Grimsby Town are in a precarious position, a complete collapse has seen them plummet from mid table security to relegation favourites. Chesterfield still have the Mariners to play as well as holding a two game advantage over them. With three points the difference, the balance of power has shifted to the Spireites after yesterday’s result.
I know we have a rivalry with Grimsby, but given a choice between them and Forest Green Rovers, I’d go for the latter every time. I don’t necessarily want to see Grimsby survive, I’m not that staunchly in favour of them. After all, I remember the pain of the 2006 play off final, I remember the constant barrage of abuse I got when they went up.
However, I also like the rivalry and if we were to stay in League Two I’d much rather go to Blundell Park to watch a hotly contested derby than I would trail all the way down to Nailsworth to be treated with utter contempt. I’d rather feel the vitriol than the blind indifference of that soulless stadium on a hill.
I loved beating them the other day, who wouldn’t? So why are we so eager to have them replaced with Aldershot or have FGR keep their place in the Football League? I guess it’s purely down to personal taste, but I’d rather have the Cods in our division than that other shower. If it was a choice between them and Chesterfield, I’d probably pick Chesterfield to stay up because there’s not as much chance of getting a kicking just walking to the ground, but both are big games I’d rather we had instead of Barnet or FGR.
SW DESIRE: Survive over FGR
SW PREDICTION: Relegated
That brings me to Forest Green Rovers. I can’t stress enough the complete disdain I have for this lot, not their fans as such but every other aspect of their club. Labouring under the pretence of being green and sustainable, they’re nothing but a green stain on the football world. They make me angry, I won’t say I hate them because hate is a strong word, but I dislike them so much I’d rather Grimsby stayed up, which should tell you something.
What do I hate about them? Maybe it’s the New Age Traveller turned capitalist who owns them, the so-called eco-warrior who happily increases green energy prices to allow a repugnant manager to alienate his squad on a six-monthly basis. Maybe it is just Cooperman, a complete turd of a man who never accepts things are his fault, who can’t even spend hi sway to success yet still seems to think he’s superior to our football club. Christ, even Steve Evans could at least spend hi sway to the top half, but Cooperman doesn’t even do that.
It could be their whiney players, bleating that we’re ‘not very nice’ after a good win. It could be their awful stewards leaving our fans out in the rain when other options were available, or weeks later reporting Crewe fans for entering the pitch after they told them to do so. It could be how Vince said League Two would be easy, it could be when Cooperman took a swipe at us after his play off win instead of celebrating it. It could be because they chucked their longest-serving player out on his arse when he was injured or it could be their disgusting antics after we’d beaten them at Christmas, assaulting a fan and creating a web of lies on social media to cover their tracks.
Urgh. I hope I never have to go there again, I hope I never have to see that god-awful technicolour kit trudge out onto our pitch for their inevitable defeat and excuses after the game. There is no way I’d rather see this lot in the league, in fact I’d rather Parmenter and Kinnear got bloody Dover up. FGR? My arse.
SW DESIRE: Relegated, Vince pulls out and they go pop, back to being little FGR with the loyal fans from twenty years ago
SW PREDICTION: Sadly, survive.
Port Vale and Morecambe make up the other two sides in the bottom six, with Yeovil, Crewe and Stevenage not absolutely out of it yet. I wouldn’t be fussed either way at those going down, perhaps I’d like to see Morecambe survive because I respect what Jim Bentley does there. They’re no bigger than FGR but they conduct themselves in the correct manner and always seem to have enough to stave of the threat of the drop.
Port Vale have struggled but they’re another decent sized club with pedigree. I’m not actually bothered either way if they go down or not, probably they’d have better players to pick up on free transfers if they did, I’d have Tom Pope here all day. I’m not sure they’re going down though, same with the others. This, in my opinion, is actually a three-horse race between Chesterfield, Barnet and Grimsby. I hope and pray that somehow FGR find themselves in it too, but at present I can’t see that happening.
Thanks to Graham Burrell for today’s pictures
I’m one of those who would miss those derby games if say Grimsby went down. I enjoy the rivalry and what it means to get one over them. Having said that, if we went up, we’d obviously not play them, so wouldn’t be fussed if they dropped. If we stay in League 2, I’d like Grimsby there, even though it is a dump! Chesterfield is a nice club. We’ve got a rivalry with FGR too, so part of me would like them to stay up and play them again too. I enjoy trips to Barnet too, so something has to give I suppose!
I am a fan who started in the late 00s so never seen Grimsby as a rival, only Scunny. I would love to see Scunny obliterated, but Grimsby are a side I used to go and watch when Lincoln were away so that I could see some Championship football. For that reason I couldn’t really care less whether they stay up or not. I used to like playing them for the gate receipts but that hardly matters this season.
I like how you state … ‘I won’t say hate as hate is a strong word….’, but the next sentance begins..’What do I hate about them?’…and then you continue to tell us!
Perhaps there is a bit of hate after all.