Cod Almighty | Diary

High time

13 August 2020

Well, a couple of new signings and we can finally field a full starting XI plus a couple of subs. Yipee. On that, Basque Diary likes the fact that we have dipped into non-League again with the acquisition of Ira.

When we first signed Bogle he was raw and exciting. You didn't really know what he was going to do but when he did something special, he made you stand up on your feet.

I particularly remember the Bromley game at home. Bogle was really busy that day: he won and scored a penalty early doors then he went on to show some great touches and turns and, above all, he beamed enthusiasm for the game.

In football, we have this romantic idea that someone who has made it to the professional ranks through non-league has worked harder than players who graduated from their respective youth teams. It's a tad unfair but that romanticism is what gets us off our seats. People love to wax lyrical in those circumstances with statements like "He stacked shelves down Tesco last week" but the idea that anyone of the street can come from (relatively) nowhere and impress thousands of people with their skills is just that - exciting.

As our own transfer window is now firmly cast open the rumour mill has started to churn too. We are allegedly interested in former Aberystwyth Town man Touray Sisay. He impressed last season scoring four goals in five games for the Seasiders, including a hat trick against Airbus. In that match, like Bogle v Bromley, he scored but he also displayed an array of skills and some good passing.

The Welsh league has unleashed a few decent players in recent years - notably Christian Doidge who continues to score at every level he plays at. Currently, that is the Scottish Premier League with Edinburgh big boys Hibernian.

Whoever we sign, let's hope we actually get to see them in the flesh. The current situation is not sustainable for ourselves, or clubs further down the pyramid, as exemplified by Droylsden's resignation from the Northern Premier League recently. We all know the Premier League isn't going to step up to the plate so we need some kind of direction from the FA and the Football League so we can all enjoy the rise of the next Bogle at Blundell Park.