Cod Almighty | Diary

You're not fit to wear the scarf

10 April 2014

Well, there's something to talk about other than the fact that Town have a lot of games, aren't signing any players, and Jamal Fyfield will probably come in for the injured Aswad Thomas away at Dartford tonight! Excited? Your original/regular Diary certainly is!

The Diary views as meat and drink John Fenty's statements on Town's newly superb new official website (or indeed, Radio Humberside). When the non-chairman pipes up, we have something to get our teeth into. It's a bit different today because, for about the second time ever, I pretty much agree with him.

You've seen what's happened. Like Scott, Buckley, Slade and AN Others before him, Paul Hurst has grown fed up of the miserable bastards in the stands having a go about anything and nothing. And you know what? They can't all be wrong. When Town's lexically challenged major shareholder pitched in last night to support his manager, most fans feared the worst. Fenty's interventions never seem to make things better, and this seems the worst of all possible moments to bugger things up.

But the gist? Don't have a go at the players. And you know what? I'm alright with that.

The counterargument? I've paid me money, I've got a right to moan, they don't want fans, they want sheep with wallets.

Let's follow this through. Fenty's statement has prompted Darren Newman over on Too Good to Go Down to ask: "What is the role of a Grimsby Town fan?" So let's answer that question, by asking some more questions.

Has John-Lewis been a good signing? Possibly not. Does that justify moaning at him when he's stepping up to take a penalty? Definitely not. Does that mean you can't talk about him on messageboards or in match reports? No. Most of us at CA tend to think the line is best drawn as you enter and leave the stadium. Say what you like down the pub or online, but get behind the team at the match, and if you can't manage that, just button it.

It's not complicated, is it? Blind faith may not be the best way of putting it, but it's not far out.

Of course, this doesn't mean fans should have no say or no role. Players can't help but hear the crowd during a match, but they can choose not to go on the Fishy messageboard. It's easy. I choose not to go on it nearly every day of my life. So save your ranting for the internet.

And by all means speak out – both at the match and online – when those running your club go off the rails. Our friends over the Umber in Ull have fought superbly against their idiot club owner's plans to 'rebrand' their club because King$ton Communication$ FC won't fit on an official club duvet cover when translated into Bahasa Indonesian. They've won that fight. They've done a service to the whole of football, because if Allam had got his way, the rest would have quickly followed, and before you knew it you'd be looking at rugby league. Leeds Rhinos my arse.

And has it distracted the KCFC players? Has it bollocks. They're comfortably mid-table and on their way to Wembley.

How many times have I heard Town fans moaning at the team? Hundreds. Literally hundreds. How many times has it made anything better? Once. Ten years ago. And that wasn't so much moaning as a glorious, united outburst of justified rage. Facing relegation from the third division, a sleepwalking Town XI were 2-0 down at Stockport inside ten minutes. A deafening chorus of "You're not fit to wear the shirt" stunned the players into rallying, and we only lost 2-1 and took the relegation fight to the last day. Every other instance of moaning – of those hundreds of times – has achieved nothing good at all.

I've said it before, but I'll say it again:

• Yes, you do have a right to boo and jeer the players if you've paid your money to get in.
• Yes, 99 per cent of the time, if you choose to exercise that right, you're a dick, and Town would do better without you.

So if you can't think of anything nice to say, say it online and not at the match.