Cod Almighty | Diary

The past is a foreign country

2 September 2013

Miss Guest Diary writes: I couldn’t go to Blundell Park on Saturday, which usually signals a hefty win for Town. Not this time: by all accounts I was really fortunate not to witness a performance which James McKeown describes as “as poor as I’ve seen us”. The article also mentions booing from the crowd, but Cod Almighty’s man on the spot reports more apathy than anarchy, with fans following the match on Twitter in order to distance themselves from the spectacle before them.

The injuries to Hatton and MacDonald and the sending off of Aswad Thomas have forced the management to seek a new defender before the transfer window shuts tonight, though I doubt it will feature on the BBC’s live coverage of transfer deadline day. Altogether now, and for the umpteenth time: why exactly did Town let Miller and Wood go at the end of last season?

It’s not unusual, when the present gets too painful, to look to the past for comfort. That’s what Town fans have been doing recently, with the publication of Macca’s book and the forthcoming Alan Buckley one. Of course, it’s great to wallow in those golden memories of wins at Wembley and matches against the likes of Norwich, Stoke, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Sunderland, Fulham, Swansea, West Brom, Newcastle and even Man City.

But it doesn't hurt to take off those rose-coloured glasses now and again to remember occasions like the 4-0 defeat at Carrow Road on the opening day of the 2002-3 season. Or the visit there in 2000 when Town lost 3-0, with Macca scoring the opening goal for them with a glorious diving header. Or that in the last 30 years Town have played Man City 10 times and only won a single game. And what about the time during the Laws era when we were 5-0 down at half-time to Crystal Palace.

I could go on, but I think you get my drift.

And then there’s the twelfth anniversary of that weekend when Town went top of what is now the Championship, which some people have been harking back to recently. I was keeping a real diary at the time so I thought I’d look and see just how exciting it was. My entire entry on the subject reads: "Town played Barnsley and beat them 1-0, so went top of the table." Hmm, I wasn’t overwhelmed, was I? Could it be because I knew Town’s limitations and that we were probably only top because a lot of the bigger teams didn’t play because it was an international weekend?

I’m not really sure where I’m going with this – a bit like Shorty and Shouty with the current team. Maybe we all just need a change.