Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 21 November 2011

21 November 2011

Miss Guest Diary writes: Thinking about the game against Newport on Saturday, I don't know whether to laugh, cry or swear. A friend suggested that a mixture of all three might be appropriate. At half time I was certainly regretting the purchase of a ticket for Tuesday's FA Cup replay against Port Vale. What was I feeling by the end of the game? Disbelief, maybe some relief, but uppermost was keen anticipation of some sausage and onion pie at The Countryman in Humberston.

In his post-match interview for the SNOS, Shouty was asked whether he blamed the two early goals conceded on bad marking, a suggestion with which he readily agreed. I felt this rather let him off the hook. The consensus where I was sat in the Pontoon seemed to be that the fault lay more with the 4-3-3 formation. He did acknowledge in his interview with Radio Humberside that "the formation had to be changed because it wasn't working" but that begs the question: why play that formation to start with? It didn't work against Darlington earlier in the season, so why did the managers expect it to work on Saturday? Let's face it, it is a truth universally acknowledged by every Town fan that playing 4-3-3 at Blundell Park never, ever works.

I was pleased to see in the Grimsby Telegraph that Jamie Green is back to fitness and would like to stay on at Town. I was quite impressed with his performances before he got injured; he seems to me much better defensively than Townsend.

Slipped in at the bottom of that article is the news that Dayle Southwell may also be back in action soon. What was feared to be a broken metatarsal (isn't that one of those posh Premiership injuries?) was in fact a recurrence of an old injury - presumably something less glamorous and more non-League.

The GTFC AGM takes place on Thursday of this week and the supporters' trust, which is a now major shareholder in the club, will have representatives at the meeting. Reports are that the trust will be supporting Councillor John Fenty's re-election to the board. The trust says it is keen to represent the interests of supporters and invite any who cannot attend to send questions or concerns they would like raised. You can submit your questions by email to enquiries@gtst.net.

Finally, I was intrigued by a headline on the SNOS announcing a Grimsby Town youth advent calendar. This reminded me of the time several years ago when a friend, possibly pining for the days of Blue Peter, made my partner an advent-type calendar leading up to the start of the season, using little pictures cut from old matchday programmes. I was hoping for something similar from the youth advent calendar, maybe with a picture of a fetching young man behind each door. But it turns out to be a fundraising scheme for youth development where you subscribe £25 for the chance of winning a daily prize. Not as much fun, I feel, but still a very worthy cause.