Cod Almighty | Diary

Though you're miles and miles away, I see you every day

24 July 2014

Phew, what a scorcher! Welcome to Thursday with your super soaraway original/regular Diary, tapping away on a tablet in the back seat of a Seat whizzing up the A14 and out of Cambridgeshire with almost Fentyesque pace. If you'd told me I'd be doing this when I started writing the Diary 12 years ago, I'd have almost shrugged. I can't create links using the tablet so you'll have to hum those.

Speaking of the Mariners' former chairman, who somehow still seems to perform the role of chairman in every imaginable particular despite not actually being the chairman, Coun Fenty can today be found putting a little pressure on his manager to crack on and finish building his team because the season begins in about five minutes fercryingoutloud. The wage budget, Fenty reminds us all, will accommodate two more strikers and one midfielder, which begs the question of what might happen if Paul Hurst were to decide he wants one more striker and two midfielders instead.

"Everybody wants to see goalscorers at the club," Town's major shareholder has told the Grimsby Telegraph. "We've already got potential for that, but we've also got the capacity for good additions," he adds, which makes absolutely no sense at all to me, but then I am a middle-aged man who has just had three hours' sleep on a half-inflated mattress on a wooden floor after a gig in heat that would melt brass and then partied until 4 o'clock in the morning, so let's give him the benefit of the doubt this time.

With that in mind, what can Grimsby fans expect from the forthcoming friendly against Mansfield Town, other than a hat-trick from Liam Hearn? More of the same, essentially. Unimpressive midfielder Craig Clay and slightly less unimpressive striker Joe Ironside will get a final chance to impress. Paul Hurst would also like the potentially exciting Jon-Paul Pittman to play again, but seems keen to downplay supporters' expectations that Pittman will sign even if Hurst wants him to. "I've said I want to have another look at him, but whether he thinks that I've had that chance now I don't know," says the Town manager. "He might even think 'I'm not so sure about the place' – I just don't know."

And that's about it. Even if I had been thinking 10 quid was reasonable to watch a friendly against Mansfield, I probably wouldn't be any more. See yers!