Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Thursday 16 February 2012

16 February 2012

Nothing ever happens on a Thursday: that's why the CA Man gave this dog day to Deviant Diary to sprinkle wacky whimsy over the yawning void. This Thursday is no day for whimsy.

Cod Almighty has been pleasant and supportive of the relaunched Superb New Mariners Trust (SNMT©). Here are some English words: spineless, witless, forelock-tugging mugs (don't be). You're being conned by an emotional blackmailer. You're not the first trust to be taken in by businessmen with dreams and threats, but you haven't learned from the mistakes of others. Or rather the trust's board hasn't.

The SNMT's aim is stated thus: "We seek only a means of providing Grimsby fans with more say over how the club is run". It was given 500,000 shares. Some of the SNMT's board want to give 200,000 of them to a rich man, in return for which they get a pat on the head and the chance to listen to him a few more times in a comfy chair. The board had already secretly given away voting rights to 200,000 of its shares to any chairman of any meeting: now there are members who want to give John Fenty 200,000 shares. Are these are the same shares? The SNMT's letter to members doesn't make this clear at all. If not, they are effectively proposing to hand the power of 80 per cent of their free bounty to one man in return for nothing tangible, just a vague promise revolving around the word 'involve'. Spin on that.

For an analysis of the mangled Fentyspeak, why not click on to our fine friend at Too Good To Go Down. It's a tale of inconsistent logic and megalomania.

Yes, Councillor John Fenty, fridge magnate, will not provide sufficient funds to keep the club going unless he is given more power. After a decade of dross and disaster, after all those pounds he claims to have provided, he is publicly stating he is prepared to let the club die. It's all about his ego. Those members of the SNMT's board who support the share giveaway have fallen for this cheap trick. Face the man down: don't be Fenty's poodle. What could he do? Terminate Grimsby Town Football Club? He'd be the man who killed our club. He wouldn't dare. He's invested too much money, emotion and, above all, reputation. He wouldn't want the serfs out with their verbal pitchforks at the gates of Xanadu on Humberston Avenue.

The football: the fact is that Elding is up before the FA beak for his supposed Lincoln thing. And long-term reader, 13th-time emailer Phil Watson (PI) searched deep inside and found his inner Tommy Widdrington. He points out that Shouty's ever-expanding touchline ban is officially the result of remarks made about the referee's gender. Henceforth, all officials must be called "it".

And there's a game tomorrow. It's all about the football, not the moneyball.