Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Thursday 29 December 2011

29 December 2011

The best way to provoke a central defensive crisis, your Guest Diarist ruminates, would seem to be to let one of your centre-halves go before organising a replacement. Charlie I'Anson yesterday Tweeted: "Thanks for messages 2to3 weeks haven't had x ray to swollen". Shaun Pearson is to serve a single-match ban for five bookings. So Scott Garner, still blinking in the spotlight after a tremendous return to first-team action at Lincoln, is the only fit centre-half for Sunday's derby return game. Which must have Shouty cursing even louder than normal.

Will we see Bradley Wood have a go, with Silk deputising at right-back? Maybe. I'm just hoping that the managers don't try something with, say, Duffy. The memory of watching Jones the Lump trying to play centre-half a few seasons ago, while I was sitting directly in line with Town's defence, haunts me still. I loved the Lump to death, but Birtles he wasn't. Other defensive options are available, but the gung-ho enthusiasm and utter commitment of our Bradley would make for an interesting afternoon.

Speaking of Garry Birtles, Mighty Mariner has been spending his time this holiday uploading clips from his GTFC video collection to that Youtube. The easiest way to link you to them is via Mighty's Twitter account. But here's one clip where you get to see Birtles both in action and also interviewed in a Town feature on the Saint & Greavsie programme. Do you have a penchant for Grimsby Town or the drinking of exotic bottled ales? Like to think hard on an almost daily basis about the, ermm, dress sense of breakfast female TV and weather presenters? Then following Mighty on that Twitter might be just your cup of tea, gentle reader. Try it, if you dare.

And Cod Almighty reader Rich Mills emailed us the other day to nominate Mr Birtles for the lifetime achievement award thing I was noodling on about last week. "I think you mentioned the obvious ones," muses Rich, "but others that stand out for me would be Nigel Batch, Joe Waters(es) and even Gary Birtles. Dave Gilbert too. I know they didn't have as long a time there as Macca but they put the effort in and seemed to care too."

Every time I hear Birtles' work as a pundit on a footy game he seems to get in a really positive hark-back to his time at Grimsby. So yes Rich, he's an absolutely ace candidate. And Waters, who has also been nominated by CA's own Pat Bell, talked so movingly about Grimsby when Radio Humberside interviewed him earlier this season that it brought a lump to my throat. So he's high on the list too. Maybe in ten years Bradley Wood will line up as well, alongside the mighty Bobby Cumming eh? Let's hope so. But write in with your nominations folks - we've got to while away these dog days between Christmas and new year somehow, so let's gently reminisce.

Before I go off to try to float in a warm bath of nostalgia though, I should put on record the fantastic support from the travelling Mariners fans at Lincoln and my recognition of the tremendous second-half comeback performance from the team. And pay respect to the managers for the tactical switch that inspired it. One day they'll get it right from the start, but to even get half a performance is a great big hop forward isn't it?

Conor Townsend, whom Town have secured on loan for the rest of the season, is improving game by game, so his continued presence can be seen as another positive. I'll be back tomorrow to see what's happening ahead of the big game on Sunday. See yer.