Cod Almighty | Diary
Because you think that poor is cool
9 December 2015
Wicklow Diary writes: The TV games have been announced for next week's FA Cup replays and Town's trip to Shrewsbury has not made the cut. Whitehawk v Daggers has been chosen and, to no great surprise given the telly-land infatuation with them, Salford have been selected for the third successive time. Hartlepool have been told that their attendance is optional, so just leave the keys under the mat if they're popping out. I probably wouldn't mind but it's another £36k for the plucky Salford millionaires and not us.
While the rest of us have had our fill of the story, the people who tell us they know football best feel otherwise. With their recent BBC documentary and despite their neighbours telling both the FA and BT Sport to FCUM off, it is now hip and trendy to be a non-League supporter.
It's going to take more than a salt and pepper beard and well-pressed Manchester United club blazer to get me to trust at least one of the Class of 92™ in anything he does. Regardless, the group do seem to have good motives for their involvement. As for the media, I get the sense that they want to live, in the immortal words of Jarvis Cocker(ill), like common people. Let's pretend we've got no money. Oh look, they've got a clubhouse and terraces. The number 3 is also a plumber – what's that? And mud, how 1970s!
Maybe I'm being a bit cynical but I wish the media would move on and leave them to it. Alternatively the lads could be like other ex-pros grooming the next Red Rum and letting us get on with enduring life in the cellar.
Or, as Rich Lord points out, should that be enjoying not enduring? Rich is bound to ruffle a few feathers by putting 'happy Town fan' and 'non-League' in the same article but the numbers back him up. Town fans are quick to vote with their feet, and home and away attendance figures are as strong as ever. The travelling Mariners are certainly enjoying themselves – at the core being a generation of fans who realise that Saturday afternoon football isn't just watching a man in a suit on TV watch other men in suits watch TVs.
Rich's article was sparked by a return to BP of a mis-kicking, Pontoon stanchion-pinging reminder of our darkest hour, or more accurately, our darkest six months. Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro's introduction brought some boos from the crowd on Monday. I boo the number 2010 whenever I encounter it so I can understand the red carpet not coming out for Jean-Louis, one-hundred-and-ten-percenter or not. But let's take the positive – you cannot imagine the current side going winless for very long. The game was a good benchmark to counter critics who say Hurst has had five years without getting us any closer to the League.
Town were a constant threat against Shrewsbury and aside from a blip by the otherwise excellent Richard Tait and a couple of hairy corners, a defensive-looking third division opponent didn't get a look-in. I'm looking forward to the fun our attack could have when the Shrews are more adventurous at home next Tuesday.
Goalie Jayson Leutwiler is unlikely to feature next week. Concussion, broken nose and stitches in your lip don't sound like good news but the replays suggest the outcome could have been even worse. We wish him all the best in his recovery.
Two striking aerial images caught my eye over the past few days. The flood waters that inundated Brunton Park have brought Carlisle United and community together as their players helped out with the clean up efforts. The other image came from the BT Sport drone camera hovering over the Humber on Monday. I can't recall seeing aerial footage of a floodlit BP from that angle before and it was beautiful.
Modern stadiums are impressive but they are so perfect in their design that some could be considered a tad bland. That could not be said of the scale of the Findus Stand alongside the smaller yet neat surrounding stands or the symmetry of the floodlights towering over the occasion.
It occurred to me for the first time that the replacement for the Barrett stand has never has never had a 'real' name since it was introduced as the Findus in 1982. And there I was grousing that naming rights were a curse of the modern game. Was it the first to be named like this, and did we start the trend in the UK? It was always common for stands to be named for individuals but I don't recall such obvious corporate branding elsewhere. I definitely don't remember much of a fuss – if anything it was the opposite.
Not only did we have a cool vertical Findus logo on our shirts but we had a matching stand. Maybe it would have felt different if a company from outside the town had swooped in to boost its brand and associate itself with the club's success. Even though Findus was not a local company as such, it was a major employer in the area.
Anyway, if you liked the aerial views as much as I did, there is a YouTube video posted earlier this year of a daylight flight over BP (also see below). The only negative is it highlights that the floodlights need a lick of paint to restore their 1990 black and white with red trim glory and that the corner terraces are missed.
No team news yet for today's reserve fixture at BP against Notts County. However, combined with the Solihull Moors Trophy game, it should mean everyone in the squad gets a run-out this week. Hursty has his approach set for the weekend and has re-stated the obvious intention of fielding a team to win. One thing is certain: only the brave or stupid will ask him about having a keeper on the bench after JT asked once too often on Monday.