Cod Almighty | Diary
A system of substance
13 March 2025
Having fought our way back into play-off contention with a magnificent eight-game unbeaten run (the like of which we haven’t seen in the Football League since, er… our last relegation season), the Mariners failed to climb into the top seven when the opportunity presented itself on Tuesday night.
We could’ve gone fifth. We could’ve been looking down on Crewe, Port Vale, and Notts County. We could’ve had a positive goal difference! Imagine that.
Alas, those things didn’t happen. Our squad looked as patchy as the Blundell Park pitch during Tuesday’s tilting by those pesky Magpies from Buckleyshire. Our injuries appeared to finally catch up with us. A few more will be carrying knocks and bruises into this weekend’s tussle with Salford on the Cleethorpes sand, so what kind of starting XI or performance we’ll get against the Classless ’92 on Saturday remains to be seen. At least we’ve made it difficult for them to do their homework on us.
What kick-started our recent run of form was that last-gasp equaliser at home to Gillingham. Who knew that such a ponderous performance would be the catalyst to a resurgence that would thrust us right back into the promotion shake-up.
This season could yet end in glory. After all, was it not just a few short years ago that Town started a season well, dropped off badly, then re-entered the play-off picture to snatch promotion in the most dramatic of circumstances?
It’s difficult to know what to feel. Are we genuine play-off contenders? The league table would suggest so. Outside the play-offs on goal difference only, with ten games to go. To not get excited would do Artell and the gang a disservice. But it also seems unfair to demand or expect the play-offs, as there still festers a feeling of overachieving. Do I really believe, or do I simply want to believe?
The irony is that I believe in this team more than I did the one that temporarily went second in the league for a few minutes on New Year’s Day. That team, and the success it enjoyed, somehow felt fragile and temporary, as if it was built on ideas rather than substance.
This team, and this system, has substance. The players are comfortable and the performances are controlled. There’s a greater balance in our play; it’s a better mix of knowing when to pounce and when to purr.
To begin with, our upward trajectory felt nice. Nothing more — just a few victories to remind fans of the quality that’s in the squad. Since it lifted us to the brink of the play-offs, Tuesday’s dent was felt a more sharply than if we’d been meandering in midtable.
Those sliding doors against Gillingham could’ve seen Danny Rose miss and set us off in another direction. But now that we’re here, why not get excited by what could happen? Saturday gives us another opportunity to make it into the play-offs.
Saturday is also a day when the club will be supporting the Unite For Access campaign. I’m sure they support the initiative all year round, but you know what I mean. Disabled fans haven’t always enjoyed smooth matchday experiences — I’m talking generally here — and while things have improved — generally — more can and should always be done to give them a matchday experience anyone would expect.
I listened to a podcast a few years ago (I forget who was on it) where the host asked someone with a disability what they called ‘non-disabled’ people. They said ‘not-disabled-yet’, as we’ll all acquire disabilities as we get older. So, why not do something about it now, and make the world a more accessible place for when we do inevitably find our lives impaired in some way (if we aren’t already). It was an interesting take on a topic where the amount of tangible action never quite seems to match the amount it’s talked about.
Enjoy the rest of your Thursday and UTM!