Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 19 December 2011

19 December 2011

Miss Guest Diary writes: I simply don't know what to make of Saturday's game. To go 3-0 up in the first 12 minutes, then to spend most of the remainder of the game feeling like Town would be lucky to hang on to the lead, was an unusual experience. And the atmosphere was curiously flat, even when we looked like conceding that fourth goal in added time.

I was pleasantly surprised, once again, by Shouty's calm and sensible post-match interview with Radio Humberside. Has he been attending anger management classes? If this keeps up, we'll have to find him a new soubriquet. Any suggestions?

Town don't play again until Boxing Day, giving them (and us) some breathing space after the helter-skelter of fixtures in the last month. Those players who have played in all nine games must be exhausted. Is it any wonder that there have been occasional lapses in concentration and defensive errors, such as the one by James McKeown on Saturday? Are the fans of other clubs always so quick to jump on a player's back for making a mistake? Clichés about pots and kettles and stones and glass houses spring to mind. This is supposedly the season of goodwill - it would be nice if some of the more critical fans could show some to their team.

Christmas in our household is a rather muted affair since we gave up on the whole gift-exchanging rigmarole about 15 years ago. It makes for a cheaper and less stressful occasion but does remove some of the potential excitement. We still do the spending-time-with-relatives and stuffing-our-faces routine. But we do that at other times of the year too, so it's not exclusively Christmassy. And the ritual from yesteryear of gathering round the TV to watch movies and Christmas specials is long over. Even the one remaining favourite, Doctor Who, fell by the wayside earlier this year when it got too complicated and, to use a modern colloquialism, up itself.

So we often look to Town's Boxing Day fixture to provide some festive spirit and excitement. Some years turn out to be disappointing or simply forgettable, but others do fill the gap. One from the last decade which springs to mind is against Derby County in 2002. They were newly relegated from the Premier League and Town had put out something of a scratch team so we were anticipating a heavy defeat. Instead, two goals from John Oster and another from David Soames - one of those local lads who come and go without making much of a mark - provided a 3-1 victory which had us laughing all the way home to Lincolnshire. And we somehow found our way into the directors' area at Pride Park which meant free parking and the chance of riding to the stadium in a golf buggy.

Let down last year by the cancellation of the game against Mansfield due to snow and ice, we were hoping for something good this year. The fixture list hasn't disappointed. What could be better than a tie against local rivals Lincoln? Especially as we live only about three miles from Sincil Bank. I just hope Town can repeat the performance, and the score, from their 4-3 victory in the Lincolnshire Cup back in August. And I'm pretty sure the atmosphere won't be flat, whatever happens.