Cod Almighty | Diary
Since I was young
11 November 2015
Wicklow Diary writes: Town's softly, softly catchee monkey pursuit of the Conference title resumed last night. A win at Barrow maintained our solid if unspectacular away form and keeps us peering out of the long grass as Cheltenham strut around with the bullseye on their back.
"We have the best fans" tends to be the meaningless boast of many if not all clubs. However, the Town fans who overcame the geographic challenges so brilliantly described by Middle-Aged Diary yesterday certainly qualify as pretty good for my money. One hundred and fifteen at Barrow on a Tuesday night with a ghastly forecast of a force nine gale and heavy rain? Magnificent. A thoughtful bunch they are too. The efforts of tweeters @richardhallam and @exiledmariner allowed us part-timers to see goals two and three on YouTube and Periscope respectively. We'll have to wait for Podge's opener, which is drawing comparisons to Gazza's finest moment; my F5 key is taking a hammering as I wait for Mariners Player to update.
There was no JT last night but the commentary of the Radio Cumbria host and his wingman was excellent – knowledgeable, unbiased and not a fishing pun in sight. It was refreshing to hear a calm, considered view of Town coping with the tricky conditions, getting the ball down and showing the necessary urgency in the second half to win the game. You're welcome at BP any time, lads – hopefully to cover Carlisle in the league next season.
Podge Podge Podge. I don't want to talk about him every week but come on. That's 14 (+4) apps, 16 goals. (We won't mention his goals in pre-season – it's just not fair to others.) The numbers are impressive enough, but there is also beauty beyond them. Every finish seems so calm and measured. Left, right, head, it doesn't matter. There's not a bobbling scuff or lucky deflection among his SIXTEEN goals. Just to twist your melon a bit more, he could be on twenty already with penalty duty. In fact sod it, I'm glad he's not on penalties. It keeps the numbers pure for an anorak like myself. Sorry Lenny, but most Town fans want Podge under their tree this Christmas.
We don't know where this onslaught will end but we can certainly identify the start of his current run of ten goals in five and a half games – it came after genius/idiot Hurst/Hursts benched him in favour of useful/useless Tomlinson. I'm going with genius Hurst when it comes to Podge. As exhibit A, I refer you to the manager of Morecambe who played Podge in a wide position last season and benched him when it didn't work out. For further evidence, Podge is scoring at a higher clip than ever before in his career. Enjoy it – different levels and all that, but you have to skip by Hearn, Connell, Reddy, Mendonca, Lund, Wilkinson, Drinkell and go all the way back to Matt Tees to find a Town striker scoring at this rate.
I find it hard to imagine PH ever having a spring in his step but he must be close this morning. His side has recovered well from the Cheltenham setback with two good wins. The 'if you don't ask, you don't get' approach to loans from the higher divisions obviously worked again with the acquisition of Alex Jones. The new boy's pace left our Radio Cumbria friends gasping, and he set up the third goal to make the final ten minutes of listening an enjoyable frolic rather than a stressful fret round the kitchen. How high will PH go? Can we expect his boldness to extend to asking Chelsea add to their 33 players on loan? Might be a culture shock for the loanee but at least they can brag about the fish and chips on WhatsApp.
The signing of Jones came as a surprise in some respects. Obviously injuries to Omar and JP warranted action, but the arrival of a lower-league lump was more the expectation. Plan B – knock it long to the big man. In reality, isn't this what defenders love? It's playing to the typical lower-league defender's strengths. Maybe they can't trap a bag of cement but they'd have a good go at heading clear if it were thrown into their area. It's refreshing to see that PH may be thinking along these lines too when you combine the signing with his stated reluctance to put Monkhouse up front.
No word yet on the televised FA Cup second-round games. Plans have already taken a turn with the 5 December trip to Bromley with my boys now off the agenda. I would hope Town's tie may appeal to the telly people and their screening would be a welcome compensation in my house.
This makes me a little bit of a hypocrite. I have huge admiration for the stand that FC United took at their televised game on Monday night – the first-half boycott, the flag-covered cameras and even the chants directed to the FA and BT Sport. Some might say they went too far – I don't. We need more of this (in all parts of life, but for your sake I'll stick to the football for now). The FA had shown its hand once again. When one of its members wanted to abide by their club principles and ethos, the FA took its nose out of the money trough just enough to tell them to sod off. It's the same type of misguided loyalty that had a totally unnecessary ticket agency take a big bite out of our Wembley payday.
There's a fine line between a dedicated, unaffected fan and a smug-faced arse. Trying to write this diary every week reminds me just how fine. However, in my mind your local team, whatever their fortunes or bank balance, should be about the connection with their community. I don't come from a large family and sadly have few relatives left in GY. As an exile I have no doubt that a large part of the connection and love for my hometown is due to GTFC. The FA shouldn't let TV companies or whoever threaten this link. To get caught up taking the appeal to all corners of the globe so they can flog more ads to car and beer companies. Diluting the connection between club and community, not strengthening it.
When I see a Town shirt outside of GY, I'm not embarrassed to admit my heart leaps just a little bit. This could be in a town as nearby as Brigg. OKk, somewhere this local would probably only inspire a greeting of "Up the Mariners" or an exchange of nods. However, you greet the same shirt in New York and within minutes you might be in a pub talking about how you both cried after Kevin Donovan's volley against Burnley and grumbling about how they ruined the town by flattening the Bull Ring (this has happened, by the way). Can it be the same for a Manchester United fan when they see their shirt anywhere and everywhere? The FC United fans have been burnt once and are naturally averse to being drawn into the whole circus again.
The We Are Town book launch is just a couple of days away and the culmination of a fantastic effort from Pete and Pat. Some great snippets have been shared so far. Judging by the teasers I've seen I think Pat put it best: "It's the book I wish had existed when I was growing up." It's just the type of amazing project that makes supporting Town special and I can't wait to get my hands on it. I only hope I can drag myself away from reading it at Friday's launch to meet some of the legends who actually feature in the pages.