Cod Almighty | Diary
The one where there was still no rugby
8 October 2015
A couple of months ago I was delighted to hear that CA editors Pat Bell and Pete Green were curating a new collection of Town-related writings. I had just read the quite wonderful My Favourite Game collection, which was published by the club in December 2014, and Buckley's biography – so it's great to have another Grimsby-related volume to sit alongside Dave Wherry's We Only Sing When We're Fishing, and Laws of the Jungle.
The book, We are Town: Writing by Grimsby Fans 1970–2002, will be published through the Mariners Trust in November and is set to include articles previously published on The Fishy (it's not just a forum you know), in the national press, on Cod Almighty (natch) and also the Town fanzine Sing When We're Fishing. I used to buy copies of SWWF from the newsagent by Grimsby station, a newsagent which is now sadly extinct, as is the 'zine. Newsagents and other shops come and go but quality writing such as that in SWWF needs preserving for future generations (as noted by Harry Pearson in the September edition of When Saturday Comes).
As well as the pieces we might have seen before, Pat and Pete promise some new articles commissioned especially for the book. Check out the Facebook page and Twitter feed for a few hints of what exactly you might see in the book, or see what Pete has to say in his interview in today's Telegraph.
Of all of the pieces included in the book, the one likely to inspire the most discussion or even outright arguments will be the results of the poll to choose the definitive Great Grimsby XI, plus our greatest manager. I wouldn't like to say who will be named in any position but I will go out on a limb and say that neither Richard Brodie nor Barry Conlon made the cut. I haven't seen the list, but call it second sight or what you will, I just don't think they're that popular with the faithful.
You can pre-order the book from today via the Trust website or book yourself a place at the star-studded launch night at McMenemy's. I'll be ordering two copies – one for me and one for my Uncle Pete – but I can't make it to the do. If you can, then make sure you get yourselves along and have a great time.
It's funny, maybe even evidence of cosmic alignment that while we're talking about this perfect but admittedly impossible XI, the focus back at Blundell Park is on the gaffer's team selection. We've all been a little critical over the last couple of months after some seemingly odd choices. But we're in contention, we're playing well, and if the squad are even half as inspired as I am after seeing his interview after the Gateshead game then we really don't have much to worry about.
While we're on the subject of inspiring moments in modern football (and I seem to find more in the lower leagues than I do in the Premier League or any other corporate sponsor-fest), did you see this? Saturday's opponents Braintree's players made the effort to shake the hands of every one of their 30 travelling fans who made the trip to see their side get a 1-1 draw with Cheltenham Town on Tuesday night. Class.
A side that really does need some inspiration is Torquay United. While many of you lot were lucky enough to be at Blundell Park, I was at Plainmoor for the visit of Dover Athletic on Tuesday night. Over a couple of pints (on a school night!), a few of the put-upon Gulls fans were telling me how envious they were of Town; of our fanbase, the Mariners Trust, Operation Promotion and a great squad too. I'd have loved to have been able to show them that Hurst interview, too – while Torquay enter their second week of former player Kevin Nicholson's reign with no spark and no points, we have a manager taking elements of the crowd to task for jeering players' mistakes (as noted by Wicklow Diary yesterday). Good man, Paul Hurst, good man. It's a wonderful thing to see a manager support his players like that and I salute you, sir.
Also at the Torquay game, it was nice to see Aswad Thomas looking pretty sharp and linking up well with Stefan Payne on the left. I like to see players do well after they leave Grimsby, although I draw the line at scoring against us, even in the case of Ross Hannah. Players at this level don't deserve stick for leaving the club; it's a job and they have families to support and, with few exceptions, players work hard for their teams. There can't be any accusations of a lack of loyalty when clubs are unable to offer worthwhile contracts.
Anyway, seeing Thomas obviously back to his best and enjoying his football got me thinking about a few of the other players from the class of '14-15 who chose to move on in the summer – Carl Magnay, Ollie Palmer and The Shop – three players who haven't really achieved the kind of form they showed for the Mariners.
Ollie Palmer was only with us for a short while, joining on loan in the January transfer window but in 15 appearances he knocked in 8 crucial goals for us. As well as scoring, Palmer seemed to be a big part of the team spirit which swept us along in the run-in the end of the season and the play-offs, a team spirit which inspired the fans and got the whole town believing again. Palmer would often take to social media to rally the troops after a poor result and I was sad to see him leave in the summer as he returned to Mansfield, eventually moving on and signing for Leyton Orient. He's playing regularly but a return of just one goal despite playing regularly will be disappointing for him after his displays last season – although Orient are doing well despite that, sitting third as I write this.
Carl Magnay was popular with the fans, winning pretty much everything at last year's player of the season awards, and a player we obviously would like to have retained for this season. But he got an offer to step up a division and, more importantly for him, play closer to home at Hartlepool. How's it going this year? Magnay seems popular with fans and is a regular in the team – but they're hardly tearing up the league right now. Less so since Magnay picked up a six-month ban for misconduct following a sending-off.
Of all the players to make an impact last year, John-Lewis divided fans like no other. A wasteful striker or a folk hero depending on your point of view, there seemed to be no middle ground. OK, despite scoring 20 goals during the season, the Shop missed a few too – but he worked hard for the team, holding the ball up and bringing others into the attack. Of all the players to leave us, it's been really disappointing to see him struggle at Newport with only one goal to his name so far. I don't think a player suddenly becomes poor over the summer break (John Terry being the exception, of course) and what I think has happened in John-Lewis' case – and to some extent Magnay's and Palmer's – is more to do with the management and coaching at their new clubs.
When the players are scouted – presuming, of course, that they are scouted and not offered contracts solely on the basis of the season's stats – surely the potential new club takes note of the system the player is working within; of what works for that player? John-Lewis was successful last year because he fitted with the system and our team played to his strengths. Palmer, too, looked comfortable with the system. At Newport, the Shop's poor start – and indeed the club's poor start, which finds them bottom of the league – has to be down to Terry Butcher's lack of savvy.
Newport's board obviously thought so and sacked Butcher last week, replacing him with former Plymouth manager John Sheridan, a man used to working with limited resources and achieving decent results. In his first game in charge Newport got a creditable draw with Exeter City, their goal scored by… Lenell John-Lewis. Maybe it's too early to say it's down to Sheridan, but he is a manager who will know how to play Lenny and get goals from him.
What's the point of all this? Players don't naturally perform at their best when thrown together in any system, and a good manager brings in players who match his system and will fit with the players already at a club. I think Hurst is a good manager, I think he knows how to get a team working, and I think he's slowly winning fans over again through his forthright interviews and results which have seen us inching towards the top places. I'm still going to spit when I see the line-up before a game, I know I am. I don't think the gaffer will play a steady line-up because we want him to; he'll do that when he wants to.
On paper our next few games look much easier than the last few – Braintree, Halifax and Torquay should see a decent haul of points as well as perking up our goal difference before we play Cheltenham, who are surely punching way above their weight. Top three by the end of the month, with at least one of those teams getting a complete pasting. No jinx.
Oh yeah, rugby. I really was planning to write about the Rugby World Cup but I kept putting it off – and now, after sketching out some great reasons about why rugby is a sport to which football should look for a way forward in terms of respect and conduct, I have given up. Our national team has shown that there isn't really that much difference between the sports, as they matched both our football and cricket teams by not even making it to the knockout stages. At least now I can just enjoy the games instead of shouting at Stuart Lancaster's insistence on picking Sam Burgess at centre.
Up the Mariners, comrades!