Cod Almighty | Diary

Contrary, fickle or just downright awkward?

4 March 2021

Trentside Diary writes: We're a contrary lot aren't we, football fans? Not that you can lump us all together because we are such a varied bunch. Views of the world, where we come from, how we want to see the game played. That's just the half a dozen who sit near me in the upper Findus. Some get very agitated about "proper" Town fans. They only come to a few games; not a proper Town fan. They don’t live in the area; not a proper Town fan. Not born in Second Avenue or Croft Baker; not a proper Town fan. Bloody hell, we're all Town fans and we need every single one that we can get.

We're even more fickle with the teams we dislike. Local rivals aside, we all have teams we detest with a visceral intensity. Manchester United and Liverpool for me because of their total dominance in the 1970s onwards and because my dad used to take us to see Forest occasionally if Town were away. At lower levels Stevenage and Milton Keynes for me "just because". And at a "don’t like them and not unhappy to see them lose" level, for obscure reasons almost lost in the mists of time, I would put quite a few including Orient. Sorry Middle-Aged Diary, I'm obviously the exception. It's an unusual game of football when there isn't a team I would prefer to win, or to lose.

From all this prevaricating about the bush Gromit, you can probably tell I'm trying not to think too long and hard about the latest incarnation of Town in our current predicament. That's probably not a good look for a Cod Almighty diarist but there you have it, we're human too.

It's back to bloody hard again isn't it? I haven't given up hope yet but I'm trying to throttle it before it bubbles up again. If I can kill it off now, the devastation if we go down won't be so, well, devastating will it? Of course it bloody will.

By nature, I'm a glass half-full kind of person, looking to make the best of what's in front of me. I'm watching games looking for anything that suggests better to come. Watching one camera swooping around to keep up with the ball doesn't really give the full picture but it's all we've got to hang on to. A decent five minutes of passing after seventy of scrabbling about and miss-kicks. Lenny looking like he's up for it.

It's that thought of Lenny that got me musing. A fair few of those now running out in black and white have never played in front of a Town crowd. Never felt that love we hold for the likes of Disley, and our passion for the club. I'm sure they want to do a good job but most of us are living half a life at the moment and that probably goes for the team as well. Lenny knows how much we care.

Forget the bus timetables of Harrogate, Town fans in that away end last Saturday would have created an atmosphere that was far more compelling. There have been a few of the usual suspects twittering on about the dogs abuse they would be giving "this lot". The rest of us would be urging them to give their last ounce of effort to get us out of this mess.

What I wouldn’t give to be at Blundell Park on Saturday.

UTM! Fenty Out!