Cod Almighty | Diary

Keep Right On To The End Of The Road

18 August 2025

Miss Guest Diary writes: Schadenfreude – you know, that guilty pleasure from witnessing someone else's misfortune. Except I have never felt guilty when that pleasure is derived from enjoying the misfortune of Town fans who leave before the end of a match and miss an equalising or, better still, winning goal.

I thought the concept originated in Germany, probably because the word itself is German, but a bit of delving around the internet showed that many other cultures recognise the concept and have their own expression for it, including the English word 'epicaricacy'. My favourite is the Japanese saying that "the misfortunes of others taste like honey". Apparently in Papua New Guinea it is known as Banbanam and, taken to its extreme, involves taunting a dead rival by exhuming their corpse and scattering the remains around the village.

I wouldn't go that far with the early exiters from Blundell Park, it's sufficient to know that those who started the exodus on Saturday around the 80-minute mark missed the sheer joy of Greeny's winner and the massive celebrations which ensued.

It wasn't lost on David Artell either that, unlike every single one of his team, some fans didn’t bother to stay the distance. He suggested in his post-match interview that the early leavers preferred to queue for Man United tickets instead of supporting the team till the end. He may have been right, but it's a mystery why anyone would consider this necessary when season ticket holders' seats are guaranteed until midnight tomorrow.

But no one had that 'excuse' last season, and it didn't stop mass walk outs in quite a few games. I will never understand why people leave a football match before the end – why bother going at all on that basis? Even if you are losing heavily, leaving early might mean missing a once-in-a-lifetime piece of skill from one of your team. If Greeny's wonder goal last season had been scored in stoppage time at Blundell Park, how many would have missed it? And, win or lose, what about sparing a few minutes to stay behind and applaud the team for their efforts?

Anyway, enough of the moaning. Three victories in a row at home for the first time in Artell's reign and somehow it doesn't feel surprising. Artell continues to repeat that it's only four games and it's too early to be getting carried away but I'm afraid it's too late. I have already let myself be carried away on a tide of optimism and that's that.

So it's on to Walsall tomorrow, where we haven't lost since 2020. I'm hoping for a repeat of the Khouri/Turi midfield pairing which worked so well last week against Shrewsbury. If you aren't travelling to the game, here's how you can join the watch party in McMenemy's.

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