Cod Almighty | Diary

Idle speculation and fond memories

29 January 2018

Open Diary writes: There is some speculation about what might happen today managerially at Town, and after yet another home defeat where the opposition keeper hasn't had to pick the ball out of the net that's hardly surprising. Personally, I can't see it happening. Now is not a sensible time to do it because it's nearly the end of the month and the closing of the transfer window is imminent. Would we get anybody half-decent when they knew that their options were non-existent until the end of the season? Hardly likely, I'd say.

However, none of the problems and shortcomings that were so evident at the end of last season have been resolved. In spite of the plan that was put to the board at the start of this month, not a great deal seems to have been done and not a great deal has changed.

I'm never quite sure why the transfer window was brought in, but did anybody envisage that it would work out the way it seems to operate in practice? It's really no more than a couple of well-known done deals coming through at the start, then a few weeks of speculation and posturing, then the final hours of frenzy, when deals have to be done and players and agents can't hang out for the ridiculous sums of money that they may have been asking for beforehand.

What's more likely is that there could be a couple more departures, maybe on loan until the end of the season if we can get someone to take players on. Asante and Clements seem unlikely to feature again and that would free up some of the playing budget. Why have we signed Vernam and Wilks if Slade thinks Asante has a future at Blundell Park?

Sam Jones has been rumoured to be a transfer window target for Scunthorpe. Isn't this the way it works these days? We don't play him because we don't want him injured and he's not keen to play because it puts the pressure on to give him a move? Maybe that's all a bit too cynical. But that's what the transfer window has brought about.

If those players go, then maybe we'll be able to do deals for people who so far have been hanging out for megabucks. So, Wednesday evening could be an interesting time on the Twitter feeds.

The highlight of the weekend was all about nostalgia, regrets and what shouldn't have been allowed to happen. I refer, of course, to Pádraig Amond's goal for Newport which very nearly put Spurs out of the FA Cup. Just a typical Podge goal, wasn't it? Back-post header not unlike the ones we remember against Lincoln and Welling and the rest. Eighteen months ago, we wouldn't give him a two-year deal, which feels, shall we say, short-sighted. So much for the notion that he couldn't score against better opposition.

Mind you, there was a time when Podge couldn't displace Ben Tomlinson in the Town side at Braintree! Remember Tomlinson, who ran around like decapitated poultry and couldn't score if he'd played until doomsday? These days he's playing at Halifax and is yet to score for them. Podge gently warmed up that day by jogging across the field at half time but never made it onto the field of play.

Tomorrow we have a trip to Yeovil: a long trek on a Tuesday night. Manchester United managed to put four past them on Friday, so no problem there then. All we need to do is to bring in an Alexis Sanchez and Jesse Lingard lookalike by Tuesday afternoon and we'll be back on track for the play-offs.