Cod Almighty | Diary

OK Computer World

21 September 2026

A Teletext win, a Ceefax three points, an 8-bit victory. A welcome result. An empty game. We can only beat what's in front of us. Take the win and move on. Cook-less Town are blunt Town. Cook-less Town could've had five. Sometimes goals kill games. Happy to let them play in front of us. Happy to let them have the ball and bounce off our solid backline. We won't see a poorer side defensively than Crawley all season.

Simple statements to sum up a simple game. The new Town were simply too good for the new Crawley. In the past, after a start like that, after 20 minutes as flat as that, we'd have huffed and puffed and laboured to a draw or conceded one in a moment's hesitation and laboured to equalise. Not this Town. This Town took three points from a flat game.

So, instead of watching those flat highlights, check out Clive Mendonca's interview. Our Wearside wizard talks passionately about his time here and his memories of the football played in those heady days of the mid-90s are a joy to hear. That partnership with Neil Woods is still the highwater mark for your View from the Weekend Diary; listening to him speaking so warmly and proudly about being part of such a talented team threatens to bring a tear to the eye.

Back to the present and the humdrum humbling of those heretofore hoofers in red. They try to play, but they don't have much of a clue if it's not going their way. The waves of their attacks were piddling things that lapped against Kacurri and McJannet, sprinkling a little water into Pym's face but nothing like enough to cause an issue. To have all that possession and your goalkeeper is man-of-the-match would suggest the writing is on the wall. A46 Diary pointed out the fatal signs in Kazim-Richards's pre-match interview and his focus on the need to be professional. His post-match focused on the need to get the basics right. Someone's going to have a lot of time to get ready for Christmas.

Artell, in a much better position, was able to complain about his team without sounding like he was about to face the Gallows Pole. For him, and for the rest of us, the game was a missed opportunity to fill some boots. That old line of not being ruthless was used again, and a few eyebrows will be raised at its repetition. We're yet to replace Kabia's impact and goals, his X-factor. Morgan looks a better footballer, and he worked hard across the front three on Saturday, but he doesn't yet have the spark to light up a game like Kabia did.

These are, of course, very much first world problems considering he got a goal and an assist on his first home start, and perhaps I'm mostly annoyed because most of the play was at the Osmond end, but for so much of Saturday he and much of the team failed to ignite. Those made of glass do not help. Gardner? Andrews? Cook? Spark it up, forwardses!

Sparks do look ready to fly from Cartwright. The floppy-haired Teessider teased his full-back for much of the afternoon and could have been on the scoresheet. He looks a real find and a big improvement on the loan signings we've had in recent years. Sonny Finch also impressed when he came on, causing problems with his pace and movement. He definitely should've been on the scoresheet, however, and he will be kicking himself for a big miss towards the end.

Joe Foulkes got his league debut on the right wing. The full-back looked okay up there and also missed a golden opportunity for his first goal for the club. He must be desperate to show us what he can do in his proper position. Tuesday night's Boycott Cup will give him the chance. The same for Riley Reynolds, I assume. I am yet to be convinced by him but perhaps he is suffering from needs-must appearances on the left; he looked more effective in those central cameos at the start of the season.

So, on a weekend when Artell confirmed it would be best to be in the groove but if being groove-lite means we can still win 2-0 every week then that would be 'groovy', it's time to boogie on down to the next proper fixture and take another three points. Do that and we get to the exciting position of two points per game. Now that's the kind of numbers I'd like to see on an 8-bit table on Teletext and Ceefax.