Cod Almighty | Diary

You cannot control us, so leave

10 December 2019

All is not entirely hopeless. Grimsby Town Women retain their 100 per cent record after beating Appleby Frodingham 2-0 in the Lincolnshire Women's League Cup. The youth team also ended their 2019 fixtures with a win.

Academy manager Neil Woods has always had the knack of being positive without being bland. And women's coach Dale Houlston offers constructive criticism without being negative. Cut out and keep for future reference his guide to tier seven women's football in Lincolnshire. Interim first team manager Anthony Limbrick also offers us a consolation prize: if he can't coax his charges to victory, he can at least demonstrate he watched the same game as the rest of us afterwards.

Having accentuated the positive, I have to say that Middle-Aged Diary is thoroughly fed up. I am sick of a situation where the next time I go to a game, half my friends won't be there. And before anyone trots out the line that they can't be "real fans" then, lets be clear: they do not feel they can attend a game when their gate money might be giving succour to John Fenty and his antics. We are all of us faced with the dilemma: do we stay away in the hope that falling attendances will get across a message to which the board appears deaf; or do we say that this is our club, not Fenty's, and we will not let him drive us out.

We have heard a lot about leadership the last few weeks. A leader to my mind unites people in a common cause, makes them feel that they all have something to offer. Fenty appears to confuse leadership with control freakery. Operation Promotion, that great upswelling of practical love for the club and a group of players? To Fenty, it was just a hindrance.

When Michael Jolley was appointed, it felt significant that he was introduced not by Fenty but by Philip Day. It certainly was significant that his appointment was intended to chime with the Youth Development Association. In letting Jolley go, Fenty decided to squat and piddle all over that as well: having a plan for long-term success was nothing to do with him appearently. Does anyone doubt that Jolley's real crime was to be just a little bit too honest about the realities of his budget?

Having crushed any hopes that he could not own himself - from Operation Promotion to a new stadium as part of a community regeneration - Fenty has asserted his control. He seems to have no idea what to do with the club - has the club said anything at all about it's plans to find a permanent successor to Jolley - but he sure as hell doesn't want to give anyone else the chance of proving they could do better.

Our league position is not yet critical, but the club is sleepwalking through a crisis. If we don't demand now that Fenty step away, we never shall. It may be the best way we can demonstrate our support for the club is to stay away, or it may be we attend with banners and chants. But it is up to us all, in whatever way works for each of us, to demand real leadership for our football club.