Cod Almighty | Diary

Howzat?

6 December 2021

Miss Guest Diary writes: I've watched a lot of football this weekend, though none of it was Town. After the dismal experience that was the game at Solihull Moors a couple of weeks ago, I decided either a three hour drive or braving the bus replacement service on the East Coast Mainline was not for me.

Instead I have watched pretty much wall-to-wall games on TV. Some, like Gateshead v Charlton, Yeovil v Stevenage and Rochdale v Plymouth, were FA Cup games on terrestrial TV. Then there was the lunchtime BT Sport match West Ham v Chelsea – the absolute pick of the bunch. Finally a couple of games on Sky: QPR v Stoke and Aston Villa v Leicester.

These last two were an unexpected bonus as we have never subscribed to Sky Sports due to my lord and master's ideological aversion to Rupert Murdoch. But when I discovered that the Australian Big Bash 20-over competition had disappeared from BT Sport and is now on Sky I put my foot down. So, in the next two months we will be watching 61 cricket matches and as much football as we can cram in to make sure we get our money’s worth out of the former Murdoch empire.

I won't pretend that I watched all of every game, but I was certainly in the room most of the time. I really can't get into a game unless I am supporting one of the teams, and the reasons I pick one side over the other can be pretty bizarre. For this weekend's run of games it went: Charlton because Gateshead is the coldest I have ever been at a match; Yeovil for obvious reasons; Rochdale because Robby Stockdale is their manager; West Ham because my osteopath is a season ticket holder; QPR because they were my dad's team; and Leicester because I both love and hate Jamie Vardy.

Having given that glimpse into my footballing psyche, I can't put off any longer mentioning Town's defeat at Dagenham & Redbridge. I wasn't expecting a win, but a draw would have been nice and probably achievable if not for some poor officiating, if Hurst is to be believed. It is disappointing that we will be without John McAtee for a further three games. Fortunately, one of those is the FA Trophy game against Stockport, which I feel sure many, like me, have already written off. We do have two new forwards in Sam Bell – congratulations to him on his first Town goal – and Jordan Maguire-Drew who should hopefully add some attacking strength in McAtee’s absence.

Let's face it, part of the reason the current run of form seems so bad is because our start to the season was so (surprisingly) good. I understand some fans are now panicking, but I am made of sterner stuff. For the first few years of my Town-supporting life I lived down south and mostly only saw away games, so there were spells in the early 90s when I saw nothing but defeats. Looking at the Cod Almighty results database, I see that back then Town's form dipped in November and December for several seasons in a row but it picked up nicely after Christmas.
I am going to hold that thought and suggest you do too. And we still have the best home form in the division, so let's continue to pack the Park and remember we are #greatertogether.

I can't go without saying a thank you to the Mariners Trust for all their hard work behind the scenes. Their latest newsletter gives updates on Christmas events, the AGM, the fanzone, the food and toy appeal (still time to donate) and – wait for it – an activity book for kids. With stickers. I want one!