Cod Almighty | Diary
The fool who follows him, obviously. Duh!
20 September 2017
Town's reserves were in action yesterday, if that's not too strong a word for the Central League Cup. Action, I mean, not yesterday. They lost 2-1 against a Notts County second string featuring Mike Edwards, whose spell at the BP may be dimly recalled by Town fans' medieval contingent; but the most important thing here, folks, is probably that missing midfielder Chris Clements got a full 90. The Mariners' goal came as Diallang Jaiyesimi tucked the ball into an empty net after a rebounded 20-yard shot from Harry Cardwell, who will probably join Max Wright on loan at Scarborough Athletic during the next six months.
Oh, and two of those trialists from last time were playing again. That Olukanmi lad went quite close at one point.
Speaking of Max Wright – as your original/regular Diary is often on the verge of doing before I get distracted by chips and trams and the Shipping Forecast – Town's latest misspent youth scored an absolute beauty last night as Scarborough trounced Mossley 4-1. If you're a Boston United fan you might as well watch it now and save yourself the trouble when you sign him next summer.
Twenty-eight supporters of Town and Sheffield United will be sentenced in a couple of weeks after court proceedings followed their part in the violence surrounding the teams' pre-season fixture back in 2016. There are several objectionable things about the Grimsby Telegraph's account of this, most of which relate to its use of the phrase "so-called fans".
First, this is slack journalism. It's not just a rotten cliché – it's a misplaced rotten cliché. A regular news item of this kind has no place for this sort of moralising. If you want to run an editorial or an opinion piece about football violence and denounce the perpetrators there, fine. If you're writing for some half-arsed fanzine with no pretence to objectivity, also fine. But if you're a serious journalist you don't form moral judgements in a regular news item.
Second, and perhaps more significantly, it's bollocks. They're not "so-called fans". They're fans. They might be horrible, but they are no less fans than you or me. After any outbreak of football violence, both the media and many supporters can be seen playing this game. They're not real supporters. I'm sorry, but they are. We all wish they'd grow up and pack it in, because they're a pain in the arse. But in terms of who they are that's neither here nor there. They are football fans. They support the same team as us. And they like fighting. What exactly is it that you're trying to achieve by pretending otherwise?
Third, if you're going to use this ridiculous phrase, at least do it properly. The Telegraph's use of the phrase "so-called fans" occurs after it has already referred to them four times as simply "fans". So yes: so called by you. Finally, there's a picture of a bloke lobbing Vimto at a copper and the picture is captioned "Featured in the new book, the infamous Vimto man" and there's nothing anywhere else on the page about a book, new or otherwise. I know you don't have sub-editors any more but come on, for fuck's sake.
Meanwhile, I'm really surprised the Telegraph hasn't rushed to investigate an "alleged astonishing four-letter outburst" to fans by the club's major shareholder after last week's game at Accrington, because they're normally so quick to uphold their journalistic duties and hold him to account, said no-one ever.
Let's talk about cuddly toys instead. Ben Davies' little boy has found his lost teddy and Marcus Bignot is the new manager of Chester. Awww, cute!
What do you think of this bold type thing to tell you quickly what each paragraph is about while you're skim-reading? Let us know. We might keep it or we might not. I suppose it'll work better for some kinds of diary than others. Anyway.
Last up today, if you have any old Town shirts and you'd like use them for noble purposes, now's your chance. The Mariners Trust is hosting an auction night on 17 November which will feature the auctioning and raffling of various GTFC memorabilia. If you can chuck a shirt in, you'll be helping to raise money towards youth projects. Things like encouraging more young people to go to GTFC games, funding specific youth team projects, and buying mascot places as competition prizes. Please contact the trust if you can help. Cheers!