Cod Almighty | Diary
Not quite my tempo
14 August 2024
Mr Target Demographic writes: What a feeling! Everything just always seems better after a win, doesn't it? I think that maybe says more about my mental health and the effects Grimsby Town have on it than anything else though. The cherry on top of the black-and-white-fish-decorated cake though is that we actually played well. Was it against Bradford's B team…yes and no. While many of, I'm sure, their first team players didn’t start, Andy Cook, Pointon and Sarsavic all made appearances with more than enough time to impact the game significantly.
Thankfully we don’t have to wait long to know if we can beat them in the league as well with the Bantams returning in just over two weeks. I can tell you one thing for free about that game already: it's going to be extra tasty between not only the fans but the players as well. Charles Vernam cupping his ears to the Bradford fans and then proceeding to shush them after scoring his penalty will no doubt make him public enemy number one in Bradford this morning and I wouldn't be surprised to see tackles fly in on Vernam when they return.
As I've already hinted, one of the reasons it all felt so positive after the game last night was due to the way we played. What's most annoying about it is that it wasn't much different to how we played against Fleetwood, but one simple change allowed the system to work much more effectively at breaking teams down. That change was in tempo, the tempo we had for around 60 minutes against Bradford was levels that I haven’t seen from Town in a long time, the passing was quick one-touch and saw us play around Bradford quite nicely. This is what I believe we lacked against Fleetwood, as in both games we have dominated possession, but we moved it a lot quicker last night than on Saturday.
To make the difference obvious, the goal scored last night came from passing it back to the centre-halfs who quickly played it out to Warren, quickly into the middle then through to Green who played a FIRST TIME (that part is crucial here) ball into Wilson which caught the defender off guard, resulting in the mistake and thus the goal. Simple when you write it out like that isn't it. I put emphasis on the first-time element because I believe in this system that Artell wants to play there is little time for dithering on the ball; you must be confident and sure of yourself to make the passes first time accurately so that the tempo can remain high, and we can move through teams like a warm knife through butter. I feel like J.K. Simmons in Whiplash screaming about tempo, but if that's what it takes its what I'll do.
Speaking of which, I hope to see this tempo and the style of play continue, especially for the first proper home game of the season, because if we fall back into slow tempo play, I have no doubt Cheltenham will find it very easy to just sit off us and let us have the ball while they defend a 1-0 lead.
Finally, it feels harsh to remember the fact that Jake Eastwood appears to be our second-choice goalie. I feel he had an excellent game last night, saving multiple penalties and scoring one himself! He was early in the order as well wasn't he, I think he went at number 5 or 6 if I'm not mistaken. Eastwood's kicking can sometimes leave a little to be desired and that's why I believe Wright is favoured over him but still Wright will need to prove himself as, right now, I'm sure many Grimsby fans are loving Jake Eastwood!
Bring on Saturday, lets pack the park!!!
UTM