Why?

I don't know much about football. Only been watching it for 50 odd years and coaching for some of that. Mr Hurst doesn't rate us supporters as having much knowledge about the game either apparently.

Last week against Southport I understood why he chose a team to play like last year. Tight at the back and make use of the space the home team gives you. An early goal helps a lot by bringing them out even further. I understand that. Good tactics away from home and I understand why Bogle needed a bit of a lesson and Amond was probably still carrying a bit of an injury. The team selection was the best he could do in the circumstances and it worked, especially as Southport were so inept in the extreme at the back.

But why? Why oh why did he pick an away team to play a home game against a side we needed to beat?

I may not know a lot about football by Mr Hurst's exalted standards but I do know what a barmy team selection looks like and I do know that waiting until the last 10 minutes to get your best 2 strikers together on the park is bordering on the clueless.

Net result of his stubborness - one point gained by FGR, two points lost to GTFC, more pressure on the team for Tuesday. Crazy.

I thought that Pittman and Tomlinson did OK today. The problem today wasn't so much with them as the quality of the service which they received (or more precisely didn't receive at all in the first half). Crossing and final passes not nearly good enough most of the time.

I'd certainly have given Bogle at least another ten minutes in the second half though.

Not a good performance from us in general and we can certainly play a lot better than that regardless of who we have up front.

If he'd have changed the team and lost we'd all be slatng him now for changing a side that had won 4-0 away the previous week! The guy can't win!!

Quoted from Mighty_Mariner

If he'd have changed the team and lost we'd all be slatng him now for changing a side that had won 4-0 away the previous week! The guy can't win!!

Exactly.

Paul just cant win  

I haven't seen the performance today so you could argue that I'm not in a position to have much of an opinion but I too was very disappointed in the team selection.
For me, selecting a non scoring loanee ahead of our two top scorers, both of whom have done brilliantly overall on balance is very hard to understand and accept, and sends out the wrong message for me. Equally - why we don't try to get Arnold or even Marshall into the team is equally perplexing.

The aftermath interview shed no light really, it being fairly anodyne, in both questions and answers. I know that a draw with the leaders is hardly a disaster, but Hurst really does frustrate me at times.

"Ok" and Hurst sitting on his hands isn't going to get us atomically promoted.

Tomlinson for all his huff and puff, isn't good enough.

You don't enter a donkey into a high profile race, only an behind would do that.

So what we're saying is..... If Paul had selected Arnold, Bogle and Amond and we'd lost then we'd all be praising him for he correct team selection??

What message would that send to the team that you can win 4-0 but still be dropped the following week?

If anyone thinks PH picks a team he doesn't think can win the game then they're delusional!!!! He has more on the line than any of us do to ensure Grimsby Town are successful!

Quoted from chaos33

For me, selecting a non scoring loanee ahead of our two two top scorers, both of whom have done brilliantly overall on balance is very hard to understand and accept, and sends out the wrong message for me. Equally - why we don't try to get Arnold or even Marshall into the team is equally perplexing.

Problem is that neither Bogle nor Amond is any good at leading the line. If we're going to play with those two up front, we need to change the way we play, because we can't just rely on Monkhouse to win all the headers. I'm less than convinced our midfield is good enough at passing to play the ball into feet often enough for the Bogle/Amond partnership to be effective, especially against the better defences of the top teams.

His remit is play off's which are easily achievable for a club our size in this league. Tomlinson didn't look like he would score today even if we were still playing now.

When it was obvious it wasn't working Hurst should have spiced it up around the 60 minutes mark. Pittman didn't deserve to be subbed.

Quoted from Mighty_Mariner

If he'd have changed the team and lost we'd all be slatng him now for changing a side that had won 4-0 away the previous week! The guy can't win!!

If he had changed the team to include the best striking partnership the club has and it didn't work, I think people would more likely have blamed the players more than the manager.

His selection last week was for an away game and was to some extent forced on him. This week it was entirely his own choice so I'm afraid he has to carry the can for that one.