Cod Almighty | Diary

Get to xxxx! Get to xxxx! Get to xxxx!

24 November 2023

If we win tomorrow that table should look quite a lot better, shouldn't it?

Lots and lots of people seem to think that David Artell is going to be the new GTFC supremo, as the tabloids would say. If the rumours are true the people who criticised Paul Hurst for his lack of animation on the touchline will be the happiest fans in the whole of Fantown City. When we played Crewe here in 2019 (we lost) I was stood behind the away manager's dugout and at times it was like watching a mime version of King Lear complete with fight scenes.

Myself and David, as I now consider myself enough of a good friend to call him, had a brief exchange of views at the end of the game in which certain aspects of his behaviour were touched upon. I think we both learned something that day; I learned that not everyone in football has a thick skin, and he learned not to stop to talk with fat, red-faced shouty men next to the players' tunnel. Everyday is indeed a school day.

Whether or not our putative new highly sensitive supremo will be there tomorrow or nay, I'm looking forward to it. The weather forecast suggests a chilly but bright afternoon with a bit of a breeze, ideal conditions for getting out of the ground as quickly as possible afterwards and hammering down some chips with curry sauce on them. Imagine the steaming! Oh yes. Sutton are bottom of the table but have managed a victory and two draws in their last three games, though these were against Tranmere, Colchester and Bradford which still suggests there is a bottom half of the table vibe about them. If only they had kept Donovan Wilson they would find it easier to score goals. Hehe.

Does anyone here remember Lenell John Lewis? What? Every single one of you does? After having a bit of a nightmare against Dorking, poor old Lenny found himself sent off in the game's dying moments. This isn't much of a story in itself, except that someone had Dorking manager Marc White mic'ed up for the game. If you can find the footage, which I believe is on Tiktok, it's a fascinating insight into what is being said between players and benches at emotional moments in the game. Spoiler: most of the dialogue consists of words beginning with the letter 'F'.

Presumably our putative new, etc. won't be in charge for tomorrow's game, so if it does turn out to be Pearson and Benji's last bow as supremos it would be fantastic to go out with a victory and leave the new manager in a healthier and less immediately threatening league position. If we obtain three points and we do indeed get a new manager, we owe them a huge debt of gratitude for everything they have done. In fact, whatever happens tomorrow, well done to both of them. In a short time they've got me looking forward to going to Town games again and manufactured a sense of possibility and optimism that had been sadly lacking in the weeks prior to their appointment.

Let's get out there and win this. We've got the firepower. We've got the determination. We've got the, erm…defence. Have we? Of course we have! Come on, Town!