Cod Almighty | Diary

Not a penny to Fenty

24 December 2020

Trentside Diary writes: When I realised last week that I would be writing the last diary before Christmas, I was all set for:

"Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring not even a mouse;" mood.

How wrong could I be? Seven days is a long time in the life of Grimsby Town and rather than a jubilant Noddy - "It's Christmaaaaas" - our major shareholder is smashing his way through the bathroom door: "Heeeeere's Johnny".

Just give me a moment to compose myself.

A couple of disclaimers first: 1) This is a diary, not War and Peace so I'll just cover edited highlights. 2) I don’t usually swear but I am so angry. I'm glad my mother doesn't read Cod Almighty. Please don't tell her.

BOTB diary, finger on the pulse recovered magnificently from premature diary syndrome to cover Oliver Ollie Bottler Olliway’s sudden departure with Pat Bell summarising the sheer enormity of the hole that he'd dumped us in. Our own Costa Condordia Captain, abandoning ship when he'd run us aground. What a little shit he turned out to be, five days after saying he was going nowhere unless he was told to. Obviously, his word means nothing but we were warned. He did it at Blackpool (allegedly resigned hours before a match), Plymouth (left suddenly under acrimonious circumstances. Just days before departing he told fans his blood was green and he would not be departing – sound familiar?) and Millwall (sacked, leaving the club in the relegation zone).

Some were sorry to see him go because well, "he's a character", but he's not proved to be as good as his own publicity machine suggests and many had seen him for the charlatan that he now appears to be. The clown in Fenty's circus. Happy to be involved with conmen but not if he might have to deal with businessmen that exude professionalism. Says all you need to know. Fuck off then. Side note – I understand players found out he'd gone via social media. Classy.

Conclusion: Never trust an egotistical manager who thinks he's bigger than the club.

In his statement the Bottler wrote "New wannabe owners are hovering over GTFC and John has told me he is selling his stake in the club". We already knew there have been talks between the club and Shutes/Pettit/Stockwood and separately with the Trust. "Contact was made by the new owners to me on several occasions before the takeover, which I felt was inappropriate". Again, it's still all about him. We held our breath. Why would you write this? Why would you comment when a deal hasn't yet been done? As far as I'm aware he isn't a total idiot. Was he deliberately throwing a spanner in the works?

Shutes and associates were pushed into a corner to respond and confirmed that several weeks ago they wanted to let the Bottler know that they were supportive of him and if they took over, they wanted to build a legacy with him in place. This was done via a mutual friend. Have you ever worked somewhere that was taken over or restructured? I have. I would have given my right arm for that sort of reassurance from the incoming bosses. No more worrying about your immediate future, if that's the future you wanted of course. However, the sting in the tail was that Fenty, that prince among men, had refused to sell. I'm speechless. I feel sick to the core.

Conclusion: Never trust Fenty. The turtle-necked tosser only has his own interests at heart. Losing his status as deputy chief willy-waggler at the council means he needs to bump up his ego glad-handing at the club.

To conclude a very sorry day amongst nearly 6,000 sorry days, the theoretical chairman, possibly on the sauce early or just wanting to give John a warm, fuzzy feeling, released our second statement of the day. I was transported back to standing on Bethlehem Street waiting for a 3 or 9 to Fryston Corner in days of old. Nothing, then two turn up at once. I can sum up statement two with "ner-ner nuh ner-ner". The stool that pretends he's the chair whined "They said this and I know they did it miss, we heard them". How far are we sinking? You ignore everything of importance in the consortium's statement, misconstrue what they have actually said, but hey you want the brownie points for being so open with us. Wake up and smell the coffee, big Phil. We see through you.

To mix it up a bit, Phil gave an interview to Radio Humberside. They were happy to deal with a convicted fraudster and Phil was keen to rehabilitate this particular offender. He stole from building societies and banks, not pensions so it's okay then. Whose hard earned money do you think is invested there Phil? From what he was saying the sticking point on the sale is that Fenty wants his loans paid off NOW. The man who has cost this club millions still wants every last penny back. He and his sidekick are delusional. Phil then kept referring to potential investors buying new shares rather than Fenty's. It’s been tried before but new investment hasn’t managed to peel John's cold grasping talons from the board. We know how that works. I'll leave you to listen.

Conclusion: Fenty and Day now shown to be the two sides of a cheap cracker magic trick.

I hope you're keeping up. Did you see the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn this week? No? Me neither but I did witness the third club statement in a day. What new hell is this? Another dummy spitting and a lesson on how you can acquire a club. By the time they have finished with Town, Fenty, Day and their band of merry men will be handing over a worthless pile of dung at this rate. He did at least say that Ben Davies and Dave Moore will be in charge for the forthcoming games and wished them well. I'll pause here and reflect. Dave Moore, what a giant of a man. He must keep his head down and ignore all of this but he defines the real Grimsby Town through and through. Dave Moore. The man deserves a medal and our unswerving respect.

Conclusion: Sometimes we have to focus on our history to remember how good this club could be.

Oh good grief. Just when it couldn't get any worse, there was another "club" statement at the end of yesterday/beginning of today. Our major waggler felt he was missing out on all the press, so took his hand out of his puppet and released his own clumsy statement. John's in whiny mood too. He still thinks he's done a marvellous job. He's systematically destroyed any quality at the club. Where's the offset in the price for all the depreciation in value you've caused John? You bought a second division club, had lots of dinners and jollies at out expense and are now selling a broken-down club fighting to avoid the drop to non-league again.

Conclusion: Fenty has the emotional intelligence of an amoeba and an ego with the fragility of a 7-denier stocking. Now there's an image you don’t want me to finish on. He really doesn't read the room does he?

I'm done in every sense. I cannot in all conscience support this regime by putting more money in. Not another penny to the club until Fenty and the board are gone. If they fold and we have to set up a phoenix club, so be it. That hurts but I'm finished with giving my money to these charlatans.

UTM! Fenty Out! Sack the Board! And never have a I meant it more than today.