Matt Dean - Paul Hurst interview

Thought this merited a thread of its own.

Excellent interview here with Paul Hurst posted by Matt Dean on his Facebook page:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1619865148336503&id=1576209206035431

Brilliant interview.

He's had a lot of criticism but at the start of the season the objective was promotion. And guess what, we've been promoted. Job done.

Important now we all unite and get behind the whole club, Hurst has earned the right to be trusted and for us to have faith in him now. Remembering the season lasts 46 games (plus POffs) and a game lasts 90 minutes - we should jump to knee jerk reactions so much halfway through a game.

#UTM

Can'take watch at the moment - any chance of a brief summary from anybody?

Its a fantastic interview

That's a brilliant interview!

Hats off to the guy. No-one has doubted him more than me. Never doubted his honesty, integrity and sheer hard work but i just felt he would never achieve what we all wanted so badly, especially after losing so unfairly last season. Most teams don't come back from that and fade after a failed play off final. All the previous seasons stats were against us in terms of coming back after losing the home leg, form going into the play offs etc etc but hand on heart, i am so pleased he proved me wrong and nothing gives me more pleasure than to say that.

He also sounded like a man who is not intending to go anywhere anytime soon, so we shall see what the coming months bring. Whatever happens now, he has earned our respect and a crack at league football, whether with us or someone else.

Really good interview by a really good broadcaster with a man for whom I respect far more than I thought I ever would.

Love that interview, how anybody can doubt paul hurst now regards emotional feelings would be wrong indeed.
I think that interview shows how much this means to Paul, and the players judging by his comments.
I have never been 100% behind him or against him and at times i have allowed my emotions to get the better of me regards Paul, but now 100% back him.
I really hope he stays with town and is able to keep the core of this squad together.
So proud of him , the team and of US fans 👍🏻
Onwards and upwards
UTM

Excellent interview. Hopefully everyone can move on and get fully behind him now if he stays with us in League 2. It's time to draw a line under everything. Forget the BT interview (Matt Dean makes them look a bit crass now in my opinion) let's move onwards and upwards!! Party in London this weekend!!! UTFM

Great interview one of the best I have ever seen with a Town manager.

Hmm, just wrote a long post on the Notts County rumours, wish I had listened to this interview first.  Got to admit that is a class interview, do spend some time to listen to it.  So much better than the BT sport interview!  He explains himself so much more clearly and you an understand his points far more than the snippets I had seem before.

I really hope he stays and takes us to the play offs again next season.

Great interview. If we think these last six years have been hard on us, imagine how hard it's been on PH. A lot of respect for the man and I really, really hope he stays with us and we move forward as a club with him at the helm. I was very much a doubter in the last few months and I've never been more glad to be wrong. I hope his holiday with his family is somewhere nice.

Quoted from mariner91

Great interview. If we think these last six years have been hard on us, imagine how hard it's been on PH. A lot of respect for the man and I really, really hope he stays with us and we move forward as a club with him at the helm. I was very much a doubter in the last few months and I've never been more glad to be wrong. I hope his holiday with his family is somewhere nice.

The Euros.

A proper interview from a proper manager and journalist

Great interview, well done Matt Dean (I'm sure he reads the Fishy too!)

All fans should listen to this. Interesting questions, fairly and honestly answered. A good insight into PH the man.

Quoted from Tommy

Thought this merited a thread of its own.

Excellent interview here with Paul Hurst posted by Matt Dean on his Facebook page:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1619865148336503&id=1576209206035431

Brilliant interview.

He's had a lot of criticism but at the start of the season the objective was promotion. And guess what, we've been promoted. Job done.

Important now we all unite and get behind the whole club, Hurst has earned the right to be trusted and for us to have faith in him now. Remembering the season lasts 46 games (plus POffs) and a game lasts 90 minutes - we should jump to knee jerk reactions so much halfway through a game.

#UTM

Brilliant interview by Paul, you could see the relief lifted from his shoulders, thanks for posting this Tommy.

Great interview, and got me thinking..how much better is Hurst in these interviews when there's 8 or 9 minutes given to him? The usual post match chats are rushed and everyone wants to just get home, leaving just enough time for the usual negative stuff to be questioned and little time for anything else.

It still niggles me a little that, for example, the superb away fans get little mention in comparison to a few moaners, but maybe the media and interviewing format are a little to blame for this.
We have a new start in the league, if we're going to sweep away the last few years and start anew then I'd like to hear some positive stuff from BP, that things are different, that we are starting a new era.
Would it be possible, in the coming weeks after everyone's re-charged, to host such an interview as this one with Paul Hurst, with Matt asking the Q's, but from a relaxed press room at BP? An hour or so long, giving Hurst ample opportunity to air his views, and his grievances and explain things in detail. At the halfway point they could take fans Q's from Twitter or whatever, and the whole thing streamed for us to watch at home?
I'm still over the moon at what we've done gut there's something holding me back from feeling completely comfortable with the goings-on at BP. To carry on as we are into the new season will be glossing over things, surely a genuine attempt at reaching out to the fans, while embracing the digital technology around us, along with the positivity of finally embarking on a league campaign can smooth out all the bumps and get things moving along with the new ground.
Think the club may be thinking like this?

A great interview from both sides. My overiding memory of the last two weeks has been the togetherness of the team and how they have played for the manager. If I am honest the depth of that came as a surprise to me but I am positive it was the key factor for getting us over the line. That and a referee's decision which looking back was equally pivotal. The flak that he took went way over the top but its history now and as has been pointed out to me happens at most clubs. I am going on Sunday to celebrate that spirit in all its glory, enjoy Wembley for once and replace "Were on our way"  with "Paul Hursts Black and White Army"!

Quoted from RonMariner

I really hope he stays and takes us to the play offs again the League 2 title next season.

Amended for you Ron!

PH comes across differently here to every other interview I have seen with him you can tell how much he cares and you can see he has been hurt by some of our comments.PH has turned a corner past 2 weeks with the vast majority of fans who were critical and lets all get behind him and this team because it`s the best this Club has felt in over a decade.Well done Paul and UTM

Paul is a top man and a top manager,

I sat on the fence for a long time wondering if he was the one to take us up,

Towards the end of the season I fell off and wanted him out,

How wrong was I ?

I am sorry Paul I hope none of my comments were rude or personal ( I don't think they were )

I am fully behind you now as a manager and as a top man,

You have only got to do one thing for me now and that is,

We must never ever get relegated to none league again,

Do that I will back you 100%

Enjoy your family holiday mate,

Just win again at Wembley next Sunday before you go.

He's come on in leaps and bounds in the last six years. Every season has seen an improvement on the previous one. He has become a cult figure here. We've got a 30+ goal scorer in the team, normally he'd take the limelight, but the manager at the moment dominates every discussion and has done for months.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the criticism of the players and manager was the catalyst to them getting over the line. It has been mentioned several times by them that they wanted to prove the doubters wrong. Although there may have been some over the top comments by a minority on social media and at games; most of it was well meaning concern and not all criticism is necessarily negative by nature. It came from a place of genuine concern for many that we had to get out of this league before it got even harder to do so and yes, looking at that interview, you can see it got to PH and as he pointed out, it's not as easy as some think to go and beat teams just because they don't have the history and tradition that we do. Some of us may have lost sight of that fact but i am happy that at no point did i abuse the players or management at games and can honestly say that i missed only a handful of home games in our 6 year tenure in non league.

Hurst comes across a bit more human like here, something I think it's fair to say he struggles with a little.  He definitely doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve.  Now be that right or wrong, it's something a lot of people can relate to.  I wonder how much of this is down to the interviewer.

Matt Dean asks the right questions in the right way.  He's not trying to Paxman anyone but he's not trying to pander to them either.  He asks very honest and very direct questions, but in a way that allows Hurst to open up.

Clearly Hurst gets wound up by JT, I don't know why but he does.  He probably needs to rise above it.   JT's interviewing style is very different.  He asks a lot of closed questions that you know have a bit of an edge to them but the actual question is never asked.  This could be what winds Hurst up, he then ends up ranting and getting a bit negative after the same closed question has been asked countless times.

Matt Dean is a superb interviewer, genuinely superb.

What Matt Dean has done in this interview is opened the questions up to give Hurst that room to express his answers, not just respond with a Yes/No answer.  I think Hurst probably appreciates this rather than JT's approach.  

The other element is Hurst's mood.  1) He's just won promotion.  2) He's already had chance to get a lot of stuff off his chest in interviews a few minutes before.    Just think to when Town lose, you get in and the other half asks if it was a good game....  Lose - "Nope, rubbish...."  Win - "Yeah it was great, blah blah blah then Disley did this..."  Hurst will be the same, he's on a high so is more open.

I'm more concerned with results on the pitch but Hurst has managed to frustrate me over the last 4 years with his interviews and comments.  I do think he may benefit from a bit of media coaching.  Like it or not, speaking with the media is an essential part of football.   Anything that will take pressure off and keep fans on board is a good thing.

"Paul (Hurst) is certainly one of the best managers I've worked with in my career. "I'm not just saying that because he led us to victory at Wembley, either! "He's straight, honest, works incredibly hard and most importantly he has got the club's best interests at heart."

Gregor Robertson in today's Telegraph:http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/Robertson-hails-deserving-Hurst/story-29279440-detail/story.html

Add to that Paul's comments in his interview with John Tondeur on Sunday that it's all about people; and consider also how much emphasis he has placed on building a committed, hard-working and 'together' squad (including changing personnel at key times). And his post-match analyses are fair and objective (even if it's not always what people want to hear).

There's a quiet depth to the man, and honest values, as well as footballing knowledge, that I respect far more than any animated arm-waving or bullish statements associated with some other styles of management. All credit to Matt Dean for an excellent interview that showed us a glimpse of this.

Quoted from DavidB

"Paul (Hurst) is certainly one of the best managers I've worked with in my career. "I'm not just saying that because he led us to victory at Wembley, either! "He's straight, honest, works incredibly hard and most importantly he has got the club's best interests at heart."

Gregor Robertson in today's Telegraph:http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/Robertson-hails-deserving-Hurst/story-29279440-detail/story.html

.

They missed the bit out where Gregor says " can I have a new contract please Paul "  

Quoted from Les Brechin

Amended for you Ron!

Perhaps a little ambitious hoping for the title? I'd accept third place.  

Quoted from DavidB

There's a quiet depth to the man, and honest values, as well as footballing knowledge, that I respect far more than any animated arm-waving or bullish statements associated with some other styles of management. All credit to Matt Dean for an excellent interview that showed us a glimpse of this.

Agree 100%. He's clearly a very genuine bloke and although he doesn't always show it, the reactions in the last two weeks show he cares as much as any Neil Warnock types who shout for 90 minutes. You only have to look at the way the players flocked to him on Sunday and at Braintree to see how much they like and respect him. I hope nobody ever questions his commitment or passion for this club ever again. If they do, I'm going to send them a link to the vine showing his celebration at Braintree.

Quoted from ginnywings

Perhaps, just perhaps, the criticism of the players and manager was the catalyst to them getting over the line. It has been mentioned several times by them that they wanted to prove the doubters wrong. Although there may have been some over the top comments by a minority on social media and at games; most of it was well meaning concern and not all criticism is necessarily negative by nature. It came from a place of genuine concern for many that we had to get out of this league before it got even harder to do so and yes, looking at that interview, you can see it got to PH and as he pointed out, it's not as easy as some think to go and beat teams just because they don't have the history and tradition that we do. Some of us may have lost sight of that fact but i am happy that at no point did i abuse the players or management at games and can honestly say that i missed only a handful of home games in our 6 year tenure in non league.

I wonder if they've really used it in the dressing room to motivate themselves and that's why we got some of the reaction we did on Sunday. Woudln't be the first manager to successfully create a siege mentality and maybe to the point that in their heads it became a bit overblown and more than it was. Who cares because if they did it worked?!

I do think it's really easy to forget or ignore what a difficult, stressful job it must be. Most of us at some point have worried about redundancy or unemployment, paying the mortgage, looking after the family. Imagine having that pressure under some kind of public gaze, with some people vocally wanting you to lose your job and saying you're incompetent. I know it comes with the job and I know it sounds easy when we say they shouldn't read social media but I think I'd struggle not to. What about if your kids read it as well or other family members? Then to top it all off you read people saying you don't care or you're not bothered when in reality it must be pretty all-consuming. You drive into work and somebody has hung a banner across the motorway saying you should be sacked and you know that all of your staff who you desperately want to believe in you are going to see it? It's certainly not a Monday to Friday, 9-5, switch off when you walk out of the office job.

Quoted from ginnywings

Hats off to the guy. No-one has doubted him more than me. Never doubted his honesty, integrity and sheer hard work but i just felt he would never achieve what we all wanted so badly, especially after losing so unfairly last season. Most teams don't come back from that and fade after a failed play off final. All the previous seasons stats were against us in terms of coming back after losing the home leg, form going into the play offs etc etc but hand on heart, i am so pleased he proved me wrong and nothing gives me more pleasure than to say that.

He also sounded like a man who is not intending to go anywhere anytime soon, so we shall see what the coming months bring. Whatever happens now, he has earned our respect and a crack at league football, whether with us or someone else.

you and me both ginny, you and me both...

Quoted from ginnywings

Perhaps, just perhaps, the criticism of the players and manager was the catalyst to them getting over the line. It has been mentioned several times by them that they wanted to prove the doubters wrong. Although there may have been some over the top comments by a minority on social media and at games; most of it was well meaning concern and not all criticism is necessarily negative by nature. It came from a place of genuine concern for many that we had to get out of this league before it got even harder to do so and yes, looking at that interview, you can see it got to PH and as he pointed out, it's not as easy as some think to go and beat teams just because they don't have the history and tradition that we do. Some of us may have lost sight of that fact but i am happy that at no point did i abuse the players or management at games and can honestly say that i missed only a handful of home games in our 6 year tenure in non league.

I can't see it myself, I see that view as those who had decided a change was needed or that he couldn't get us up trying to turn their negativity and loss of faith into a positive. I have heard and read some proper nonsense on here and at the games, that was uncalled for and disproportionate when you actually looked at the performances. I think there is a real difference with the way you express your doubts about Hurst on here and the way that many other people hysterically went about it.
It's fine margins, we should have been promoted last season at Wembley and I honestly think if we hadn't gone up this season Hurst would have lost his job. FWIW I've always thought he's been a good developing manager who will get better, at times he reverts to negative tactics and could be a bit more proactive with subs, but the players attitudes and team spirit under him have been great. I also have to say I have serious respect for him for never blaming his players, I think we have all had managers at work who would hang people out to dry when things go wrong, but there has never been any of that from him.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

I can't see it myself, I see that view as those who had decided a change was needed or that he couldn't get us up trying to turn their negativity and loss of faith into a positive. I have heard and read some proper nonsense on here and at the games, that was uncalled for and disproportionate when you actually looked at the performances. I think there is a real difference with the way you express your doubts about Hurst on here and the way that many other people hysterically went about it.
It's fine margins, we should have been promoted last season at Wembley and I honestly think if we hadn't gone up this season Hurst would have lost his job. FWIW I've always thought he's been a good developing manager who will get better, at times he reverts to negative tactics and could be a bit more proactive with subs, but the players attitudes and team spirit under him have been great. I also have to say I have serious respect for him for never blaming his players, I think we have all had managers at work who would hang people out to dry when things go wrong, but there has never been any of that from him.

Decent and balanced post .I think it`s mostly down to sheer frustration and I soley let rip on here not during the game I always try my best to give positive support to the players and Manager for 90 mins.I get frustrated with the 70 min subs every week when I feel he could change the game at half time for the better but I also accept he knows those players better than I do.PH will rightly now be revered by many Town fans in years to come but his work here is not finished he has done the hard part.Now with League 2 I feel he could seriously have us in contention again ala Bristol Rovers we have a good team and with a couple of additions we will be right up there cos we have the momentum.

I have been a critic of PH but hopefully with reasoned arguments that have never been personal and mainly aimed at certain team selections and substitutions. I also firmly believed that he was a far better Manager in away games then home matches and was genuinely pleased when I knew we would be away second leg in the play offs (although I did not plan on us being 1-0 down but thought a 0-0 in the home leg was a near certainty after watching the home league fixture v Braintree).

In the final two matches we have fielded a side that a number of us, certainly where i sit in the Upper Findus, have been wanting for some time & have put forward on here especially after the first half performance v wrexham. That side allowed Nolan to play further forward andbe creative, & when he loses the ball, which he clearly will, we are well up the pitch & had Clay & Dis covering. Also Monkey was injured & therefore out.

Would PH have made those changes if Monkey had been fit? to be honest I have no idea and do not really care as the ultimate objective has been achieved.

I al so accept that PH will be learning & improving all the time & if the last two games have influenced how, on occasions, he addresses team selections and substitutions in order to either influence or change a way is going then he will clearly be heading for a very successful managerial career.

After the Chester game I would have been happy to see him move on, but not only the results, but the content of his numerous personal interviews & those interviews with players have made me acknowledge the strength of the group & that is solely down to PH's character & leadership.

If he moves to a club that he believes is bigger & more potential than GTFC good luck but that is certainly Notts County!!!

Excellent interview, well done PH.

Hurst might recruit a few duffers, however, generally he has a great eye for a very good player and a good player that will fit in.  He is not afraid to back his judgement even if other clubs can't see the diamond that they have. This is a skill that we will need this close season.

Mr Fenty

I certainly hope the club are paying for PH's holiday (anywhere he wants to go).

He atleast deserves it

Thats is all.

Great interview that Matt, you managed to do what other interviewers have failed to achieve before,  that is to peel off the protective overcoat from the quiet man and give us all an insight into his true feelings.

A couch for him to relax on would not have been out of place during the interview so probing and relaxing were the questions and answers.

Well done to both of you because I`m sure after that interview,   the majority of us will him in a different light

If Hurst wants a quiet time on holiday, send him to Gloucestershire. Around Nailsworth it is always so quiet that you can hear a pin drop!  

I can't deny I've had my doubts at times during this season but I'm not one of those who has come on here and spewed them all over or indeed done the same thing from the stands. Even in these times of social media and day long news coverage very few of us have the opportunity to really get to know the personalities at the club and having watched this interview a few times now it would do us all well to remember that we base our conclusions about Paul Hurst in particular on no more than sound bites and prejudice - not the best way of getting the full picture about someone I'm sure we can all agree.

My view of Paul has changed based on this interview and also on his reactions and the reactions of the players to him over the last week or so. I used to think he didn't really get the club and what it means to the fans, I now think he does. We as fans do tend to forget that most of the time players and management are professionals and don't have the same emotional connection with the club that we do. We want them to
love the club like we do and unless you have that one club player or a local lad who only ever wanted to play for the Town it's never going to be the same for them. Sometimes though circumstances combine that it all clicks and a team of players and a manager are taken to heart of the fans either in adversity or in success and this massive promotion is one of those moments in my opinion.

To really get the fans of GTFC as an outsider you have to understand the character of the area - let's face it honestly the Grimsby character contains large doses of pessimism bred of long experience that if something can go wrong it will. I read a great piece on Codalmighty recently which summed it up brilliantly where the contributor was talking about his grandad being literally lost at sea but it could have been worse because the same thing had happened to the lad next door. A town where the collective experience for years and years has been that life is brutally hard doesn't do happy clappy. We've had sodomist all to cheer about collectively for about 50 years and that does something to people so that when we see our hopes apparently being dashed again it does all come out - we don't mean any offence really we're just bloody sick of being kicked whilst we're down.

On the other hand we are a community bound together by adversity and disappointment but when we take an outsider to our hearts particularly one who's put some pride back into our football club then he'll never have to buy himself a drink again. For life. I think we might have discovered a quiet little yorkie who is starting to understand what the club means to the town and who cares almost as much as we do. I'd like to shake his hand and say thanks Paul, stick with us we're worth it in the long run.

This interview shows us in clarity how Hurst works. The problem with some managers is fans trying to understand what their manager is about. This interview has opened my eyes, and I thought is was a great interview with the sort of questions we needed answers to.

theres another good one on mariners player about 29mins long well worth a listen\watch.

Glad he is staying. And hopefully he appreciates the fact that the club stuck by him for five years.

At FGR they would have booted him after his first season!

So it's great to see him reciprocate the loyalty. I don't think he will have any problem keeping us up, and would not be at all surprised to see us finish in the top seven. But as I said before the play offs when I tipped us to go up, when it comes to Town I am an optimistic idiot!