Cod Almighty | Diary

Always look on the bright side of life? Not yet.

22 April 2021

Trentside Diary writes: Can you hear that?

That low, wounded keening?

Not "the extremity of our pain and anguish that we did not only sigh but roar" of 2010 but a sad, defeated pain. We have half-suspected this was coming since our amputated pre-season. We have half-suspected this was coming since we went up in 2016 only to see other clubs push on past leaving us coughing and spluttering in the dust they've kicked up. Good luck to them.

We've hung on in, hoping against hope. Our dreams finally snuffed out after long months of suppressed angst. Dreams? Just stop and think about that for a moment or two. Has the extent of our ambition been hacked back to the point that all we can dream of is not getting relegated? Wow. When did we get so bad?

Rhetorical question isn't it? We've had a double whammy. Over the 20 odd years that the gap has grown exponentially between the haves and have nots, we have had the least ambitious, penny-pinching incompetent in charge of our club. I still don't understand what he was hoping to achieve. "To save the club" is heralded by his acolytes. "He's a fan and Town wouldn't exist now if it wasn't for him". I won't spend the next 20 minutes rehashing why I don’t agree with this at all, suffice to say genuine Town fans would have stepped up and saved the club anyway. We didn't owe that much when Fenty stepped in. Add that to the fact that together we have put in significantly more money than our major shareholder over the years. We don't get a penny back and wouldn't want it but he's walking away with his pockets bulging.

Am I angry? Not like 2010. I'm beaten down by years of mediocrity and disappointed at the inevitability of it all. Disappointed that it's come to this, again. Disappointed that we couldn’t just get it together enough to keep our league status despite Hurst’s best efforts. We are where we deserve to be and my corners have been knocked off by nearly 20 years of our major shareholder and the year we have just been through. I reserve my extreme anger for a government that has overseen one of the worst death tolls in the world and children going hungry in one of the richest countries in the world. I'm angry at a society that turns a blind eye to corruption and cronyism at the top, whether it be a country or a football club. Thank you to Lloyd Griffith for lifting the lid, let's hope someone does the same for the country. Political? You bet ya! I need to calm down a bit now.

Miss Guest Diary commented earlier this week on the trials and tribulations of the Super Six and how much they had upset their fans and football fans generally, so maybe being bottom wasn't the worst fate for a club. Who really knows what was going on and whether it was a badly executed play for even greater power and maybe that will all come out in the wash. Turns out that all they had to do to put things right was to change their mind and not breakaway. Could Town do that do you think? We really don't want to go into non-League? Can we change our mind now? Crucifixion? Out of the door, one cross each, line on the left. Oh well, here's to new owners!

UTM! Fenty Out!