Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Tuesday 10 July 2012

10 July 2012

You find your original/regular Diary edging back slowly into normal life today, after a weekend in the alternative (better) reality of the Indietracks festival. The niche genre of indiepop, it seems to me, is much like non-League football in that its adherents often praise the friendly, homespun nature of the scene. And there was the moment on Saturday, in between bands, when Mardy Diary and I spotted not just a Town fan but a Town fan wearing one of our Ivano Bonetti T-shirts. But if only there were some kind of competition with tangible results where we could pitch indiepop genius like The Hobbes Fanclub and Allo Darlin against landfill indie dross like Kasabian. We'd lump all our savings on a giant-killing.

It's kind of nice to have trialists at the club again. Your more cocksure football managers tend not to bother taking players on trial. Graham Rodgerses, on the other hand, openly admitted on Radio Humberside that he wasn't certain he was up to the job. The arrival of Derek Niven and Lewis Chalmers takes us back just a little way to the mid-2000s, when the gates of Blundell Park were thrown open to the world and Town's superb new official website welcomed in trialists from as far afield as Gamibia [sic]. Niven's pedigree makes him an appealing possibility to fill the James Hunt role in midfield. As long as he's better at it than, say, Michael Leary.

Shorty and Shouty's latest signings continue to impress the fans, with Ben Gresswell emailing the Diary to hail the arrival of Aswad Thomas. "Superb news," grins Ben. "I can now sing my favourite Aswad song 'Shine' at Town matches. I couldn't be happier. I don't even care if he turns out crap. It's a really catchy tune too so I'm sure it won't be long before the Main Stand Dentists sing along." A stirring vote of confidence there, I'm sure you'll agree.

From arrivals to departures, finally, and over to Diary reader Steve Evison. "In the week that Michael Coulson signed for York and reduced his travel time back to his folks in Scarborough," writes Steve, "I was intrigued by this quote (from his Barnsley days) from Coulson's entry in Wikipedia. Referring to an injury setback, has anybody ever been more damned by faint praise? Manager Simon Davey commented: 'It's a complete disaster for him. He'd been coming on really well. He was the first name I looked to put on the bench.' Keep up the excellent work and UTM!"

Cheers, Steve - and thanks everyone for reading and keeping the Diary alive over the summer with your emails. Just don't start telling us you've got a good feeling about this season, OK?