Cod Almighty | Diary
Going, going, going
21 July 2020
The Grimsby Town news is dominated by the departure of Charles Vernam to Burton Albion.
A scroll through Twitter revealed some bemoaning the need to unfollow ex-players and others muting the word "Vernam". Personally Casual Diary doesn't follow players. They aren't your friends. I can count two ex-Town players among mine, and them only through cricket. Playing for Town is just their job. Local players apart - and there have not been many of them lately - Town aren't their club. They don't share our love.
Vernam himself gave a fairly comprehensive interview to Matt Dean, a journalist never frightened of asking a difficult question even if it loses him the "trust" of the incompetent. The interview confirmed that the main motivations for the move were the attractions of division three football and cash.
The cash is understandable. The other reasons cited less so. Vernam himself tweeted he was looking forward to linking up again with a manager who had failed to improve him sufficiently to be offered a contract at Derby. In the interview he was fulsome in his praise for Holloway, Davis and Limbrick. He credited all three with turnaround in form from a Chorley loanee to our top performer after Christmas. The decision to jump ship is therefore odd.
That Vernam appears to class Burton as a step up from the Mariners in terms of status is equally baffling. He waxes lyrical about their second flight stint which lasted two seasons. Maybe because in my first 36 years of watching football at Blundell Park I only witnessed four seasons of division four football it's me who has an elevated opinion of Town's position in the football hierarchy. Maybe because all but around a decade of those 36 seasons were spent watching second flight football I'm deluded. 16 years have passed since those days, but I can't move from my opinion that mid-table in division two is our natural status. That should be the benchmark by which the club's management - from football to the board - should be measured. I cannot and will never accept that Burton Albion, Peterborough and Doncaster Rovers represent a forward step.
The appointment of Ian Holloway was without doubt my favourite Christmas present. It was, in my delusional mind, confirmation of our status within the game. Having witnessed the turnaround he achieved last season I cannot remember being as excited for a new season since the heady days of 1980-81. The way Holloway has outlined his plans and targets to bolster our remaining squad has only enhanced that excitement. The emphasis on players that buy into his vision of a side playing on the front foot and use of top flight academy loanees fills me with expectation of a fun-filled season.
With recruitment on a par with his signings so far, coupled with his transformative effect on players like Vernam, in Holloway I am confident that we finally have a man in charge capable of taking that first step back to our natural status. That we could pass Burton Albion and Hull City on the way back up merely heightens the enjoyment.
It's the hope which kills you.
UTM