Cod Almighty | Diary

I don't go on your internets

12 July 2013

Mardy Diary writes: So The Fishy has gone. Or at least the messageboard, which is what most used it for. The situation seems slightly curious: Rob Sedgwick, who runs the site, made mention of "on-going legal action" which suggests this isn't something out of the blue. But who would have taken agin The Fishy who wouldn't have done in the past? It's not like there hasn't been the risk of litigation on there in the past.

So, although first suspicions might be that it's related to the club – and let's not forget that GTFC have a history of overreaction – it seems unlikely given that the forum has always had an element of posters who were openly critical of the club and the people who run it. So either this legal case has been running for a very long time, or the action has been taken by an individual not connected to the club.

Either way, the allegations must be serious if Rob doesn't see a return of the messageboard in the near future. What could be so bad that would require the entire removal of the board?

It's at times like this we have no other option but to blindly and hopelessly speculate on who took the action to close the site. After all, it's what The Fishy would've wanted.

John Fenty
The Grimmo Telegraph. The BBC. The law. There is literally no-one on the planet who John Fenty hasn't had a run-in with. It stands to reason, then, that after years of seeing his name surrounded by swear-filtered words, he'd finally had enough and decided to out The Fishy from the building.

In his defence, the fact that his brothers, 27 cousins and a handful of great aunts all posted on the site to help promote The Fenty Manifesto suggests he wouldn't have been keen to lose such a vital PR platform.

David Burns
All the accusations of being a Hull City supporter may finally have taken their toll on the erstwhile radio reporter. Tired of accusations of bias and favour to the north bank, Burns could have taken drastic action to clear his name once and for all.

In his favour, the difficulty of him proving that he isn't a Hull supporter may weaken any legal action he may choose to take.

Scunthorpe United
The Iron may have finally grown tired of Fishy posters replacing the swear word in the middle of their name with a swear word of less impact (Scumthorpe, Scuncrap, Poothorpe – that sort of thing). Although in their favour, they may prefer the less offensive versions to their actual name.

The Grim Outlook
Funny isn't it? The Grim Outlook is suddenly 'revived', starts posting onTwitter, and a couple of days later The Fishy messageboard gets closed. Coincidence? I think not.

J'accuse the cheese eaters. Tired of Grimsby messageboards where everyone talked about football and Grimsby rather than the important things in life like cheese, they finally decided to take action.

The super-new-absolutely-sparkling-acemer official site
You could suggest that the SNOS could have a grievance against The Fishy for various things, but execution isn't their big thing. Even if they did have reason to want to take down the messageboard, in all likelihood any legal document would probably have been sent to a chip shop in Southport by accident.

Cod Almighty
Those Guardian-munching liberals at the ivory towers of Cod Almighty HQ may have finally decided to take control of Grimsby Town opinion on the web once and for all. Removing The Fishy messageboard will have removed the biggest obstacle to complete and utter Grimsby Town domination.

Rumours that they plan to start their own heavily moderated messageboard where every post is replaced with a derogatory comment about Fenty have yet to be confirmed.

I will leave you to idly speculate on who the perperators of the action are. Have a good weekend.