Cod Almighty | Diary

Playing for ice creams

17 January 2020

Apologies for the brevity of today's diary but your West Yorkshire Diary has long been considering a pseudonym change to Time Poor Diary, and a day like today only adds weight to my case.

Since yesterday's diary went live, we've had official confirmation on the superb new official site that James Tilley has signed for the club, and then we also learned that young Burnley midfielder Josh Benson has joined the Mariners on loan until the end of the season.

Fans are broadly on board with these two young, attacking additions to the squad. There's a certain level of trust in Ian Holloway — as there is for any new manager, really — particularly in the transfer market given his wealth of experience at a much higher level.

I'm in awe of Ollie's stamina. How he finds the time to talk to the players, talk to the press (local and national), visit schools, negotiate contracts, send messages to fans, take training, plan for our next match and make efforts to settle into the area is beyond me. It's exhausting just thinking about all he's done in the relatively short space of time he's been our manager.

If I had just 10 percent of his energy right now, you probably wouldn't be feeling cheated by this budget diary.

Tomorrow Town take on Exeter City. I haven't looked at our head-to-head records, or whether the referee is a numpty, but this feels like a clean slate; a time when we can ride this wave of positivity and totally discount anything that has come before. This is a time to channel your inner Alan Buckley; it's not a time to consider whether Exeter are any good, or what threats they pose.

All we need to know is that we're five games unbeaten, on the up, with a hard-working, positive manager. I'd like to think even the referee can't spoil tomorrow, which promises a 'bumper' crowd for Ollie's first proper home game in charge.

In case he doesn't already know it, let's show him how noisy we can be from all corners of the ground. If you're going, make lots of noise and enjoy the occasion. UTMM!