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Diary - Thursday 6 May 2004

6 May 2004

Trial midfielder Steven Webb "showed some good touches" in Town reserves' 2-1 win at Boston last night, reports the club's official website, adding that Liam Nimmo and Nick Hegarty (the latest spelling of his name) were the spunky young bucks responsible for the goals. Webb, who turned up yesterday from Nottingham Forest hoping to restore the prestige of his surname in the North East Lincolnshire area, will appear again in the stiffs' final outing of the season at Scunthorpe next week - as will Simon Hackney, who turned out for the second string against Doncaster last week but didn't appear at York Street. Hackney is a 20-year-old left-winger from North West Counties Football League outfit Woodley Sports, for whom he has scored a none too shoddy 17 goals this season.

Fondly remembered former Mariners loanee Andy Todd, who left Charlton and Bolton after training ground bust-ups with other players, has raised his sights for his latest rumpus by clashing with his current manager, noted hardcase Graeme Souness. The Blackburn centre-half was reportedly told he would play against Leeds on 10 April but lost his place to Craig Short, not to mention his rag with Souness, and has not featured in a first-team game since. Todd is now expected to leave Ewood Park. The Diary, meanwhile, is going to stop typing and spend a few moments remembering what it was like to see a defender in a Town shirt who could actually defend.

Mmmmm. It was good.

Now then, if somebody knocked on the Diary's front door and offered me a million quid, I'd have their hand off, but maybe that's why I don't run Scunthorpe United. The Mariners' struggling neighbours have received a £1m nibble from a consortium fronted by the respected former FA compliance officer Graham Bean, says BBC Humber, half of which astronomical sum would have been made available for team strengthening, but recently returned Iron chairman Steve Wharton has sent his would-be successors packing. Supporters are said to be disappointed but not surprised given Wharton's sense of judgement: this being the man who reappointed Brian Laws as manager six weeks after his dismissal, restarting the club's spectacular plunge down the third division table.

To tell you the truth, in all this excitement we'd kinda forgotten about this Saturday's crucial critical crunch crescendo at Tranmere, for which GTFC have now shifted a tremendous 1,500 tickets. All the buses are full, too - which is good news for the environment - but they might lay some more on. We'll have balloons; Tranmere won't even have Micky Mellon, who is injured; and with the Telegraph reporting that even "Grimsby-based Liverpool fans" are rallying behind Town, the Mariners will have the backing not only of real football supporters but of pretend ones as well. How can we fail? Thanks for sticking with the Diary during this most traumatic of seasons; now let's do the same by our club - regardless of Saturday's outcome.