Cod Almighty | Diary

There is no consistency, nor do we want it

7 July 2020

At the weekend Casual Diary created the normal home game experience by meeting up in Willy's at 1pm. It was good to have a bit of normality even if ultimately the day wasn't spoilt by a piss poor Town performance which has me muting Twitter for 24 hours.

How quickly we will be able to return to Blundell Park to watch a match seems to be a fair distance in future. Listening to the Culture Secretary yesterday dashing the hopes of the luvvies being able to perform a Christmas Panto made me think the optimism of one of my regular travelling companions of a return by 5 September was at best optimistic. The minister told his interviewer that the prospect of several hundred excited children shouting "it's behind you" would not be conducive to keeping the virus under control. Given that BP would house several thousand, more much more excitable patrons, albeit in open air, it is hard to see how the government could square the particular circle of allowing fans back in. We live in hope however as consistency is hardly this government's fortè.

Which brings me nicely to Town chair Philip Day. Day is proving remarkably consistent and coherent in pretty much all his utterings. This week he first criticised the I-Follow platform, telling the League it is not fit for purpose if we need to rely on it as an income stream for a behind-closed-doors restart. He also pointed to the discrepancy in the points deducted from Macclesfield. The problem being it was less than on their two previous breaches of the league rules for the same offence. He further questioned the sense in imposing a hefty financial penalty on a club that couldn't pay it's way already.

Now all of that is true of course and shows a normally admirable consistency. This however is football. It's not about consistency. It's about passion, dislike and joy at the fall of an opponent. It's being able to sing "We hate Yorkies, and we hate Yorkies" even when your best players hail from the county. Consistency is out the window, especially when such a thing would reprieve Stevenage, a town which, were it in Yorkshire, would be the absolute zenith of shithousery.

If the Twitterati are to be believed, Charles Vernam is heading to Burton. Now I and Burton have a mutual reason for disliking each other and why anyone would wish to spurn Town for such a club is quite beyond me. That Vernam, until the Holloway effect, was plying his trade at Chorley in the lower reaches of the Conference makes it more surprising. Now I always believed Vernam should have had a place in the first team. The managers before Ian Holloway didn't agree, including those at his previous club. That Holloway has transformed him into a player worthy of the attention of clubs higher up the league is testimony to his skills.

You would think that Vernam would recognise that, but it seems not. After a dozen games in which he sparkled he is confident enough to reject the club's offer and move on. That's his choice and, having had longer shites than his good form has so far lasted, I will wave him on his way.

That his departure is coupled with some fans getting excited at the remote prospect of bringing back Omar Bogle should sound alarm bells for our Charlie. Like Paul Hurst, Omar's career has not had the anticipated trajectory a move away from Town seemed to promise. While I wish none of them ill luck, in a Town that rewards loyalty with deity, then a little more patience would maybe have been beneficial. Still as Holloway says, if they think they're bigger than the club they can go.

UTM