Cod Almighty | Diary

Signifying nothing

19 November 2024

Pat Glover was Grimsby's greatest goal-scorer, arguably our greatest-ever player. A further mark of his greatness was to accept when his time was up. In 1939, after two seasons spent mainly receiving medical treatment, the board included him in the list of players to be released when the season was over. When Glover scored twice in his final appearance they began to have second thoughts, but Glover knew better. He was a player who thrived on confidence and anticipated that when he hit an inevitable bad patch he'd find it hard to recover if he felt he was being doubted. Instead, he made his fond farewells and he left, his legacy untainted.

Too old to call myself middle aged, Newbegin Diary has an inkling how hard it is to accept that there are things we can no longer do. Perhaps some kind person could have a tactful word with Ian Holloway. Talk of ghosts on the Swindon training ground play well with the media, and perhaps that is where he is best advised to concentrate his future career. Fans of a club one place above the relegation places and with two points from their last five games are unlikely to be amused or distracted. Let's move on.

"Must-win" is almost always an exaggeration, especially in November, but when it comes to Grimsby Town Women's match with Gainsborough Trinity next weekend, there is a kernel of truth to it. The East Midlands Division One North leaders are five points ahead of Grimsby and there are only 11 matches left in which to make up the ground and claim the only promotion place. Of course, they are building firm foundations for the future, so their fate does not depend on it, but a win would give an impetus to their current campaign. The summit clash is at Clee Fields next Sunday - get along if you can.

The men meanwhile could be in the automatic promotion places on Saturday. A mere two months of home defeats does nothing to dispel the expectation that Grimsby should win at Blundell Park, and with an early kick-off, a 12-0 win over Colchester will have us in the top three for a couple of hours. If Notts County lose, we need only improve our goal difference by ten.

Stranger things have happened, like someone creating this latest entry in the catalogue of awful statues of footballers. Tempting to suggest that they deliberately made it like that so that no one would claim it was impossible to tell it apart from the real, and increasingly immobile, England captain.

You will have your own suggestions for the most statuesque performance ever given at Blundell Park. Neil Webb was a fine player for Nottingham Forest and England, just as before his knee injury Pat Glover had been the best centre forward in Britain, and Ian Holloway was once a fresh and inspiring manager. Nevertheless, Webb's appearances when he attempted a comeback under Brian Laws make him an early contender.