Cod Almighty | Diary

Meet the new bosses, we hope not at all like the old boss

18 May 2021

You know how it is: a new manager - let's call him Marcus "Ollie" Jolley - comes in, says some nice things about the local area, coaxes a couple of half-decent performances out of players aware their contracts might soon be up, and for a time he can do no wrong. Suddenly, the way the team turn their socks down is taken as evidence of his Shankly-like footballing genius. Until we start losing again.

There can be genuine signs that a manager is making a difference, but in our determination to be fooled again, it is tempting to treat everything that happens in their proximity as a sign. The same, only more so, with new owners. It's a long time before actual football starts in August, so for now we have to make do with getting over-excited about tractors.

Or indeed an advert for a new operations & safety officer. Middle-Aged Diary assumes this means the old one, Nick Dale, is moving on. It is hard to lament a man who generated alarmist pre-season headlines about football hooliganism the day after Grimsby Town held it's open day.

But have you ever worked for a bad boss? If so, you'll know that the energies of their staff are directed about a third to keeing their heads down; a third for second-guessing what the boss might want, no matter how irrational; and a quarter at looking out for another job. Whatever fraction is left might actually be devoted to doing their current job well. And the more senior the boss, the more pervasive their malign influence: the person whose job is to work the photocopier worries how their supervisor will interpret their manager's interpretation of the director's interpretation of what the big boss wants.

The closest I ever came to John Fenty was on the away terrace at Macclesfield, not long after he had become chair. He walked across from the directors' box, looked at us warily, applauded the slight applause he got for his gesture, and then backed away. He did not look like a man comfortable in the presence of football fans. By his deeds, Dale appeared to have absorbed that wariness.

The third-hand rumour I have heard is that the staff at Blundell Park were immediately enthused by their first meeting with Jason Stockwood and Andrew Pettit. Soon, they may be set free to think not "what do our bosses want" but "what does the club need". Great things may come from that. The signs are hopeful, but for now it is too early to tell.

Want more?

Mark Stilton begins a comprehensive history of the John Fenty years, describing how he became majority shareholder while all the time denying he wanted control of Grimsby Town.