Cod Almighty | Diary

Breaking up is hard to do

20 November 2023

Miss Guest Diary writes: Despite the welcome suggestion from a correspondent on how to avoid the dreaded hill leading up to the New Lawn, I didn't make the trip to Nailsworth on Saturday. Alternate weekend plans had been made and couldn't be cancelled at short notice. Which means, of course, that neither did CA's match reporter, and we forgot to shout out for a volunteer to replace him. So if you are one of the intrepid 441 who made the trip and fancy writing a few paragraphs about the game, please get in touch.

Watching the extended highlights of the match, and leaving aside the soft penalty, it seemed as if both sides had chances to win the game, so maybe a draw was a fair result. Having listened to post-match interviews with the opposing managers though, I don't think either would agree. As it stands, the draw against Forest Green, and the fact that Tranmere and Sutton, the other teams below us, also drew has left us in exactly the same place as before – 21st with a four point gap to the relegation places. Losing to Sutton next Saturday wouldn't cause us to drop any places but would put us mathematically closer to the bottom of the table. Equally, looking upwards, Town are within one win of overtaking the five teams above and could easily be mid-table by the end of the month.

What is certain is that with Chairman Wow in charge Town will never be in a position to have points deducted for financial irregularities. If you haven't already done so and have 45 minutes to spare, have a listen to this interview he did for the Wider Goals Podcast. It's partly about being co-owner of Grimsby Town but also about his philosophy of running a business and life in general. I didn't think I could be any more impressed with him and what he is doing for Town and the wider Grimsby community until I heard this interview. And then in today's Guardian the Chairman explains the thinking behind sacking Paul Hurst – a measured and reasoned decision from a shrewd but compassionate leader.

The rumours about who might replace Paul Hurst as manager continue to swirl around as yet another tabloid journalist punts his theories about someone currently doing well elsewhere. We've heard nothing more about David Healy who was favourite a couple of weeks ago. This week's favourite is Steve Morison, currently managing Hornchurch in the seventh tier of English football. I don't know about you but that feels to me like a bit of an insult to Benji and Shaun. I did a bit of googling and I didn't like the sound of Morison's management style – he apparently caused turbulence when caretaker manager at Cardiff by being overly critical of players, including calling one youngster a hindrance. That doesn't sound like the sort of attitude to fit in with Town's current ethos. But then what do I know, I'm not 'in the know'.

Have you got your tickets for the next FA Cup game at Oxford yet? Almost 1,500 went on sale to season ticket holders at 9 o'clock this morning. I suspect there's no need to rush as I can't imagine we'll take anywhere near that number, despite them being very reasonably priced. It's a long journey, Oxford are second in the division above and we still haven't won on the road this season. I've got mine – I just hope there isn't a huge hill leading up to their ground. If there is, can someone please advise me which bus to catch.

UTM