Cod Almighty | Diary

I never met a Toby that I didn't like

7 October 2013

Miss Guest Diary writes: Hurrah! Town have kept up their unbeaten run since the official appointment of Paul Hurst as sole manager with an emphatic 3-0 win at Aldershot. Consequently, they have risen to second in the Conference Premier table, setting things up nicely for the match against top-of-the-table Cambridge tomorrow. Lenny, Town's never knowingly undersold striker, is looking forward to a battle with Ian Miller and seems genuinely both enthusiastic and optimistic.

Not something of which I could accuse Hurst: lately he sounds not like someone who is successfully rising to a new challenge but like a kid who's just dropped his ice cream. In his post-match interview he immediately downgrades John Tondeur's description of Town's performance from "a classy display" to "good". He does concede, rather grudgingly I thought, that Town "had to play quite well" to get the win and "did quite a few things right", but seems determined to downplay the recent run of good form.

And he's definitely not going to admit that the change of formation has anything to do with it. When asked whether Town had played "a more orthodox 4-4-2", he said "no" then followed up with some rigmarole about why Town had been forced by Aldershot's tactics into playing in a way that looked like 4-4-2. How does that idiom go? If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. Enough said.

Meanwhile the Aldershot manager, Shouty's brother of course, is complaining about losing to an "average side" by gifting Town three goals. He believes his team were generous, though from the highlights I would dispute that any of the goals were gifts, but he certainly seems as mean-spirited as his brother. Keep eating those sour grapes, Andy.

Fans will have the opportunity tonight to question Paul Hurst and John Fenty at a fans' forum in McMenemy's. It starts at 7pm and will be broadcast live on both Radio Humberside and Mariners Player. Entry is free. You can also tweet a question to @officialgtfc or post it on the club's Facebook page. Over at TooGoodToGoDown, some pertinent questions have already been posed.

I have only one question: would a win against Cambridge tomorrow be enough to cheer up Mr Gloomy?