Just back (merged)

I'm confused about why Alex Hunt isn't playing? We pay a fee for him and he disappears..
In truth I don't think overall we played that badly but losing 4 1 at home is not acceptable and it's also not acceptable to make 3 subs at half time that are actually more defensive minded when you're 3 goals down. Felt Green was quite poor and was an easy sub for me, Clifton wasn't quite himself so I understand that Sub, same with smith.
If it finishes 2 1 I don't think this massive uproar would be quite so bad but oh well. Deflated and frustrated.

Quoted from lukeo

I'm confused about why Alex Hunt isn't playing? We pay a fee for him and he disappears..
In truth I don't think overall we played that badly but losing 4 1 at home is not acceptable and it's also not acceptable to make 3 subs at half time that are actually more defensive minded when you're 3 goals down. Felt Green was quite poor and was an easy sub for me, Clifton wasn't quite himself so I understand that Sub, same with smith.
If it finishes 2 1 I don't think this massive uproar would be quite so bad but oh well. Deflated and frustrated.

You’ll struggle to find any manager who would make attacking subs at 4-1 down. **

Add in the fact it was a league match, 3 days after the last game and with another match on Sunday and it would be a sensible decision to most.

I’m pretty sure the half-time message was, ‘That was diabolical. Show some pride and don’t lose the second half’.

I get that the home results and recent league performances have been poor. But there are dimwits calling for Hursts’s head having lost 1-4 at home. Imagine if he would have opened up in the second half and played 3 upfront; we could easily have been stuffed by 8 or 9. That happened to Hasenhüttl twice and it was used to beat him throughout his time at Southampton, regardless of him managing to keep them up on a limited budget.

The most important thing is to try to regain some control but I’m struggling to remember any Town side in my lifetime overcoming a 3 goal deficit. It was very unlikely to happen.


** e.g. Liverpool 3-3 Milan - Benitez brought on Didi Hamann for Steve Finnan at half-time. It was a change of shape rather than an attacking sub and that was a one-off cup final.

I'm afraid that I don't get the view of some that Orsi did OK last night. He barely touched the ball and barely got in a position to make it hard for the defender to do a job. The difference struck me in the dying minutes of the game when their sub striker won a free-kick down our right by battling for possession and holding off the defender to draw a foul. I didn't remember seeing Orsi do that once in all his time on the pitch. An ephemeral presence.

It might be that he's a finisher who needs to play off somebody up front but there is little point in him being on the pitch of we don't have a focal point. Next game, I'd be looking to play Kiernan and McAtee up front as we know that Kiernan will at least do the running to cause defenders problems and keep them moving. Whether this will be enough to create enough of a threat or not, I don't know, but bunging Orsi on in the hope the ball reaches him in a good position doesn't seem much more than wishful thinking.

I fail to see all this optimism of signing new players in January.

The type of player that we really need to 'improve' the team, will either be unavailable, or not prepared to come to Grimsby.

Re the question of ambition just follow this down a bit and Jason who is one of the "4 replies" is pretty clear on the matter.

https://twitter.com/ryancollins1987/status/1608070334384672770?s=21&t=8PXhunv9b3vyNQwykMEoeA

Thought Orsi looked off the pace in an attacking sense - not sharp at all, and not reactive to a few possible half chances, which is understandable given how little he’s played this season. Probably harsh to judge.

Khan continues to look a decent signing, shame he was on his own in that sense.

I don’t understand why so much of our play has to go down the right, when Glennon and Khan are more than capable going forward. Efete didn’t have a great game as has been touched on, but he does see a lot of the ball and is used as one of our main outlets.

Big jan window needed, but we are not in a good position to be making decent signings now….lower end of the table, on a terrible run of form and just lost 1-4 at home.

I don't think a big transfer window is needed. We just need another forward player and for Hurst to give the players more freedom and play the likes of Hunt who are creative.
I try to look at things from all sides and I'm sure his argument back would be if we had hunt, clifton and mcatee in the middle 3/behind striker it'd be too light weight for this division

Quoted from lukeo

I don't think a big transfer window is needed. We just need another forward player and for Hurst to give the players more freedom and play the likes of Hunt who are creative.
I try to look at things from all sides and I'm sure his argument back would be if we had hunt, clifton and mcatee in the middle 3/behind striker it'd be too light weight for this division

So you're happy with our current defensive personnel?

For all the critcism of Orsi, who would the knowledgeable ones suggest playing in front of McAtee?

Quoted from cannylad65

For all the critcism of Orsi, who would the knowledgeable ones suggest playing in front of McAtee?

A new centre forward brought in on the 1st January with a bit of luck!

This will be revealing - not only if we get the reinforcements we need but when. We have known the problem for a long time so it will be beyond disappointing if January drifts on without getting the hold up player we need.

I think that will solve a lot of our current travails - getting the ball to stick up top to take some pressure off.