Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Tuesday 8 November 2011

8 November 2011

There we were thinking Anthony Church was a big signing for Grimsby, and then they send him out on loan. That's what the Mariners' hard-pressed bean-counters hope the FA tribunal will be thinking, anyway, when Town and Boston battle it out over compensation for the ex-Pilgrims midfielder later this month. Only a cynic would assume, of course, that Church's temporary departure for Alfreton is a direct consequence of the the tribunal being scheduled rather than Andi Thanoj's return to form and the first team. But after more than 30 years supporting Grimsby Town Football Club your original/regular Diary is prone to just the occasional outbreak of cynicism. The 21 November hearing will also determine a fee for the other former Bostonian who joined GTFC this year, so let's just not be too surprised if Shaun Pearson makes a surprise loan move to North Ferriby United next week.

Not that we at Cod Almighty would complain if the Church move were to make way for a less expensive local lad. It's one of the unbearable ironies of the Deadly John (Topcon) era that so many Town fans would constantly accuse the former Town chairman of taking the "cheap option". The truth is that so many of Fenty's mistakes lie in taking the expensive option instead. Sacking managers every 12 minutes, paying off contracts, attracting wastrels like Peter Sweeney and Barry Conlon by giving GTFC a reputation as a place to make a quick and easy buck. It's the false economies like refusing Rob Jones' contract requests and cutting the pay of backroom staff that have been much fewer and further between.

In other news around Fortress Blundell, Town's reserves will play a "practice match" against Plucky Scunny this afternoon. Or at least we assume it's the reserves. And Steve 'The Kitten' Croudson has gained both a son and another job at Blundell Park. Along with his duties as goalkeeping coach and emergency risking-life-and-limb stand-in keeper, Steve will treble up as Town's kit man from this day forth. Free gloves from Kenny Arthur, apparently.

Returning to matters Fentyish, the former (and possible future) chairman has, in case you didn't see, been getting arsey with contributors to the forum at The Fishy - with hilarious results. True, some of the folk there do seem to stray from reasoned critique into outright fantasy. But poor John continues to struggle with the English language despite turning on his spellchecker ("chooses are not always quite so wide ranging"; "others no doubt liables me"; best of all, "financial baking"). And in any case, when this sort of flan-flinging takes place you'd expect a man with so much dough just to rise above it.

Sorry. But on the other hand, as well as the denizens of the Fishy messageboard, Fenty has variously raged against the Grimsby Telegraph, Dave Burns and BBC Radio Humberside, the Black and White Corner fanzine, English Nature, and the magistrates who gave him a six-month driving ban for speeding. So any criticism of the councillor from Cod Almighty is perhaps not to be taken too seriously. We may just be jealous because he hasn't picked a fight with us yet.