Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 5 July 2004

5 July 2004

Aidan Davison looks set to acquire a stomach-churning accent and a taste for tacky, oversized gold jewellery - not to mention a predilection for driving through appallingly dull and angry towns at dangerous speeds - after fixing up a move to Essex. Town's veteran goalkeeper, whose return to Blundell Park this time last year had fans dreaming of 1998 all over again, has been excused the final year of his contract after Colchester United offered him a chance of first-team football outside the bottom division. And after the disappointing season he ending up having for the Mariners, few Town fans will begrudge Davo this tremendous career move. So long and thanks for Wembley, Aid.

The Diary has been far from alone in noting that, for all Russell Slade's hard work in the transfer market thus far, his squad still looks a bit light up front. With over a month to go until the moderately sized kick-off, there is of course no cause for panic, but one player who won't be putting Town's striking deficiency to rights is Aldershot's Tim Sills, who - as Guest Diary recorded on Friday - got pissed off when GTFC gave him a deadline for signing, and is heading instead for... you guessed it: the Chelsea of the basement, Bristol Rovers. Today, it emerges, another frontman off of Russ's Big List, Kilmarnock's one-time Scottish international Gary McSwegan, is off to Ross County. Though you can't really lament the Mariners' reluctance to match County's offer of a three-year contract to a 33-year-old player, you might soon begin to wonder whether Steve Livingstone is about to be talked out of retirement.

Lastly today, since that Euro thing has finished - the tournament, not the currency - and we have another five weeks without football, you may be interested to learn that, economically speaking, Grimsby now marks the northernmost extremity of London. Funny, that, because the last time the Diary downed a pint of Willy's Original it cost considerably less than three quid.