Cod Almighty | Diary

It's starting to work and it isn't hurting

22 October 2018

Trentside Diary writes: Well, that feels better. Dare I say it? Mr Jolley appears to have steadied the ship. I never doubted it. Those who were calling – no, shouting – for him to be replaced should hang their heads in shame. The players out there on the pitch on Saturday worked their socks off. You can see the confidence grow as time goes on. That's what Jolley was brought in to do and that's what he's doing.

There was some nice football on Saturday. The players were passing the ball around, looking for openings. This is what I want to see my team doing. We were playing second in the league and we matched them for much of the game. They had their spells on top but so did we. The upside of a crowd of 4,000 is that there are fewer fair-weather fans. The game ended with a 0-0 draw but the players were clapped off the pitch. They had worked hard for that point.

And that save! What can you say about that? For all those idiots who every so often have a go at Jimmy Mac, you should watch that save over and over. It just gets better. Jordan Pickford saved a penalty for Everton yesterday. It wasn't a patch on McKeown's. Full stretch, strong hands. That save was a thing of beauty.

So now we move on to Tuesday evening and Colchester, currently fifth and coming from a win away at Morecambe. I wonder why the Football League can't get its act together. You have to feel for the diehard Colchester fans. Nearly 300 miles each way on Saturday and then 200 each way on a Tuesday night. The Football League never thinks of the supporters at the best of times, but surely it can plan weekday matches to give shorter travelling times for the fans who want to go. The only way a Colchester fan is going to be able to make Tuesday night is if they just fall lucky with a shift pattern or they take an afternoon off work.

Football fans make sacrifices. We're always balancing competing demands on our time and money. If we're lucky enough to be in jobs that mean we don't work weekends, then giving up Saturday afternoon means that we only have Sunday left for everything else. The only way to win if you have children is to make sure they become Town fans. At least you get to spend 'quality' time with them, although I do have friends who have threatened to report me to social services for making sure my children followed Town.

Add to that the travelling time for exiles like myself and that's Saturday wiped out. All teams in the lower leagues rely on the income through the turnstiles. There is less generated from advertising and television rights and it would be far better for fans if the planning of midweek matches kept travelling time to a minimum.

It will be interesting to see how many Colchester bring. I'll be there. I want to see Town build on the last three matches and show what the manager is trying to achieve. It's going in the right direction so I say to Mr Jolley, well done and long may it continue.