Cod Almighty | Diary

A proportional response

1 February 2021

Miss Guest Diary writes: Football, boy, I dunno: it's a cruel game at times.

Most times losing a game 2-1 doesn't feel that much different from losing 1-0. Saturday was different, of course. Having resigned myself to another dismal defeat, seeing Town equalise in injury time then immediately concede produced such a boiling mass of emotions that all I could do for several minutes after the game was curse my partner for ever introducing me to the Mariners.

I think Paul Hurst might have been feeling something similar immediately after the game. He looked very down, almost tearful, at the start of his post-match interview and admitted to John Tondeur that he was "struggling to come to terms with the manner of the defeat".

And the Town Twitterati? A mixture of anger, despair and resignation. One Tweeter couldn't resist going down the 'if only' route of suggesting the referee might have ended the game 30 seconds earlier. That way lies madness: if only there hadn't been a pandemic to make it seem OK for Holloway to sign a team of has-beens and never-will-bes; if only Hurst had been able to re-sign Podge in 2016; if only Slade had managed to get us promoted in 2006; if only ITV Digital hadn't collapsed leaving Town vulnerable to takeover by John Fenty, etc, etc. Let's face it, if only Hitler hadn't invaded Poland, Town might have continued their pre-war form and be flying high in the top division.

A few people mentioned feeling better after listening to the chaps on the DN35 podcast deconstructing the result, so I gave it a go. After an initial angry tirade of four-letter words, they calmed down and gradually talked themselves into, if not a positive, at least a more balanced frame of mind. It was refreshing and a reminder that what we are all missing most at the moment is the match-day experience. The opportunity to share our pain and vent our feelings in person with other Town fans. At least I have my partner to curse at; those living in a household where they are the only Mariner are limited to sharing their feelings in a virtual way.

Which brings me to an article I read recently by Martha Newson, a cognitive anthropologist (no, me neither) who has undertaken research into identity fusion – the phenomenon of feeling intense loyalty to members of the same group. In effect, what happens to devoted football fans. Her research has shown that supporters of the most long-suffering clubs are more "fused" to their clubs, considering each other more like a family compared with fans of reliably successful clubs. Apparently, the dysphoria of a relegation cements these bonds more than the euphoria of winning a competition. Though I don't think we really need an academic to tell us that – we're all Town aren't we.

Like any other family, there are people in the Town family you don't like or don't agree with, but once again we are all in this relegation fight together. So it seems fitting that today we have the return of the prodigal son. Yes, all the rumours from last week are true and Lennell John-Lewis has returned on an 18-month contract. There were mixed feelings about Lenny's abilities during his last spell with us, but I don't think anyone doubted his commitment, and that feels like a more important attribute at the moment.

UTM