Cod Almighty | Diary

Not what you want to read. Not what I wanted to write. So let's get it over with

2 January 2018

The diary Middle-Aged Diary would like to be writing is about Town's sparkling display of attacking football yesterday. But although fantasy has its place, the diary isn't the place for it. And I know people who haven't had this gig probably don't believe it, but positive diaries are far more fun to write than negative ones.

Yesterday's defeat by Crewe was shocking not because everyone had stinkers and no-one tried, but precisely because individually everyone did bits and bobs of good stuff and everyone worked their socks off. It left me short of ideas how we can improve.

Or I could take a rummage through my memories and come up with reflections on the most successful player transformations. That was random, but actually quite a rich field if you reflect that Marc North and Pat Glover were once goalies, Alan Buckley claims to have been told John McDermott's best position was on the left wing, and whatever abuse used to be screamed at Kevin Jobling is long forgotten now. The generation who remember Joe Robson is, alas, fast diminishing (or am I thinking of another centre-forward who converted from centre-half?) but many of us still shiver at the precarious charm of Steve Livingstone in defence.

Now and again it's necessary to take aim at footballing infamy in the diary. Easier when, a few deluded administrators and a handful of Stevenage fans apart, it is an issue on which we are all on the same page.

What you don't want to read, what I really don't want to write, is some navel-gazing about Cod Almighty itself. But there have been some misunderstandings about our role lately. Least said soonest mended, so I won't go into details, but we do need to set a few things straight.

Cod Almighty is a fanzine. It is words and pictures expressing opinions, thoughts, and memories about Grimsby Town. It is also independent. Some people who comment about us occasionally give the impression they think we were handed a borough charter, a generous budget and a monopoly on commenting about the Mariners. No, we did it ourselves and have never sought or desired a monopoly. You will find we have been generous in our links to other Town sites and blogs over the years.

If we have the privilege of writing to a large audience (and to be honest, I'm not sure how large our audience is), it is because over a decade and a half we have devoted time, energy and love to the site and to the club, not because anyone is forcing you to read. Does that mean we owe no-one a thing, we have power without responsibility? Not at all. We have no power but we do accept a responsibility to put forward our ideas as clearly and as effectively as we can (and to help all our contributors to do that), and to provide a fair hearing.

Like the Mariners Trust, we sometimes struggle to find people with the time, the self-confidence, and perhaps just the inclination to write for us. Because maintaining this site does take a lot of work (no complaints – it is a labour of love), and we do value it as a platform which we hope Town fans of a wide range of opinions will also value, both to write for and (because in social media world, there is often too much talking but not enough listening) to read.

So you have read something in Cod Almighty that you don't agree with? Tell us about it. We enjoy feedback. We publish it. Hell, we often have to go out and solicit it. When the trust felt we unfairly criticised Jon Wood on the basis of reported comments about the club's stance on the Checkatrade Trophy, we set up an interview with Jon so he could explain exactly what he meant and convey just how much the club means to him. When we have published material expressing scepticism of the new stadium, we have also invited the trust to redress the balance (although they have never felt the time was quite right to take us up on the offer).

But I reject completely the idea that with this platform we have built and maintained we also have a responsibility, over and above that, to directly involve ourselves in the trust board. We have done plenty for the trust, publicising its initiatives, publishing a book, organising a fundraiser, praising it, and on the occasions we feel we must criticise one of its actions always stressing that the trust is our collective voice and that the way to improve it is for all fans to be as involved in it as they can be, according to their talents and resources.

I could be wrong, but I happen to think Cod Almighty is a useful resource for the whole Mariners community, but only because we are independent. Because you can know, no matter how pompously our writers may express themselves (guilty, m'lud), no matter how misguided you might think we are, it is nevertheless an honest opinion. And because you know you can always write in and put us straight.

Happy new year – up the Mariners.