Cod Almighty | Diary
Words mean so little and money less
10 November 2017
Wicklow Diary writes: Hooking up the Super New Higher HD IFollow Mariners Player via a dodgy free VPN connection doesn't count. Tomorrow is my first match of the season. It's a slightly embarassing confession from someone who had been averaging ten games a season. I don't expect an award for this. For me, tomorrow is 'EXETER, AWAY!' For most of the people I'll meet tomorrow, it's 'Exeter Away? Same pub as last year then?'
Apart from the sea and 250 miles of land between me and GY, why haven't I been going? Original/regular Diary posed and kindly answered the question on Wednesday. How do people decide whether or not they're going to the football?. I'm with Baby Diary. The current set of players mean nowt to me. Yet. It's not their fault, we were spoilt with the last lot. What about the back-up? If it's not happening for me on the pitch, there's always the pride of being associated with a forward-thinking club that respects and engages with its fans. Oh yes. They haven't got a clue, have they? When you're looking for reasons not to join the queue for a seat on a budget airline, GTFC provide on a weekly basis.
This week's serving came from the accounts manager. The man that brought us the orange neon 'Grimsby Town Sports' logo and a shirt made of asbestos loft lagging can add PR to kit design in the 'at least you gave it a go, Steve' category. The club had previously dismissed the Trophy boycott as a few keyboard warriors causing trouble. A noisy minority. That was galling but this week's comments show the club can have it both ways. Dismiss you as insignificant, yet complain that you've enough influence to 'bully' four thousand fans.
It's all shit then. So why am I bothering tomorrow? We've mused over this a bit at Cod Almighty. It comes down to the friendships. The joke about the ninety minutes of football being the only thing that can ruin your day isn't far off. Original Diary didn't mention that we we'd considered taking GTFC out of the equation altogether by going to a non-league game. Travel, swap stories and have a laugh. Whilst getting pissed in the clubhouse of course. One hundred and fifty Town fans are off to Aalst this weekend for similar reasons (and I'm sure with similar intentions). It's why Aalst were over with us for the Leyton Orient game in March. It's why I've booked three trips before Christmas. That's why we go. Steve Wraith, John Fenty, Shaun Harvey probably don't get it and never will. Ever. If any of them did, they've since lost it in their bubbles. Boardroom warriors is what they are.
Sermon over from the lad who hasn't been since April. Football news. Reece Hall Johnson's Russian Doll loan nightmare is starting to take shape. Having gone on loan to get match fit, he's twanged his hamstring. Chester will presumably loan him out when he recovers and so on until his career ends five clubs later with a Sunday league side on the rec but fit as a whippet.
Reece suffered the injury against Wrexham and Shaun Pearson t'other night. Or Cross-Cleared-by-Pearson as they were calling him on the telly. Things have moved on without us in the Bananarama; Michael Owen and Dean Saunders were on pundit duty. Chris Hargreaves must have been getting his short back and sides done or summat. Or maybe Fuck BT Sport were just punishing the Micky and Deano for being a pair of insufferable prats.
Perhaps Reece's descending loan journey will take him to Sutton, where he can team up with Tom Bolarinwa. Like many before him Tom has been given the three month kiss of death from Don Russ. It's a shame. Tom has his faults but he also has pace. You can't coach pace: surely Russ or Wilkie could have tried to improve other parts of game? Maybe they have tried.
Omar Bogle completes our ex-player round up. He's currently on a different trajectory to Reece, scoring again for Cardiff at the weekend. He also picked up a red card, which is a shame. The real shame however will be when Cardiff sell him to Leicester for 20 million quid and Wigan get, I dunno, a five million sell-on. GTFC? Nowt, except, once again, the confused look of a man who's lost another game of three-card Monte.
Team news. Devon Diary has the side picked (same as last week) and the match report written already (we'll keep that back as a surprise). There's nowt on the #GTFC Twitter but literally a load of arse and I've a plane to get. See you tomorrow. UTM.