Cod Almighty | Diary

We aren't a good team yet, but we could be

27 December 2018

High on the list of expressions which annoy Middle-Aged Diary is "It's the sign of a good team when it can play badly but win." I can't help feeling the real sign of a good team is when it plays like a good team. More positively - but also more realistically for a side which is evolving - being able to hang in for a win buys us time for that evolution to happen, without us having to look too often over our shoulders.

If anyone is going to be robbed, it probably couldn't happen to many better clubs than one managed by Neil 'thug-a-ball' Aspin, with apologies for my loose use of the word "better". No one will argue that it is not the sign of a bad team when it plays badly and loses.

Aspin is currently abusing the Port Vale fans who abused him. In Cod Almighty Towers, we were speculating that Aspin could be the next victim of the Grimsby Reaper, but no one sacks managers straight after Boxing Day. Just ask Lenny Lawrence if you don't believe me.

The down side of our win at Vale Park is a further extension to something that started out as an injury list but is now beginning to look like a dictionary of sporting ailments. Harry Davis was concussed and so will be out for two weeks and Ahkeem Rose seems to have tweaked something.

I've not seen any reports on how Reece Hall-Johnson fared as an emergency centre back. That could be like the dog that didn't bark: a sign he did OK. Or it could mean Town fans are too traumatised to talk about it. Keeping a clean sheet under the circumstances is certainly a mark of good character.

Anyway, the extended highlights are out so go and enjoy West Thomas's goal. If you are off work, you can watch it over and over. And if you are in work, you can probably do the same. A deserted office tells no tales.