Cod Almighty | Diary
The silly close season
11 August 2021
It's easy to find mad Grimbarians. A little too easy sometimes. It's easy to find people who love GTFC and easy to find people who love the town of GY. We created t-shirts to make it even simpler to identify the latter. It's easy to find people with a bit of lolly in the bank. What is damn near impossible, is expecting to find someone who falls smack bang centre of the venn diagram of all the above.
That's what makes GTFC fans insanely lucky. Winners of the football club lottery. Jason Stockwood and Andrew Pettit are that unique breed. No one else but someone with a deep love for Grimsby and its football club spiced with a little madness would have met John Fenty's ransom demands. No one else would have undertaken the mammoth task of reviving a dying shell of a club.
That's not being overly dramatic. The summer videos from Cheapside and Blundell Park showing the installation of basic infrastructure as well as the plethora of positions advertised and filled in the last few months highlights the dreadful neglect under the previous owner.
Of course, being an aqueduct away from a "What have the Romans ever done for us?" sketch doesn't matter if all you care about are the results on the pitch. When did a CEO, a Head Chef, a Facilities Manager, an Operations Manager, a fit for purpose training ground, an irrigation system, a fanzone, edible matchday food and various minor yet notable ground improvements like hot water in the ladies lav get you three points on a Saturday? In a season that hasn't even kicked off yet, Reg.
In 2005 the Guardian published an article by Sean Ingle titled "Football fans are idiots". At the time, it seemed like a harsh generalisation. What, all of us? Surely not. As time has passed, I realise he might be on to something. It's still a harsh verdict but one that the jury has no choice in making when you consider the evidence at hand.
At Town, Exhibit A is invariably the Fishy. We can laugh at the Fishy. Yes, let's all laugh at the Fishy. However, the people that post there reflect the opinions of a sizeable section of the Town support. I don't buy the keyboard warrior line that it doesn't refect what actual fans think; as mad as the Fishy can be, you can always hear somebody taking a break from shouting "Get into 'em, fuck 'em up Town" to say something worse at Blundell Park. Rather than laugh at them, after their latest indiscretion we should just rename it the Goldfishy. Who but those with the memories of goldfish could have forgotten the cycles of decay they just sat through - and worse, a large proportion enabled - with their support of John Fenty, for nigh on 20 years.
This is manifest in a truly staggering thread on there at the moment titled "All mouth and no trousers". Staggering in that the thread was ever written and equally so that it garnered support and agreement. Attempts to rebuild the club from the ground up don't cut it; Pettit and Stockwood have failed to deliver because they haven't gizzed their cash on Gary Goals, the 50-goal striker from Knobend United. Jason Stockwood spoke yesterday about why Gary will be staying where he is unless it fits into the budget. The key word here is "sustainable". Look it up, goldfish. Then try to remember how we got here in the first place. If fans don't like it, can't see the benefit, they deserve to have Fenty and Holloway back. Simple as that. That pair gave them exactly what they wanted and told them exactly what they wanted to hear. And look where that got us.
Not mentioned by Stockwood, but something that should also be kept in mind is Paul Hurst's approach to squad building. As outlined in an article from his time at Shrewsbury (which I can't find the link for), he likes to keep everyone in his squad within a close wage band. While not having a guy on £10k a week more than everyone else keeps the card school on the bus nice and friendly, it proves to be a right arseache when trying to recruit a Gary Goals.
Podge Amond isn't the answer to our prayers and was never going to be. Settled in Wales with a young family, who really thought he was going to uproot at age 33, drop a league, take a paycut and join a club that treated him like crap four years ago? Podge has sensibly taken himself and his song to Exeter for a season long loan. Good luck to him.
Hopes that George Williams and Ira Jackson could be the answer have been dashed as well. Being out of Paul Hurst's plans has seen them transformed by fans into the best players since Chris Clements and Sean McAllister. As their reputations continue to soar, both players' agents have been in touch with Paul Hurst demanding that they are not included in any squad with one quoted "I don't want him playing. It could damage his growing name and spoil the bidding war I've got going between Brigg and Armthorpe Welfare".
If a lack of goals in games we haven't yet played isn't upsetting folk, it's not getting enough tickets for a friendly. In bloody Chesterfield. Daubney Diary doesn't want to end on a negative note that suggests full agreement with Sean Ingle. However, with the boos of their own players taking the knee in the James McKeown testimonial still fresh in the mind, unreasonable expectations and the memories of pondlife, maybe the club isn't the only thing that needs to change. Stockwood and Pettit can't do that, we'll have to do it ourselves. Is their a Diploma in Football Fannery available anywhere?