Cod Almighty | Diary

If only we supported Manchester City we’d be top now

8 March 2022

Trentside Diary writes: It would be an exceptional Town fan who doesn't occasionally succumb to a bit of "if only". If only we'd had a decent referee at the 2015 play-off final. If only the former major shareholder had gone a few seasons earlier, or meant what he said and the loans really were benign and to be written off when he sold. If only we had maintained the form from the start of the season we'd still be top. Our current form is the best in the league so we would almost certainly still be top.

Be honest though: if we had gone this far wouldn't you be expecting us to crash and burn for the last few matches? Almost like we can't have too much of a good thing or it will spoil us. In so many seasons we have had a slow start and then picked up and thought that "if only we'd had a decent start we'd be top now". We had our blip in the middle this year, just for a bit of variety.

Chairman Wow posted about a friend getting him the programme for the first Town game he went to. I'm just a bit jealous. Not for the programme but for knowing his first game. I have memories of many games over the years but not which game was the first one I attended. I remember standing at the front in the Barrett looking over the fence watching the game but I have no idea who we were playing. My dad wasn't a Town fan as such so I can only think it was probably the year Lawrie McMenemy took us up that prompted him to take us. That and he maybe didn't want his children cramping his style by taking us to watch his team in the days when children weren't allowed in pubs. All I know is that I was bitten from that day and was so happy to reach an age when I was allowed to go on my own so could go every week.

It's matchday. I really feel for all of those fans who trogged off down to Southend on a Friday night in February to be told it was off at 4:30 in the afternoon. There had been enough about Storm Eunice to suggest that it should have been postponed rather than have people travel down but as ever fans count for very little, whichever league your team plays in. Their form has dipped a little since the postponed game with a series of draws. May that dip continue for at least another 24 hours.

Finally, we have another player in the Vanarama team of the week. This week it's Luke Waterfall and again you can't argue with that. He's been a different player since last season. Long may it continue.

UTM.