Cod Almighty | Diary

Never jam today

26 January 2015

Miss Guest Diary writes: One of my favourite films is Fever Pitch, which you probably know is about the agonies of an Arsenal fan and whether his team can win the first division title in 1989. The main character is a teacher who also coaches his school football team, and towards the end of the film the team lose a local cup final when they miss a penalty. The boy who misses the penalty is also an Arsenal fan and the teacher asks whether he would rather lose that game or Arsenal lose their final game of the season. Of course the boy opts for Arsenal winning and the teacher responds: "You've done your bit, and if that's what it takes [for Arsenal to win the title] it'll be worth it."

Why am I wittering on about this? Because I was reminded of this scene when Town exited the FA Trophy last week. All season the Trophy naysayers have been peddling the line that it's only Town's involvement with this 'tinpot' competition which has prevented promotion in the last couple of seasons. Well, Town have done their bit by losing to Gateshead, so let's hope it will be worth it.

It worked in the film: Arsenal did indeed beat Liverpool and win the title, so Town are now a shoo-in for promotion this season. Right? Unfortunately, there are major differences between the two situations. Arsenal had only to win one game and the film was made nearly 10 years after the actual events. Town have at least 16 more games to play and have half a dozen rivals for the two promotion spots.

True, the team put in a very workmanlike performance to get the three points on Saturday at Nuneaton, but there is still a long way to go. I feel confident that Town can achieve a play-off place, but their inconsistency and the apparent fragility of some of the squad don't bode well for going all the way. Pittman limped off on Saturday with a hamstring tweak, which Hurst admits is "always a concern". Scott Brown was missing because he "felt his knee in training", and Scott Neilson has been ill. There is, as yet, no replacement for the absent Aswad Thomas, with the manager content to play Carl Magnay on his less preferred side, even suggesting that he may bring in another right-back instead.

I simply don't feel convinced that Hurst has the capability to get Town out of this division: his tactics are too negative and his attitude is too diffident. Watching the performances of some of the lower-division teams in the FA Cup at the weekend, it was apparent that passion and spirit go a long way towards making up for differences in skill. Until Town have a manager who can inspire those sorts of performances, I fear we will be stuck in non-League.

On the transfer front, Hurst is keen to keep Ollie Palmer until the end of the season but also keen to add to the squad. One name still being bandied about is that of Christian Jolley, though it's hard to see why Town would want another striker if Palmer stays. Maybe Jolley is being kept on the back burner in case Palmer returns to Mansfield. The other name I have seen mentioned is Gregor Robertson, recently released by Northampton. But wait, that can't be right. He's a left-back and the manager said... oh, whatever.