Town vs Wigan

Town starting Xl: McKeown, Mills, Clarke, Collins, Davies, Berrett, M. Rose, Kelly, Jones, Dembele, Vernon.

Subs: Killip, Bolarinwa, K. Osborne, Dixon, Cardwell, Summerfield, Bridge, Roberts, Wright, Keeble, Sawyer.

Not too many here today.....
Bit QUITE 😉
UTM

Who are Bridge and Roberts?

Bring back Vose

Our quality defence carved right open
0-1

Could be a hammering and a wake up call today

RS inherited a bloated, unbalanced squad and turned it into a threadbare squad!  Hope he is saving his budget for a couple of last minute gems..

Why do some fishies find the truth so hard to take ?

we will always be at risk against a ball over the top with Collins and Clarke together

We haven't even kicked a competitive ball yet this season...

20 minutes gone and not looking that good so far.

Not worried at all, you got to think they was in the championship last season

Quoted from OllieGTFC

Not worried at all, you got to think they was in the championship last season

What , at rugby.. dirty illegitimates , treating it like another relegation survival battle !

What a dirty bunch of players they have!

That looked bad on berrett there. If he's concussed its 2 weeks out

Dunkley subbed just in case he came back to a red card?

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Dunkley subbed just in case he came back to a red card?

Ref didn't even give a free kick.

The only positive so far is Dembele.

I think we've tried some stuff but desperately missing a striker who can just drop off at the right time as it looks like Kelly & Dembelle could provide some decent balls into the box

Playing better now Summerfield on

Quoted from LondonMariner43

RS inherited a bloated, unbalanced squad and turned it into a threadbare squad!  Hope he is saving his budget for a couple of last minute gems..

Is it threadbare? We could probably do with another left back as back up but otherwise the defence and keeper positions are sorted. And let's be honest, a back up left back isn't really a priority for any squad. We seem to be playing with 1 out and out striker and have two (three if you include Jones) with Asante to come back from injury. I would like to see us get one more wide man but the three we've got certainly aren't bad, in fact one is bloody brilliant by the sounds of it.

We're struggling in centre mid at the minute but we've got Clements, McAllister and Osborne out injured. Which squad in L2 could lose three good senior central midfielders like these three and not suffer a little bit? The fact that we've still got Rose, Berrett and Summerfield playing who aren't completely disastrous suggests to me that the squad is anything but threadbare. Plus we've got Clifton who is very highly thought of out injured which would increase numbers further.

It's certainly looks like Russ has set his mind on his preferred starting XI - although i'd like to think Clements would replace Berrett once he's fully fit and a mobile striker to replace Vernon. Once those two are sorted then I think we've got a very competitive squad for this level.

It is starting to concern me that Berrett and Vernon are getting starts, if Vernon is playing in the lone role in the 4-1-4-1 formation used to date then i hope the back four/ midfield are actually playing the ball to his feet...not channel balls or at head height.

If Berrett is concussed then best give it a month or two, concussion can be a funny thing  

Have town actually done anything? This is the match thread but it's just turned into another discussion about the squad

Quoted from louth_in_the_south

Have town actually done anything? This is the match thread but it's just turned into another discussion about the squad

Not a lot so far apart from some very good runs from Dembele and who has now been taken off.

Playing the one man up front so far is just not working.

Quoted from louth_in_the_south

Have town actually done anything? This is the match thread but it's just turned into another discussion about the squad

All threads turn into discussions about other subjects.. it's the law!

Do you like cheese?

I love a bit of blue

This a rudey film chat??

Love Philadelphia

OFFICIAL ATTENDANCE | Today's crowd is 1449, which includes 83 Wigan fans.

Shoot me down if you want but I love that square processed cheese

Quoted from Mariner Timsky

This a rudey film chat??

Course not, I thought it was the cheese thread. Talking about roquefort

Bolarinwa fouled, penalty to town!

Well this stage is all about trying things out we are hardly thread bare ffs. We still have a lot of capable players here Jones did more than ok as a makeshift striker and Asante will get his chance this season the defence as been bolstered up even have a second keeper.

Why all the doom and gloom the season as NOT EVEN STARTED YET FFS!!!

Quoted from Sussexmariner

Shoot me down if you want but I love that square processed cheese

Where's my gun?!?

Davies equalizes from the spot.

FT: 1-1.

Quoted from Skrill

Bolarinwa fouled, penalty to town!

Pace always frightens defenders.

Quoted from Mrs Doyle

Pace always frightens defenders.

Hale scares me!!

Good result in fact the close season as gone rather well apart from the injury to Osbourne.

Quoted from Mrs Doyle

Good result in fact the close season as gone rather well apart from the injury to Osbourne.

Absolutely. Won 1, drawn 1 and lost 1 against clubs above us and beaten the rest. I'm sure there's another couple of additions lined up - we look rather better organised on the pitch than we do off it.

Quoted from Teesknees

Hale scares me!!

See what you did there  

Be interesting to find out how Jack Bridge performed. It's clear he's probably seen as a replacement for Osbourne. Was highly thought of at Southend and was on trial at Bournmouth in January so must have somthing about him. He scored 7 in 14 while on loan at Chelmsford too.

Dembele unreal , the rest very very average .

Wigan bullied us and their manager was moaning all first half.

We held our own and Macca made a great double save second half. Bridge got clattered not long after coming on but he can play, just not sure he offers any bite in the middle.

Vernon up front on his own isn't the answer. Dembele was a real handful and the fans showed their appreciation early on when he lost the ball and fought to win it back.

Wilkinson was encouraging Max Wright to beat his man late on and I think a deal will be offered there.

Berrett has 2 weeks of complete rest I would have thought after his knock to the head so we really are down to the bare bones in a position we have an abundance of players for!

August will be a very long month for us if we haven't got ourselves at least one new striking option. I would say we probably need two now as we have lost Yussuf and needed one before he left.

The positives for me were that we looked solid enough at the back, I thought Rose did well and Dembele will terrorise defences. However Slade needs to seriously strengthen our attack. Playing Vernon or Caldwell on their own up front is not going to result in many goals and they looked so isolated. Not impressed at all with Kelly. Didn't seem to know what to do with the ball. Also I'm worried if we're down to needing to start with Summerfield next weekend!

Quoted from LH

August will be a very long month for us if we haven't got ourselves at least one new striking option. I would say we probably need two now as we have lost Yussuf and needed one before he left.

I think by releasing Yussuf he has freed up the money for a replacement. Im sure he's chasing someone

Quoted from Mighty_Mariner

It's certainly looks like Russ has set his mind on his preferred starting XI - although i'd like to think Clements would replace Berrett once he's fully fit and a mobile striker to replace Vernon. Once those two are sorted then I think we've got a very competitive squad for this level.

I absolutely hate to agree

Accept that Wigan are one and we're two divisions above us but for me men against boys.

McKeown made a great double save but flapped at crosses as usual.
Mills may have played himself out of a starting berth next week. Loved him last season but shaky throughout
Clarke impressed
Collins did fine although we know the pairing lacks pace
Dembele was the exciting performer, with a little more movement around him he would be even better
Berrett was Berrett
Rose got better as the game went on
Jones played here there and everywhere
Kelly not impressed, good control but didn't beat anyone or even look like he was going to do so
Vernon totally isolated, worked hard but not a lot else

Bridge very light weight- pass
K Osbourne huge but needs to focus. Generally looked decent
Summerfield was the best of our midfield for a spell but then did his normal thing and gave the ball away in a dangerous position

Overall the shape of the side means we didn't get enough men forward to cause a threat

Hopeful of better next week

Quoted from golfer

I absolutely hate to agree

Stunned!

Quoted from Mighty_Mariner

Stunned!

I knew there was something wrong with you  

Quoted from Madeleymariner

we will always be at risk against a ball over the top with Collins and Clarke together

Nothing to do with those 2 who were excellent. More to do with Ben Davies playing left back and got caught out of position. Having said that no-one picked up the guy who ran into score.

Quoted from golfer

I knew there was something wrong with you  

You feeling okay mate?  

In my opinion we still need 2 strikers, a poacher who can hang on the shoulder of the last man and snuff out a chance and somebody like Vernon, we have Vernon to hold the ball up but who else will do that if Vernon is unavailable?

There are a few harsh comments on here. Wigan were better than Blackburn very good defensively. People having a go at Sam Kelly but he was up against a very good fullback. Mitch Rose is an excellent player in the role he plays in front of the back 4. Does a lot of good work for the team without being flashy. Sam Jones much better in a central midfield role than out on the wing and Dembele is better wide than in the middle. He will terrorise a few league 2 defenders. Problem in the central attacking area and hopefully Slade will fix this. Both teams could do with Omar Bogle but that is not happening!

Why the crosses? Do some people not like to face the facts? Did we look like scoring? Did Vernon or Cardwell look like scoring? Did Kelly do anything worth mentioning?

Quoted from gtfc82

Why the crosses? Do some people not like to face the facts? Did we look like scoring? Did Vernon or Cardwell look like scoring? Did Kelly do anything worth mentioning?

I guess it's because you don't seem to have taken into account that we were playing a team that were in the Championship last season!

Quoted from gtfc82

Why the crosses? Do some people not like to face the facts? Did we look like scoring? Did Vernon or Cardwell look like scoring? Did Kelly do anything worth mentioning?

Its the Fishy rule this season, your not allowed to air your opinion if its not pro Slade or against anyone he has signed. We wait with baited breath to see what the new season will bring, time will tell all.

Quoted from oldun

Sam Jones much better in a central midfield role than out on the wing

Sam Jones is best played off a striker and imho looked lost in central midfield! He scored 7 in 16 games last season! That's a striker's ratio!

Whilst I don't agree with everything in your post it's frustrating that people won't at least attempt to debate with you and opt for the easier red cross option.  So I'll do it for them. Summerfield I didn't think was that bad today bar a couple of misplaced passes - one of those you could at least see what he was trying to do and had he beaten the man five yards in front of him it would have started an attack from whoever it was at LM at that point (can't remember). I didn't and haven't seen much from Kelly that excites me yet. I'm hoping that it's more to do with it being pre-season and he needs the match practice.

Quoted from 123614

I guess it's because you don't seem to have taken into account that we were playing a team that were in the Championship last season!

That's irrelevant when the player just passes the ball either straight out of play or straight to the opponents' players!

Of course it's going to be difficult for Vernon to bring others into play considering the calibre of player we're against. On the whole we've limited another good team to very few chances.

Quoted from gtfc82

That's irrelevant when the player just passes the ball either straight out of play or straight to the opponents' players!

And are you saying that happened every time we passed the ball?  Watch any football match, Premier League , International or any others, players make mistakes, pass the ball out of play etc.  They are only human, and we are in League Two, you will not get excellence at this level, 100% effort is what I would expect and would be happy with that!

Bottom line for me, we are, all things considered, short of 2 or 3 quality players in key positions, including at least one striker and an influential centre midfielder, and this probably adds up to us being decent, but short of play off credentials as things stand.

Decent workout against a side favourites for promotion in League One. Look well organised as you'd expect from a Slade team and Dembele was again outstanding. Agree we could definitely do with another striker though as goals will be hard to come by but to be fair, Vernon was up against Burn who is a very good defender.

Thought Summerfield and Bolarinwa were both decent when they came on too, and the former might find himself starting the season now with Berrett's injury!

Quoted from golfer

I absolutely hate to agree

There there, mate.

Quoted from gtfc82

Why the crosses? Do some people not like to face the facts? Did we look like scoring? Did Vernon or Cardwell look like scoring? Did Kelly do anything worth mentioning?

Did we just draw against a team that are far superior to us? Did we restrict them to very few chances?

I've not been to any of the pre-season friendlies and probably know as much as some of you who have, about how we'll fare next weekend when it matters.

Friendlies aren't played with the same intensity, with the same desire or motivation as competitive games. In possession you aren't put under the same sort of pressure from opposition, nor are you under mental pressure because it's a competitive match with 5000 people watching. Some players look better in these sorts of games and others will flourish in the games when the pressure's on and it means something. And better players are generally the ones that are better in the competitive/pressure games.

I suspect one of the main focuses of today was "can we be organised and hard to break down against a team we know will have most of the possession?". I wasn't there so I've got no idea but it looks from some people's comments that we generally were.

Was today the line-up and system that Slade will want us to start with at Chesterfield? Who knows.
1) Slade would know there would've been a Chesterfield scout there today. Perhaps he wouldn't want to give everything away.
2) another week for us to bring in 1 or 2 new players. Possibly the so far elusive striker to fill the no.9 shirt? Or a loan midfielder whilst we're missing a few there.

I'll be at Chesterfield next week with an open mind. Even with the ones that were here last season that we'd made our minds up on already. But don't panic, the season lasts 46 games, it's not the end of the world if our squad building isn't finished until after the first couple of games.

Quoted from sam gy

Did we just draw against a team that are far superior to us? Did we restrict them to very few chances?

Where do you think our goals are going to come from?

back to Newark had my tea and had time to digest what I witnessed today, so here goes
Back 4 solid against a very very dirty but very good team, Clark and Collins looked very comfortable and Osbourne looked good when he came on, Mills had a poor game in my opinion.Midfield was bossed about too much but did ok against higher calibre players,Summerfield was better than Barrett, Rose did well as did Jones,DEMPELE showed that he is going to cause havoc this season, the  trialist didn't show much for me so wouldn't take him on,Dixon looked a bit out of it at first but got better and showed a cool head and a decent touch,up front we were lacking , Vernon got no change out off 2 quality CB,i feel that RS will have something up his sleeve otherwise why let Yussef go, Overall an ok performance against the 2nd favs to win L1but in my opinion are a lot better than Blackburn who are favs,Now to see what happens in the next week as we all get geared up for Chesterfield,cant bloody wait UTFM

Good test today for our defence and all in all it was passed Ok considering we had a right back playing on the left.
Nothing threatening up front though with Vernon ploughing a loan furrow for most of the match, why play Jones on the half way line when alongside Vernon he would have been more of a threat.
Too much fiddling with trialists at this late stage of preseason and playing players out of position proves nothing.
IMO a play maker and a proven striker with the Boston striker/winger is all we need to start with

The match highlights are now on iFollow.

Who was it that tried to head the ball all the way back to McKeown grin the halfway line forcing him into that double save? What was he thinking?

If anybody thinks we can start the season playing Vernon as a lone striker they are sadly deluded.

Didn't go today but a great quick kick out at the end by McKeown to put Bolarinwa one on one with their defender to get the penalty.

Sounds like a boring season ahead, hard to beat but offering little in the way of attacking threat.

Quoted from Mighty_Mariner

Who was it that tried to head the ball all the way back to McKeown grin the halfway line forcing him into that double save? What was he thinking?

I think it was Cardwell! God knows what he was doing!!!

Quoted from wiggers

Sounds like a boring season ahead, hard to beat but offering little in the way of attacking threat.

Just what I thought today Sladeball chapter  2.

So we only score one goal against L1 opposition with one striker injured, one attaching midfielder injured and clearly another striker to be signed (why else let Yussuf go?) after scoring a hatful against every lower league team in preseason and the knives are out for Slade.  Crazy.

Defence look solid, if a little lacking in place. I have no worries about our back 4. Considering we have a squad full of central midfielders we are a little lacking in quality at times. I'm really excited about Dembele who looks like he will cause real problems. Vernon was clearly isolated but is a really clever player, when the service was right he backed in and brought others in really well.

Slade clearly has a formation he wants to play and I feel it might be more effective when we come to the real stuff next week. It doesn't suit pre season and when teams in the league attack us we will be seriously dangerous on the break. I am expecting the 5 midfield players to be the ones providing the goals.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

Defence look solid, if a little lacking in place . I have no worries about our back 4. Considering we have a squad full of central midfielders we are a little lacking in quality at times. I'm really excited about Dembele who looks like he will cause real problems. Vernon was clearly isolated but is a really clever player, when the service was right he backed in and brought others in really well.

Slade clearly has a formation he wants to play and I feel it might be more effective when we come to the real stuff next week. It doesn't suit pre season and when teams in the league attack us we will be seriously dangerous on the break. I am expecting the 5 midfield players to be the ones providing the goals.

I think you mean plaice    

Russell Slade pleased with Town's efforts after 'toughest test' against Wigan Athletic

http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.....grimsby-towns-253953

If you are difficult to create chances against then you become difficult to beat. Perhaps some of you want Bignot back and watch our midfield & defence run ragged again?

I want to be entertained

Apart from getting caught for their debatable goal I thought our back 4 looked  looked pretty competent once Zak Mils got to grips with their left mid. Also sensed that the communication between them and Macca was better. On the subject of Macca thought he had a good game today especially with the double save in the 2nd half and getting the ball up front quick to Tombola for the penalty.  

On the basis of the 2 games I have seen pre season today & Barnsley we have progressed, we look relatively organised with players knowing their jobs, feels like for starters Russ is setting up for us to be hard to beat.He's brought some decent players in but we defiantly need an Amond type striker that can drop off at the right time in addition to another option with pace.

Anyway as ever you can't tell much from friendlies but I reckon a mid table finish beckons again next season in what could be a competitive division..

  

Quoted from gtfc82

Where do you think our goals are going to come from?

Sam Jones seemed perfectly capable last season. Asante when fit. That striker that Slade is blatantly going to be bringing in now that Yussuf had gone. Cardwell seems a good player, I haven't written him off yet either.

Quoted from Hagrid

That looked bad on berrett there. If he's concussed its 2 weeks out

According to reports James Berrett will be available for the Chesterfield game.

Just back to Suffolk,

Thought both sides needed a Bogle not a lot of threat up front from either side,

A good work out without being too exciting both sides tried to play the ball on the ground ,

Wigan a bit naughty with some blatant fouls that the ref let go,

Dembele looked dangerous when he had the ball,

Tombola looked sharp when he came on and would have scored if not brought down for our pen,

Luna really enjoyed her 1st visit to the park but was a bit annoyed with fans when they did not join in with her FISH !!! chant  

So we still need that striker who will score the goals otherwise there will be a few draws on the cards

All the centre backs looked confident and Rose had a good game imo

Nothing much to add as no one was outstanding and no one had a stinker,

One final thing Fenty blanked me, I can not understand why  

Quoted from grimsby pete

Just back to Suffolk,

Thought both sides needed a Bogle not a lot of threat up front from either side,

A good work out without being too exciting both sides tried to play the ball on the ground ,

Wigan a bit naughty with some blatant fouls that the ref let go,

Dembele looked dangerous when he had the ball,

Tombola looked sharp when he came on and would have scored if not brought down for our pen,

Luna really enjoyed her 1st visit to the park but was a bit annoyed with fans when they did not join in with her FISH !!! chant  

So we still need that striker who will score the goals otherwise there will be a few draws on the cards

All the centre backs looked confident and Rose had a good game imo

Nothing much to add as no one was outstanding and no one had a stinker,

[/b]One final thing Fenty blanked me, I can not understand why [b]

He saw that you had a flask, was Luna waving a flag.

It seems that Luna has got the Mariner bug, nice to see different generations together watching the Mariners.

Hope you and Luna enjoy the games you get to, could be an expensive season if Luna gets her way, Pete.

UTM

Quoted from The Yard Dog

He saw that you had a flask, was Luna waving a flag.

It seems that Luna has got the Mariner bug, nice to see different generations together watching the Mariners.

Hope you and Luna enjoy the games you get to, could be an expensive season if Luna gets her way, Pete.

UTM

You are not kidding  

When I ask Luna if the day was as good as she thought it would be she answered,

Yes even better fish + chips before the game,

We did not lose,

AND

A Mcdonalds happy meal on the way home.

Lets do it again soon  

The only downside was we could not find anywhere to park for the trippers on the sea front so she could not go on the machines in the arcades before the game.

I've been to all the pre-season games against league opposition and Wigan are by far the best. Our back four looked solid once again, especially when Dixon came on. We were disciplined and organised, but it's hard to see were the goals are going to come from. Demebele is certainly decent, but until Osbourne returns, he is our only creative outlet, as the rest of midfield looks predictable, lightweight and pedestrian. So my fear is that once Dembele gets sussed out and marked out of the game, i'm afraid we've got nobody else who can beat a man. Vernon for all is endeavour is to isolated, and not strong enough or good enough to play as a lone striker. We desperately need at least one more striker, a decent wide man, and another creative midfielder. On the postives we huffed and puffed, and generally held our own against what looked like  league 1 play-off contenders, and we will be hard to beat. If we are able to bring in the quality midfielders i mentioned, and a couple of decent strikers, we won't be far off being a play-off side.

If it is Revell who we're after then a front four of:

Dembele   Jones     Kelly
                 Revell

then that looks quite promising to me, pace and width on the flanks, Revell is the exact type of player to bring the most out of Jones, obviously it's a big "if" that we can get Revell in but that looks far more varied and dangerous than last season's predictable build up.

My first viewings of town in pre season due to holidays and work commitments and personally I was pretty impressed. As many have said already, we just need that elusive striker who will get us the 15-25 goals I think is needed to get us into them top 7 places. Here's my ratings...

Mckeown-6 did ok, made a few decent saves. Not totally convinced by him but I'm sure we could be doing worse

Mills-6actually thought he struggled yesterday and slade seemed frustrated by him but then again it was against a decent opposition and we know he's solid at league two level

Clarke-8 different class. Organised, composed, won just about everything in the air, superb performance

Collins-7 like Clarke, oozes class.

Davies,7 did well despite being in a left back role, Dixon will be the regular in the position but if Davies is needed then I'm confident he will do a good job

Rose,7 busy, athletic, did the dirty work, impressed overall, room for improvement in terms of passing and making the right decisions but I think there is a really good player potentially

Berrett-5 anonymous, not sure what he really gives us. Surely Clem/os/macca will be better options when available

Dembele-8 class. Exciting. Give him a long term deal now. Super talent and will be a huge player

Jones-5 struggled I thought, so so

Kelly-6 athletic, positive but room for improvement. At league two level, should be decent enough

Vernon-5 huffed and puffed on his own, tries but just isn't quite good enough. Better needed

Osborne, Dixon both did ok off the bench, cardwell disappointed

Quoted from Superdan147

Berrett-4 anonymous, not sure what he really gives us. Surely Clem/os/macca will be better options when available

See the Berrett bashers are up early this morning. Check out his career stats and he was clearly seen as good enough to play over 200 games in League 1. What he gives is passing ability and technique. Maybe you only see what you want to see. Sure Dembele is a real talent but if he gets sussed out in a game or kicked up in the air a few times, it will be the Berretts, McAllisters (if & when fit) etc who will have to pick up the pieces. I don't know if Berrett will be in the team next Saturday but it's clear that Slade likes him and it's time some people got off his back and started supporting all 11 rather than constantly looking for a scapegoat.

Once again, how is he possibly using berrett as a scapegoat. He's commenting on a friendly which we drew, and thought we played well in. This talk of a scapegoat is getting boring, just because people don't think he's that good, doesn't mean they're getting on his back.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

See the Berrett bashers are up early this morning. Check out his career stats and he was clearly seen as good enough to play over 200 games in League 1. What he gives is passing ability and technique. Maybe you only see what you want to see. Sure Dembele is a real talent but if he gets sussed out in a game or kicked up in the air a few times, it will be the Berretts, McAllisters (if & when fit) etc who will have to pick up the pieces. I don't know if Berrett will be in the team next Saturday but it's clear that Slade likes him and it's time some people got off his back and started supporting all 11 rather than constantly looking for a scapegoat.

So people have to support a player blindly regardless of how good they are?

Hardly fair to knock him yesterday, he got 20 mins on the pitch for christ sake

He's not knocking him, he was providing a review of what he saw.