Cod Almighty | Diary

Missed chances, and the same regrets

19 October 2023

Good morning from the rainy windswept fens where your Guest Diarist is hunkered down watching the Malt Crunch rise. This week is important, but not as important as the next few weeks. On the weekend Town travel to proud table-toppers Stockport whose fans will be thinking "we're playing Grimsby, on a dismal run of form, but they are bound to produce a streaky win like all those times before". Well I hope so but time will tell. For me the performance is as important as the result. No-one should get the sack for losing away to the top team. I will be watching from the pied a terre in Paris and aching to see players busting their guts all game. Let's hope so, fingers crossed.

No, the next few games after Stockport are the ones that really matter. We have a run of games against the bottom half of the division and a cup game away to a team languishing near the foot of lower non-league. If Town don't rack up a few wins by the end of November it will be us languishing like rotting leaves at the bottom of a water butt. And the board, who will be acting dead calm at the minute clutching their data sheets which prove we have been playing way better than the naked eye can see. Hang on, no-one clutches data sheets any more - make that waving tablets. Yes, the board will have a big decision to make. If we only get say a point a game in that run we will be in a relegation dogfight before Christmas. And don't say we will get a striker or summat in January and that'll fix it.

Because the truth is, as I see it anyway, we bought several players in the summer who are way better than the ones they replaced. But two months in to the season the team is markedly worse. Conteh is industrious, elegant but he doesn't stop goals and he doesn't make them. The defence has some great additions whom I individually admire, but they are as leaky as my water butt. The new keeper has it all, except he doesn't seem to save many. The lad Eisa had a dream start ( a bit like the Golden Dude all those years ago) but all that glisters is not gold and he has stopped scoring.

But now is not the time, maybe some easier games will help them gel. Maybe it is just a confidence thing. I'm really apprehensive but still hopeful. Come on Town.

See yer.