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Cod Almighty | Diary

One's too many, ten's not enough

6 April 2016

Wicklow Diary writes: Bloody great win for Town last night, wasn't it? Going 2-0 down always brings the faint hope that we can add to the handful of times in my lifetime that we've managed to overturn such a deficit. Last night may not rank with the Good Friday resurrection against Barnsley in 1982 or the triumph at Stamford Bridge in 1983, but funnily enough it did occur on the same date as the comeback at Accrington in 2010.

Hursty said afterwards that although we all had a right to be upset at half time, games last 90 minutes and we were good when it mattered. The first half seemed like eleven lads out to get a result without hitting top gear. We've seen it in previous seasons when we awake from our title dreams. Killing time before play-offs when the big prize will be at stake. We shouldn't feel bad about it. Even the very best do it. Just look at the faffing about that Germany have been doing for the past two years while they wait to win the European Championship in June. Having fallen into the hole, it was impressive to be able to climb out again, particularly after two defeats.

Of course, we want to fine-tune things so that the play-offs are a lottery where we've bought all the tickets. The defence, for example, will need to show that the eight goals conceded in three games is just a blip. It's not as simple as saying we need stability at the back – injuries to Horwood and patchy moments from Toto; Shaun and Josh have also been a problem. 

So, talk of the play-offs mean we are not winning the title. Sod it. I thought we would. All season I've maintained and nurtured hope that we were going to burst forth like Forrest Gump breaking free from his leg braces. We'd extend that rampant, unplayable first 20 minutes against Bromley in August into a glorious 20-game title-winning party.

Friday knocked the last bit of sense into me regarding this. With hindsight, the play-offs are where we've been since opening day. A core set of players that had Wembley pain as the incentive. Quality additions of Bogle, Amond and Monkhouse. It should have been us winning the first nine and not FGR. We were good but we didn't kill off a poor Kiddy side, and this soft underbelly has been sliced open by drifters from Macclesfield, Altrincham, Torquay and Guiseley.

But I think the manager and the players stopped believing long before me and other crazy dreamer fans. Hursty has been talking about the play-offs and Wembley for longer than I'd like.

In a way you can't blame him. Looking at the season trend, our title challenge flatlined in third spot ages ago. Win, lose or draw, for the past five months it didn't matter. We couldn't change the standings. Apart from a FA Cup weekend, we've been in third since November. As CA tweeted a while back, When you've been on the sofa for ages then get up and the shape of your arse is dinted into it? That's #GTFC and 3rd place in the Conference. Or that Pink Floyd album that spent about 20 years in the charts without getting to number one. That's Town that is.

What is the reason for falling short in the title race – Hursty's tactics? The players' performance? Cheltenham simply better than us? Fenty "speaking frankly" from his nunty front room? After his fine work last week, it may might be worth asking Devon Diary to do some analysis on Town results and their proximity to a Fenty press release or Fishy post.

Why did Hurst sign Straker and Henderson? To fill out the sticker album?

Hurst is the lightning rod for many. It's a tough business and a week is a long time. Against Wrexham he was lauded for a tweak in the formation to overcome their 4-3-3. The following week we were forming the lynch mob for tweaking the back four to counter Cheltenham's threat. Three central midfielders worked, three central defenders didn't. Like Miss Guest Diary, I subscribe to Alan Buckley's credo "play your best eleven players in their best positions and let the opposition worry about you". However, just as the Wrexham and Cheltenham performances were opposites, the facts are somewhat conflicting too.

Omar and his link-ups with Podge made a huge difference when he came on last night. Check out his great run to set up the opening goal on Mariners Player if you get a chance. There were many claims of "I told you so" from fans who think he should play every game. However, he started in the Macclesfield defeat and neither he nor Podge scored.

Then there's the argument that Hursty has a great eye for a player. Just look at the magnificent finds of Amond and Nolan as evidence. Yet why did he sign Straker and Henderson? To fill out the sticker album? Hurst and the Town scouts were obviously pulling their weight when they tried to buy Freddie Ladapo.

Oddly, Freddie, who is 23, seems to be set to play for the Palace under-21s in what seems like a classic piece of big club hoarding. All the best to the lad but the chances are he'll be on loan at Crawley or Welling before he plays in the Premier League. It's another reason for us to hope that Omar progresses with Town and the trust and belief shown by both parties is rewarded.

Last night's goals took us to the amazing total of 101 in all competitions this season (thanks to Harry Ireland on Twitter for that spot). How have we managed that when we've had loan strikers of Tomlinson, Jones and Hoban make 18 league appearances between them without scoring a goal?

Like original/regular Diary, I'm going to try and think less of the whys and hopefully enjoy the result and at the end of this season.

To round up the other news, the reserves match with Chesterfield at Blundell Park should see the latest return to action this afternoon for Jon-Paul Pittman. I'll close with, aside from third place, that other constant at Town. No, not the comfy-looking puffy jacket that Hursty always wears in the post-game interview, but the new new new stadium project.

The SLR consultants yesterday issued a three-page update which contained made-up phrases like "ground truthing" and "ransom strips". The gist is that Dockside, Europarc and Freeman Street aren't big enough for a stadium, three astro pitches and two grass pitches. So this will be taken into account in the ongoing Availability and Viability Study. No mention of the delivery date for this study, but I recall June was the last timeframe mentioned.

Maybe we can just buy Glanford Park after all. According to the Mirror, neighbours Scunny are closer than we thought. I'm not linking to the rag, you'll have to dirty your own browser, but they believe Scunthorpe to be a seaside town like us. Just be on your toes: this could be like that time Hull tried to confuse us by turning the north bank upside down.