Cod Almighty | Diary

If it's Tuesday, it must be Cheltenham

13 October 2020

It's Tuesday and Town are heading to Cheltenham. Casual Diary would normally be following them. Due to the nonsensical decisions of the government I can't. The banning of fans attending games has been much discussed. The primary reason given is that fans all leaving together would make social distancing impossible. I can only presume that members of the government and their advisors have not visited any high street in the country at 10pm recently.

That Town have chosen to play tonight is equally baffling. In a discussion with our local rag yesterday, manager Ian Holloway stated he'd probably have to play two different teams for a few weeks given our schedule. Quite how that statement sits with choosing to play one of the league's early form sides is difficult to understand. Choosing to do so after having at best the opportunity for two days' training following our Covid isolation period merely adds to the puzzlement. The manager reported no injuries but some tired legs following our draw at Bolton.

Holloway has had quite a lot to say in recent days especially on the proposal put forward by Liverpool and Manchester United to save football. The proposal at first glance would seem to have merit. The Football League would receive £250 million immediately. They would in future receive 25 per cent of all TV revenues and the distorting parachute payments to failed Premier League clubs would cease. All good so far.

However here's the crux. In return two clubs would disappear from the League all together as would the League Cup from the fixture list. A select nine clubs would receive enhanced voting rights on all matters within the Premiership, removing the need for a two-thirds majority to agree any proposal. The nine clubs would be the so called "Big Six" plus three others.

That this proposal is anything other than a power grab dressed up as altruism cannot fail to escape even the most trusting of souls. That this power would be wielded to feather the nest and secure the dominant position of the top echelons of the game would seem obvious. Not to Rick Parry: the Football League chair welcomed the proposals as a way to save those lower down the food chain. He stated that clubs in the Football League were unsustainable prior to the pandemic and that Covid had merely highlighted the issue. He was joined in his praise by the owner of Leyton Orient, the Boston (Massachusetts, not Lincs) resident, Nigel Travis. Presumably Travis is confident his club will not be one of the two sacrificed to allow the "World's Greatest League"™ to reduce to 18 clubs. The devastation foisted on the fans of those clubs and the communities they represent is obviously lost on these two clowns as well as Manchester United and Liverpool.

Two of the "Big Six" are tracking two stars of the Neil Woods' academy. That Town will end up getting shafted should the players concerned decide to move is a given. That any money received would be used to repay our benign loans rather than re-invested in the team or the academy is equally guaranteed. Now what was it the manager was saying about greed? UTM.