Cod Almighty | Diary

They used to play for Arsenal you know

27 February 2026

After the suddenly huge gap of a full week, we're back to it, hoping for the best, hoping for a defensive reset and hoping for goals, goals, goals and points, points, points. For some this week, that hope has been a demand, even an expectation. Town's new headier heights mean we can display a little more entitlement than we've had room for in the past, something that has sparked some spikes into the flatline created by all those years in the non-league.

I remember well the first few seasons, when we were convinced we should be beating the likes of Braintree. The 5-0 loss down at Cressing Road in 2012 is a result often referenced, but always well worth remembering as we fall into the temptation of assuming results. Objectivity is pretty much impossible for any football fan, and perhaps more unlikely for smaller club diehards; our successes are small and yet our dreams are big. To some, sometimes to many, every perceived failure is a very real failure.

Your A46 Diary is still more annoyed at the two points dropped against Walsall than the three against Bristol Rovers. The Saddlers' equaliser was the flame that lit the fuse to the bomb that blew up our undefeated run so spectacularly in the first seven minutes down at the Memorial Ground. I'd have done well to recognise that the flame on Wednesday was the kindling for the oven in which humble pie must be baked.

Humility is forgotten at our peril. Pride does, after all, go before a fall, and recent assumptions of success should always have been tempered by Braintree. And we have much nearer memories in this season's games against Tranmere, Cambridge, Colchester, not forgetting the first half of Rovers' double over us. With Notts, Salford and Bromley in the next eight days, if anyone is making assumptions about results they do so at their peril.

The 19th minute in tomorrow's game will see the fans mark the second anniversary of the passing of Cameron Walsh. A minute's applause is the smallest reminder that there are more important things than the results of football games.

Notts County tomorrow. Artell tells us we're nearly at our full quota of forwards for the first time this season. This announcement was by way of explaining Soonsup-Bell's recent absence; he’s just unlucky that Cook and Kabia are ahead of him. Will Gardner and Svanthorsson also leapfrog the Thai terror? Gardner is tantalisingly, crisp-packet-chasingly close, so close we could touch him. But we can't yet, not with those hamstrings. And our favourite Icelandic bog roll puppy? As close as he's been, DA tells us, seemingly forgetting that he's been much closer this season by actually featuring in the first team. That was his gist, I guess, as he says we can't push him too hard or he will relapse again.

The Magpies' forwards, deadly duo Dennis and Jatta, will be a stiff test for our was-solid-but-may-now-be-leaky defence. Matthew Dennis, 23, is a former Arsenal youngster who cut his teeth at various clubs before joining County in 2025. He scored five in six at the start of the season and now sits third in the scoring charts with 14. Gambian international Allasano Jatta's personal numbers for this season are not quite so impressive but his career average for County is better than one in two. Our boots were made for shaking.

So, what hope do we have? We have our own former Arsenal man in Maldini and some fabulous memories at Meadow Lane for starters. But those are mostly from non-league. We haven't won there in the EFL since 2009 and haven't beaten them outside of non-league in the last six attempts. Due a win or destined to fail? We'll have to wait and see, but none of us should be making any assumptions.