Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Wednesday 27 February 2013

27 February 2013

I'll tell you what's doing my head in just lately: the league table. The varying points tallies, games in hand, fixture congestion, form... it's all making it very difficult to work out what it all means now, and what the hell is going to happen next. It's difficult to know how much value to place on games in hand when they come thick and fast. We know we'll go top if we win ours, but then Newport can say the same, as they have two matches tucked up their sleeves on Wrexham. It reminds me of the time Alan Partridge claimed that a woman was "braver than ten firemen, or a dozen policemen".

So then, your West Yorkshire Diary is currently trying to work out what's worth more in the Conference – being three points clear but having played a game more? Five points clear having played two games more? Three points behind with a game in hand? Today, I'd quite happily take Wrexham's position. They have points in the bag and eight home games to come, compared to Town's painful fixture pile-up which still needs to squeeze in another nine away days – plus Wembley, of course.

Last night's 3-1 win over Ebbsfleet did not please Rob Scott, who has sincereminded the players that they have not arrived and they are not special. I'm not sure I understand the arrival thing, but one imagines they will have arrived, wherever they were travelling to (Big Time Town – I dunno) and they will be special once they have either won at Wembley or achieved promotion to the Football League. Preferably both.

What should have been a comfortable win last night was briefly in doubt when the visitors scored a goal 16 minutes from time. Ominously, John Tondeur described the performance at the time like one from the early days of Shouty and Shorty's tenure, where the Mariners would regularly throw away a two-goal lead like they were beefburgers covered in green fluff just discovered at the bottom of a student fridge. A stat began flying around Twitter proclaiming that Town never win by a 3-1 scoreline. But then this Town team is a little bit different to others from the recent and rubbish past, and Captain Disley planted his 25-yard shot into the top corner to make everyone feel a bit better about things.

Some may wonder why the management duo brought Simon Ford to the club in the summer if they were never going to play him if the chance arose. While the chance is yet to arise, it feels close given the managers' penchant for squad rotation and the fragility of centre-back cover at the club (compared, for example, to the striker depth at the other end of the pitch). Today it's been confirmed that Ford is motoring his way down, naturally, to struggling Telford. Chances of him making his second Mariners debut have, like Telford, just hit rock bottom.

Managers say they don't look at league tables, but I think they're lying. However, to stop me from obsessing over the millions of possible permutations between now and the end of the season, it's a practice that I'd quite like to adopt in order to lead a healthier life. It does mean, however, that I'll be taking each game as it comes.