Cod Almighty | Diary

On the cusp of some great foundations

30 November 2018

It’s long been your West Yorkshire Diary’s opinion that the Mariners have been playing worse football as a League club than when we were a non-League club. Sunday’s visit to Chesterfield, then, will provide a useful barometer as to whether we’ve progressed since our days in the abyss.

That’s not to be unkind to Michael Jolley, of course, as my sweeping opening statement ignores last season’s surge to safety and the recent turn-around in form that has seen us climb away from the bottom two (and knock The Franchise out of the FA Cup for good measure). But once Paul Hurst departed for Shrewsbury, we fell back into old habits, lurched from one disaster to the next and made the sort of decisions that landed us in the do-do in the first place – all the while serving up the kind of ragged performances that any side in the top half of the Conference would’ve seen off with relative ease.

Chesterfield, you’ll have probably seen, are not in the top half of the Conference. You could probably say, with a certain degree of comfort, that they are lurching from one disaster to the next, epitomised by the appointment of an increasingly erratic Martin Allen as manager. I’m not ignoring Allen’s achievements in football, as we know from our own expense that he can lead a side to the Conference title, but it was clear from his actions towards the end of last season that he wasn’t the sort of person you’d mould your hopes and dreams around. He’s a sort of papier-mâché man whose balloon interior has popped; part human, part figment of football’s collective imagination.

In my humble opinion, one of Grimsby Town’s most under-rated goals was scored against Chesterfield, at Saltergate, in an FA Cup second round game (as it happens) back in 1997. After throwing away a two-goal lead in the original fixture at Blundell Park, the Mariners went to the edge of Derbyshire for the replay on a cold Tuesday night and came away with a 2-0 win. The second goal, scored late on, was a peach.

Kevin Donovan charged down a cross on the edge of his own box, then broke away down the left before swinging in a cross to the far post. Tommy Widdrington, I think it was, cushioned a header back for Paul Groves, who timed his arrival into the box with typical perfection. The captain adjusted his body expertly to arrow a ball – which was both on the rise and slightly behind him – straight into the far corner of the net.

Ah, just watch it for yourself.

And having watched the highlights of Tuesday night’s 5-2 win over Tranmere, I totally failed to appreciate the craft and beauty of Harry Clifton’s first senior goal for the club. Soccer AM described it as a ‘sensational team goal’ on their Facebook page and, despite not liking the show or Facebook in general, I’d have to say I agree. It kind of gets better the more you watch it.

And I think that’s what’s exciting us about this Michael Jolley team. As a collective, the fans have been able to see what he’s trying to do here. While results and goals have been lacking, the team has, in the most part, been trying to play football and do things the right way. The emergence of Clifton has been a real highlight and the loan signings of Hendrie and Embleton have improved the team. There’s a lot to like – and I think what we’re seeing now is what we all thought was on the horizon, and it’s this vision that probably protected Jolley during that six-gaming losing run.

There’s being 18th in the fourth division and looking clueless, and there’s being 18th in the fourth division with a young group of players who look well-coached and can score a team goal like Clifton’s on Tuesday night. More positive results will follow, I’m sure, because these players look like problem-solvers. If they can be empowered to find a way of overcoming difficulties in the midst of a match – with a subtle tactical tweak from the sidelines – then we’ll become a very difficult team to beat.

I don’t know about you, but this is what I was craving the whole time Russell Slade was here. He didn’t appear to want to give our players – young or old – any footballing foundations. So in moments when we were up against it, what knowledge or belief did they have to draw from? What philosophies had they been given? What had they been coached to do? Boot it long to the immobile and isolated chap up top. Play for percentages. Get dropped because I’ve got my 13th loan signing lined up.

In terms of the match on Sunday, there’s not a lot to report. Hall-Johnson and Famewo are out until Christmas. Collins is available after suspension. There’s clearly a strong argument to stick with the side that won so well in the week but, given how we’d expect the Spireites to play, it’ll be interesting to see if Jolley swaps things about a little to deal with their direct play.

As usual, there will be a brilliant Town following at whatever their stadium’s called. The last time I saw a ticket sales figure, it mentioned 1,800. We do have some tremendous fans. How many fourth division clubs take the sort of numbers we do to away games? I hope they’re rewarded with a good display and a positive result.

UTM!