Cod Almighty | Diary
The future is now
24 January 2022
Miss Guest Diary writes: I wish everyone would stop banging on about Town making the play-offs this season.
When I was 16 there was a popular song around which suggested that, if you can't be with the one you love, you should love the one you're with. Now when you're a teenager that simply doesn't compute: you only want what you want and nothing else will do. But the older I have got the more I have acknowledged the wisdom of those words. You can waste a lot of your life pining for the unattainable and miss out on the pleasures of what's around you. I suspect that, by focusing solely on the objective of Town getting promoted back into the league, there will be a lot of folk who have failed to take pleasure in the positives from the season to date, both on and off the field.
No matter where Town finish this season we'll still have the infrastructure improvements such as the sprinklers and the training facilities, the amazing food, the fan zone and the reminiscence hub. Then there are those moments of pure joy like Alex Hunt's free kick against Barnet, Harry Clifton's late winner at Woking and John McAtee's screamer two weekends ago. Add in those satisfying occasions like hanging on to win with 10 men at Altrincham or beating Ryan Reynolds' Wrexham under the floodlights and this season doesn't feel too bad to me.
Even games which produce poor results, while not pleasant at the time, become part of the folk memory of the club. It's now something of a badge of honour to say you were at the 8-1 defeat to Hartlepool in 2003 (I was) and I suspect the dismal drenching at Bromley last September will also become an "I was there" occasion.
When Town lost on Saturday, I heard someone in the Pontoon declare that the season was over. Ignoring the fact that, with 21 games left to play, Town have every chance of making those oh-so-coveted play-offs, what experiences could that mindset preclude. There are a couple of new grounds still to visit – Kings Lynn and Weymouth – and some old favourites like Notts County and Barnet, with opportunities to revisit favourite pubs and remember past victories. And another 10 opportunities to pack the Park and create a great atmosphere, meet friends in the pub or go for fish and chips and indulge all those other matchday rituals.
I have seen a suggestion that Paul Hurst should have until the summer and, if Town don't make the play-offs, he should be sacked. Given the debacle of last season and the need to change practically the whole squad, instant success on the field was always an unreasonable goal. I reckon play-offs next season and promotion the one after that are more realistic aims.
I have seen no statements from the new owners about setting Hurst any promotion target, nor have they made any claims about getting Town promoted in the short term. Their stated aims have been to build a sustainable club for the future with progress on and off the pitch. On that basis, why would they want to sack a manager who has a proven track record at this level?
Tomorrow Town are at Wrexham and, should we win, I'm sure all those people who had written off our chances of making the play-offs will being doing a U-turn. More's the pity.
UTM