Cod Almighty | Diary

What next?

27 December 2019

Well, it may have taken just over six-and-a-half games, or 699 minutes (plus cumulative injury time) to be more precise, but yesterday, at Macclesfield Town, the Mariners finally ended their embarrassing goal drought.

When Charles Vernam burst into the box and slid the ball into the far corner of the net like he'd been doing it all season, it was the first time any Town player had forced the ball over the opposition's goal line in a league game since Ahkeem Rose smacked in a late consolation at Stevenage on Saturday 12 October.

While the goal rescued a point, the Mariners are still winless in 10. Each time Town create a new record — whether that's winless runs or games without scoring — and the board appear static or reticent to change, it creates a sense of tolerance; that this awful brand of entertainment is somehow acceptable.

It means that if any future manager goes six games without his Town team scoring, well, he won't get sacked because the standard is set. The bar continues to get lower, and it'll be that way until one man gets all his money.

These are odd times at Grimsby Town. There is no doubt in your West Yorkshire Diary's mind that Anthony Limbrick and the players are working hard. The football has improved since Michael Jolley left, but still, three points from a possible 21 is relegation form — even in a league where only one team goes down.

It's clear that Limbrick would have been in charge for the visit of Crawley this Saturday whether we scored yesterday or not. We have at least avoided the further embarrassment of going seven games without scoring, however you can't help but feel that another embarrassment is just around the corner, because they keep coming.

That's why a victory over Scunthorpe wouldn't have changed the bigger picture. That's why Vernam's goal hasn't changed the fact that we're still a club in total choas. An incompetent non-chairman pulling the strings; a temporary manager not knowing whether he's coming or going; a squad bereft of any natural width; a takeover on hold; a new stadium that will likely never be delivered. Years of under-performance, neglect, bad decisions, useless communication, monumental gaffes and months without wins or even goals.

And each time we accept new levels of incompetence, our barometers are reset. Before you know it, you're mildly happy that you drew at Macclesfield and have scored one goal in seven, in the fourth division.

We demand better and we deserve better. The trouble is, we won't get any better while things remain the same. Our problems remain, and on Sunday we face a side that scored more goals in their Boxing Day win over Northampton than we've mustered since the end of September.

Remember — we have only scored one league goal at home since Saturday 24 August. Jolley was not sacked; we agreed to terminate his contract at his request. Limbrick remains in post. It doesn't matter who we play next, who we sign next or who we appoint as our next manager. The same things will continue to happen.

What you need to decide now is whether you approve of this direction by continuing to fund the club with your hard-earned money, or whether you demand real change and hold the most senior people at the club to account by refusing to give them any more of your money to piss up the wall.