Cod Almighty | Diary

As opposed to good?

15 December 2025

Is it really that bad?

Your emergency Deviant Diarist is here to help you through these infuriating weeks of feckless football, to play Devil's Advocate and seek salvation and a solution and remind ourselves that the devil is in the detail.

Here we are in the middle of December with those marvellous memories of late summer fading, interest waning, the internet raging, as Town find another way to lose and drift down the division. But, yes the question really is "is it really that bad?"

Not being content does not mean one is in a winter of discontent.

After 20 league games we've had a handful of poor performances, many merely middling, and an acceptable dose of good ones mixed in, but the performances and results are mismatched. On that all sane followers of striped fashion can agree. If you don't agree you are, clearly, totally insane and, clearly, won't be reading this. Clearly.

What else is clear is that there's been no league victory since 18 October, no league victory against 11 men since 4 October, no home league victory against 11 men since 16 August and Town have plummeted to 14th in the table. And yet Town lurk five points from the last play-off position with a positive goal difference.

What does this tell us? What we've known all along: that most of the division is mostly of the same standard with a few stragglers and a couple that are just a little bit stronger. We have seen it with our own eyes: everyone is capable of falling apart, everyone is capable of beating anyone. Everyone has fallen apart sometime, everyone having beaten everyone.

Yes, Town are in falling apart stage at the moment, but only statistically; you know the data, well the most important data points – points gathering. We've got a defence that is, on paper, in the data, extremely solid – one of the lowest shots on target conceded. That rather begs a question over the goalkeeper. The current coach rather betrayed his inner thoughts during his latest tussle with Mat Dean before kicking into distraction mode. Yes, Dave, all long distance shots are indeed saveable unless they go into the top corner. And let's remember that previous unintended revelations include the fact that the goalkeeper is the only position for which they don't pay to use the data.

So our major weakness, the one that is causing the present trauma, is the only non-data led area. What a shame for the rabid ranters and emotionally incontinent seekers of simplicity out there.

It's fixable. Pym might remember how to be a goalkeeper. We may get a decent one in during January, making use of the cup-winning kitty. The injured players may return, we may buy our missing link – the big, strong striker who can actually play as a lone forward. We may do many things or nothing at all, but we'll only find out in May whether we've blown it or sewn it up.

Things are far from perfect, but much further away from inadequate. We just need to stop the pipes leaking and then we'll all be at peace. At least we know where the pipes are leaking. At least that much is clear.

And if we see clearly the pain may go.