Cod Almighty | Diary

Myth and Menayese

19 January 2021

Yesterday a bit of nonsense floated across Middle-Aged Diary's timeline that BBC Humberside was responsible for getting Michael Jolley sacked. It is part of the grotesque conspiracy theory which puts our struggles of the last two decades down not to the catastrophic decisions of the board, but to the way those decisions, and the repercussions of those decisions, have been reported. The evidence is flimsy - the witness who saw Matt Dean applying grease to James McKeown's gloves* before the Gateshead play-off semi-final was unreliable, and Paul Linwood failed to name John Tondeur as the man who told him lager is an energy drink - so Jolley's departure from Blundell Park is exhibit number one.

In an attempt to stop a myth in the making: Jolley's rant at Matt Dean became public only after he had agreed to leave. BBC Humberside made no complaint about the incident and it would have been self-defeating for them to have leaked the recording. In matters like this, the question is "who benefits?" All the indications are that John Fenty was in a bit of a sulk after Russell Slade was sacked: Phil Day presided over Jolley's arrival. Fenty distanced himself from the strategy Jolley had been intended to be a part of and rather let the cat out of the bag in the specific issue he raised: not the rant, and not the winless run, but Jolley going public on the miserable budget he had to work with.

Let's not turn Jolley into the prince over the water. Of our four post- and pre-Hurst managers, he was better than average but not much more. Our heroic failure at Crystal Palace became his signature dish: he was good at analysing the opposition and finding ways to organise his team to negate them; less good at encouraging and enabling his players to express themselves. Unfair perhaps but to me Jolley's management came to have the feel of someone playing Championship Manager, forgetting that the objects he arranged on the pitch weren't just sets of physical characteristics, but people.

Yesterday, Jolley caused a certain disquiet among Town fans with the news that, as Barrow's new manager, he has signed three players in one day when, at the time, we had only one of the six to eight Paul Hurst has said we need. Jolley will have done his homework and will know that his three have the attributes needed to improve the Bluebirds' squad, but that does not necessarily mean they will improve their results. There's no guarantee of that in any case - not in January when you are mainly shopping among other clubs' cast-offs. But there is more chance of success if you can foster a sense of togetherness in the team and for that - we have the testimony of McKeown, Amond, Disley and many more - Hurst is the man you want. I'm happy to back him to make sure the players he does find make a real and positive difference.

And since Barrow's three-in-a-day flourish, we have one of our own. Rollin Menayese, who has joined us on loan from Mansfield until the end of the season sounds, physically, to be what we need: a quick and tall central defender. Personally, there's quite a story to tell: born in the Democratic Republic of Congo amid civil wars and brought to South Wales as a child by his mother. In age-group football for Cardiff City and Wales he was often made team captain. Rollin Menayese sounds like a person who has known hard times and has emerged as a leader from his experience, and that, too, is what we need.

We look forward to seeing him in action.

*To examine the evidence, enter tonight's Grimsby Town charity quiz, hosted by Lloyd Griffth, and you might win the very pair.