Marcus Bignot

Set to be named manager of Barrow tomorrow I hear.

Will be interesting to see how he fares there.

reunited with Yussuf. He'll probably do alright with a bit of dollar to spend. Maybe we could give him Summerfield as a welcome present?

Micky Moore is assistant manager there. Won't have to bring his own team in then.

Good luck to him.

Possibly the only one that think he was onto something

Perhaps he will try to take Chris Clements there.

Quoted from WOZOFGRIMSBY

Good luck to him.

Possibly the only one that think he was onto something

No, not the only one. I just think he went the wrong way about it. It seems very strange that we are now putting together a similar size squad all over again.

Good luck to the guy, I didn't like watching us under him for the majority of his tenure but he still has something about him I reckon and won't forget the day he was appointed, there was genuine excitement at the appointment..

Some of the positive signings aside, I never had a clue what Bignot was trying to do with the players as they were chopped and changed, played out of position and different formations were tried from one week to the next.

This season, Slade appears to have worked out a set plan with his formation - unfortunately, not one which is working in any way, shape or form! Time for plan B, assuming there is one.

Quoted from Maringer

Some of the positive signings aside, I never had a clue what Bignot was trying to do with the players as they were chopped and changed, played out of position and different formations were tried from one week to the next.

This season, Slade appears to have worked out a set plan with his formation - unfortunately, not one which is working in any way, shape or form! Time for plan B, assuming there is one.

Exactly my thoughts on Bignot, heard Lord Buckley say the same thing on the radio plenty of times too. No game plan from what I could see.

Yep, didn't enjoy watching us play with Bignot in charge. Couldn't for the life of me see what style of play he was aiming for. I was there at Stevenage and Crewe. Some dark times.

BUT we did win a few games too, and he bought some decent players like Osborne, Clements and Sam Jones who made a difference.

I remember a Solihull fan who came on the radio to say Bignot did exactly the same thing for them - came in like a bull in a china shop, changed everything around, messed everything up, but things became clearer the following season.

I felt indifferent about his sacking. Wasn't bothered what happened either way. I was only going to regret it if, in a year's time, we found ourselves in a worse position.

Quoted from WOZOFGRIMSBY

Good luck to him.

Possibly the only one that think he was onto something

Is that ON  or  ONTO.    P.S.  I think Fenty did the dirty on him just so he could get his mate in

Quoted from golfer

Is that ON  or  ONTO.    P.S.  I think Fenty did the dirty on him just so he could get his mate in

Nothing unusual there. Fenty uses Bignot's transfer window dealings as a reason/excuse to get rid of him and then lets Slade do the same thing.

Good luck to the bloke.

Felt Bignot should have started this season, would it have worked out? we'll never know.

Quoted from gtfc98

reunited with Yussuf. He'll probably do alright with a bit of dollar to spend. Maybe we could give him Summerfield as a welcome present?

MB sent Summerfield out on loan because he thought he wasn't good enough so I doubt he would take him on now.
As for having a bit of a "dollar to spend" I don't think he actually spent a lot apart from Osborne and Jones (  potentially good buys ) and Asante ( one for the future ). Unfortunately as soon as signings are mentioned , as regards to MB , then fans bang on about Gunning and he wasn't even given a long term contract !

Bignot should have at least been given to the end of last season, also I think we would have won more games than we lost. It would have been quite a roller coaster ride, never boring but sometimes anxious.

Good luck to the guy the board should have been clearer in what they wanted with him, if they had I think it would have been very different.

Quoted from TAGG

Good luck to the bloke.

Sounds as if Bignot is going to be Assistant to Mickey Moore!

Bignot appointed as back room staff to help interim manager Micky Moore

I imagine in the forseeable future Marcus Bignot will be appointed manager with Micky Moore back as assistant.

Quoted from Davec

Bignot appointed as back room staff to help interim manager Micky Moore

I imagine in the forseeable future Marcus Bignot will be appointed manager with Micky Moore back as assistant.

Old boys network or what?

Don't wish him any ill but I would put a gagging order on him for starters.

I liked him from what he did prior to Grimsby and from the game I saw with him manager I loved it. I loved his interviews... But then listening and reading on here he sounded like he had no game plan and things weren't going so well behind closed doors. A shame because I think he has the right attributes to become a good league manager if given time. But for me before Slade came I'd have chosen Slade over Hurst and Bignot.. But right now, I don't know. Dare I say Hurst   even though I was one for wanting him to move on, but obviously didn't express my feelings socially.

I would say he didn't walk the walk after talking the talk but if he walks anything like he talks it'd take him ages to walk anywhere.

Hahaha what a mess! I actually think Bignot is a bit mad, and we had to get shut before we were in disarray. I don't think anyone at the club had any idea what was supposed to be happening other than the man himself.

He made me smile initially as an antidote to the the dour and stubborn approach of Hurst, who had bored and frustrated me beyond the breaking point, but it soon became evident that he was a mentalist.

Good luck to him though.

Wish him well. I thought he had something about him and all would have become clear had he been given the time.

I actually liked the guys passion but that's coming from 5 or 6 years under Hurst. I just think he got abit carried away with himself managing a club like Grimsby, bigger budget, full time, football league and all that. I just think he tried to change too much too quick and it backfired on him within the dressing room so I got told...

But then Fenty heard Slade would be interested and jumped at the chance.

The rest is history.

I wish the bloke all the best

Hi, Rich Mariner,I was the Solihull fan who went on your local radio when Marcus was sacked.As you said he did the same at solihull towards the end of the season before the season we won the league..Being honest he had me pulling my hair out getting rid of players that  I thought were decent, playing people out of position,and making decisions that didn't seem to make sense, I often thought he had lost the plot, but what he was doing was testing everybody out,seeing if they could play in different positions,seeing how they responded to the changes,
He then put together a side that took the league by storm and even watching them warming up in pre-season you could see the determination to win was there.Once we were up and running and doing well he calmed down and managed the team brilliantly and you could feel the momentum building as the season progressed it was so much better than watching Birmingham City and was the best season that I have ever experienced in football .I was gutted when he left but felt he would do a good job at Grimsby, and get snapped up by a club further up the football league. The point I was trying to make on the radio was that John Fenty should have looked not just at what he achieved  but the way he did it, and should have given him the opportunity to build his side and at least give him 10 games of the new season,or what was the point in appointing him. If he had been brave enough to do this I honestly believe you would all be seeing the benefits now.Where he was established and safe at solihull he could do what he wanted and got the backing of the board,but to assume he could do the same at a new bigger club was perhaps his downfall he needed to go about his business in a calmer way and not like a" bull in a china shop".Hopefully he will learn from this and go on to be a successful manager at a decent level,which I believe he is capable of doing.I often look at the fishy forum obviously to follow  Omar,Jamie,Akwasi, and Marcus.Like Solihull I hope things turn around for you this season as your amazing supporters deserve it,and reading all your comments on here know what it means to you all.All the best.

My favourite bit of his tenure was the fans forum when he had that mini spat with Fenty about the conditioning coach.  

Thing is Slade got what he wanted straight away makes you wonder why he didn't just stump up for one when Hurst asked in the first place.

Quoted from fatharry

Hi, Rich Mariner,I was the Solihull fan who went on your local radio when Marcus was sacked.As you said he did the same at solihull towards the end of the season before the season we won the league..Being honest he had me pulling my hair out getting rid of players that  I thought were decent, playing people out of position,and making decisions that didn't seem to make sense, I often thought he had lost the plot, but what he was doing was testing everybody out,seeing if they could play in different positions,seeing how they responded to the changes,
He then put together a side that took the league by storm and even watching them warming up in pre-season you could see the determination to win was there.Once we were up and running and doing well he calmed down and managed the team brilliantly and you could feel the momentum building as the season progressed it was so much better than watching Birmingham City and was the best season that I have ever experienced in football .I was gutted when he left but felt he would do a good job at Grimsby, and get snapped up by a club further up the football league. The point I was trying to make on the radio was that John Fenty should have looked not just at what he achieved  but the way he did it, and should have given him the opportunity to build his side and at least give him 10 games of the new season,or what was the point in appointing him. If he had been brave enough to do this I honestly believe you would all be seeing the benefits now.Where he was established and safe at solihull he could do what he wanted and got the backing of the board,but to assume he could do the same at a new bigger club was perhaps his downfall he needed to go about his business in a calmer way and not like a" bull in a china shop".Hopefully he will learn from this and go on to be a successful manager at a decent level,which I believe he is capable of doing.I often look at the fishy forum obviously to follow  Omar,Jamie,Akwasi, and Marcus.Like Solihull I hope things turn around for you this season as your amazing supporters deserve it,and reading all your comments on here know what it means to you all.All the best.

Good well considered post.

Difficult to tell whether Bignot would have worked out. He didn't even get a pre-season so I thought it was premature given we were never in any danger of going down and have started this season worse off but then again the reasons for sacking have never been revealed.

Odd how he is assistant at Barrow. Either something underhand going on or they didn't think he did a good job here either.

A very strange chapter in our history, dont particularly hold any grudge against him as it was all over so quickly but will be interesting to keep an eye on the goings on over the next few months or so.

Quoted from ginnywings

Wish him well. I thought he had something about him and all would have become clear had he been given the time.

Completely agree & whilst I was puzzled by some of his selections the post by Solihull fan puts a lot of his "team selections " into some kind of perspective. He was a young inexperienced manager who would always make mistakes but he, incorrectly, thought he had time and the backing of the owner to put his ideas into action with a view to building a side for this season.

Hindsight is showing that an experienced Manager like Slade has not found team building too easy and I believe under Bignot we would have signed some younger and hungrier players with sell on potential rather than a few of the more experienced guys RS has brought in.

That said, despite the poor start, its early days and I recall Exeter and Cambridge both had pretty awful starts last season with Exeter making play off final and Cambridge just missing out. With suspensions and currently unfit players returning I still believe we can put out a very competitive first eleven. Still wonder what MB would have put together but will never know so lets hope RS does know his best eleven pretty soon and we start to climb the league.

I liked MB's passion and desire to get this club moving upwards and from what fatharry says makes sense on what MB was doing because we were safe earlier than expected. I would have liked to see if he could replicate what he had did at Barrow like fatharry says.

I think that MB was going about business, was like him going into Fenty's play room and playing with his toys and making a mess. at least no ties were wiggled, chairs thrown or flags deconstructed.

Football under MB was like that scene from Forest Gump, but instead of life change for football, football under MB is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you was going to get.

Should have been given longer. The apparent splurge in the January transfer window could only have been approved by the Board (either explicitly in someone signing off on the fees and contracts, or implicitly in delegating authority to the manager). The Board were responsible.

Of course it's all been different in the Summer transfer window. Slade has not signed nearly as many pla...eh, how many?

Top and bottom of it with Bignot is that under his stewardship we mostly played sh1t. Often because of stupid selections like Donny at home or the complete lack of tactics.

Sadly I am not sure we are doing any better now.

What is a worry is the amount of Town fans that still confuse his cliche bullsh1t with "passion".

I agree with that.

If he'd have calmed himself down a bit, I think we'd have been in better shape than we are today. He could certainly pick out players with ability and potential. He was looking to build for the future while RS is scrapping around with players from the past trying to deal with today.

Still can't work out whether he'd have ended up being insanely amazing or amazingly insane.

Compared to what we've got now, I think I'd like to have found out..

I don't think it was the unmitigated disaster that some make it to be. He made a couple of really good signings (Jones and Osborne) and produced three of the best four performances of the season (at Plymouth, Carlisle and at home to Mansfield) and we were comfortably safe by March under his premiership.

The down sides were rather stark mind you. His man management seemed to be disastrous, the McKeown post Stevenage and Henderson being thrown under the bus just spoke of amateurishness. JT heard of stories of a unhappy dressing room and I'd be staggered if the board didn't get Dave Moore's advice and I can hardly think that Dis and Pearson would be excrement stiring after all their time here. The tactics were non-existent on occasion.

Some of his other signings were unnecessary. Maxwell, Yussuf and Gunning either didn't play or were absolutely terrible, all waste of money which ever way you cut it.

Playing Davies at wing back was asking for trouble and the team selections at Pompey and at home to Donny in particular, with our best centre halves on the bench and Comley out wide were just baffling.

His interviews were about as much use as a pair of sunglasses on a bloke with one ear and he often said 10 million words but actually told us nothing and contradicted himself even within interviews sometimes, again post-Stevenage springs to mind.

He had his heart in the right place but perhaps needed to move to a higher end of Conference club or a low end league club before coming to a club with one of the biggest fanbases in this league. He might learn and come back stronger, but I can't help but feel we were on a one way ticket to the Conference with him at the helm.

However, I do feel that we may not moved off the line, I think we'll stay up, just, but it could be difficult and that has to bring into question the judgement those who appointed the managers.

Quoted from Bigdog

If he'd have calmed himself down a bit, I think we'd have been in better shape than we are today. He could certainly pick out players with ability and potential. He was looking to build for the future while RS is scrapping around with players from the past trying to deal with today.

Still can't work out whether he'd have ended up being insanely amazing or amazingly insane.

Compared to what we've got now, I think I'd like to have found out..

Are you saying Yesterday's Man who was planning for the Future would have been better than Today's Man from Yesteryear who's building for the Past?

I like that insane phrase you came up with. I think I'm going to nick it and use it at work.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Should have been given longer. The apparent splurge in the January transfer window could only have been approved by the Board (either explicitly in someone signing off on the fees and contracts, or implicitly in delegating authority to the manager). The Board were responsible.

Of course it's all been different in the Summer transfer window. Slade has not signed nearly as many pla...eh, how many?

The "board" let him sign the players it is true, but subsequently it became obvious his tenure was becoming a disaster. Not so much about results, but the training, player unrest and totally bizarre team selections/media comments convinced the "board" that they had backed the wrong man.

Slade has signed his own players like all managers, and obviously we will get rid of those surplus to requirements asap.

I am now beginning to think it might take Slade two seasons at least to get us properly sorted.

i just hope his mums ok with it all

Obviously it appears the players weren't happy due to training methods, man management and probably team selections. But when you hear what he did at Solihull, it makes sense. Maybe it was just a big test, seeing how players respond to certain situations. In the end, I'm sure he got his answers, which led to his sacking. Interestingly, those players that did go to fenty have either left or are currently playing excrement, so maybe the answers he got were the correct ones, and his method did work.

Not forgetting Slade suddenly became available.

I have never met the man, but a friend who is a big Mariners' supporter and has a newsagent Bignot used to frequent, said he is not the nice man he likes to portray.

Do successful managers need to be nice though?

Bignot did very well at Solihul and he worked extremely hard to achieve that success, so all credit to him for that. What he might have achieved here, we will never know.

People can say what they want about Bignot's unorthodox management style, but I was much happier with the type of signings he made: Osborne, Clements, Asanate and Jones. Young, hungry players with ability and their future ahead of them. Apart from Dembele, that can't really be said for Slade's recent recruits!

I loved Bignot when he came in he was such a refreshing change to Hurst,

BUT

As time went by I got a bit confused at what he was trying to do,

Having said that I am a bit confused what Slade is trying to do,

Maybe its an age thing.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

The "board" let him sign the players it is true, but subsequently it became obvious his tenure was becoming a disaster. Not so much about results, but the training, player unrest and totally bizarre team selections/media comments convinced the "board" that they had backed the wrong man.

Slade has signed his own players like all managers, and obviously we will get rid of those surplus to requirements asap.

I am now beginning to think it might take Slade two seasons at least to get us properly sorted.

I still think it was too early. We were inconsistent on the pitch but not relegation fodder.

He had a long term vision, and was quite open about the fact that it would take some time to deliver.

As infuriating as he was at times, I think we have to concede that he wasn't given the time he thought he had - presumably because his methods (and results) along the way didn't inspire any faith that his vision was any good.

Truth is, we'll never know if that vision would have delivered.

Bignot`s approached every team selection with scatter gun tactics hoping to get lucky from the kick off, when that did not work he applied the rearranging of the deck chairs on the Titanic as Plan B and resorted to cheeky bullsh1t after match interviews that made no sense and soon became tiring.

Slade`s approach is experience players and forward planning that has not yet resulted in success, but at this moment I`d take it above Bignot`s asylum tactics with Gunning playing the leading role.
Time will tell whose right but I prefer the boring Slade/Wilki approach,  where against some tough opposition ie Higher League teams we have shown grit and promise,  and for the want of a goal scorer things would look better.
Onwards and upwards starting today.

The problem is Garth have we shown that grit and promise against the opposition that wasn't tough? Or any evidence of experience? We certainly didn't against Stevenage. It was half-arsed, disorganised shite.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

The problem is Garth have we shown that grit and promise against the opposition that wasn't tough? Or any evidence of experience? We certainly didn't against Stevenage. It was half-arsed, disorganised shite.

Exactly. What's this grit and promise? And ONE win, against the bottom side. And a lop-sided setup to surpass anything Bignot put out.
And a red card in each game. Asylum football indeed.

Quoted from The Waif

People can say what they want about Bignot's unorthodox management style, but I was much happier with the type of signings he made: Osborne, Clements, Asanate and Jones. Young, hungry players with ability and their future ahead of them. Apart from Dembele, that can't really be said for Slade's recent recruits!

Clements is 27? Osborne and Jones are both 25. Even Asante is 24. Slade has signed Killip, Dembele, Cardwell and Dj who are all 20 or younger. Kelly, Hooper and Mitch Rose are all 23 so more than half of this summer's signings are in fact younger than all of those players you mentioned. Whether or not they've got ability and their futures ahead of them (in an upwards trajectory) remains to be seen.

For what it's worth I think Bignot was right in that approach and the best transfer policy is to look for the players in non-league who are performing really well and give them the opportunity to further their career. It's worked really well for Peterborough and Scunny over the last decade and I wouldn't say either club is bigger than ours but they've certainly performed much better. Then add a few experienced players in key positions (by experienced I don't mean have a centre back pairing with a combined age of 70) and you'll probably have a fairly decent side with the added bonus that you might make some money from developing the younger ones.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

The problem is Garth have we shown that grit and promise against the opposition that wasn't tough? Or any evidence of experience? We certainly didn't against Stevenage. It was half-arsed, disorganised shite.

The only game Berrett has missed - just saying!

Jones, Asante and Osborne all signed to us after impressing in non league. League 2 was the next step in the careers and Bignot was the reason they chose Town.

I'd prefer for us to be signing players doing the business in non league rather than journeymen from League 1 looking for their next 12 month deal.

We've tried that strategy before, haven't we?

Now rumoured to be named new Chester manager tomorrow!

First signing, a media consultant.

2nd Signing Gavin Gunning?

I think he was piloting us towards a disaster. Good decision to get rid.

His level.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

I think he was piloting us towards a disaster. Good decision to get rid.

I think he was an interesting guy and I would, personally, have liked him to remain manager for a while longer.

Quoted from Les Brechin

Now rumoured to be named new Chester manager tomorrow!

Now confirmed.

Good luck to him ,I wonder how well he will do ?

How long before the Chester fans are wondering what the heck is supposed to be going on on the field of play?

I suppose he may have learned a bit more caution following his departure from us.

They'll initially be charmed and delighted by the friendly persona and refreshing attitude. Initially....

Chester fans can prepare for a flood of midfielders as Bignot adopts his preferred tactic of playing a midfielder in every position

Good luck to the fella. Didn't work out here for a number of reasons, but if he can learn from it then his time as Solihull would suggest there's potential for him to be a good manager and maybe move upward in the future.

he wasnt for us but He'll probably go on to be a sucess now

Not many have been for us in the last 15 years.

People go on about the number of midfielders we had under Bignot but under Slade we're currently operating at the polar opposite to that, with the bare minimum available.

Currently available central midfielders: Berrett, Summerfield, Rose, Jones, Clifton.

Even with several players out due to injury, it's not exactly the bare minimum, is it?  

Quoted from grimps

he wasnt for us but He'll probably go on to be a sucess now

Blew them away at his interview apparently   talks a good game does our Marcus

Best of luck to him and Chester

I wonder if he wants any of the players that he brought in here.

Its his mum i'm pleased for

Jones isn't a central midfielder, his best position is just off the front man.

Plus Osborne isn't an out and out midfielder, more of an attacking player as well.

I can see Osborne getting a months loan at Chester to get match fit when he is ok.

Good luck to the bloke.
Not for us but cant fault his enthusiasm for the game.
Bet his Mum baked him a cake 😇

Got a bit of a job on his hands looking at the table. Chester only won 1 of their first 11 games, and currently in the relegation zone.

Will be interesting to see how he gets on.

Quoted from Maringer

Currently available central midfielders: Berrett, Summerfield, Rose, Jones, Clifton.

Even with several players out due to injury, it's not exactly the bare minimum, is it?  

If Rose is fit again that's great but on Saturday we had just the 2 in central midfield with no others available for the bench. Jones isn't a central midfielder and Clifton isn't seen as ready by Slade for senior action in the league yet.

Slade did say on the radio that if one of the CM's had had to come off, Woolford would've moved inside one and a winger would've been brought on.

Jones has played in central midfield in the past, I understand, even if he sees himself as more of an attacker. If Woolford can also play in the middle, all the better. Davies has also played central midfield, of course, though I think he should only be used there in an absolute emergency as he's getting on a bit too much now.

All in all, I think we're pretty well covered in the middle despite the injuries. If we pick up another injury or suspension, I'm sure we'll see Clifton come into the squad.

I wish him good luck at Chester and hope it all goes well for him. I think he was way out of his depth here and a step to far,he needs to gain more management experience in the National league, A likeable guy but it takes more than that to be a top manager, hope he learns from his past mistakes and eventually achieves his ambition, what ever that may be.

Let the footballing cliches began, he's found his level I reckon.

I see you've kicked off the cliches with 'he's found his level'😉

Wonder if he can bounce back from his Grimsby experience

He will talk about 3 things initially: how great the Chester fans are, how great the Chester fans are and ................................................ how great the Chester fans are.  

Wonder how he gets on at the DS.

I wonder if their trading grounds up to scratch, do they have a s&c coach and is there enough technical ability in the squad? Remember he "doesn't like losing football matches"!

Oh yeah and he'll need a head of recruitment to lay the cones out for the warm up.......... step forward Gary Whilde

I'm sort of happy for him. It's closer to his Birmingham home and the weight of expectation won't be there like it was with us.

He used to drive me mad with his team line-ups and (seemingly non-existent) tactics, but despite the defeats we also got a few wins and some decent players from him.

Given a bit more time, who knows where we would've been this season? We could be 'doing a Shrewsbury' but equally we could be where Forest Green are.

It was completely up in the air, based on how he was going about his business, and I guess that uncertainty (and a lack of patience) cost him his job with us.

England women's job available now Marcus .

Quoted from Les Brechin

Got a bit of a job on his hands looking at the table. Chester only won 1 of their first 11 games, and currently in the relegation zone.

Will be interesting to see how he gets on.

Damm! another team (Chester) to track alongside Lincoln (Arnold) Newport (Podge) Cardiff (Omar}  Wrexham (Pearson) and Alfreton (Dis)  

Wonder what his mum will think

Quoted from Garth

Damm! another team (Chester) to track alongside Lincoln (Arnold) Newport (Podge) Cardiff (Omar}  Wrexham (Pearson) and Alfreton (Dis)  

Gowling (Torquay) Yussuf/Jones (Barrow)

Good luck to him although I read his interview in the Chester Chronicle and this made me laugh:

"We will turn it around. I’m sure the supporters will see a group that will be organised and have a structure both on and off the ball and they’ll have clear roles and responsibilities, and I honestly believe they’ll draw confidence from that, and if they’ve got that desire to work harder and smarter, I’m sure we’ll turn things around.”

If he'd bothered to do any of that here, he might not have been looking for a new job.

Quoted from mariner91

Good luck to him although I read his interview in the Chester Chronicle and this made me laugh:

"We will turn it around. I’m sure the supporters will see a group that will be organised and have a structure both on and off the ball and they’ll have clear roles and responsibilities, and I honestly believe they’ll draw confidence from that, and if they’ve got that desire to work harder and smarter, I’m sure we’ll turn things around.”

If he'd bothered to do any of that here, he might not have been looking for a new job.

Send them a video of Stevenage away

Quoted from Abdul19

Wonder how he gets on at the DS.

SCS .... Keep up  

Quoted from Garth

Damm! another team (Chester) to track alongside Lincoln (Arnold) Newport (Podge) Cardiff (Omar}  Wrexham (Pearson) and Alfreton (Dis)  

And don't forget p vale with all time gy legend, Gavin 'mad dog' gunning , the King of bantz