Cod Almighty | Diary

So much, or too much?

5 August 2019

So much excitement. It's only August but so good for Elliot Whitehouse and Max Wright to get their first goals for Town. Yes, poor defending from Morecambe, but what's being a decent goal scorer really about other than taking your chances? The frustration of a season recovering slowly from injury washed away in the first match and a youngster earning his spurs. Excellent start to the season. Can't ask for more than that.

And we are above Scunthorpe for the first time since the end of 2003-04 season when we were relegated to meet them in the fourth division. In 2004-05 they were ahead of us from day one and we never got back on level terms. Until now. We've started well, let’s keep it that way.

There were four academy players in the team on Saturday, one area that our club is getting right. There were some "fans" of newly promoted Salford grumbling that their team could only name six substitutes as they had to leave one place for the academy player when they don’t have an academy. Poor loves. It must be hard, getting yourself into the Football League due to the hard work of volunteers, Maureen or Mavis in the office, and a few multi-millionaires plus a billionaire backer.

In probably the least surprising news of the weekend, Fenty gave an interview before the game and managed to reinforce Trentside Diary's jaundiced view of him, as an individual and as our non-chairman.

In reference to our most loyal and consistent player: "James has been hauling us over the coals a little bit in terms of wanting to improve his contract and we've done that." Really? Are you trying to elicit sympathy? If my boss spoke about me publicly like that I would be totally pissed-off. What would have been wrong with, "We're really pleased to have been able to negotiate an extension to James's contract. We're really pleased that he wants to stay with us."

We covered the abysmal Dale comments last week. Fenty knows some of us aren't happy, but what we didn't realise is that Dale's been doing "a great job". It's like we've slipped into the parallel universe of Fentydom where we listen to him and all is well with the world. Apparently he should keep his job despite "this one gaffe, as large as some want to portray it."

Kelly Billings’ detective work last week however dug out the previously ignored fact that Town were charged and fined due to not ensuring fan safety. Are we meant to ignore this? This is down to Dale's poor management so that's twice that we know of. Costing the club a £15,000 fine for the first and disenchanting fans or "paying customers" as Fenty probably likes to think of them for the second. Great job. Three strikes and you're out Dales? I hope so.

I was genuinely hoping Fenty would be gone by Saturday but coming over all Doris Day and Que sera, sera, he came up with the profound “Nothing's going to happen until it happens” and resurrected the “tyre kickers” referred to previously. Not sure Doris ever mentioned tyre-kickers but who knows? Move over Fenty and take your incompetent stadium manager with you. UTM!