Cod Almighty | Diary

He's one of our own

17 January 2022

Miss Guest Diary writes: Hands up those who stayed up till midnight yesterday to get the first possible viewing of the official highlights of the Altrincham game. I didn't really need to – I had a perfect view of the goals in the Pontoon, being right behind the flight of the ball both times. I also saw multiple bootleg versions on social media, but somehow it felt important to see the official version.

Rather like the philosophical conundrum "if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" – does a Town goal really exist until it has been acknowledged by a celebratory "Ohhh yesssss!" from John Moore? Or, in the case of McAtee’s goal: "Oh woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, I'll say!"

The goals would have been remarkable at any time, but coming as they did to clinch a win after Town's recent poor run of results, they seemed even more remarkable. Add Saturday's win to the good performances against Halifax, and I think we can feel some optimism for the rest of the season. Not least because the two new defenders – Danny Amos and Andy Smith – played well and looked solid.

Town's other new recruit, Scott Burgess, wasn't on the pitch long enough to give a real idea of his capabilities. He is described as a central midfielder but with Ben Fox's recent storming performances and the energetic contributions made by Harry Clifton this season, will he be able to break into the side?

Saturday's crowd was the smallest so far this season, which is not all that surprising given the recent losses and that many won't have had a payday since the expenditures of Christmas. So we season ticket holders should dig out those "bring a friend for just £5" vouchers which can be used at next Saturday's game. We need to pack the Park and make sure that Bromley get a taste of the medicine which was dished out to the travelling Town support at their ground back in September.

To round up the player news: Seb Revan and Will Bapaga have been recalled by their parent clubs, and Danny Rose is to remain on loan at Darlington until the end of the season. He's one of the players that, having arrived during the lockdown season, is not on my radar at all and I don't expect to ever see him play for Town.

Far be it from me to pour cold water on BOTB Diary's sausage-based theory of how Town can leap up through the divisions based on confidence alone but, as he likes a fable, I would refer him to the one about the tortoise and the hare. In short, I prefer to believe in the wisdom of Chairman Wow. His plan for achieving success, summed up in Saturday's programme, is based on the strategy of continual improvement to which he and the rest of the management team are committed. Not dissimilar to the marginal gains theory employed by David Brailsford and the British cycling team which has seen them win so many gold medals at recent Olympics.

I can't go without mentioning that the One of Our Own feature in Saturday's programme was about Cod Almighty's Tony Butcher. If you didn't get a programme, you can read it on the Grimbarians website, along with the features about all the other GTFC people which have appeared this season.

UTM