Cod Almighty | Diary
Things are never good, they just go from bad to weird
10 December 2025
Well, at least we aren't Bristol Rovers. Interestingly, they had collected 16 points from a possible 18 - including three at Blundell Park, natch - before they embarked on their current epic nine-match losey run.
All of which shows that fortunes can change quickly in this crazy old game called soccerball. The philosophical world is traditionally split into glass half-full and glass half-empty attitudes to football and life, though there is a third group - those of us who stare mournfully at the water, think dark thoughts about the futility of existence and wonder why man bothered crawling out of the stuff in the first place. Recent results, especially for Rovers and Town fans, have suggested the third way might be the most realistic.
Last night was rather ruined by the wind. One of the great divides in the way the game is perceived is between those who have played, at any basic level, and those who haven't. Those who haven't think that by keeping the ball on the ground wind can be overcome or becomes irrelevant. Those who have played know that wind can make the ball bobble off the foot at any altitude, make even the smallest bounce unpredictable and the elements of brownian motion, luck and guesswork come into play even more than usual in this random division of collisions and fortune. These bobbly movements are often subtle - you might think the players are just rubbish whereas they are just doing their best in difficult circumstances.
Anyway it's an away point and Harrogate lost, so we have an 11-point gap between us and the relemegation zone. As long as we actually ever win a game again we might get to at least stay where we are.
Our visitors on Saturday are the Notts Counties, who are currently second in the table. Yikes. They beat MK Dons 3-2 last night, though two of the Counties' goals were, as lazy commentators might say, early Christmas presents. Honestly, watch them. They're comical. Exactly the type of goal we give away but never receive. Perhaps the wind was to blame.
Tonight Crewe will overtake us when they beat Newport and we will be in the bottom half of the table for the first time this season. Remember when we nearly went top and we beat Man Utd? Seems a while ago, doesn't it? Philosophically, some will see us as halfway up the table and some will see us as halfway down. I will stare mournfully at the table, think dark thoughts about the futility of sport and wonder why man ever bothered kicking a ball in the first place.
Glass half empty diary? He's the relatively cheerful one, he'll be along later in the week. In the meantime here's a picture of me and retro diary reacting to our latest results.
