Cod Almighty | Diary

Faster than a speeding bullet

4 December 2020

Daubney Diary writes: Phil Day isn't happy with the Premier League and Football League's Covid deal. The Town chairman believes it favours clubs who were already in a bit of mess prior to the pandemic and not brilliantly-run clubs like GTFC. The initial details from the Football League suggest there isn't a catch attached to the £250 million worth of filthy lucre. Mmm. I'm watching a Netflix thing with my daughter and as Robert Carlyle's Rumpelstiltskin frequently reminds us, all magic comes with a price, deary. Regardless, Chairman Day has a valid point.

Our old mate Sisyphus has been used to illustrate life as a GTFC fan almost as often as the poor blighter has pushed that rock up the hill. As payback, he’s twisted the story lately to have the boulder start at the top every day before careering down to squash us with more bad news. Fans back at games? Not for you northern plebs, you're riddled with virus. Max Wright caaaarving defences apart? Not for long, he's crocked again.

These latest two blows set the scene for Town's visit to Essex tomorrow for a team bus day-trip friendly 5.30pm kick-off. Colchester, who are unbeaten at home this season (five wins, two draws) will have the added advantage of up to a thousand home fans cheering, or hopefully jeering, them on tomorrow. Putting aside the fact that their soulless by-pass shoeboxes are devoid of atmosphere even with four thousand fans, this does present an unfair edge when Blundell Park's gates are still locked to the masses. Agreeing with Phil Day twice in one diary? Here's a bit of 'satire' to even things up. 

As for injuries, as well as Wright being out, James Tilley and Matt Green are also doubts. Ian Holloway has been in print and on radio placing a lot of stock in the return of James Hanson after a couple of weeks out with his latest knock. Now Big Jim is a, err, big lad but he’s never actually carried the side, even when fully fit. Quite what he's expecting from the striker isn't clear but presenting unrealistic expectations is something of a habit with Holloway. 

The reality is we've been so bad lately we haven't even had the time honoured prop of referee-blaming to fall back on. Hanson was a typical bargain bin Town signing: good once, could still be good IF he can halt time and overcome the ever more frequent injuries. That still wouldn't extend to shoring up the defence, adding steel and craft to the midfield and leaving time to whip over crosses to his own bonce to score regularly, all tasks his manager seems to have in mind for him.

It's becoming apparent that the Town board, Holloway included obviously, may have gambled on this season. They assembled a shell of a team on the cheap in the expectation that Covid would force the season to be abandoned. If it isn’t, the hope is that Holloway can motivate a ragtag band of recovering crocks and kids to do enough to finish higher than 23rd.

There is a case for the merits of such a gambit. Covid has made for difficult financial decisions and it's easy to underestimate the stressful decisions that have to be made amid ongoing uncertainty. Don't panic, other diaries have covered this in detail and I'm not going there now.

Holloway himself outlines some of the presures in his latest column for the Bristol Post. It's hard not to sympathise, although he could do himself a favour to relieve the pressure by dropping the newspaper job and media bits, and sending Ben Davies out to speak once in a while.

Regardless, when it comes to those expectations, whether it be for Hanson tomorrow or the mooted signings in January, Holloway should lower them. We're not fools and it makes pushing that sodding rock up the hill every day tougher to be treated as such.