Cod Almighty | Diary

Maa-ri-ners

19 January 2018

Let's allow ourselves the luxury of looking back, just for a few minutes.

It is May 2016. In the continuing glow of the play-off victory, the board starts a conversation with Paul Hurst. On the board's part, the conversation starts with a degree of humility: "You have shown you have what it takes to get this club back into the Football League. What do you need to make a success of our return?"

There's a big assumption here, but Hurst says "This squad have earned the right to have a crack at League football. So let's start by offering Amond the contract we started talking to him about in January, then let's see what we need to do to keep Arnold, Nolan and Nsiala here as well." Those negotations might not all have succeeded, of course. But what we do now know, with hindsight, is that all those players have proved they are effective in the Football League, two of them indeed in the third flight.

Hurst goes on. "Then we need to strengthen our backroom staff, to make our players as good as they possibly can be." The board reply. They say "We've never heard of a strength and condititioning coach winning three points on a Saturday, but you know better than us. We'll see what we can do to make it happen."

Then the board starts talking to the Mariners Trust. Again there is that note of humility. Regardless of its financial impact, there is due recognition of the success of Operation Promotion in fostering a sense of togetherness, a sense that all fans have a stake in making the club a success both on and off the pitch. "How can we build on that?" the board asks. "Well, if you are asking us to do another Operation Promotion, forget it. We're only volunteers and we are knackered. But let's launch a joint campaign to maximise season ticket sales. We could theme it around that idea of giving the heroes of 2016 the support they deserve: from the stands, in the dressing room, on the training pitches, and in the gym. That could go down really well."

"Oh and another thing. If anyone mentions B teams to you, run a mile."

Would an approach of building on what we had in 2016 have succeeded? Middle-Aged Diary doesn't know. But I am happy to suggest that had it foundered, there'd be a lot more patience, a lot more forgiveness, on display for performances that fall short of our expectations.

We can't turn the clock back. Paul Hurst, the team of 2016...  They are gone, leaving great memories. But as we think about where we are, here and now, we can think about the lessons to be learnt, how we might avoid making the same mistakes again. One thing seems clear: having a successful football club is about teamwork. No one person - not a major shareholder, not a football manager, not even a Cod Almighty diarist - has a monopoly on truth. We must learn to respect each other's knowledge and expertise. We are where we are, but we don't want to carry on along the path we are treading.

Tomorrow, we travel to Colchester United, above us in the table but also going through a bad run of two draws and two defeats. We can't expect to win, but we can expect to try our damnedest and for everyone to get behind those efforts. If they don't succeed, there'll be time for reflections later, a learning of lessons in which we all need a degree of humility, in which we all have a part to play.

Up the Mariners.