Cod Almighty | Diary

Hey, what's that sound?

27 April 2026

Miss Guest Diary writes: Of late I have seen comparisons being made between this season and our last promotion season in 2021/22 – and I must admit I have been getting that feeling myself in the last couple of weeks. Back in 2022 we also clinched a play-off spot with one game to go and were able to travel away to our last game of the season against a side sitting near the bottom of the table with no stress. And if the current season had ended on Saturday the similarities would have been even greater: finishing in sixth place with 77 points and due to play Notts County in the play offs.

But the regular season hasn't ended yet. While our play-off place is secure we will have to wait until the final whistle next Saturday to know which of the play-off spots we will occupy – all four are possible – who Town will play and whether the first leg will be home or away. I'm not really bothered how all that pans out in terms of our prospects of getting to Wembley – I think on their day Town could defeat any of the possible opponents both home and away – but I do like to be able to plan trips to games as far in advance as possible. That is simply not possible this year and it's making me a little anxious.

Getting back to Saturday's game – Artell said in his post-match interview that it was the first time he could "smell the atmosphere" when he came out of the tunnel at Blundell Park. I know exactly what he means. Sitting in the Pontoon and being part of that crowd was electric. Back in August there was a great atmosphere from a packed ground for the Man United game, but that was a party – Saturday it was all business, and not a beachball in sight. Mr B and I had to rack our brains for the last time the ground had hummed in that way, and then we remembered: Town 3 – 1 Wrexham in September 2021.

I’m going to steal some quotes from the report of that game, which sum up how I was left feeling on Saturday: 

"Utterly marvellous, mostly magnificent for the team, and town, are one. We are together in an electric dream. On the pitch, off the pitch, it was pitch perfect. What a time to be alive. There is balance, this is a team. There's something happening here, what it is is beginning to become clear."

An important word in there is "team". There is no doubt that the arrival of Andy Cook has given Town a lot of strength and aerial presence up front but recently I had begun to wonder whether his forceful personality might have disrupted the togetherness of the squad. It has been possible at times to see him berating some of the less experienced players for mistakes. While probably justified, not everyone can bounce back from criticism. From his walk-in-the-woods interview Artell showed that he knows different players have different levels of need – some settle for a pre-game handshake, others need a big hug – and he is there to provide that. The last few performances seem to show that the squad is once more in harmony and team spirit is high, just in time for the final games of the season.

I can't go without mentioning the Player of the Year Awards last night (though I'm always puzzled as to why this event is held before the season has even finished). There were quite a few contenders for the top award this year: Rodgers, McJannet, Green, Kabia, Vernam – you could make a case for any one of them, but it went to Harvey Rodgers. What odds could you have got for that at the start of the season? Unsurprisingly, Maldini Kacurri took the young player award and Jamie Walker got goal of the season for his strike against Cheltenham. Well done lads.

UTM