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Cod Almighty | Diary

Good Friday? Well, it can't be worse than last Saturday

30 March 2018

As the rest of the Cod Almighty team have headed to Meggies to sup pints at the Rutland before watching what must surely be a win for the Mariners, the only staffer left at CA Towers is your Devon Diary. I'd be at the game except I have a gig to play this evening at Home Park, the home of Plymouth Argyle. I'm still undecided as to whether I go and see the game beforehand. 

So what's in the news? 

The sharp-eyed amongst you will have spotted the Telegraph's James Findlater mentioning the long-running saga of Ahkeem Rose's eligibility to work. 


Now, regardless of how you see this – shouldn't the club have checked before siging him, etc – it's really a sorry affair and a young, talented footballer hasn't played for over a year. In what is a short career to lose a year, for whatever reason is terrible for a lad who was probably expecting his career to kick on when Town signed him over a year ago. His contract is up in a month or two so whatever the outcome, it's unlikely now that we'll see him in a Town shirt. Good luck, Ahkeem. 

Yesterday we got sent a screenshot of an ad agency's posting on Linkedin looking for local companies to sponsor the renaming of Blundell Park. A three year deal would seem (to us, anyway) to be saying that the new stadium plan is stalled if not dead in the water. If you haven't already then read the comments and see what you think. 


There are also some cheaky suggestion for a new name for the old ground but the winner, especially for his nod to Marcuses is Stephen Willerton for this:


Sponsorship of football is related to TV exposure and based on that, the chances of Town attracting anything major would seem quite unlikely. Especially as we'll all still call it Blundell Park. Look at lower league examples and you'll see what I mean. Cheltenham renamed Whaddon Road the World of Smiles after a local amusement arcade, for fuck's sake! I don't think I could take it.

The club issued a statement on the Port Vale palaver too. Really, it was all happening yesterday. We've all probably heard enough opinion on that by now so I'll leave it other than to point out that the real loser in all of this would seem to be the Mariners Trust who have had restrictions put on the opening of and access to the bars at the ground. As I understand it, memberships are down as are bar takings because of what has been a frankly lousy season and so lessening the mount of ales they might sell on matchday is potentially quite damaging. The Trust made a loss last year and so another bad season financially might force a decision on whether to retain that seat on the board. More so than the survey results.

 

And so, on to the football. Stevenage are our visitors today and the memories of #bragate add a little spice to what will already be a tense atmosphere at Blundell Park. Without a win for eighteen games we are now desperate. A loss today might see Town drop into the bottom two if Chesterfield sneak a win so cross your fingers and stuff your pockets with lucky charms (but not tampons or flasks) and pray we manage three points. 

The newest gaffer will be hoping that his post-match rocket last week made a difference and his players come out and play as though their careers depend on it. Jolley reckons McAllister did well last week and that when he and Woolford left the field our shape went. Are we expecting them both to start again? I dunno.

Ben Davies is out for the weekend with a gammy leg but Karleigh, Luke and Mitch Rose have all done some training this week. Jackson is still crocked but being repaired and Scotty Vernon has a knock or a niggle, as does Jamille Matt. Hmm, if they're not quite match-ready then goodness knows where the goals are coming from. Can Jamie Mac play up front?

Jolley also mentioned that keeper we borrowed from Sheffield Wednesday. He's back in Town after repairs were carried out by the Owls' backroom staff but not quite fit to play. Small mercies I guess. 

If you're at a loose end then check out the first of our Question Time series. We asked a panel of pundits, fans, journalists and an ex-player if Town can stay up and their answers really are worth a few minutes of your time. We also asked them which player in his prime they'd bring back to rescue our season. You will like the answers to this! 

That's yer lot. I'm off to walk the dog. No that's not a euphemism, I'm in Devon not Tyneside.

Up the Mariners!