Cod Almighty | Diary

It all started with a Big(not) bang

7 November 2016

Miss Guest Diary writes: Usually on a Monday I am quite keen to write about my impressions of the previous weekend's game, but today that game already feels like part of a different era. It's all about the future now.

I did enjoy the occasion at Bolton, but in a rather detached way. Even while it was happening, the game had a surreal quality. For instance, what are the odds of being in a crowd of 2,000 and finding yourself randomly sat behind the very same people who you normally sit behind in the Pontoon? Or of asking for your leftover lunch pizza to be boxed up for the first time in your life, then being able to give it to a friend who turns up late and starving because he got off the train in Bolton by mistake?

Or of Dave Moore sending the players onto the pitch in some crazy midfield diamond formation? OK, scratch that last one: six years of sitting on his icebox next to the Short One was obviously going to have some influence on our faithful physio. Fortunately he saw sense, or the players simply saw it for him, and after reverting to a traditional 4-4-2 Town were pretty awesome. The fact that Bolton's keeper was their man of the match is testament to that.

The atmosphere was also odd. Despite there being a huge Town following who kept up continual support, the singing had an almost languid quality. Maybe that was because the opposition fans were dispersed and quite far away, or maybe the sheer size of the stadium had a dampening effect on the noise. It wasn't until I saw a clip on Twitter of the Town fans singing, taken from a distance, that I appreciated how impressive we sounded.

I heard people around me discussing the stadium and environs as something that Town should aim for on a smaller scale. But nothing about the place spoke to me of a home for our football club. Not the bleak location with a biting wind whipping around the car parks, the sheer ugliness of all the concrete, or the lack of atmosphere. One of the worst features was those neon advertising slogans at pitch level. As the afternoon got darker it got harder and harder to actually see what was happening at the other end of the pitch against all those sparking lights. Bah humbug!

Now, on to what I really want to talk about: Town's new manager! Marcus Bignot was unveiled at 10 o'clock this morning to the surprise of no-one. That must be the worst kept secret in our history. He was odds-on favourite before the interviews took place and, I have to say, the favourite in this household even before any names were bandied around in the media.

I have Googled him and looked him up on Wikipedia and can only find positive things about him. This article from last summer gives a heartwarming potted history of his career. He did once sport a rather distressing hairdo, but it can't be that bad as it didn't make it into the Butcher match report of a game from that season. In fact, the only reference in the report was to Bignot being outjumped by Jason Crowe – but then he did used to play for Arsenal, you know.

And then there's Bignot’s farewell to the Solihull Moors fans on Saturday. Not for him a moonlight flit – yes, I am talking about you, Hurst and Doig – but a proper parting from his former club with an acknowledgement of what both club and fans have meant to him. Sheer class.

It's the first time since Paul Groves was appointed in 2001 that I have felt optimistic about a managerial appointment. And look how that turned out, I hear you mutter. But this feels different. It feels like Town are on an upward trajectory and with a new manager who is himself on the up.

The only fly in the ointment is that his first game in charge will be the Rogue Traders Cup game against Sheffield United on Wednesday. I was tempted for a fleeting moment to boycott the boycott in order to welcome Bignot. But then I thought that, as a man of principle himself, he would understand that we are boycotting the competition and not him or the club. He may even surprise us all by playing Town's youngsters and reserves! Roll on Saturday.