Cod Almighty | Diary

Get tight, not that tight, TIGHTER, oh FFS, you've lost him, get after him and hit him hard, no don't foul him!!!

22 January 2019

In a fixture originally bumped for our cup tie at Palace, tonight Town travel to play Forest Green Rovers. Wicklow Diary falls into the glory-hunter bracket, having made the last two away trips but not this one. Two hundred miles on a big coat Tuesday night after four straight defeats without a goal? Count yourself a diehard Mariner if you are reading this en route. 

We'll be looking to break the run without James McKeown, who had his appeal against Saturday's red card rejected by the FA and starts a three-game ban. Grrrr. A tackle that didn't hurt anybody is punished because it might have hurt somebody. On the same pitch, a challenge that rearranged Ludvig Öhman's nose escapes with a yellow card. If a tree falls in the woods and landed on a Premier League referee, would anyone care?

There's a strong case, m'lud, that studs-up tackles should not be automatic red cards. McKeown's is exhibit A. Exhibit B is Andrew Fox's dismissal at Palace. Big match atmosphere, no malice and Andros Townsend's shin pad did what shin pads have been doing for about 150 years. No intent, no damage, but unfortunately no cop-on or scope for referee's judgement in the rule book. VAR reinforced the latter in Fox's case.

We are where we are, as is heard daily at our work when it goes to cack. Ah yes, FGR. Great thing about diehards is they're unlikely to travel all that way to get on their own players' backs. As if it wasn't bad enough at Lincoln to hear Mitch Rose getting stick from the Best Fans in Football, seeing him go over to his family and young son at the end of the game hurt more than any 1-0 defeat could. Some players can slip into a team and hit the ground running. Others need a few games in their position to find his groove. Mitch might be in the second category. He's been in and out of the side and plugged other positions when we were short-handed. Plus there's that voodoo penalty mojo that he possesses. How much does the lad need in the credit column to get some slack?

How are the opposition doing? Flying high but beaten by higher flyers Bury at the weekend. The Shakers came from behind to win 2-1 at the New Lawn to end the hosts' useful six-game unbeaten run. Off the pitch, Rovers have been caught up in the Bolton financial mess as a result of the on/off transfer of Christian Doidge. Amusingly, as a show of solidarity, chairman Dale Vince printed up some T-shirts and invited Wanderers fans down to the Bury game. Less funny was the scrapping between Bury and Bolton fans during the game. When it all kicked off I hope the FGR stewards were ready and not busy choke-holding a pensioner for wearing a non-conforming bobble hat.

So they've got pesky Doidge back. Hopefully Öhman and his hooter are fit to handle a threat that we didn't contain in August at BP. I can't recall such an instant buzz about a centre-half. He was inspirational on Saturday and has the towering leap of a guy who will score loads too. Sam Russell will make his full Town debut in place of McKeown against the club he helped to promotion in 2017. Elsewhere, little Harry may be in contention for a welcome return. You don't come here for team news though, do you? The Telegraph boys have that market wrapped up. You're here for the stuff you may otherwise miss, like this cracking recipe for BBQ noodles on the FGR official site.

That's about it. For further reading and in keeping with good things coming from Scandinavia, Jos Jensen strengthens his case for supporter of the year with this ace piece on the GTFC scouting system and youngster Paul Endre Ullenes' upcoming trial with GTFC. That's some nifty kit photoshopping, too – the lad looks well at home in a Town shirt. UTM.