Cod Almighty | Diary

Deannnoooooo

22 January 2020

Miss Guest Diary writes: Why is it that some players, no matter how few appearances they make, will always seem to belong to us, while others who are at Blundell Park for much longer will vanish from our thoughts almost as soon as they depart?

Last night was a perfect illustration of that phenomenon. I proudly watched Dean Henderson on TV making some terrific saves for Sheffield United in their game against Man City. He only made seven appearances for Town in our first season back in the League, but I know that I (and probably many other fans) will be claiming him as a former Town player for his entire career.

In contrast, I saw news that Liam Gibson had made the bench for Newcastle's game against Everton. I felt nothing more than vague interest despite the fact that he played 22 games for us this season and has literally only just left the building. While I wish the lad well and hope he goes on to have a great career, I suspect he will be just one more ex-Town player who my other half will spot playing for Gateshead or Hartlepool in seasons to come.

I can recall a couple of other brief Town careers which have cemented players in the Town memory. There was Chima Okorie in the early '90s who achieved something like cult status though he made only five substitute appearances before breaking his leg. And, of course, Martin Pringle, who also suffered a broken leg in only his second game on loan from Charlton. Though I suspect he is remembered more for the manner in which his career was ended than for anything he did, or might have done, for Town.

Another cult figure from the start of this century is David 'The Golden Dude' Nielsen. In my mind he played only half a dozen games before being unfairly snatched away from us. In truth, it was a six month loan spell during which he played 19 games and scored six goals. And that Golden Dude moniker? Simply a mishearing (possibly deliberate) by Cod Almighty's match reporter of Nielsen's claim to have won the golden boot in some Danish cup competition.

Some good news for another Town favourite: Josh Gowling has been appointed as caretaker manager of Hereford United, where he has been a player for the last year. Part of Town's promotion-winning side of 2016, he was released at the end of the following season, shortly after Russell Slade took over as manager. Now the footballing wheel of fortune has turned and it seems nicely fitting that Josh has taken over from Slade, who left Hereford after less than five months in charge. Good luck Josh!

And finally, it is Great Grimsby Day today. What that actually means and when the tradition started is something I'll leave you to ponder. In their article to mark this occasion, entitled "13 reasons to be proud you’re from Grimsby", the Telegraph put the football club in lowly 12th place. I think Ollie might have something to say about that. UTMM