Cod Almighty | Diary

If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it

2 October 2019

Miss Guest Diary writes: You may have seen the quote from Elliott Whitehouse which the club put out on social media yesterday that "There's something special about this group of lads" who are "willing to put our bodies on the line every game and fight for each other".

It brought to mind a scene from one of my favourite films, Bull Durham. Kevin Costner is the senior player teaching Tim Robbins, the young baseball star, his clichés. "We've got to plan one day at a time; I'm just happy to be here, hope I can help the ball club; I just want to give it my best shot." I'm pretty sure I've heard all of these come out of a Town player's mouth over the years. At least at the moment they aren't having to take it in turns to explain to the Telegraph why we've not been winning lately.

It also made me think of the game my partner and I used to play years ago of dividing the squad in to 'Town players' and 'people who play for Town'. For example: Paul Groves – Town player, Kingsley Black – plays for Town; Craig Disley – Town player, Danny Collins – plays for Town.

Looking past the obvious choices such as McKeown and the three academy graduates, Harry, Mattie and Max, I am not sure who I would include from the current squad. Is Elliott Whitehouse a Town player? Maybe.

I haven't been to a Town game since Oldham in the middle of September. That's the longest since my last boycott during the second Slade era. Admittedly it's been (mostly) my own fault. A family wedding kept me away from the last game at Blundell Park, but the three away games I have missed were all for logistical reasons: too difficult to get to; too much walking involved; just too damn far to go.

It has made me ponder when I started to get so fussy about away games. I have had my share of Tuesday nights in dodgy B&Bs in places like Wrexham and Bournemouth or weekends away in Weston-super-Mare (Bristol City), Chester (Tranmere) and Stroud (Forest Green). After the crazy Wembley double season we got our first season tickets and for four years we made the 400-mile round trip from Watford every other weekend.

Now when the fixture list comes out we automatically cross off places like Exeter, Plymouth and Carlisle. And, since bra-gate, we have added Stevenage to this list. At least it looks like they might go down this season, though regrettably they could well be replaced by Yeovil. Age certainly plays a part in the recent inertia but maybe it's also a little bit of disillusion with football.

Anyway, hats off to the 250 or so fans who made it to Exeter on Saturday. Your efforts were well rewarded.

I was very pleased to see the announcement from the club last week that they have appointed Kristine Green as joint supporters' liaison officer. She is certainly someone who seems to have boundless energy. I follow her on Twitter and, when she isn't at Town games, she is studying, or leading memory sessions at the club, or supporting her daughter's footballing exploits. She seems very knowledgeable about the rights of fans and keen to engage with all issues which affect us.

During Kris's last spell with the club there was a marked improvement in the away day experience. Maybe if Stevenage avoid the drop we'll put it back on the schedule for next season. UTM.