Cod Almighty | Diary

I don’t ever want to go to Carlisle

6 March 2023

Miss Guest Diary writes: I don't think many really believed Town had a chance of winning at Carlisle on Saturday. Maybe a few who remembered the 1-0 victory there two days after winning the Auto Windscreens Shield at Wembley in 1998. But even they would have recognised that the effort required for a fourth division side to beat a top flight team these days far outweighs what was required to play a team from the same division back then.

Paul Hurst certainly acknowledged this by making seven changes to Wednesday's team. This obviously had the advantage of freshening things up but the disadvantage of introducing some less experienced players not used to playing together. His cryptic remark after Saturday's game: "I don't feel my job's got harder today, it's got easier" seems to suggest that he wasn't impressed with some of the newcomers' performances, so we can expect a return for the usual suspects tomorrow night against Newport.

Coincidentally, the distance from my house to Carlisle is roughly the same as it is to Southampton but it never for one minute crossed my mind to go to Saturday's game. So I sincerely applaud the 428 Town fans who did make the trip. I know some of them won't have been to Southampton – but many will have – and others live in the north west anyway, but I still salute them.

Brunton Park has not been a happy hunting ground for Town this century with only two wins in ten visits, but that is not why I didn't go. I have never been to Brunton Park or to Barrow's ground and I don't think I ever will. Call me a soft southerner, if you like, but in my mind it's simply too far north. I am happy to go up to Newcastle on the east coast but the west side of the country north of Blackpool just seems too remote and far away.

Enough has probably been said already in the print and broadcast media, and on social media, about last week's FA Cup victory, but I can't go without a shout out to Evan Khouri's excellent cameo in the game. I didn't know much about Evan until he was featured in The Mariner last month, but his story is inspiring. After leaving the West Ham academy he was spotted at the age of 16 playing in a trial game for youngsters without clubs. He left his family behind down south and moved to Grimsby, signing a two-year scholarship contract with Town in 2019, then a two-year professional contract last year. For him to come on and play a part in securing the win at Southampton must have been amazing for both him and his family. I really hope that next season he will feature more prominently in the team (though not at the expense of my favourite, Harry, of course).

I am not sure where Town currently sit on the we're-safely-mid-table/we're-sliding-towards-relegation axis. I'll have to consult our resident pessimist, BOTB Diary, but a win tomorrow evening against Newport would set us up nicely for Saturday's six-pointer against Rochdale.

UTM