haven't seen if there is a 2nd team.

All 3 ex town lads on the bench for York

Assuming triallist A and B are fieldson and ladapo does anyone have any idea about triallist C

Quoted from SWMariner

Assuming triallist A and B are fieldson and ladapo does anyone have any idea about triallist C

Believe it'll be Jim Simms, same striker that played on Tuesday and set up Ladapo

1-0 York

Move leading up to it was offside AND it was never a corner since the ball deflected off the striker after he was tackled but yeah shite defending from the corner. Almost as shite as the lino on the far side.

So far we look rubbish, especially the two centre backs who look slow and easily beatable with a longer ball.

Early days and I know it’s a friendly. But, York better on and off the ball at the minute.

Also shocked how little 44 million buys you for a stadium.

We look very lightweight physically and no ideal whether we are trying to play long ir shot . Pretty awful so far but probably not many on pitch who will be starting on day 1 ( I hope! )

1-1.

Most comical og will ever see!

1-1. OG!

If Artell keeps shaking his head at this rate it is going to fall off.

I mean, it’s really hot but we’ve looked hopeless. If this had been a L2 fixture, this team on this showing would be smashed out of sight.

Quoted from chaos33

I mean, it’s really hot but we’ve looked hopeless. If this had been a L2 fixture, this team on this showing would be smashed out of sight.

If my auntie had bollox, she'd be my uncle...

Its a friendly ffs, its all about getting minutes into the legs.

Quoted from heppy88

Also shocked how little 44 million buys you for a stadium.

£44m was for the whole surrounding complex; cinema, swimming pool, rock climbing, along with the ground itself.

Only pre season but back 4 looks slow.

Havent got trialist B in the game at all

well, theres always 25/26 season to look forward to :)

Svanthorsson the only one offering anything in the first half. Everyone else miles below par. Even Wright almost managed to throw a cross into his own net under zero pressure with no York players anywhere near him. Also really don't understand why we're trying to play out from the back through left footed McJannet who's playing at right CB. It would be fine if he was at LCB but at RCB it just looks awkward and is restricting his passing range. Standards need raising significantly in the second half.

Quoted from Poojah

£44m was for the whole surrounding complex; cinema, swimming pool, rock climbing, along with the ground itself.

Cheers, I was thinking we will never get a ground if that’s all you get!

Quoted from Lost in Lincoln

If my auntie had bollox, she'd be my uncle...

Its a friendly ffs, its all about getting minutes into the legs.

Yeah, thanks for that mate. I’m not @rsed about the result. Just commenting on the performance.

Quoted from Lost in Lincoln

If my auntie had bollox, she'd be my uncle...

Its a friendly ffs, its all about getting minutes into the legs.

Ern.......it's also about finding out how good the players are especially the new signings or do you think he pulls the names out of a bag for the first game.

Why the foook is DA still trying to play a system without the players that can do it or with players out of position. Not o ly going to be his downfall but the teams downfall. Yes its only a friendly but 4 games in and we should be seeing improvements in how we play

Quoted from denni266

Why the foook is DA still trying to play a system without the players that can do it or with players out of position. Not o ly going to be his downfall but the teams downfall. Yes its only a friendly but 4 games in and we should be seeing improvements in how we play

Jesus even for this board July 20th is early for you to start.

Gardner made a difference. A physical presence up front though playing out on right

Quoted from HerveJosse

Gardner made a difference. A physical presence up front though playing out on right

Probably hasn't helped either that the trialist we've got up front has done absolutely nothing and is making it like we're playing with ten men.

Quoted from denni266

Why the foook is DA still trying to play a system without the players that can do it or with players out of position. Not o ly going to be his downfall but the teams downfall. Yes its only a friendly but 4 games in and we should be seeing improvements in how we play

How close do you think this will be to the first league game?

I think a lot of people are forgetting how hot it is today, and maybe the reason they look slow is because DA might have told them to take it easy.

Thompson crocked and free  header for LJL not good

Two goals conceded from corners. I'm very worried about the lack of height in this squad at the moment, they don't look like they can handle high balls into the box at all.

Looks like hamstring !

Quoted from denni266

Why the foook is DA still trying to play a system without the players that can do it or with players out of position. Not o ly going to be his downfall but the teams downfall. Yes its only a friendly but 4 games in and we should be seeing improvements in how we play

Come on mate it's a training session all said and done.
As long as DA knows what's what at the start of the season we will be all good.

Town struggling to get anywhere near the opposition box. I know this is a friendly, but at the minute we look clueless and light weight with no attacking threat. Minutes in the legs I get, but surely you are supposed to try and win, whatever the game?

Are gtfc incapable of learning from their past mistakes. Must they keep repeating them over and over again. I really despair at this set up we have now. Forget about it only being a pre season game. These are games you should take seriously and get yourselves into good practices. Make good use of pre season and hone them into a decent side ready for the start of the season, not wasting these matches by just having a kick about.

Has Thompson been substituted?
We seem to get so many injuries including two of our best players since April

Pre season or not, ive paid money for that and it was absolute excrement

No shots on target, worringly slow at the back, look very short ( admit we have injuries) but not a good showing

Hope Hume is fit to start the season cos this Carson is absolutely junk. Don't think he's completed a pass to a town player all afternoon.

I have no great expectations for this season, same as usual, unfortunately.

Quoted from Chrisblor

Hope Hume is fit to start the season cos this Carson is absolutely junk. Don't think he's completed a pass to a town player all afternoon.

Ah so you've written him off completely after a game. Nice.

Ok that was a pre season game but that was awful. You hope to see green shoots at this stage of the season but saw very little in terms of pattern of play or any discernible quality. York on the other hand showed what fans would hope to see at this stage of the season.

Three new defenders showed nothing to suggest they were an upgrade on what we had before

Lot of teeth gnashing going on  ;)
It's a pre season game and most if no not all of them aren't that great a watch.
As long as when the season roles around everything is sorted then that's what counts.
As with the start of every season I start off with an optimistic  outlook, most times the optimism quickly fades but fingers crossed.

I’ve seen us have great pre seasons and crap seasons & vice versa.

It’s a tale as old as time, yet people still get their knickers in a twist and think the seasons over after one loss in pre season.

Artell has already said, it’s an extension of training and we don’t need to overthink anything at this point.

If you’re genuinely worried, go and have a pint.

So what was the score ? Must be 6 or 7 nil judging by the comments

According to X 2 -1 York with The Shop scoring the winner.

We won 10 out of 10 pre-season games in 15/16 and looked really good. We then drew the opening game to soon-to-be-relegated Kidderminster. Pre-season means fk all.

The thing about pre season is that (at least usually) there's little to no preparation for the actual games, and like DA has stated its basically an extension of training. For all we know they could have been working on fitness all week and were absolutely knackered when it gets to the game today. York on the other hand might have been doing something different.

I don't love losing to lower league opposition at all, I also don't love that at this stage of pre season we're still fielding this many trialists. But it's still only pre season and I'd rather get bad performances out of the way now and deal with what went wrong against York than against Fleetwood in 3 weeks time. Would hope for some movement on the transfer front this week though, and to get a few more back from injury.

Remember us beating gy Boro 14-1 in pre season with Akpa Akpro scoring 4. Thought we were champions in league 2 for sure until losing our league status on that fateful day in Burton that Season.

Think some need to calm down as we've been playing with a quarter of the outfield players as trialists unlikely to be offered a deal. We've about 7 out with injuries and knocks and working on a new system.

Once we get the likes of Rose and Tharme back also we will look a different team and think we are about 5 short to a complete squad.

No need for panick at this atage

Well, lets look on the bright side. This forum would never survive with out the "Artell out", "Relegation threatening", "Sack the board", "Bad signings", "Wouldnt survive without Rose", "Need more signings", "No bog roll in toilets", "Subs on too late", "Data,data, data", "Ref was excrement", Its all fking doom and gloom before we even kick off. I just love the moaners and the shtty replies, i excell with it. 63 years of supporting this Club, and the only demise of the Club is on this Forum. The late Saturday paper with results was all we had with Charles Ekberg and the ever changeable Mighty Mariner face, backed up by chips and peas on the way home. All hopes were lost by checking our Littlewoods Pools coupon when a sure bet let us down, kicking the dog to help him on his walk, and moaning at the wife and regretting it the next morning when you know you have to make it up by scratting the spuds etc etc. Oh for the people who wish they could be in our clan of not having dementia and remembering the youthful days of us Pontoonites, and i for one was a promotional pontoonite after doing my apprenticeship in the Boys Stand in the Barrets. So, where do we stand???   We stand high, we are GTFC, we sing when fishing, nobody can take that away from us. For future reference to you all, Believe, yes, believe in the Club. I moan and pick at some on here, so i apologise, Its my Grimsby blood pressurising. and only one more thing to say... Up Te Bloody Mariners.

Quoted from dicko995

Well, lets look on the bright side. This forum would never survive with out the "Artell out", "Relegation threatening", "Sack the board", "Bad signings", "Wouldnt survive without Rose", "Need more signings", "No bog roll in toilets", "Subs on too late", "Data,data, data", "Ref was excrement", Its all fking doom and gloom before we even kick off. I just love the moaners and the shtty replies, i excell with it. 63 years of supporting this Club, and the only demise of the Club is on this Forum. The late Saturday paper with results was all we had with Charles Ekberg and the ever changeable Mighty Mariner face, backed up by chips and peas on the way home. All hopes were lost by checking our Littlewoods Pools coupon when a sure bet let us down, kicking the dog to help him on his walk, and moaning at the wife and regretting it the next morning when you know you have to make it up by scratting the spuds etc etc. Oh for the people who wish they could be in our clan of not having dementia and remembering the youthful days of us Pontoonites, and i for one was a promotional pontoonite after doing my apprenticeship in the Boys Stand in the Barrets. So, where do we stand???   We stand high, we are GTFC, we sing when fishing, nobody can take that away from us. For future reference to you all, Believe, yes, believe in the Club. I moan and pick at some on here, so i apologise, Its my Grimsby blood pressurising. and only one more thing to say... Up Te Bloody Mariners.

At last, a non moaner with something sensible to say.  UTM!

Oh dear, didn’t go today but having read the excellent posts I’ve clearly wasted my money on season ticket. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry! Or maybe it’s just preseason and it means absolutely nothing.

Liverpool lost to Preston, I guess that’s them fudged for the season 🤨

Quoted from oochiad

Oh dear, didn’t go today but having read the excellent posts I’ve clearly wasted my money on season ticket. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry! Or maybe it’s just preseason and it means absolutely nothing.

I don’t think I’ve seen anyone claim it means anything? Just stating a fact that we were really poor.

Quoted from dicko995

Well, lets look on the bright side. This forum would never survive with out the "Artell out", "Relegation threatening", "Sack the board", "Bad signings", "Wouldnt survive without Rose", "Need more signings", "No bog roll in toilets", "Subs on too late", "Data,data, data", "Ref was excrement", Its all fking doom and gloom before we even kick off. I just love the moaners and the shtty replies, i excell with it. 63 years of supporting this Club, and the only demise of the Club is on this Forum. The late Saturday paper with results was all we had with Charles Ekberg and the ever changeable Mighty Mariner face, backed up by chips and peas on the way home. All hopes were lost by checking our Littlewoods Pools coupon when a sure bet let us down, kicking the dog to help him on his walk, and moaning at the wife and regretting it the next morning when you know you have to make it up by scratting the spuds etc etc. Oh for the people who wish they could be in our clan of not having dementia and remembering the youthful days of us Pontoonites, and i for one was a promotional pontoonite after doing my apprenticeship in the Boys Stand in the Barrets. So, where do we stand???   We stand high, we are GTFC, we sing when fishing, nobody can take that away from us. For future reference to you all, Believe, yes, believe in the Club. I moan and pick at some on here, so i apologise, Its my Grimsby blood pressurising. and only one more thing to say... Up Te Bloody Mariners.

Absobloodylutely!

Quoted from pontoonlew

I’ve seen us have great pre seasons and crap seasons & vice versa.

It’s a tale as old as time, yet people still get their knickers in a twist and think the seasons over after one loss in pre season.

Artell has already said, it’s an extension of training and we don’t need to overthink anything at this point.

If you’re genuinely worried, go and have a pint.

Amen

We’re so bad defensively even the shop scored against us.
I love the shop, really pleased he scored.
There, my emotions are drained

Still think we’ll take 1000plus to fleetwood  :)

Quoted from pontoonlew

I’ve seen us have great pre seasons and crap seasons & vice versa.

It’s a tale as old as time, yet people still get their knickers in a twist and think the seasons over after one loss in pre season.

Artell has already said, it’s an extension of training and we don’t need to overthink anything at this point.

If you’re genuinely worried, go and have a pint.

The only valid reason for a bit of wailing and gnashing of teeth at this stage would be another injury to a senior player, if indeed that is the case with Thompson. A shite start to the season because of a number of key players being out injured is still a shite start. This is where I’d hope the owners would give DA some budget flexibility. The friendlies against Rotherham and Mansfield is when we’d want to see more than a kick about in the sun and with a full squad to choose from

Speaking of Fleetwood, when do tickets go on sale?

Bag of shíte that. Mcjannet moved out of position presumably to accommodate the triallist (Fieldson?) on his stronger left foot? Didn’t work, meant there was no fluidity in the play and it was hard moving out of the defensive third. Triallist was slow in & out of possession.

Physically weak in the centre of the park especially in the first half - Khouri needs to get on the weights or learn to shield the ball rather than just hoping to roll away on the outside every time. JDS looked sharp but just got kicked all first half. Ladapo anonymous all game but had zero to work with. Thompson the only willing recipient of the ball in front of the back 4, hope it’s just a precaution.

Up front we’re going to waste what little quality we have if we persist with this front 3 formation. Wilson came on & held the ball well but didn’t have much support around him. Gardner had a decent 5-10mins but just got pushed further & further back. Will Artell play Wilson alongside Rose in a 2 or is one going to be forced out wide? Play to your strengths.

3 weeks to go, hope that’s the last of the cobwebs blown off.

Yeah look, no drama, and the result doesn’t matter a jot, but as a calm summing up of a pre-season friendly observed today; we were absolutely dreadful in every single aspect of the game. Even the basics.

On that performance we are down.
Zero pace at the back no attacking intent, no shots on target, new signings are worse than the ones we let go.
Let’s hope there are two teams worse than us or we are down.
It’s going to be a long season.

I went. It was terrible.

It’s preseason. You expect players to be rusty. You expect them to be physically and mentally below where they will need to be.

But what I saw today goes far beyond that. So many of the negative traits of that appalling spell before we ditched “good football” for “pragmatic football” were on display again.

None of the front 5 offering themselves when the back 4 and defensive midfielder were attempting to build from the back.

I get it’s preseason and there’s 21 days until it matters, but York have the same time until their league season starts and they looked like they had a system they all understood in terms of the team and their own role within it.

As such I’m officially announcing that I am mildly concerned.

Didn’t go today well done to those who did, friendlies sometimes tell a manager something, if today told Artell there's a lot to do still which I suspect is the case with most clubs I’d rather he found out now than in 3 weeks time.

That sounds worrying. Is it a similar problem to last season which was a lack of central midfielders willing/able to come and get it? I still think we’re desperately short of real tried and tested quality in the midfield.

Do you know what I saw today, the same football, style and tactics that kept getting us hammered, and that worries me more than anything.
This is now mainly Artells squad, players he's brought in, and we look toothless, again.
Do I think we could be in a spot of hot water by end of October, I'm not 100% convinced we won't be.

Remember when we beat Sheffield Wednesday in pre season and then went on to finish at the dizzying heights of 11th in the Conference the next season.

It doesn’t. flipping. Matter.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

I went. It was terrible.

It’s preseason. You expect players to be rusty. You expect them to be physically and mentally below where they will need to be.

But what I saw today goes far beyond that. So many of the negative traits of that appalling spell before we ditched “good football” for “pragmatic football” were on display again.

None of the front 5 offering themselves when the back 4 and defensive midfielder were attempting to build from the back.

I get it’s preseason and there’s 21 days until it matters, but York have the same time until their league season starts and they looked like they had a system they all understood in terms of the team and their own role within it.

As such I’m officially announcing that I am mildly concerned.

Listen to DA - he also thought it was terrible. Obviously, he didn’t say that, but tone of voice and what he did say, he thought that…

Quoted from sam gy

Remember when we beat Sheffield Wednesday in pre season and then went on to finish at the dizzying heights of 11th in the Conference the next season.

It doesn’t. flipping. Matter.

The result is irrelevant, you’re right, but if the manager wasn’t satisfied, I’d suggest that even he is concerned. We have a seriously tricky start and seem a million miles away with only a few weeks to get it right.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

The result is irrelevant, you’re right, but if the manager wasn’t satisfied, I’d suggest that even he is concerned. We have a seriously tricky start and seem a million miles away with only a few weeks to get it right.

Can’t say that. Its only pre season so it doesnt matter….

3 weeks before the start of the season starting friendlies with 3 trialists, injuries stacking up, Our best CB and Best CF yet to play a minute


Nah lets not be slightly concerned

We can debate the significance of a poor pre-season performance and result ‘til the cows come home, but potentially meaningful injuries to Thompson and Svanthorsson is far from ideal. Squad looking a bit fragile as things stand.

The team is a mess we knew Rose was having surgery and could miss the start of the season then sign no replacement and 5 defenders all of whom look shocking.
The lad from Reading looks like he has never played football.
We look a poor side York dominated us from minute 1 should of scored 5 that’s a bottom end conference team.

Quoted from Yoda

The team is a mess we knew Rose was having surgery and could miss the start of the season then sign no replacement and 5 defenders all of whom look shocking.
The lad from Reading looks like he has never played football.
We look a poor side York dominated us from minute 1 should of scored 5 that’s a bottom end conference team.

Bit harsh on the right back who didnt even play today - warren I think?

I'm about 90% certain Svanthorsson came off at half time because they just kept booting him and the ref and lino were giving him absolutely nothing, even when he was being cynically dragged down after beating his man. Didn't see anything to suggest he was injured going into the break.

Quoted from Meza

I'm no expert on what successful pre-season preparation looks like, but it started just over 3 weeks ago, and there are 3 points at stake in exactly 3 weeks time, but we haven't done any defensive work or set plays yet. That seems a bit odd to me, but what do I know?

Quoted from jamesgtfc

I'm no expert on what successful pre-season preparation looks like, but it started just over 3 weeks ago, and there are 3 points at stake in exactly 3 weeks time, but we haven't done any defensive work or set plays yet. That seems a bit odd to me, but what do I know?

Yeah, that comment did raise an eyebrow from me. Given that we’re just about set in terms of personnel in the goalkeeping and defensive departments, and least complete in midfield and attack, you’d have thought working on what we do without the ball might have been a logical starting point.

January and Feb are not yet a distant memory; a kamikaze pressing strategy and a complete absence of defensive fundamentals wrought absolute carnage during those cold, dark months - both literally and figuratively. I find the best lessons you learn in life are from the mistakes you make that bring you the most pain - if Artell is to make this season a remote success then learning from what happened around the turn of the year is simply non-negotiable.

I like the notion that this can all be ascribed to a rigorously structured pre-season plan. 😉
Dont worry - we haven’t done any work on defending corners or passing to team mates with purpose or anything yet. That’s next week.  Look over here at the positives……

I’d take York’s evident plan over that. Weeks ahead of us, evidently. Visible strategy, players who seem to get it and can do basic things like control the ball and weight a pass or anticipate and move…..better do it our way. If you wanted to read anything into today’s result and expressed management opinion on it, you’d be forgiven for thinking we look exactly like the team of hapless, disorganised losers who concede goals from minute one and wander about looking like impotent, lost imposters - you know, like we did when Artell first came. The performance was utterly awful and the question/answers in the post match equally bog standard. If you were going to extrapolate or predict anything from that - and I’m not saying you should - you’d say that Grimsby Town team looked like nailed on relegation strugglers today on that showing, and I’d say that if we were also in the conference with York. That’s the point.
I understand choice words were exchanged post match. Pre-season needs a serious, transformative upgrade with three weeks to go. Heaps of injuries, half a dozen players short and a showing today that was utterly sh1t in every way.

I was pleasantly surprised by Artell’s honesty in that interview. I realise pre season games have to be taken with a pinch of salt. But there was just something about that performance today that raised a few concerned eyebrows and judging by that interview Artell can be included in that list. I get the impression HE knows exactly how he wants the team to play, but seems to struggle to communicate that to the players, as seemed to be the case earlier in his tenure.

Agree with the concerns- especially the comments around ‘some team members being asked to play in a certain way and not complying or being competent at this point’…

I went to see the York game to get some confidence on the coming season- sadly I’ve had a dose of reality. And I wasn’t expecting PSG or Man City, but I expected better

Still, a few week left to get things sorted

Quoted from Yoda

The team is a mess we knew Rose was having surgery and could miss the start of the season then sign no replacement and 5 defenders all of whom look shocking.
The lad from Reading looks like he has never played football.
We look a poor side York dominated us from minute 1 should of scored 5 that’s a bottom end conference team.

Will you give it a rest, honestly, I've ever known anybody talk such negative bollox on a consistent level.

Quoted from jamesgtfc

I'm no expert on what successful pre-season preparation looks like, but it started just over 3 weeks ago, and there are 3 points at stake in exactly 3 weeks time, but we haven't done any defensive work or set plays yet. That seems a bit odd to me, but what do I know?

I don't pay much attention to pre season results but his comments did make my ears sharp object up I have to say. In one of the other games he said something similar too. If we haven't done those things yet, and we can't do what we have been working on very well judging by people's reaction to yesterday,  then that sets some alarm bells going.

I am assuming these players have been signed/retained because they can adapt to his methods and style of play so we should be showing a bit more.

The injuries are a concern but nothing seems to change there.

Quoted from heppy88

I get the impression HE knows exactly how he wants the team to play, but seems to struggle to communicate that to the players, as seemed to be the case earlier in his tenure.

The players know what he wants to do, they're just not good enough. Same as last season. You're not going to sign a bunch of players that can dominate a game playing possession football in L2 without a Wrexham sized budget. Only the best players at this level can do that, and we can't afford them.

Quoted from pen penfras

The players know what he wants to do, they're just not good enough. Same as last season. You're not going to sign a bunch of players that can dominate a game playing possession football in L2 without a Wrexham sized budget. Only the best players at this level can do that, and we can't afford them.

And there's the uncomfortable truth. At least those of us who sit in the Main Stand will now get a full, unadulterated view of how good or bad we are this season.

Yoda is just a troll posting inflammatory balderdash to get a response. Just ignore him/it. Don't feed the trolls.

I thought Artell's post-match comments sounded reasonable, but everyone who went says the performance was nowhere near where we need to be. York have a more stable squad, I'd have thought, whereas we've had a really big turnover of players. You'd have hoped that after a few weeks training, they'd have worked up more of an understanding of what they should be doing and the style of play. Perhaps it was just an off day? I'd imagine we've still got a few targets, one or two of whom we expect to sign, but the later they arrive, the less time there is to get them integrated into the team. If you can't hit the ground running for the start of the season, you risk falling behind wherever your target might be - automatic promotion, play-off spots, or even just survival.

Quoted from pen penfras

The players know what he wants to do, they're just not good enough. Same as last season. You're not going to sign a bunch of players that can dominate a game playing possession football in L2 without a Wrexham sized budget. Only the best players at this level can do that, and we can't afford them.

Yep. The concern for me is that we still seem to be lacking pace and physicality through the spine of our team. Green and Thompson are pretty slow, Khouri is young and Ainley and McEachran are good on the ball but quite lightweight. None of our three centre backs can be described as quick. One thing that struck me about Mansfield, Wrexham and Stockport was the size of them but also their mobility. We don't have a budget to sign the best players in the league but if we also can't match them physically then we're going to struggle. There's going to have to be a blend of some passing ideally but also the basic necessities to compete and at the minute I'm not sure our recruitment has improved us in that regard, certainly not through the spine.

The strange thing is that when these defensive  signings were all coming in, there was a specific mention for most of them that they were reasonably quick. What's happened there, then?

On another note, I've been watching Mcjannet quite closely, seeing as though he's one of the signatures we went quite aggressively, and tbh, to say I'm underwhelmed is an understatement, looks a liability on the ball, has very little pace, not sure what the data says about him, but so far, so not impressed

Perhaps we should take a look at who played yesterday and who didn't.  As DA said in his interview post match, we played 4 youths and 3 trialists at some time during the match, also JDS and Thomson picked up injuries and had to be replaced and there are several other first team players out with niggling injuries too.  McJannet, who is left footed and normally plays on the left side of two or three CB's was played on the right side yesterday, probably to accommodate a CB trialist.   If we are going to slag the team off based on those facts, and also the fact that not all of them have played together in our previous pre season friendlies, then I think we are being unfair.

Some people are already talking about relegation, really!  I just can't get my head round people who think like that.  We have 3 more weeks of pre season for the team and for other incoming players to adapt to the way we will play, and learn to play together.

I am not worried at all, this season DA has probably got some of the players he wanted, but not all, as some of his targets may have been snapped up by other clubs for whatever reason, as opposed to joining GTFC.  I just hope that the players we end up with are suitable for the style of football DA and the owners want us to play and that come the end of the season we are somewhere in the top half of League Two.

I'm not stupid, I know that there can be many reasons why this might not happen, and I also realise that we have no divine right to stay in League Two for next season, as every other team in this League will trying as hard as us to be successful.

So at the end of the day, I have been supporting Town for longer than I care to remember and will never stop doing so, and I will back the management and Team to the hilt.  I think this season may be the beginning of a major improvement for our club, and I am looking forward to watching the Mariners make a concerted effort to finish in the top half of the League.  UTM!

Quoted from Ruuger

Perhaps we should take a look at who played yesterday and who didn't.  As DA said in his interview post match, we played 4 youths and 3 trialists at some time during the match, also JDS and Thomson picked up injuries and had to be replace and there are several other first team players out with niggling injuries too.  If we are going to slag the team off based on those facts, and also the fact that not all of them have played together in our previous pre season friendlies, then I think we are being unfair.

Some people are already talking about relegation, really!  I just can't get my head round people who think like that.  We have 3 more weeks of pre season for the team and for other incoming players to adapt to the way we will play, and learn to play together.

I am not worried at all, this season DA has probably got some of the players he wanted, but not all, as some of his targets may have been snapped up by other clubs for whatever reason, as opposed to joining GTFC.  I just hope that the players we end up with are suitable for the style of football DA and the owners want us to play and that come the end of the season we are somewhere in the top half of League Two.

I'm not stupid, I know that there can be many reasons why this might not happen, and I also realise that we have no divine right to stay in League Two for next season, as every other team in this League will trying as hard as us to be successful.

So at the end of the day, I have been supporting Town for longer than I care to remember and will never stop doing so, and I will back the management and Team to the hilt.  I think this season may be the beginning of a major improvement for our club, and I am looking forward to watching the Mariners make a concerted effort to finish in the top half of the League.  UTM!

I get where you're coming from but we released/lost 13 players and have signed 6 with 2 youths coming through. That leaves possibly 5 gaps? Add to that, we haven't seen Pyke, Rose or Tharme and we look threadbare with the season only three weeks away - with the start we've got, we could be at the wrong end of the table very early and our fans aren't blessed with a great deal of patience.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

I get where you're coming from but we released/lost 13 players and have signed 6 with 2 youths coming through. That leaves possibly 5 gaps? Add to that, we haven't seen Pyke, Rose or Tharme and we look threadbare with the season only three weeks away - with the start we've got, we could be at the wrong end of the table very early and our fans aren't blessed with a great deal of patience.

That kind of backs up what I posted right.  You would expect two of those three, maybe all three to be in our first starting eleven of the season.  Three weeks is a long time, I'm sure we will have an up to strength squad by then.  Also, it's not where we are in the table at the start of the season, it's where we are at the end.  :)

Quoted from Ruuger

That kind of backs up what I posted right.  You would expect two of those three, maybe all three to be in our first starting eleven of the season.  Three weeks is a long time, I'm sure we will have an up to strength squad by then.  Also, it's not where we are in the table at the start of the season, it's where we are at the end.  :)

It's hard to tell from a friendly with most of the team missing. I'm sure it was terrible, but it's really difficult to judge half the team when the other half are youth/trialists that probably aren't good enough. A few good players in the team can transform the performances of everybody, so I don't think there's any reason to panic yet. But the squad is threadbare and 3 weeks is not a long time to sign players when we are light and seemingly have several that won't be ready for the start of the season. Sometimes you get away with players not playing together much, but not often.

I don't think that anybody expects Pyke to be in our first-choice starting line-up this coming season! Didn't get a start under Artell, did he, even when he was occasionally fit?

Quoted from mariner91

That sounds worrying. Is it a similar problem to last season which was a lack of central midfielders willing/able to come and get it? I still think we’re desperately short of real tried and tested quality in the midfield.

That’s how it seemed to me. First half 3 of Khouri, Green & McEachran with Khouri the deepest of them. York were pressing quickly and we just never seemed comfortable receiving it from the CBs or keeper, think we managed to work our way out that way probably twice in the first half. You could see the difference Thompson makes instantly - gets the ball and always moves it, never kills it and happy to turn either way (whilst being heavily right footed) looking for an option. Without him we tend to stop it dead, facing our own goal, and then have to either go straight back or turn into trouble.

The whole issue wasn’t helped by having McJannett playing on the wrong side, so when he was receiving the ball, it was he was generally going back to the left - Cass barely touched the ball all half. Meant that when there wasn’t a clear option, neither CB would bring it out to try find an option or change the angle - Mcjannet because he was on his weaker foot and the triallist just wasn’t much good. He was really winding me up towards the end of the match stood there with the ball at his feet, holding his hands out waiting for someone to collect it off him - just move a bit mate?

Don’t think Carson played as badly as people are making out, he was absolutely blowing at the end but that’s because EVERYTHING was down his side all day, he had a quick winger against him & their main tactic seemed to be pinging it behind him when he’d pushed on - don’t think he ever got fronted up & beaten one-on-one.

If there’s one thing that Wright (and Eastwood) will benefit from in the next 3 weeks, it’ll be practising clipping a pass to the full back over the attackers. Get that sorted and it’s a massive help.

Quoted from Ruuger

That kind of backs up what I posted right.  You would expect two of those three, maybe all three to be in our first starting eleven of the season.  Three weeks is a long time, I'm sure we will have an up to strength squad by then.  Also, it's not where we are in the table at the start of the season, it's where we are at the end.  :)

I totally accept that it's where we end up that counts - notwithstanding that, GTFC fans are not notoriously patient and an early poor start might not go down well with those who have, again, shelled out in their numbers for season tickets.

Quoted from pen penfras

The players know what he wants to do, they're just not good enough. Same as last season. You're not going to sign a bunch of players that can dominate a game playing possession football in L2 without a Wrexham sized budget. Only the best players at this level can do that, and we can't afford them.

The truth that many supporters find it hard to deal with. Despite the elevation of Stockport, Wrexham & Mansfield L2 is once again going to be really tough and a mid table finish will be a decent result I reckon.

Got the usual bet on with my mate here who is a Crewe fan.  Whoever finishes higher take the cash.  Sounds like I should cough up now.

Still, remember, England lost in their pre Euro friendly to Iceland and we got to the final!

The Crewe fan getting hefty value there!

On another note I thought York ground/stadium/environment was spot on. If I was Alex H or any of the others that came from Town to York I think it would be a nice place to earn a living

Well those who were not there say don’t worry stop being negative . Sometimes you have to be there to get the full picture. The full picture yesterday was quite frankly terrifying  in almost every respect on which you gauge a football team . When Green is the only player involved in the game on your side you know you are in trouble.
On a few individual issues mentioned above my take was as follows .
On the Icelander it wasn’t that he was bullied he was so fragile the slightest touch seemed to upset him .
There was simply no discernible pattern of play either attempt to play out from the back or play long to agree or disagree with.
As a team we have got smaller look light weight across the pitch against a York side I didn’t think were particularly physical.

Quoted from HerveJosse

The full picture yesterday was quite frankly terrifying  in almost every respect on which you gauge a football team .

Tune in next week for another episode of “very normal reactions”.

It was shockingly bad you had to be there to appreciate how inept it was.
I am very worried for the season ahead.

Port Vale are a lot of people's favourite to win the league and they have made several impressive signings. Yesterday they lost 1-0 to Bath City and by all accounts were pretty poor. It's pre-season and counts for nothing apart from fitness. Whilst I don't argue we are short in several areas a little perspective is sometimes needed.

Boston Tuesday,  started with 8 of the probable 1st team, apparently played well.
Yesterday ,after 2-3 days of hard training (including  the hottest day of the year,)had only 5 first teamers starting against a better side and didnt play so well.

On that basis why has gtfc facebook n the usual gloomsters n doomsters on the fishy gone into meltdown ?

Quoted from forza ivano

Boston Tuesday,  started with 8 of the probable 1st team, apparently played well.
Yesterday ,after 2-3 days of hard training (including  the hottest day of the year,)had only 5 first teamers starting against a better side and didnt play so well.

On that basis why has gtfc facebook n the usual gloomsters n doomsters on the fishy gone into meltdown ?

Because there's a significant portion of our support who seem to enjoy being miserable

[quote=140559]

Because there's a significant portion of our support who seem to enjoy being miserable[/quote]

^^100% this!

When Ryan Bennett said he was retiring Artell should have been straight down to Humberston Ave and saying I am not leaving mate until you have signed this contract, you are too good to be out the game and we need you and your experience to get this team going up.

Having trialists that are not up to the job is a waste of time and playing a left footed defender on the right side is bonkers if they only use the right foot for standing on.

Not Bothered about the result just the manner we have played  plus no threat up front it just sounds like season after season we do the same and make the same mistakes.

I hope I am wrong but another season near the bottom is too much to bear.

I also hope a striker who is fit.and ready takes pity on us and signs and assists Rosey who deserves a lot of credit for what he did last season.

I was looking forward to this season with all the games I would be able to watch but we are only 3 weeks from the start of the season and no nearer to having a strong side never mind a strong squad.

Help needed please apply Mr D Artell GRIMSBY Town FC Blundell Park.

Quoted from forza ivano

Boston Tuesday,  started with 8 of the probable 1st team, apparently played well.
Yesterday ,after 2-3 days of hard training (including  the hottest day of the year,)had only 5 first teamers starting against a better side and didnt play so well.

On that basis why has gtfc facebook n the usual gloomsters n doomsters on the fishy gone into meltdown ?

People don’t like to consider facts, or even bother with a slight bit of “research” ie watching videos and listening to interviews.

Someone on FB was moaning about the performance and squad and the fact that we’ve not been told anything about Rose’s whereabouts so he’s definitely leaving.

If he’d have listened to or read literally any interview he’d have known he’s coming back from injury, and if he’d have watched the training video he’d have seen he’s started training. But no, he’s being hidden and definitely leaving. Artell out, Stockwood out, Pettit out. Everybody out.

Quoted from sam gy

People don’t like to consider facts, or even bother with a slight bit of “research” ie watching videos and listening to interviews.

Someone on FB was moaning about the performance and squad and the fact that we’ve not been told anything about Rose’s whereabouts so he’s definitely leaving.

If he’d have listened to or read literally any interview he’d have known he’s coming back from injury, and if he’d have watched the training video he’d have seen he’s started training. But no, he’s being hidden and definitely leaving. Artell out, Stockwood out, Pettit out. Everybody out.

Correct, and if the poster who said we hadn't heard anything about the new training ground for 3 years had watched the Fans Forum, he would have heard JS state that there were legal issues holding it up that were out of the clubs control.  It's all out there, just some people are too lazy to do any research.

Quoted from Ruuger

Correct, and if the poster who said we hadn't heard anything about the new training ground for 3 years had watched the Fans Forum, he would have heard JS state that there were legal issues holding it up that were out of the clubs control.  It's all out there, just some people are too lazy to do any research.

They are not outside the clubs control because they could find a different site without problems .

BUT.........

did DA see any York players who were good enough to catch his eye?

Quoted from WayneBurnettsJockstrap

BUT.........

did DA see any York players who were good enough to catch his eye?

There Number 14 could do a job for us at Number 9

Sorry if this has appeared elsewhere,



https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=york+city+v+grimsby+town+goals&

Quoted from HerveJosse

They are not outside the clubs control because they could find a different site without problems .

1. The legal issues ARE out of the clubs control.

2. Seeing as you are so knowledgeable re finding another site, perhaps you should volunteer to help them find and buy one!

Quoted from Croxton

Sorry if this has appeared elsewhere,



https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=york+city+v+grimsby+town+goals&

That was a painful watch. It might have been hot. They might have trained hard for previous three days, but it simply wasn’t good enough by a mile. Less than three weeks to sort that lot out.

Quoted from IlkleyMariner

That was a painful watch. It might have been hot. They might have trained hard for previous three days, but it simply wasn’t good enough by a mile. Less than three weeks to sort that lot out.

FFS, it was a 5 minute clip from 90 minutes of football!

Quoted from Ruuger

FFS, it was a 5 minute clip from 90 minutes of football!

Yes, but those were the ‘highlights’. Pretty clear that Artell wasn’t happy with it so no reason for us to make excuses. It was shìt.

Having said that it seemed to me that York were taking it seriously while we were treating it as an ‘extension of training’ to quote Artell. A few more friendlies to go including 2 against L1 opposition, hopefully we will have a more settled squad with a few quality additions and start to see some sort of game plan emerging.

If not, I’ll be worried.

Quoted from AussieMariner

Yes, but those were the ‘highlights’. Pretty clear that Artell wasn’t happy with it so no reason for us to make excuses. It was shìt.

Having said that it seemed to me that York were taking it seriously while we were treating it as an ‘extension of training’ to quote Artell. A few more friendlies to go including 2 against L1 opposition, hopefully we will have a more settled squad with a few quality additions and start to see some sort of game plan emerging.

If not, I’ll be worried.

York (T5)  had a dire game 3 days earlier against Whitby Town (T7) so probably had ringing ears  :)

By all accounts, we had a poor match, and it looks like York scored our goal as we couldn't, but in the end its a training game with U18 and trialists and as someone else said 1/2 the team is actually not the team so the result is what you get. If you're going to make mistakes, now is the time to be allowed and make them. We lost no points as well remember.
After last season's fiasco, I'm not too sure about DA, however, I am sure we must allow him to play sparring/training matches in any experimental way he wants so he can see better what he has, and needs. I see no point in standing at his elbow and hissing.

Finally, if the Yorkshire Slums song was to have impact, I'm not sure singing it in a modern stadium with all mod cons is a good idea when we have BP Retro Shabby Chic, soon to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site as our home. I happen to like BP and in time it will be modernised, but if you start throwing stones make sure you don't live in a glass house, with fragile thin panes, and a whole load of cracks, that's all. Here endeth the sermon.
Yorkshire Post news on the match https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/sport/yorkcityfc/    UTM

When we beat Lincoln in a preseason friendly last season there were a significant number on here pointing out that it was mainly Lincoln reserves with the first team playing just the last twenty minutes.  My biggest concern is not how we are playing but how many injuries we are carrying which will prevent a significant number of our expected preferred first eleven missing out on a full pre-seasons training.

However, still three weeks to go and hopefully Vernam, Ainley, Tharme and Rose will all get some training in and good minutes in the friendly matches against Rotherham and Mansfield.  

Thought Vernham looked very assured in his late cameo at York. Let’s hope we get 30+ games out of him

Quoted from Ruuger

1. The legal issues ARE out of the clubs control.

2. Seeing as you are so knowledgeable re finding another site, perhaps you should volunteer to help them find and buy one!

It’s simple. Pick a stupid site and you get objections and legal hurdles to clear.

Lincoln chose a site on the A15 opposite and got their new training ground done quickly.

FGR chose a site adjacent to J13 of the M5 and it’s under construction now and nearly complete.

They both chose sites where there’s no on close by to object. And as a result planning was a tick exercise that was quickly completed.

Quoted from Yoda

On that performance we are down.
Zero pace at the back no attacking intent, no shots on target, new signings are worse than the ones we let go.
Let’s hope there are two teams worse than us or we are down.
It’s going to be a long season.

Just  had a quick check of the table after that abysmal display.

It seems we are still on the same number of points as the team at the top and strangely, the team at the bottom.

Weird, it's almost as if that match had no impact on the league positions at all.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

It’s simple. Pick a stupid site and you get objections and legal hurdles to clear.

Lincoln chose a site on the A15 opposite and got their new training ground done quickly.

FGR chose a site adjacent to J13 of the M5 and it’s under construction now and nearly complete.

They both chose sites where there’s no on close by to object. And as a result planning was a tick exercise that was quickly completed.

I have absolutely no idea what site they are/were looking at, do you?  I would be interested to know.  :)

To Lincoln's advantage, the county of Lincolnshire is flipping huge.  The city is surrounded by lots and lots of space to the North, South, West and East.  If they wished they could have gone in either direction (for a fair old distance) and found suitable space to put forward planning applications to Lincolnshire County Council.

NELC is tiny.  To the North and East is water.  To the South the county boundaries run just the south side of the A18 up to Beesby but the as you approach and certainly once you cross the A18 and get into the Wolds it's not viable for a training ground.

That leaves West.  There's lots and lots of green field sites either side of the A180 but most are predominantly inaccessible to the point they wouldn't tolerate however many cars rocking up on a daily basis, that's even if the land was available in the first place.

One area that is a) up for sale and b) accessible is Immingham Golf Club.  No surprise that's where the club were looking.  

To say the options are limited is generous.

Quoted from diehardmariner

To Lincoln's advantage, the county of Lincolnshire is flipping huge.  The city is surrounded by lots and lots of space to the North, South, West and East.  If they wished they could have gone in either direction (for a fair old distance) and found suitable space to put forward planning applications to Lincolnshire County Council.

NELC is tiny.  To the North and East is water.  To the South the county boundaries run just the south side of the A18 up to Beesby but the as you approach and certainly once you cross the A18 and get into the Wolds it's not viable for a training ground.

That leaves West.  There's lots and lots of green field sites either side of the A180 but most are predominantly inaccessible to the point they wouldn't tolerate however many cars rocking up on a daily basis, that's even if the land was available in the first place.

One area that is a) up for sale and b) accessible is Immingham Golf Club.  No surprise that's where the club were looking.  

To say the options are limited is generous.

It’s so simple.

We need a medium sized field off a main road. NEL has the A180 offering good links to the motorway network. Build it there off one of the junctions. Probably off Stallingborough or Brocklesby Interchange.

One potential site would be next to or opposite Ulceby truck stop. Another would be between Myenergi and the A180 on the A1173.

When the owners first mentioned it they kept using the term “town centre” which didn’t make much sense. I always took that to mean within the boundaries of the town. Having such a daft red line is so costly in terms of land price and the cost of overcoming objections and planning.

I don’t understand the logic.

Why are they so obsessed with the community part of the scheme. If they want to give something back they could just help build new changing facilities at existing facilities to allow for women’s and girls football and match officials. That is what is missing up and down the country.

Presumably because it’s easier to build political consensus, community support and external funding if you’ve got a scheme that benefits a larger number of people and is easily accessible to them.

The problem with being out on your own is exactly that.

Quoted from ska face

Presumably because it’s easier to build political consensus, community support and external funding if you’ve got a scheme that benefits a larger number of people and is easily accessible to them.

The problem with being out on your own is exactly that.

If that’s the case, why has it taken 3 years and they haven’t even announced a site and put planning permission in yet?

Because that’s when the real hurdles come along.

Quoted from MarinerMal

Weird, it's almost as if that match had no impact on the league positions at all.

The same impact as every pre-season match.  So let’s not bother with any !  
If we don’t even do any pre-season training we’ll still start with the same points as everyone else.  Imagine how much money the club would save.  

I think you’re on a winner mate 🤔🤔

Quoted from GollyGTFC

If that’s the case, why has it taken 3 years and they haven’t even announced a site and put planning permission in yet?

Because that’s when the real hurdles come along.

You would generally find a site that is going to be acceptable in planning terms before buying it, rather than stumping up all the cash, submitting an application and then finding out you’re not allowed a training ground there.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

It’s so simple.

We need a medium sized field off a main road. NEL has the A180 offering good links to the motorway network. Build it there off one of the junctions. Probably off Stallingborough or Brocklesby Interchange.

One potential site would be next to or opposite Ulceby truck stop. Another would be between Myenergi and the A180 on the A1173.

Are these sites you mention available for purchase then? Huge stumbling block if not, you can’t just walk into a field shovel in hand.

Quoted from Civvy at last

The same impact as every pre-season match.  So let’s not bother with any !  
If we don’t even do any pre-season training we’ll still start with the same points as everyone else.  Imagine how much money the club would save.  

I think you’re on a winner mate 🤔🤔

We almost went with that approach in the summer of 2020. Our only friendly that summer being against Cleethorpes Town. We ended that season relegated.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

It’s so simple.

We need a medium sized field off a main road. NEL has the A180 offering good links to the motorway network. Build it there off one of the junctions. Probably off Stallingborough or Brocklesby Interchange.

One potential site would be next to or opposite Ulceby truck stop. Another would be between Myenergi and the A180 on the A1173.

When the owners first mentioned it they kept using the term “town centre” which didn’t make much sense. I always took that to mean within the boundaries of the town. Having such a daft red line is so costly in terms of land price and the cost of overcoming objections and planning.

I don’t understand the logic.

Why are they so obsessed with the community part of the scheme. If they want to give something back they could just help build new changing facilities at existing facilities to allow for women’s and girls football and match officials. That is what is missing up and down the country.

Quite certain that both of those spaces mentioned are used for farming.   I imagine that boosts the price on those (I don't even know if they are for sale) and then adds further complications to planning permission.  

I agree to an extent around the boundaries issue and community focus.  I think there's much more benefit to be had by having a community hub/base at the heart of either Cleethorpes or Grimsby to do exactly what is needed from a community perspective and then have a training ground that is focused on just the performance aspect of the football side of the club.  It feels limiting.

But as ska face points out, having those elements attached to it helps tick a lot of boxes that would help get things over the line.  It's probably the training ground equivalent of having a number of social housing properties on a new build estate.  

Quoted from Ruuger

I have absolutely no idea what site they are/were looking at, do you?  I would be interested to know.  :)

Yes odd how people are ventilating about a site nobody knows where it is. Is it a secret, as the only place currently I can find within N Lincs borders with any sports development and gummed up in planning is the Ladysmith Clee Fields? Or maybe it's Doncaster way as discussed on this very forum. Someone do tell. :(

Quoted from jimgtfc

Are these sites you mention available for purchase then? Huge stumbling block if not, you can’t just walk into a field shovel in hand.

This was on of the problems to The Leech's plan to build our new ground at Great Coates. There land is owned by Sutton Estates and they never actually agreed for it to be sold.

Quoted from rancido

This was on of the problems to The Leech's plan to build our new ground at Great Coates. There land is owned by Sutton Estates and they never actually agreed for it to be sold.

I’m rarely one to jump to Fenty’s defence these days, but the original plan to relocate to Great Coates came under the stewardship of the late, great Bill Carr. With the benefit of hindsight an out of town development like that would have been the wrong choice, but they were en vogue in the 90s and early noughties, and at the time I think most were quite excited by the prospect.

https://thefishy.co.uk/story.php?id=8382170

I think the clue was in the interview with the new chief exec two weeks into the job . Asked about the new training ground she basically said don’t know not up to speed with that . Chief exec doesn’t know about the the biggest investment project in clubs history through recruitment process and two weeks after starting means it ain’t happening . Simple.
I don’t blame the owners for that why pay £4m -£6m for a new training ground when you are struggling too put a competent squad of players together and have a ground that’s draining funds.
Never made any sense .
Just be honest about it.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

If that’s the case, why has it taken 3 years and they haven’t even announced a site and put planning permission in yet?

Because that’s when the real hurdles come along.

Jesus Christ!  Did anyone watch the Fans Forum where JS stated that progress with the new Training facility was at a standstill due to legal issues that are beyond GTFC's control?

Quoted from Ruuger

Jesus Christ!  Did anyone watch the Fans Forum where JS stated that progress with the new Training facility was at a standstill due to legal issues that are beyond GTFC's control?

Did JS mention where this site is?

Quoted from HerveJosse

I think the clue was in the interview with the new chief exec two weeks into the job . Asked about the new training ground she basically said don’t know not up to speed with that . Chief exec doesn’t know about the the biggest investment project in clubs history through recruitment process and two weeks after starting means it ain’t happening . Simple.
I don’t blame the owners for that why pay £4m -£6m for a new training ground when you are struggling too put a competent squad of players together and have a ground that’s draining funds.
Never made any sense .
Just be honest about it.

So are you saying they are lying?  As for the new CEO, I would guess that after just 2 weeks in the job she has far more to do than finding out about the new Training facility, especially as nothing is happening with it atm due to legal issues.

Quoted from HerveJosse

I think the clue was in the interview with the new chief exec two weeks into the job . Asked about the new training ground she basically said don’t know not up to speed with that . Chief exec doesn’t know about the the biggest investment project in clubs history through recruitment process and two weeks after starting means it ain’t happening . Simple.
I don’t blame the owners for that why pay £4m -£6m for a new training ground when you are struggling too put a competent squad of players together and have a ground that’s draining funds.
Never made any sense .
Just be honest about it.

Bedwetting at its finest.

Andrew is leading the process with multiple external parties. Debbie when operating as Chief Exec did not lead that process. Confidential NDA information would not have been shared with a potential candidate for a role at the club no matter what role they were applying for. Just that a training ground is a priority, hence her answer was correct.

AP made his career in property development and property portfolios, hence why he leads it. The process is further along than most think but unlike the previous incumbent, they will not release information until everything is complete.

Quoted from HerveJosse

I think the clue was in the interview with the new chief exec two weeks into the job . Asked about the new training ground she basically said don’t know not up to speed with that . Chief exec doesn’t know about the the biggest investment project in clubs history through recruitment process and two weeks after starting means it ain’t happening . Simple.
I don’t blame the owners for that why pay £4m -£6m for a new training ground when you are struggling too put a competent squad of players together and have a ground that’s draining funds.
Never made any sense .
Just be honest about it.

Wow, what's going to happen when the first 11 not a "run out" squad loses a meaningful game?

Simply buying/selling your house can be a legal nightmare.
I imagine buying into a multi-acre site involves a massive involvement into deeds, covenants & planning issues etc.
I am happy to leave it to those who have experience in these matters.

There is no training ground even the chief executive knows nothing about it.
More hot air from the board like the new investors they where announcing 2 months ago, that’s never happened.
JS has stated he is not spending his inheritance so how is it being paid for.
If we didn’t waste over 250k on his stats lead approach we could of bought two decent players or a training ground.

Quoted from jimgtfc

Are these sites you mention available for purchase then? Huge stumbling block if not, you can’t just walk into a field shovel in hand.

Well you could......and you could also say we will be in the Championship in 5 yrs too...... but then if neither actually came off you would look a bit of a twerp. Haha

Quoted from diehardmariner

Quite certain that both of those spaces mentioned are used for farming.   I imagine that boosts the price on those (I don't even know if they are for sale) and then adds further complications to planning permission.  

I agree to an extent around the boundaries issue and community focus.  I think there's much more benefit to be had by having a community hub/base at the heart of either Cleethorpes or Grimsby to do exactly what is needed from a community perspective and then have a training ground that is focused on just the performance aspect of the football side of the club.  It feels limiting.

But as ska face points out, having those elements attached to it helps tick a lot of boxes that would help get things over the line.  It's probably the training ground equivalent of having a number of social housing properties on a new build estate.  

I think have extra elements makes the project undeliverable. Football training grounds are used 4 or 5 times a week (generally in the morning or early afternoon) for about 45 weeks of the year.

Add community usage makes it a 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year development.

The idea that the latter is more possible to deliver at a reasonable cost in a location in and around residential property with likely objections from local residents is for the birds. Would you want it on your doorstep. I wouldn’t.

Arable or pasture land currently goes for between £10,000 and £16,000 an acre. Lincoln City’s training ground is around 13 acres I believe. So what’s that? £130,000 to £200,000? Peanuts. There’s so little money in farming. That’s why so many solar farms are popping up across the country. Finding suitable land and a willing landowner would be the easy part.

Lincoln built their training ground for under £1.5m.

How much did our owners say ours would cost? £6m wasn’t it? And building costs have rocketed since they gave that figure.

Quoted from Yoda

There is no training ground even the chief executive knows nothing about it.
More hot air from the board like the new investors they where announcing 2 months ago, that’s never happened.
JS has stated he is not spending his inheritance so how is it being paid for.
If we didn’t waste over 250k on his stats lead approach we could of bought two decent players or a training ground.

What training ground do you think would cost 250k?! Would make Fenty’s new portakabins look luxurious.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

I think have extra elements makes the project undeliverable. Football training grounds are used 4 or 5 times a week (generally in the morning or early afternoon) for about 45 weeks of the year.

Add community usage makes it a 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year development.

The idea that the latter is more possible to deliver at a reasonable cost in a location in and around residential property with likely objections from local residents is for the birds. Would you want it on your doorstep. I wouldn’t.

Arable or pasture land currently goes for between £10,000 and £16,000 an acre. Lincoln City’s training ground is around 13 acres I believe. So what’s that? £130,000 to £200,000? Peanuts. There’s so little money in farming. That’s why so many solar farms are popping up across the country. Finding suitable land and a willing landowner would be the easy part.

Lincoln built their training ground for under £1.5m.

How much did our owners say ours would cost? £6m wasn’t it? And building costs have rocketed since they gave that figure.

Initial costs might have been as per the figure quoted but my recollection had it nearer £2m plus they’ve had to spend significantly more since it initially opened due to flooding, high winds ( very open piece of land so needed protection) and pitch quality.

That said £6m always seemed a very high figure but we aren’t privy to what the club intended to include on the site.

Quoted from Lincoln Mariner 56

Initial costs might have been as per the figure quoted but my recollection had it nearer £2m plus they’ve had to spend significantly more since it initially opened due to flooding, high winds ( very open piece of land so needed protection) and pitch quality.

That said £6m always seemed a very high figure but we aren’t privy to what the club intended to include on the site.

If you want some sort of benchmark, Cambridge recently built this for £3.5m. Completed November 2023. Looks alright. Worth noting though that it’s essentially just a new modular building on land the club already owned. I can see £6m easily being the case for a full project from scratch, requiring the purchase of land.

Quoted from Yoda

There is no training ground even the chief executive knows nothing about it.
More hot air from the board like the new investors they where announcing 2 months ago, that’s never happened.
JS has stated he is not spending his inheritance so how is it being paid for.
If we didn’t waste over 250k on his stats lead approach we could of bought two decent players or a training ground.

If the previous owner had spent money on maintaining BP and Cheapside to a decent standard, then the money JS & AP have spent doing this could have been spent on new players etc.

Quoted from Yoda

There is no training ground even the chief executive knows nothing about it.
More hot air from the board like the new investors they where announcing 2 months ago, that’s never happened.
JS has stated he is not spending his inheritance so how is it being paid for.
If we didn’t waste over 250k on his stats lead approach we could of bought two decent players or a training ground.

Oh dear Yoda, stick to playing with your toys, that way you won't make a fool of yourself every day.

Quoted from DB

If the previous owner had spent money on maintaining BP and Cheapside to a decent standard, then the money JS & AP have spent doing this could have been spent on new players etc.

To be fair that would have been in the form of loans which they'd have to have covered anyway when purchasing the club.

Just taken this from the bio page of Revcap, the specialist real estate investor that our chairman is the founding partner of.

Quoted Text

Andrew was a founding partner of Revcap in 2004 and is a member of the Revcap Investment Committee. He takes overall responsibility for investments and capital raising at the firm.

Andrew was formerly a managing director and head of the European real estate principal transactions business at Lehman Brothers and a solicitor at Clifford Chance in the Property Finance Group.

Andrew has a BA (Hons) in Law and French from the University of Sussex and a postgraduate licence in EU law from the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

Gonna hedge my bets that he knows what he's doing on this front.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Just taken this from the bio page of Revcap, the specialist real estate investor that our chairman is the founding partner of.




Gonna hedge my bets that he knows what he's doing on this front.

I don’t disagree with your conclusion, however highlighting that he was in charge of real estate transactions at Lehman Brothers is possibly not the most robust or convincing piece of evidence you could have found. 😂

Quoted from diehardmariner

Just taken this from the bio page of Revcap, the specialist real estate investor that our chairman is the founding partner of.




Gonna hedge my bets that he knows what he's doing on this front.

As you well know the point being made is that a Lincoln-type training ground in a sensible location is a hell of a lot easier and cheaper to deliver than the training ground with community knobs on in a daft location that they are hinting at.

Quoted from DB

If the previous owner had spent money on maintaining BP and Cheapside to a decent standard, then the money JS & AP have spent doing this could have been spent on new players etc.

Oh this old chestnut.

The owners knew what they were buying. It was all there in the safety reports. And surely they would have employed a surveyor on top of that to look at the land and property being purchased as part of the deal.

They knew what they were buying.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

Oh this old chestnut.

The owners knew what they were buying. It was all there in the safety reports. And surely they would have employed a surveyor on top of that to look at the land and property being purchased as part of the deal.

They knew what they were buying.

Spot on.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

Oh this old chestnut.

The owners knew what they were buying. It was all there in the safety reports. And surely they would have employed a surveyor on top of that to look at the land and property being purchased as part of the deal.

They knew what they were buying.

Has anyone suggested they didn’t know what they were buying? Or that they were hoodwinked?

As I’ve read it, the argument is that the owners have looked at things root to branch and tried to prioritise where their investment is best utilised to put us in a place to ‘sustainably’ keep going.

My take on that isn’t that BP needs to drive additional revenue like more modern stadiums afford clubs the chance to do (albeit it would be nice if it did), but that if we get to a healthy place on the pitch and find that years of neglect on the ground itself means a stand has to be closed then we lose approx 25% of possible income and covering the cost of our success - which will likely come at a price in terms of wages - becomes unsustainable. How likely that scenario may have ever been will probably remain unknown to us but it’s an example of a theme of thinking.

There’s no denying that an uplift in money spent on the playing squad would be well received by us, not sure there’d be anyone who disagrees with that. What splits opinion is whether anything should be done to address the areas that were neglected by JF and try to improve all aspects of the club, or ignore them and commit to giving everything on the pitch possible.

My pessimism extends to the view that even if everything went into the playing side and we were now in L1 then those complaining about a friendly against York would be whinging about posts in the main stand or poor quality food ruining the experience. Some are simply never happy and have a burning desire to simply criticise at every turn.  

Quoted from GollyGTFC

Oh this old chestnut.

The owners knew what they were buying. It was all there in the safety reports. And surely they would have employed a surveyor on top of that to look at the land and property being purchased as part of the deal.

They knew what they were buying.

I think we all know that's a load of balderdash.... they buy the club and then mysteriously the Pontoon roof is suddenly not fit for purpose and the main stand now suddenly has things needing done to it? If you believe that then i've got some magic beans you can buy. JF did things on the cheap and it quite clearly has copulated us over in the end, they may have known the old girl would need new toilets and a lick of paint but the two main money drainers have been in terms of safety hazards that had ' suddenly appeared '

Quoted from LocalLadGTFC

I think we all know that's a load of balderdash.... they buy the club and then mysteriously the Pontoon roof is suddenly not fit for purpose and the main stand now suddenly has things needing done to it? If you believe that then i've got some magic beans you can buy. JF did things on the cheap and it quite clearly has copulated us over in the end, they may have known the old girl would need new toilets and a lick of paint but the two main money drainers have been in terms of safety hazards that had ' suddenly appeared '

What on earth are you banging on about?

Quoted from LocalLadGTFC

I think we all know that's a load of balderdash.... they buy the club and then mysteriously the Pontoon roof is suddenly not fit for purpose and the main stand now suddenly has things needing done to it? If you believe that then i've got some magic beans you can buy. JF did things on the cheap and it quite clearly has copulated us over in the end, they may have known the old girl would need new toilets and a lick of paint but the two main money drainers have been in terms of safety hazards that had ' suddenly appeared '

They didn’t “suddenly appear”. Their condition was on the yearly safety group report going back a number of years with a timeframe for their completion to avoid parts of the ground being closed.

And if anything it was the current owners who kicked the Main Stand roof issue down the road by opting for a short term remedy when they fitted those V-shaped blocks at the top of the support posts.

It seems perfectly reasonable to wait until something has reached the end of its life before replacing it.

I had the tyres checked on my car a few weeks ago. The guy told me 3 of them had around 3,000 miles left on them. Guess what. I didn’t get them replaced.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

What on earth are you banging on about?

There was a story told by someone who should know that someofthe paperwork left was, ur, how can one put it, difficult to reoncile with the reality

Quoted from GollyGTFC

They didn’t “suddenly appear”. Their condition was on the yearly safety group report going back a number of years with a timeframe for their completion to avoid parts of the ground being closed.

And if anything it was the current owners who kicked the Main Stand roof issue down the road by opting for a short term remedy when they fitted those V-shaped blocks at the top of the support posts.

It seems perfectly reasonable to wait until something has reached the end of its life before replacing it.

I had the tyres checked on my car a few weeks ago. The guy told me 3 of them had around 3,000 miles left on them. Guess what. I didn’t get them replaced.

Right, let's put thus to bed.....
When Stockwood and Petite brought the club, the 5 yearly safety audit had picked up on a few bits that were rectified, they were fully aware of these btw
What they didn't know was the "true state" of the ground, pitch and training facilities due to years (about 17 actually) of under investment.
Stockwood in one of his first few interviews eluded to the facts that they had unearthed things about the state of the place they were unaware of and hadn't budgeted for the level of degradation  found  .

Quoted from forza ivano

There was a story told by someone who should know that someofthe paperwork left was, ur, how can one put it, difficult to reoncile with the reality

Well there's a post with two conspiracy theories.
1 That the vendor sold it with dodgy paperwork.
2 That the buyers were stupid not to check out the state before signing.       You never bought a house ?

I hope you have deep pockets when the lawyers call.

Caveat Emptor

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

Right, let's put thus to bed.....
When Stockwood and Petite brought the club, the 5 yearly safety audit had picked up on a few bits that were rectified, they were fully aware of these btw
What they didn't know was the "true state" of the ground, pitch and training facilities due to years (about 17 actually) of under investment.
Stockwood in one of his first few interviews eluded to the facts that they had unearthed things about the state of the place they were unaware of and hadn't budgeted for the level of degradation  found  .

So we go back to an earlier point. They are spending a couple of millions plus on a football club, didn’t they think to send a qualified surveyor for a look round the property assets they are buying.

You wouldn’t buy an old mid terrace house needing extensive renovation for £80,000 without a surveyors report, so who on earth would spend multiple times that amount on a football club

So it’s one of two scenarios…

1) they bought the club without conducting proper due diligence in regards to the state of the property assets.

2) they knew full well what they were buying, have been caught out by above inflation rises in building costs and had a bit of a moan.

Quoted from Poojah

I don’t disagree with your conclusion, however highlighting that he was in charge of real estate transactions at Lehman Brothers is possibly not the most robust or convincing piece of evidence you could have found. 😂

He was out in 2004, 4 years before they went bust. Further evidence he knows what he's doing.  ;)

Quoted from GollyGTFC

As you well know the point being made is that a Lincoln-type training ground in a sensible location is a hell of a lot easier and cheaper to deliver than the training ground with community knobs on in a daft location that they are hinting at.

No, I agree.  It makes sense to me to put up a training ground that's off the motorway, cheaper land and without having to worry about anyone other than staff getting to.  

However, my point was that Pettit knows his excrement and you've got to presume that he (and others) have considered everything and there's a justified rationale behind wanting to attach the community element to the training ground.  

Quoted from GollyGTFC

So we go back to an earlier point. They are spending a couple of millions plus on a football club, didn’t they think to send a qualified surveyor for a look round the property assets they are buying.

You wouldn’t buy an old mid terrace house needing extensive renovation for £80,000 without a surveyors report, so who on earth would spend multiple times that amount on a football club

So it’s one of two scenarios…

1) they bought the club without conducting proper due diligence in regards to the state of the property assets.

2) they knew full well what they were buying, have been caught out by above inflation rises in building costs and had a bit of a moan.

I work for a company that do statutory examinations on large, industrial plants.
We are often involved in take overs and required to ensure all statutory requirements are full filled prior to the sale.
It can take 12 to 18 months before we issue a letter of compliance, and I have seen with my own eyes, many sites that appear to be well maintained but are actually hiding a horror show that clients have purchased after hiring so called "professional engineers and surveyors in"
Now, I suspect the fish merchant wanted out in a hurry, so I'd expect JS & AP relied not only a professional survey but also voices from within, unfortunately too many people remained schtum and once the sake went through, they were on their bikes quicker than Chris Hoy.
So, I short, JS & AP got caught out, not through any fault of their own, but due to the excrement show JSF left In his wake

Quoted from Yoda

There is no training ground even the chief executive knows nothing about it.
More hot air from the board like the new investors they where announcing 2 months ago, that’s never happened.
JS has stated he is not spending his inheritance so how is it being paid for.
If we didn’t waste over 250k on his stats lead approach we could of bought two decent players or a training ground.

250k for a training ground is optimistic - I think ours cost nearly 2 million (With enhancements over the last few years).

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

I work for a company that do statutory examinations on large, industrial plants.
We are often involved in take overs and required to ensure all statutory requirements are full filled prior to the sale.
It can take 12 to 18 months before we issue a letter of compliance, and I have seen with my own eyes, many sites that appear to be well maintained but are actually hiding a horror show that clients have purchased after hiring so called "professional engineers and surveyors in"
Now, I suspect the fish merchant wanted out in a hurry, so I'd expect JS & AP relied not only a professional survey but also voices from within, unfortunately too many people remained schtum and once the sake went through, they were on their bikes quicker than Chris Hoy.
So, I short, JS & AP got caught out, not through any fault of their own, but due to the excrement show JSF left In his wake

When there were problems with I think the advertising boards on the roof of the main stand, wasn't it JF that went up the ladder to fix it so surely there must have been some doubts as to the infrastructure?

Quoted from GrimPol

Well there's a post with two conspiracy theories.
1 That the vendor sold it with dodgy paperwork.
2 That the buyers were stupid not to check out the state before signing.       You never bought a house ?

I hope you have deep pockets when the lawyers call.

Good luck with that John/John's bestie - my 2007 Astra n £500 overdraft would hardly be worth it  ;D ;D ;D

Quoted from forza ivano

Good luck with that John/John's bestie - my 2007 Astra n £500 overdraft would hardly be worth it  ;D ;D ;D

Oh dear.