'riots' in Nottingham". They were "violent disturbances". When asked by Keith Vaz whether she was trying to "play down" the event, she said: "The term 'riot' can be damaging presentationally". Plus there was no looting, only burglaries. Your Guest Diarist thinks that this type of speak is a superb template for the modern executive in order to mitigate and justify the irritating ten year set back the organisation has just suffered. But shush my mouth, Fenty and Shouty have been silent all week: let's not get them going again just yet.
A blissful silence on the back of two victories? Or a sullen silence as the post-rant sulk continues? Whichever, it must have been a blessed relief to the dozens of keyboard warriors who have dashed out thousands and thousands of sometimes impassioned, sometimes cynical, and often, frankly, bonkers stuff in response to it all on the message boards. This week they can only muse on whether the 'recovery' is real or a dead-cat bounce: recoveries are often fragile of course, as the tories keep finding out.
And it doesn't help having a tricky away fixture at Stockport tomorrow. They too are a new squad, and look to have made one or two half-decent signings. With Stockport suffering only one defeat so far and having some goal scorers in their team, Town will do very well to keep a third consecutive clean sheet. And any points will be a bonus I reckon. Gamblers will note the propensity for one all draws but you won't draw me in to any kind of prediction as two sides, both of whom are trying to decide if their season is going to be any good at all, meet head on.
The superb new official Town web site (ranked a mighty fourth in the google search list of all-time superb official sites) has published a subscription-only preview of tomorrow's game. And for once it's nearly worth the money. Shorty, the calm quiet sensible one, tells us that Garner and Ridley are training like they've never been away. That Spencer's swollen knee (suffered whilst warming down from a match he never played in) might be only a temporary setback. And that Silk is running in straight lines. He's yet to learn the 'twisting and turning' catchphrase so beloved of Dave Moore who used to get to impart such information to the Town faithful. But at least Dave got a sotto voce word of praise in the piece.
As for the mystery three trialists, the managers will 'keep tabs' on the players they had been alerted to and wanted to see in action. So now we know.
It sounds like there will be few, if any changes, to the starting line up tomorrow. Let's hope that Bradley Wood can keep himself out of the referees notebook because one more booking and he will miss a game. Elding has done a sort of quiet interview with the Telegraph (if that isn't an oxymoron). He strikes a grimly determined but with zen-like patience pose as he explains why the collective strike force have been an unlucky lot so far. But makes no mention of his own 'twitch' when trying to beat the keeper at the far post. That is to say he reliably beats both keeper and post every single frustrating time. He did it at Lincoln, he's done it at home, and he did it again by the sound of things in the match at Doncaster.
You might be treated to a Cod Almighty fact file this afternoon. Or you might not. The CA borg is down on numbers and diverted by the pesky things in life like work. If you do you'll get an ale guide supplied by the redoubtable Mighty Mariner. If you don't, and you are going tomorrow, try the Arden Arms (23 Millgate SK1 2LX).
But to go back to the beginning the other idea bandied about after the riots, of course, was the one where all the social networks get shut down the minute there is any concerted howl of rebellion. Now I can see John Fenty (Con) liking the idea of adapting that one. See yer.