Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Thursday 21 March 2013
21 March 2013
Hello and welcome to Thursday with your original/regular Diary. Now, what can we copy and paste today? Over on the Grimsby Telegraph site, while I type these words, they're having a live web chat with Cap'n Disley. I won't be taking part, for much the same reasons as I never even bother reading player interviews these days. A year or two ago I saw something on the telly where Michael Owen was doing some coaching with some hopeful footballing kids. After the football bit, he gave these innocent young blooms a chuckling masterclass in how to 'handle the media'. For 'handle the media', read 'express yourself in as bland and clichéd a manner as possible, divulging nothing'. And for 'express yourself in as bland and clichéd a manner as possible, divulging nothing', read 'treat the fans who pay your wages with contempt'.
Not that I'm accusing Disley of that, specifically. But this culture of verbal risk avoidance has come to permeate the sport. For the professional footballer, talking to your fans, via the media, has become a game of don't-say-the-wrong-thing, which ultimately means they all say the same thing, all the time. It's the same game played (albeit, for the most part, much more cynically) by politicians. Just as every chancellor of the exchequer tells you their budget is a budget to reward hard-working families, so every footballer tells you they're obviously disappointed by the most recent defeat but they're taking each game as it comes and the lads will be totally focused on victory this weekend because our fantastic fans deserve it.
Wake up! Town's reserves may have taken a proper spanking at Mansfield the other day but hey, Liam Hearn got to do running for an hour. Lovely, lovely Liam. A few minutes of an acutely unfit and rusty Liam Hearn promised more last Saturday than some other more recent arrivals at the club, fully fit and firing, have achieved in their entire time with us. Watch him come on at Wembley on Sunday as another consolation prize.
Speaking of Wembley, as everyone is, here are some of your emails. John Arrand has been examining the not at all patronisingly entitled 'dos and don'ts' list issued by the stadium's obergruppenführer recently. "I see that not only can you not take an umbrella into Wembley stadium," writes John, "but you can't take a controlled drinking zone in with you either! I was going to take the entire borough of Brent along with me but as I now can't, I won't. So think on that Wembley when the ground is half empty! Health and safety gone mad." It's a disgrace, John - thankyou for drawing our attention to this. Next thing they'll be telling us we can't sneak in an entire column of light infantry up our jumpers.
"As one of the fans who turned up at Nuneaton last night," wrote Chris Beeley yesterday, "I have to agree with the Diary - the difference between last night's disjointed 'display' and those I have had the pleasure of witnessing earlier this season at Telford and Tamworth was marked. Apart from anything else, Nuneaton wanted it more than we did, which was worrying. Also 0/10 for management playing Wood at left-back, and not changing it when we had an early warning he wasn't quick enough for their right winger - that warning went unheeded." Grim words. But surely Chris can lift our spirits as we look ahead to Town's big day? "Anyway, see you Sunday, let's hope we don't get embarrassed." Oh.
Last up today, let's see if Mancunian Mariner Ben Gresswell can cheer us up. There's probably little chance of it seeing as his email subject line borrows a song title from The Smiths, but you never know. "Ross Hannah was the new messiah before heading back to Bradford and after all the effort to get him back, we then don't play him. A settled team is disrupted with needless tinkering and unwanted loan signings and before you know it, talk turns from promotion favourites to mid-table mediocrity and the end of the world. Why change a winning formula? I just don't get it. I agree that Wembley is a distraction but nobody will convince me that any player in our squad would sacrifice the chance to play League football for a one-off appearance at the national stadium. Surely, they're not so affected by this opportunity that they have become distracted from the greater goal?"
Ben continues: "Something's happened and I want to know what because it's niggling away at me. My fear now is that we completely collapse on Sunday and go into meltdown. A bad day in the capital will see attendances plummet and morale shattered along with any hopes of maintaining a play-off place. Here's hoping that we come out of this slumber and at least put on a performance on Sunday. I don't even care particularly if we lose as long as we show commitment, spirit and a glimmer of positivity to take into the league run-in. "
Uplifting thoughts all round, I'm sure you'll agree. Thanks for reading (and emailing) and I'll see you on Sunday. I'll be the one who's not drinking in a pub called Powerleague.