"Thou shalt have a fishy on a little dishy,
Thou shalt have a fishy when the boat comes in"
(Folk song used by the BBC in their series “When the boat comes in”
which starred James Bolam and Mrs Bolam a.k.a. Susan Jameson)
Quoted in deference to Grimsby Town’s UTS equivalent “The Fishy” and their calculator!
Before getting to the meat of the Grimsby Town game, here is another apt quotation -
“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” (Einstein)
Grimsby Town’s recent good form (4 wins in their last 6 games) has led to a position of 8th in League 2, a mere 2 points adrift of the play-offs, so they should offer a different kettle of fish(y) to the likes of Carlisle Utd and Morecambe - not that that will be of much comfort to us! With a highly enthusiastic David Artell in charge, their recent form looks like this:-
February 1st Bromley (A) Won 0-2
February 8th Carlisle Utd (H) Won 2-1
February 15th Doncaster Rovers (A) Won 1-2
February 22nd Fleetwood Town (H) Won 2-1
March 1st Cheltenham Town (A) Drew 1-1
March 4th Tranmere Rovers (H) Drew 1-1
Connections between the two clubs are numerous, and include Alan Buckley (naturally), Chris Nicholl, Stuart Watkiss, Andy Butler, Martin Butler, Gary Childs, Colin Cramb, Craig Shakespeare, Andy Tillson, and Darren Wrack.
As for The Saddlers, it must now be realised by all concerned that we are not just getting near “crunch time”, it has now arrived - our previously attained cushion at the top of the table now stands at a paltry 2 points, although we can take some comfort in the fact that we are still 10 points above the play-offs. However, this is largely due to other teams’ comparative failures rather than our achievements - and can not be relied upon in the 11 games still to play.
A genuine question … what possible management objective can be fulfilled by sending a proven goalscorer on to the field in the 89th minute? It’s clearly good practice when the team are 3 or 4 goals to the good, but surely not when the scores are level.
Prediction? Any realistic expectation must depend on Mat Sadler’s team selection for Saturday. There have been clear signs that some players are “leggy”, and on occasion this has escalated to a rare display of being “on the beach”. There might have been some justification for relaxation when we were a dozen points clear at the top but those days are well and truly past, and the preferred tactics of the high press demand commitment which may be drawn from previously benched players. No names, no pack drill, but this topic has been covered before!!
What the hell - it has to be 2-1 to the rejuvenated Saddlers, with DJ and Jellis scoring.
UTS
“Gaffer, this feels just like the stuff we did with Lowe…” Sadler will nod and instruct Byfield to run the drills all day until they get it right…