Cod Almighty | Diary

We've all suffered for Town's art

3 December 2024

It is Newbegin Diary's birthday, my 61st if you must know, an age when your mind starts to feel like a dusty archive.

For instance, does anyone else remember the late, wonderful Neil Innes? Nowadays he is probably best known for his role in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but once he was in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, that pitch-perfect Beatles parody The Rutles, and his own forgotten TV masterpiece, The Innes Book of Records. One of the characters he played was a would-be Bob Dylan who went on stage announcing "I've suffered for my art. Now it's your turn." That is the unofficial motto of the Mariners.

Just as this week, Keir Starmer's government is preparing a re-launch which is not a re-launch, manager Dave Artell is hinting at something similar after our elimination from the FA Cup gave him the opportunity of a ten-day training block with his squad. Tonight we will see if their suffering produces art.

It can't come soon enough, for December looks pivotal. Maintain at Swindon and Morecambe our knack for grinding out away wins and we can forget looking over our shoulders at the relegation fight. If we find at Blundell Park the incision to turn encouraging starts into goals, and the leadership to change things if our opponents come to terms with our tactics, then the visit of the league leaders Port Vale will gleam intriguingly after Christmas.

It isn't all about the men. On the official site, you will find details of the Women's team's derby win over the weekend, and how the youth team warmed up for their cup tie against West Ham with a draw at Bradford. It isn't all about the here and now either, even for a man starting to wonder how much of the future he will see. For two decades the word "proactive" was treated in the Grimsby boardroom like some new-fangled app, one which would never win you three points on a Saturday. Last week we secured a new deal, lasting until 2028, for Cameron Gardner, long before his old one expired.

It is customary on days like today to say that all I want for my birthday is a win. If it comes to it, I'd even accept the woolly socks of a scruffy draw and smile gratefully. But what I'd really like is a performance of conviction and gusto, and a late goal by Gardner to make sure of the win.

To paraphrase my friend and Main Stand neighbour Retro Diary, what I want, what we all want - Dave Artell included - is a moment so existentially and life-changingly brilliant that we can forget all the suffering. At least until next Saturday.