Cod Almighty | Diary

Going to the match

6 March 2026

Miss Guest Diary writes: I thought I was getting the week off from diary duty but a poorly A46 Diary has put paid to that. I dare say Karl Robinson thought his players would get the better of Town on Tuesday but that didn't work out for him either, did it.

Many of you have probably already watched the video of the game on Salford's YouTube channel – if not, I recommend it. Not for the spectacle of Robinson's ranting and swearing in the dressing room but for the body language of the players during his pre-match 'motivational' talk and the looks on their faces at his ludicrous attempt at giving half-time tactical instructions, hampered by the fact that he obviously doesn't know the Town players' names. And when they had lost, what did he have to say to his players? "Get out of here."

Reputed to have one of the highest playing budgets in the fourth division and having spent nearly a million pounds on transfers in the last year, they have some skilful players but they looked like a bunch of individuals rather than a team. Town don't have anywhere near the same playing budget, but we have something much better – a management team who care about their players, who have built a squad who play for each other and for the fans. Can you imagine David Artell telling his players to "get out" after a defeat?

I can imagine the manager of tomorrow's opponents saying that – but that is my own prejudice kicking in. I am still a little traumatised by that Tuesday night in Bromley in September 2021 when Town fans almost drowned on an open terrace and where Andy Woodman and his players thought the right thing to do after they went 3-1 up was to run over and taunt us drowning rats. Since then we have played Bromley four times, winning two and losing two, so it's anybody's guess what might happen tomorrow. But the form books would probably give us the edge, having won three, drawn one and lost one in the last five, whereas Bromley have won one and drawn four.

When I was here last I did remind everyone that the season doesn't start till March and beating two play-off rivals in the space of four days has ramped up the demand for away tickets. Oldham was already sold out and now Chesterfield tickets, having only gone on sale yesterday morning, were sold out by lunchtime. The allocation of 1,061 tickets seemed a bit paltry but a glance at the EFL rules says that away fans must be allocated a minimum of 10% of the ground capacity, which is exactly what we have got. That some people are complaining that they missed the boat because they didn't even realise Chesterfield tickets had gone on sale shows that we fans need to be on the ball as much as the players do.

Some people need to be on the ball about other things too. I was amused on Tuesday night when some folks around me in the Pontoon were amazed to discover that tomorrow's game in a 12.30 kick off, despite it being announced a month ago. At the risk of boring everyone with my complaints about moving matches, by the time we play Barrow on the 21st we will have gone over two months without a Saturday 3pm kick off at Blundell Park. Sort it Town!