Cod Almighty | Diary
Mine's still playing David Essex
13 July 2015
Wicklow Diary writes: Football returned to BP on Saturday with the perfect pre-season outing against Derby County. A fine day to admire the pitch, welcome the new signings and breathe in the familiar surroundings after the break. The bonus was a good performance and victory against superior opposition. Obviously friendlies count for nowt, yet by the same measure if you wish to see the type of unbalanced reaction a defeat for us against Cleethorpes Town would have triggered, head over to a Derby forum this morning.
As in the game against CTFC, youngsters Clifton, Sunter and Venney played a part. If the past is a guide, they should be making these cameos count. No pressure, lads, but you're going to need to score some hat-tricks from defence, injure several first-teamers and then hide the gaffer's phone and available loanee list. Junior Joshes Sunter and Venney were joined on the pitch by elder Josh Gowling, suggesting that Josh is the new Kev and paving the way for at least one dodgy Monday morning Guru Josh Gowling pun. Incidentally, name trend watchers, if you are looking for the new Josh, there are four Calums on my son's under-12 team.
I can't speak German, though I am fond of reading (but not pronouncing) words like schadenfreude and ohrwurm which express concepts missing from English. After Wembley I asked a German friend if they had a word for "bending to pick up a lost £50 note but some blighter creeping up behind you and hook-kicking you squarely in the family jewels before you can grab it". At the moment I'm looking for a word for the unease that you feel when things are going too well. Not trepidation or foreboding – they don't convey the sense of hope that this season is the real thing.
Paul Groves was spotted at the game on Saturday. I doubt whether, unemployed since May, he was there in any capacity other than to see Town play against his hometown team. His presence, though, was a reminder for me to keep my feet on the ground. The most pre-season optimism I can recall having was in 2003-04. Three years of defiant battling the odds had taken a toll. The new season was to be like getting to the surface having been at depth for too long. With Groves continuing in charge and a flash new sponsor to fund new players we could breathe again and look forward to a promotion campaign just like 1998. What could go wrong?
Back to the future, and – consistent with the pattern described by original/regular Diary last week – the silent departure of goalkeeping coach Steve Marsella has been followed by Mariners Player (HD) trumpeting the arrival of Andy Warrington as his replacement. Warrington had cult status as a player at both Donny and Rotherham but his first duties as coach are expected to be to talk to Jamie Mack about his radioactive pink kit, and setting up defensive walls, in that order. Either task will be a relief for Warrington after his Mariners Player grilling. Some of Dale's chats could be doubling up as actual job interviews – what can you bring to the club, when did you get your badges, did you always want to go into coaching?
In case you missed it during the summer, as well as his one-year deal with Town, Gregor Robertson also received a BA in professional sports writing. Gregor has had some interesting pieces published including a series in the Nottingham Post – although the title of the final article could be twisted to apply to several layabouts I've seen play for Town. With Pádraig Amond's signing it would appear that Gregor now has a colleague to compare notes with in the dressing room. Pádraig has a column in his hometown paper, the Carlow Nationalist. Last season's entries extended beyond general punditry to include his own experiences at Morecambe and may be worth checking this season for Town content.
Finally, Hull City fans got some respite on Saturday, and we got an insight – if one was needed – into the workings of the FA. Greg Dyke voted in favour of the defeated name change motion, having been lobbied by the Hull owner Allam at the 2014 FA Cup Final. Good Guy Greg was "won over by his argument that Hull needed to rebrand in order to raise their profile overseas". It shouldn't be a surprise from the man who doesn't understand nepotism but it's still sad to hear the FA chief ignoring thousands of fans to listen to one wealthy voice.
Anyway, Hull fans have been given until this morning to enjoy the outcome of the vote. It would seem that the entire social media troll population is hovering on the send button primed for launch of the Tigers' new fairground-sponsored kit. At least the badge still says Hull City.