Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Tuesday 11 May 2004

11 May 2004

GTFC drop their heaviest hint yet that Nicky Law's calamitous tenure at Blundell Park will not be extended after he set the controls for the heart of Division Three. In a footnote to a page on the club's official website about the contractual status of players, it is revealed that Graham Rodger - whose popularity among Town fans has seen a mysterious and dramatic rise since early March - will take charge of the Mariners side that travels to Glanford Park on Thursday night for the Lincolnshire Cup final against Scunthorpe (there's always someone worse off than yourself). No official announcement will be made, however, before Wednesday's board meeting. Elsewhere on the site it is claimed that "Town will be taking their first-team squad to face the Iron," which only begs the question "What first-team squad?" But the OS reminds us that among the players contracted until the end of May is Mickael Antoine-Curier, which says more about Law's period in charge than the Diary ever could.

If the Lincolnshire Echo is to be believed then the meagre playing resources that remain at the Mariners' disposal could soon be supplemented by the admirable 38-year-old form of Neil Redfearn. Perhaps best known for his glorious contribution to Barnsley's mayfly-like Premiership season in the late 90s, the creaking midfielder has just been released by Rochdale, where he signed a short-term deal after leaving Boston in March when Steve 'Dodgy' Evans went back. "Grimsby's frailties have been well-documented and somebody like Neil could help shore that up," is how the Echo backs up its frankly tenuous-looking story, which is not only a badly constructed sentence but is also attributed only to "a source close to the club". This could, of course, mean John Fenty himself, but is equally likely to signify the kid who flips Whoppers at the McDonalds on Grimsby Road.

As if Ben Thatcher's sudden fondness for leeks and male voice choirs were not enough, you might think Town's newly acquired third division status would prove the death knell for Darren Barnard's place in the Wales squad. You'd be bloomin' wrong, though, chief! Mark Hughes has retained Town's out-of-contract left-back in the eclectic set of footballers that will represent the principality in Norway on 27 May and at home to Canada three days later. Dar-Bar's chances of kicking a ball in either match look remote, however, given not only the player's indifferent recent form but the competition from Thatcher, Crewe's David Vaughan and Newcastle's Gary Speed.

Another former Town left-back, Ben Chapman, is among eight players released by third division peers Boston. The Scunthorpe-born short-arse, whose finest hour in a black and white shirt was the legendary League Cup win at Liverpool in 2001, joined the Pilgrims on a free transfer two years ago but is set for an anxious summer after his club announced its retained list yesterday. Nimble goalkeeper Steve Croudson, who signed for Boston last summer after his surprise release by the Mariners, is another who is packing his bags at York Street.

It's all a bit sad, isn't it? Let's have some good news. Did you know, for instance, that Town play in the best-attended sporting competition in Europe? No, not the Lincolnshire Cup: the Football League. That's the crafty spin being put on the news that attendances in England's second, third and fourth tiers of professional togger are at their highest since Rubber Soul came out, with a total of 15.9 million clicks of the turnstile this season. At a time when men in suits wag their fingers more vigorously than ever while they tell us we can't have full-time football outside the top two divisions, the statistics pay warm tribute to the unique strength and richness of our nation's football culture. "Division Two attendances are now more than double the equivalent Leagues in Italy and Germany and more than three times those in France," proclaims the League's website with justified pride. Crowds in the third division, meanwhile, rose by a tremendous 21 per cent this season, of which surely not all can be attributable to East Yorkshire stadium fetishists.