Attempt at an unbiased view...........

Who could have guessed after last saturdays result we'd all be as down as this? Think the next couple of days are going to be interesting at grimsby town, john and the board have big decisions to make, I've long supported Mr Hurst but i feel ( if hes in charge tuesday night) and we do not get a result and performance against an altrincham side who had a good result yesterday, then he has to go, its never nice to see fans turning on a manager with chants and boos, but feel that this is going to be the case on tuesday. hurst is a hugely likeable man ( and i doubt theres not one person who doesnt want him to suceed on that factor alone) but whether he has that knowhow to get us out this predicament, sadly I no longer believe so. Id love to be proved wrong but no, not currently. I apologise to johnny denni or any others of the Hurst Out-ers who i may not have agreed with in the past, but im coming round to your way of thinking. however if PH is gaffer on tuesday, the pressure needs to be taken off him and we ALL need to get behind the team from minute 1. moves on to my second point, the players themselves. as much culpable for this as PH. Allright everyone saying we have a good team on paper, well clearly not that good? The players have shown in glimpses what they are capable of in superb performances, and shown there worst in performances too. This i feel is the most frustrating thing, the inability we have had to stick with a system that saw us destroy gateshead and alfreton instead of awful hoofball to poor LJL. i feel LJL looked much better in the above mentioned system, ball at his feet, using pace and strength to create himself opportunities. but why when we have the players to do this, are we not doing it? Where does the blame lie for this? Well ultimately the manager? its a crying shame that things have gone so sour recently, at the end of the day we all only ever want one thing and thats promotion, i long for it having never seen us win promotion ( dear father didnt take me to wembley 98.) the season HAS to be turned around now, I will get behind PH and the players for as long as they are here and I sincerly hope you turn it round, but with gates dwindling and crowds turning, i feel the writing is on the wall. good Luck for tuesday night, all the fans will hopefully get behind the boys, because by heck do we deserve a performance! hope this hasnt turned into an 80s rant haha but just trying to put a point across from an unbiased view. UTM and heres to hopefully a change in fortune in whatever circumstances.

I think you've summed up the way most of us are feeling. It's easy to forget you are talking about a mans livelyhood here, he may not have a way back into full time management if he is sacked from Town. We should be doing a lot better, no doubt about it but he doesn't help himself sometimes. I paraphrase slightly but yesterday he claimed it was a good and deserved point. Is he serious? It isn't good enough, we have to be winning at Dartford who it's fair to say are a poor side in a poor league.

He talks the opposition up, like you say we all thought PH had found a winning formula over that bank holiday weekend yet he's chopped and changed the formations and the players since and we have lost our momentum big time. When he talks, he doesn't instill any confidence in me, never mind the players. He talks up the opposition, I don't remember the legendary Alan Buckley speaking about the oppositions strengths and how we will counter them!  Talking of the players, they didn't even celebrate the goal yesterday, no urgency to retreive the ball and go for the win. We have a good squad, but they do not appear to be playing for the manager and when that happens, their can only be one outcome and I would rather it was sooner than later as his dismissal is inevitable. Let's do it now while we can still make the play offs and get out of this awful league.

UTM!

Quoted from 75

I think you've summed up the way most of us are feeling. It's easy to forget you are talking about a mans livelyhood here, he may not have a way back into full time management if he is sacked from Town. We should be doing a lot better, no doubt about it but he doesn't help himself sometimes. I paraphrase slightly but yesterday he claimed it was a good and deserved point. Is he serious? It isn't good enough, we have to be winning at Dartford who it's fair to say are a poor side in a poor league.

He talks the opposition up, like you say we all thought PH had found a winning formula over that bank holiday weekend yet he's chopped and changed the formations and the players since and we have lost our momentum big time. When he talks, he doesn't instill any confidence in me, never mind the players. He talks up the opposition, I don't remember the legendary Alan Buckley speaking about the oppositions strengths and how we will counter them!  Talking of the players, they didn't even celebrate the goal yesterday, no urgency to retreive the ball and go for the win. We have a good squad, but they do not appear to be playing for the manager and when that happens, their can only be one outcome and I would rather it was sooner than later as his dismissal is inevitable. Let's do it now while we can still make the play offs and get out of this awful league.

UTM!

But we played 2 different systems against Gateshead & Alfreton!

Quoted from Mighty_Mariner

But we played 2 different systems against Gateshead & Alfreton!

It was a slight variation of a 4-3-3, not 4-4-2 as PH has suggested. I have eyes in my head.

IMO Hurst has made some poor signings. Makreth and Nsiala in particular. They are very average conference players at best. I see Macclesfield are not missing Makreth at all. Many fans seem to think we have a really good squad of players but I don't quite see it myself. You only have to look at Parslow who was awful last Tuesday, to see that our squad has no strength in depth. He is certainly no better than Bignot. Our attacking options are very limited particularly now that Pittman and Arnold are injured, which is urine poor for a club with our budget. Iwill not be going on Tuesday as paying £18 to watch a tactically inept team is not on my wish list. If Hurst remains in charge we will be mid table at best, which is very worrying as fans will vote with their feet, like me, which in turn means the finances of the club will suffer. Mr Fenty needs to act very soon and appoint somebody with passion and tactical know how

Quoted from Mighty_Mariner

But we played 2 different systems against Gateshead & Alfreton!

True, but the end the problem is not about systems is it? The good sides do not need that sort of chopping and changing because the good manager has them playing a particular style that only needs a bit of a tweak. Thinking back to the way Buckley would just withdraw Rees a bit deeper to draw defenders out against some teams or move Gilbert slightly more to the middle to make room for the overlap, these things would happen during a a game.

The problem has always been about consistency of selection, style and effort which boils down to positive attitudes. Many posters have commented on the manager standing tight lipped on the touchline with arms folded not appearing to know what to say does not inspire confidence. Then there are the interviews which talk up average to poor opposition before and after the game. Presumably the same things are said in training sessions and they must have an effect on self-belief and performances.

If the side do not approach games with the attitude that they are the best team (that's team) in the league and they are going to show it, the supporters know. It is obvious. The 1972 team was not the best side in the old 4th Division, but McMenemy made them, and us, believe they were. That was Buckley's genius as well. He wasn't a fantastic tactician, he knew the basics. But he knew how he wanted his side to play regardless of opposition, they knew it and we knew it. Dave Booth was a quiet Yorkie too but he had a definite philosophy about how to play the game through midfield and the flanks to feed the strikers and woe betide the player who didn't follow the mantra.

These were good managers who consistently got results in games where we had no right to expect them. I'm afraid Hurst can't consistently get results against sides we should massacre every week and that ultimately is why he must go and go soon. Leopards can't change their spots and if he hasn't done it by now he won't do it.

Quoted from carrot top

IMO Hurst has made some poor signings. Makreth and Nsiala in particular. They are very average conference players at best. I see Macclesfield are not missing Makreth at all. Many fans seem to think we have a really good squad of players but I don't quite see it myself. You only have to look at Parslow who was awful last Tuesday, to see that our squad has no strength in depth. He is certainly no better than Bignot. Our attacking options are very limited particularly now that Pittman and Arnold are injured, which is urine poor for a club with our budget. Iwill not be going on Tuesday as paying £18 to watch a tactically inept team is not on my wish list. If Hurst remains in charge we will be mid table at best, which is very worrying as fans will vote with their feet, like me, which in turn means the finances of the club will suffer. Mr Fenty needs to act very soon and appoint somebody with passion and tactical know how

I agree about many posters saying we have a good team capable of winning the league but  not in my view. We simply do not have enough attacking players who can create and score goals consistently to get us to the top.

Paul has tried since May to get in the strikers we need, but for whatever reasons has failed. Location IS an issue but not an insurmountable one. He has his budget to spend and if that meant giving a bigger slice to an Akinde or the likes and reducing the amount spent in say  the full back position then so be it IMO. Forwards win games. We have a strong core down the rest of the pitch and with the addition of a top class striker ( for this level) would have meant others could be grafted on it to formulate a team.

It isn't our heads on the block and I am sure PH is doing what he believes is the right thing but we need to be far more adventurous.

In some ways the relatively strong back four ( I am of the view that Nisiala IS a good signing and better that BigMac who has issues with his knees meaning he can't train full time {he is no Paul McGrath} ) is our downfall as my view is to go for it more, we are hamstrung by playing what are essentially 4 centre backs. Attacking full backs would give us far more width, enable us to go with 3 up top ( providing we had signed enough forwards).

I don't think the season is dead but even changing the manager won't be enough unless he can get at least 2 decent attacking players in immediately ( possibly loans until Jan then more permanents)

Agree with the OP and BigChris completely.

I'm generally more disappointed with Hannah than LJL (who always gives what he's got) - but we need better than both IMO.
Pittman and/or Arnold may be one of them, but since we can't get either on the pitch regularly it's irrelevant.

I made the point a couple of times on earlier threads that PH doesn't seem to handle strikers well. I'm wondering if his
inability to attract the striker we need is due to his reputation on the football grapevine.
I accept I may just be inflating my own opinion there, however.

I did guess it and have been saying it all season me and a few others!!!

I fear the board will allow the loan striker to come in and thus give Paul more time, resulting in more average performances with no consistency and draws and losses against poor teams with wins sprinkled in.

We've got a loan striker in!

Quoted from KingstonMariner

We've got a loan striker in!

Who is clearly not fit, along with another loan striker/midfielder and the signing that came with a very poor appearance record.

At risk of sounding like a broken record, promotion will not be done on the cheap, just seems we don't want it badly enough.

Please edit the original post into paragraphs, then I might read it. Thanks.

Pitman was a good signing, he has quality and was bit of a risk worth taking, don't know whats up with Arnold but if its possible he should be sent packing back to Cambridge asap and let them pay all his wages.

Quoted from BIGChris

I agree about many posters saying we have a good team capable of winning the league but  not in my view. We simply do not have enough attacking players who can create and score goals consistently to get us to the top.

Paul has tried since May to get in the strikers we need, but for whatever reasons has failed. Location IS an issue but not an insurmountable one. He has his budget to spend and if that meant giving a bigger slice to an Akinde or the likes and reducing the amount spent in say  the full back position then so be it IMO. Forwards win games. We have a strong core down the rest of the pitch and with the addition of a top class striker ( for this level) would have meant others could be grafted on it to formulate a team.

It isn't our heads on the block and I am sure PH is doing what he believes is the right thing but we need to be far more adventurous.

In some ways the relatively strong back four ( I am of the view that Nisiala IS a good signing and better that BigMac who has issues with his knees meaning he can't train full time {he is no Paul McGrath} ) is our downfall as my view is to go for it more, we are hamstrung by playing what are essentially 4 centre backs. Attacking full backs would give us far more width, enable us to go with 3 up top ( providing we had signed enough forwards).

I don't think the season is dead but even changing the manager won't be enough unless he can get at least 2 decent attacking players in immediately ( possibly loans until Jan then more permanents)

But that is the problem, if there was that statement of intent in the budget that we could have the good squad we have and a top striker signing at this level we would be fine. The issue is the budget for me, we are one or two big signings from being a title challenger. Our board has such a lack of ambition with regards to budgeting, they haven't taken note of how clubs like Crawley and fleetwood have made it out of here, they signed a good squad for the level and made a few key signings of players on the up like Tubbs and Vardy, these players got them promoted and sold for massive profit. The club is being lent enough money to keep it operating but just not enough to make a success of it. Sometimes you really do have to speculate to accumulate and that is not PH's fault.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

But that is the problem, if there was that statement of intent in the budget that we could have the good squad we have and a top striker signing at this level we would be fine. The issue is the budget for me, we are one or two big signings from being a title challenger. Our board has such a lack of ambition with regards to budgeting, they haven't taken note of how clubs like Crawley and fleetwood have made it out of here, they signed a good squad for the level and made a few key signings of players on the up like Tubbs and Vardy, these players got them promoted and sold for massive profit. The club is being lent enough money to keep it operating but just not enough to make a success of it. Sometimes you really do have to speculate to accumulate and that is not PH's fault.

Do you know what the budget is? Do you know if Paul has spent it, or has he just failed to bring in the player(s) he wants?

My understanding is that there is still room within the budget set to bring in the marquee striker we all (?) crave but for whatever reasons Paul has been unable, thus far, to land that big fish

Like the OP, i desperately wan Hurst to succeed as he seems a thoroughly decent, hard working manager but he just has no rapport with the fans and the phrase i hear most when talking to many Town fans is "it's boring".

I have some sympathy for him because any team in this league would miss Thomas, Pittman and lately Clay, who has gone off the boil with his illness. Arnold would be like a new signing also if we could get him fit and firing but he doesn't help himself with bizarre team changes and a negative approach.

After Tuesday night he was bemoaning our lack of attacking options, saying we only had 2 experienced strikers and 2 wingers at our disposal. He then drops one of those wingers, who also happens to be our top goalscorer and puts Paddy out wide who simply isn't any good out there.

The recent Telewag article sums it up. He "nearly" had an attacker coming in on loan but it fell through. Nearly doesn't win games, good attackers do and until we get a couple of regular goalscorers in the side, we will draw games we should win and lose games we should draw.

Quoted from Hagrid

Who could have guessed after last saturdays result we'd all be as down as this? Think the next couple of days are going to be interesting at grimsby town, john and the board have big decisions to make, I've long supported Mr Hurst but i feel ( if hes in charge tuesday night) and we do not get a result and performance against an altrincham side who had a good result yesterday, then he has to go, its never nice to see fans turning on a manager with chants and boos, but feel that this is going to be the case on tuesday. hurst is a hugely likeable man ( and i doubt theres not one person who doesnt want him to suceed on that factor alone) but whether he has that knowhow to get us out this predicament, sadly I no longer believe so. Id love to be proved wrong but no, not currently. I apologise to johnny denni or any others of the Hurst Out-ers who i may not have agreed with in the past, but im coming round to your way of thinking. however if PH is gaffer on tuesday, the pressure needs to be taken off him and we ALL need to get behind the team from minute 1. moves on to my second point, the players themselves. as much culpable for this as PH. Allright everyone saying we have a good team on paper, well clearly not that good? The players have shown in glimpses what they are capable of in superb performances, and shown there worst in performances too. This i feel is the most frustrating thing, the inability we have had to stick with a system that saw us destroy gateshead and alfreton instead of awful hoofball to poor LJL. i feel LJL looked much better in the above mentioned system, ball at his feet, using pace and strength to create himself opportunities. but why when we have the players to do this, are we not doing it? Where does the blame lie for this? Well ultimately the manager? its a crying shame that things have gone so sour recently, at the end of the day we all only ever want one thing and thats promotion, i long for it having never seen us win promotion ( dear father didnt take me to wembley 98.) the season HAS to be turned around now, I will get behind PH and the players for as long as they are here and I sincerly hope you turn it round, but with gates dwindling and crowds turning, i feel the writing is on the wall. good Luck for tuesday night, all the fans will hopefully get behind the boys, because by heck do we deserve a performance! hope this hasnt turned into an 80s rant haha but just trying to put a point across from an unbiased view. UTM and heres to hopefully a change in fortune in whatever circumstances.

Hagrid you have nothing to apologise for at all.

You wanted town to do well and that is all what matters.

There is no right or wrong just what is best for grimsby mate and unfortunatley that involves a new fresh approach.

UTM.

I think BIGChris nails it for me.

Hurst's failure to sign further strikers/attackers is simply bizarre, especially as he has apparently been looking for so long. Most of the attackers we have signed have done well at times this season, but we haven't seen great consistency from any of them. Fair enough, you can't expect players to do well every single game, especially at this level, but we simply don't have anyone else to play or bring on due to the lack of numbers in the squad. If your Plan A isn't working, without options on the bench you are going to struggle to have a Plan B to try. Case in point was Tuesday night when so many of our attacking players were well off their game but we had nobody to replace any of them with!

Quoted from Maringer

I think BIGChris nails it for me.

Hurst's failure to sign further strikers/attackers is simply bizarre, especially as he has apparently been looking for so long. Most of the attackers we have signed have done well at times this season, but we haven't seen great consistency from any of them. Fair enough, you can't expect players to do well every single game, especially at this level, but we simply don't have anyone else to play or bring on due to the lack of numbers in the squad. If your Plan A isn't working, without options on the bench you are going to struggle to have a Plan B to try. Case in point was Tuesday night when so many of our attacking players were well off their game but we had nobody to replace any of them with!

He can get a defender in though no problem.

Sums it up for me.

Quoted from BIGChris

Do you know what the budget is? Do you know if Paul has spent it, or has he just failed to bring in the player(s) he wants?

My understanding is that there is still room within the budget set to bring in the marquee striker we all (?) crave but for whatever reasons Paul has been unable, thus far, to land that big fish

But will a marquee striker make any difference if PH sticks to his limited tactics.  Look what we did to Connor Jennings!

Used to be very supportive of Hurst - felt to consecutive 4th places, Wembley appearance was very acceptable especially as only one side gets promoted automatically (which makes nay sort of 'failure' twice as bad IMO)
But.... we should be building on that and quite patently are not

Failure to buy a regular goalscorer is going to be Hurst's downfall - I posted yesterday that GTFC had as many shots as most top teams yesterday but nowhere near the amount on target or (obviously) goals.

I agree with earlier comment - would rather Hurst have spent a large amount of budget on a decent, proven goalscorer rather than some other positions.

We are uncreative, lack a spark in final third, aren't brave enough, too safety first...rather like the man in charge

Time for a change I think, especially if we lose/draw Tuesday

I am afraid Plan B is make Plan A work.

There was a rumour on this board that we had Rory Fallon training with us this
close season -i d'ont know if that was true or not, but i see he has scored back
to back goals for the Gypsies in L2, that beggers the question if he WAS here
why didn't we take the option on him?

Quoted from BIGChris

Do you know what the budget is? Do you know if Paul has spent it, or has he just failed to bring in the player(s) he wants?

My understanding is that there is still room within the budget set to bring in the marquee striker we all (?) crave but for whatever reasons Paul has been unable, thus far, to land that big fish

What do you mean 'your understanding' I thought you were on the board? If that's correct and you represent the fans shouldn't you know the answers to your questions & pass on the answers to the fans?????

Quoted from TAGG

What do you mean 'your understanding' I thought you were on the board? If that's correct and you represent the fans shouldn't you know the answers to your questions & pass on the answers to the fans?????

I am not on the board and never have been!

Quoted from headingly_mariner

But that is the problem, if there was that statement of intent in the budget that we could have the good squad we have and a top striker signing at this level we would be fine. The issue is the budget for me, we are one or two big signings from being a title challenger. Our board one man`s money has such a lack of ambition with regards to budgeting, they haven't taken note of how clubs like Crawley and fleetwood have made it out of here, they signed a good squad for the level and made a few key signings of players on the up like Tubbs and Vardy, these players got them promoted and sold for massive profit. The club is being lent enough money to keep it operating but just not enough to make a success of it. Sometimes you really do have to speculate to accumulate and that is not PH's fault.

Quoted from BIGChris

Do you know what the budget is? Do you know if Paul has spent it, or has he just failed to bring in the player(s) he wants?

My understanding is that there is still room within the budget set to bring in the marquee striker we all (?) crave but for whatever reasons Paul has been unable, thus far, to land that big fish

Is that a striker with his own tent? We already have one who couldn't hit a marquee from the inside.

I still maintain that strikers do not want to play for this team because they think they will not get fair treatment from the manager.

They know that PH messes about with one up front, two up front, one and half up front and so on. The one constant is LJL. Unless a new striker is a quicker, better and more prolific target player than LJL he has no chance of regular first team action. So spending on a poacher will be a waste of money because he won't play enough games to make it worthwhile. For the striker it will be a waste of time because he will spend more time on the bench than on the field.

Quoted from BIGChris

Do you know what the budget is? Do you know if Paul has spent it, or has he just failed to bring in the player(s) he wants?

My understanding is that there is still room within the budget set to bring in the marquee striker we all (?) crave but for whatever reasons Paul has been unable, thus far, to land that big fish

My understanding is that the budget is again smaller than that of previous seasons and is a competetive budget for the play offs but lacking in terms of challenging for the league. Are you saying the budget is there to spend the 50-100k on a transfer fee?  That is the kind of money  has been spend on Tubbs, Vardy and Gray's transfer fees.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

My understanding is that the budget is again smaller than that of previous seasons and is a competetive budget for the play offs but lacking in terms of challenging for the league. Are you saying the budget is there to spend the 50-100k on a transfer fee?  That is the kind of money  has been spend on Tubbs, Vardy and Gray's transfer fees.

That is implying that the Board, JF or both made a conscious decision to only aim for the play-offs. This is a specific statement, do you have any evidence to validate this? This isn't an attempt to have a go at the poster but could imply something that simply isn't true.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

My understanding is that the budget is again smaller than that of previous seasons and is a competetive budget for the play offs but lacking in terms of challenging for the league. Are you saying the budget is there to spend the 50-100k on a transfer fee?  That is the kind of money  has been spend on Tubbs, Vardy and Gray's transfer fees.

That is implying that the Board, JF or both made a conscious decision to only aim for the play-offs. This is a specific statement, do you have any evidence to validate this? This isn't an attempt to have a go at the poster but could imply something that simply isn't true.

Managers are judged on two things, signings and results.  Mainly results.

Signing wise I think Hurst has made improvements for us (Toto over Mcdonald, Magnay over Hatton, Brown over Kerr).  However his tactics and ability to get the best out of players is leaving us looking bang average.

A goalscorer has been a problem for two years, the fact it is still unresolved is embarrassing really.   If Hurst has the funds in place to rectify yet hasn't suggests he's not got the knowledge, contacts or skills to bring the right man here.

I would be keen to know if Parslow's loan is taken from the striker funds as that would be ridiculous when we already have adequate numbers in that position.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

But that is the problem, if there was that statement of intent in the budget that we could have the good squad we have and a top striker signing at this level we would be fine. The issue is the budget for me, we are one or two big signings from being a title challenger. Our board has such a lack of ambition with regards to budgeting, they haven't taken note of how clubs like Crawley and fleetwood have made it out of here, they signed a good squad for the level and made a few key signings of players on the up like Tubbs and Vardy, these players got them promoted and sold for massive profit. The club is being lent enough money to keep it operating but just not enough to make a success of it. Sometimes you really do have to speculate to accumulate and that is not PH's fault.

It is if with what budget he is given isn't spent wisely.  So far the players he has brought in this season aren't performing any better than what we had last season.

Toto currently is probably the poorest centre-half we have had at the club for a while, Mackreth isn't living up to the standards many on here were gushing about when he was signed.

Although I do not agree with the ferocity of abuse Hurst has got on here I have now reached the conclusion that many have - it is time for him to go. We do not have the firepower, as stated all over this forum as our current forwards are simply not good enough to get us promoted. As much as I like LJL's endeavour he just can't finish and to be honest Hannah has been very poor this year. I appreciate we've had some injuries (and suspensions for the first three games) but believe managerially Hurst has taken us as far as he can. This season is clearly not lost as it's October but to give us the best chance of promotion we should replace the manager asap.

And dare I say it kept Disley and got rid of Kerr,I'll go and wash my mouth out.

Quoted from BIGChris

I am not on the board and never have been!

I stand corrected  

Quoted from friskneymariner

And dare I say it kept Disley and got rid of Kerr,I'll go and wash my mouth out.

Very well put sir!

Quoted from TAGG

I stand corrected  

Chris is or was on the Trust's board not GTFC board.

Quoted from rancido

That is implying that the Board, JF or both made a conscious decision to only aim for the play-offs. This is a specific statement, do you have any evidence to validate this? This isn't an attempt to have a go at the poster but could imply something that simply isn't true.

Err no it's not, it's my opinion of the budget based on the squad and the signings. I'm sure they want to win the league but the squad and the lack of money signings is evidence enough that the budget isn't as ambitious as you would expect from a prospective league winner.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Who is clearly not fit, along with another loan striker/midfielder and the signing that came with a very poor appearance record.

At risk of sounding like a broken record, promotion will not be done on the cheap, just seems we don't want it badly enough.

Don't get me wrong Codger, I was merely stating the fact we already had a loan striker in. Hurst's inability to bring a decent striker in is really offpissing.

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

Is that a striker with his own tent? We already have one who couldn't hit a marquee from the inside.

I still maintain that strikers do not want to play for this team because they think they will not get fair treatment from the manager.

They know that PH messes about with one up front, two up front, one and half up front and so on. The one constant is LJL. Unless a new striker is a quicker, better and more prolific target player than LJL he has no chance of regular first team action. So spending on a poacher will be a waste of money because he won't play enough games to make it worthwhile. For the striker it will be a waste of time because he will spend more time on the bench than on the field.

I wouldn't mind if that were true, but said player is untouchable. If he's available he gets picked.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Don't get me wrong Codger, I was merely stating the fact we already had a loan striker in. Hurst's inability to bring a decent striker in is really offpissing.

Only pointing out the complete mess that our striking department is. LJL has score 30 goals in an 8 year career, that's approximately 8 times slower than we need.

I have supported Hurst and backed him on here. I spoke to some people who attend games more regularly than myself over weekend and whose opinion I respect. I have therefore decided to give Hurst the next ten days to get a quality striker on board and that the effort and play, on the whole, from team is equal to that of the Halifax away game. If this does not happen I shall no longer back Hurst as manager.

Quoted from Fcukthescunts

I have supported Hurst and backed him on here. I spoke to some people who attend games more regularly than myself over weekend and whose opinion I respect. I have therefore decided to give Hurst the next ten days to get a quality striker on board and that the effort and play, on the whole, from team is equal to that of the Halifax away game. If this does not happen I shall no longer back Hurst as manager.

Thought you were happy from your thread you started the other day.....what's changed in such a short space of time.

I've been able to see that hurst isn't the man to get us out this league since last Christmas, along with a few others I might add, now there seems more people seeing what we've been shouting about for ages.

Don't understand giving him ten more days though, as I'm sure he will change the team, not make a substitution early......ect

Do not worry about Hurst,

If Grim Rob is right he will walk into a job next week,

Southport maybe ?

With Foyle ready to take over here.

Why have you alluded to Foyle coming here on 2 separate threads Pete?

Quoted from chaos33

Why have you alluded to Foyle coming here on 2 separate threads Pete?

Just a feeling , no more,

BUT

He probably impressed Fenty last Tuesday,

He has been interviewed by Fenty before,

He has just left Southport,

Just putting 2 and 2 together and making 5 ( maybe )

Well, that's what I thought  

I do hope this isn't the way it goes.

I share many of the concerns expressed by other posters, but I do not share the desire to see a change of manager at this time, primarily because any move as drastic as that should be based on much more evidence than a couple of poor results or our current position in the table.

When considering a manager's future, particularly when there isn't an immediate concern about preserving a place in a particular division, the key questions should be these. Is there a manager out there who would do better with the players that the current manager has at his disposal? If so, is he realistically going to be interested in taking the job? Only if we can answer 'Yes' to both of those should we make a change.

But when I see the likes of Dave Hockaday and Steve Burr, managers who have achieved as much or even less than Paul Hurst has, being suggested as good alternatives, that seems to me to be more about a wish to see a change for the sake of it, rather than whether they are actually better managers. Gary Brabin? Where has he been since Luton sacked him? Why would any of them do a better job than Hurst? At this moment, still relatively early in the season, I think it is a far bigger gamble to sack Hurst than to keep him. This is a time for cool heads and sound reasoning, not the panic that I fear could be triggered if things go awry on Tuesday night.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Just a feeling , no more,

BUT

He probably impressed Fenty last Tuesday,

He has been interviewed by Fenty before,

He has just left Southport,

Just putting 2 and 2 together and making 5 ( maybe )

Y'know what.....just doing a bit of research I would think there's every possibility this could happen.

Quoted from chaos33

Y'know what.....just doing a bit of research I would think there's every possibility this could happen.

I would not be surprised.

Quoted from EY Mariner

I share many of the concerns expressed by other posters, but I do not share the desire to see a change of manager at this time, primarily because any move as drastic as that should be based on much more evidence than a couple of poor results or our current position in the table.

When considering a manager's future, particularly when there isn't an immediate concern about preserving a place in a particular division, the key questions should be these. Is there a manager out there who would do better with the players that the current manager has at his disposal? If so, is he realistically going to be interested in taking the job? Only if we can answer 'Yes' to both of those should we make a change.

But when I see the likes of Dave Hockaday and Steve Burr, managers who have achieved as much or even less than Paul Hurst has, being suggested as good alternatives, that seems to me to be more about a wish to see a change for the sake of it, rather than whether they are actually better managers. Gary Brabin? Where has he been since Luton sacked him? Why would any of them do a better job than Hurst? At this moment, still relatively early in the season, I think it is a far bigger gamble to sack Hurst than to keep him. This is a time for cool heads and sound reasoning, not the panic that I fear could be triggered if things go awry on Tuesday night.

Very sensible post and exactly my feelings on this, sacking the manager after a couple of bad results is madness, this season we have Hurst with Hursts players, we should accept that and get behind the team until all hope of the play offs is gone , if this happens it would be time to get a new manger for the end of this season to assess the  players we have and start again next year.  The names metioned above would be a step backwards and Mcdermott smacks too much of Woods apointment

Quoted from EY Mariner

I share many of the concerns expressed by other posters, but I do not share the desire to see a change of manager at this time, primarily because any move as drastic as that should be based on much more evidence than a couple of poor results or our current position in the table.

When considering a manager's future, particularly when there isn't an immediate concern about preserving a place in a particular division, the key questions should be these. Is there a manager out there who would do better with the players that the current manager has at his disposal? If so, is he realistically going to be interested in taking the job? Only if we can answer 'Yes' to both of those should we make a change.

But when I see the likes of Dave Hockaday and Steve Burr, managers who have achieved as much or even less than Paul Hurst has, being suggested as good alternatives, that seems to me to be more about a wish to see a change for the sake of it, rather than whether they are actually better managers. Gary Brabin? Where has he been since Luton sacked him? Why would any of them do a better job than Hurst? At this moment, still relatively early in the season, I think it is a far bigger gamble to sack Hurst than to keep him. This is a time for cool heads and sound reasoning, not the panic that I fear could be triggered if things go awry on Tuesday night.

Spot on my friend.

Quoted from EY Mariner

I share many of the concerns expressed by other posters, but I do not share the desire to see a change of manager at this time, primarily because any move as drastic as that should be based on much more evidence than a couple of poor results or our current position in the table.

When considering a manager's future, particularly when there isn't an immediate concern about preserving a place in a particular division, the key questions should be these. Is there a manager out there who would do better with the players that the current manager has at his disposal? If so, is he realistically going to be interested in taking the job? Only if we can answer 'Yes' to both of those should we make a change.

But when I see the likes of Dave Hockaday and Steve Burr, managers who have achieved as much or even less than Paul Hurst has, being suggested as good alternatives, that seems to me to be more about a wish to see a change for the sake of it, rather than whether they are actually better managers. Gary Brabin? Where has he been since Luton sacked him? Why would any of them do a better job than Hurst? At this moment, still relatively early in the season, I think it is a far bigger gamble to sack Hurst than to keep him. This is a time for cool heads and sound reasoning, not the panic that I fear could be triggered if things go awry on Tuesday night.

It is a well argued post but it falls into the old trap we have seen so often before. When Woods was here for instance it took an age for JF to remove him when it was clear the team was going nowhere and two seasons were wasted. Now we are talking about a couple of bad results and giving the manager more time. What happens at Christmas if we stagger along and are a few points off the playoffs? Give the manager still more time? What happens at the end of the season if we happen to get in the playoffs but we are still in the Conference? Give the manager more time?

The trouble with time is that it passes a lot quicker than our team moves the ball!

Another season in this league means more than likely a lower budget next year and even less chance of going up. Another season means we lose several of the Hurst signings as well. Another season means another bedding in period for a new manager to sign and build his team and of course he has to be "given more time" as well.

So, reasonable as your points are, I think the time has run out if we really are to get promoted. Even if a new manager failed this year we would be no worse off and there are better ones around than those you mention. What is for sure is that for a Hurst side to be promoted would need an enormous amount of luck plus even more money to be spent in January. Even then he is unlikely to suddenly blossom into a leader capable of inspiring spirit, enthusiasm and consistency - the qualities lacking in this side - or to attract that extra-special player that could make all the difference to a team.

In fact the problem lies, as it does so often, with JF and the budget. Not the budget for players though. Even after all these years JF has not cottoned on that signing the best manager available is the best use of his cash. The el cheapo option only leads to trouble in the end.

Quoted from EY Mariner

I share many of the concerns expressed by other posters, but I do not share the desire to see a change of manager at this time, primarily because any move as drastic as that should be based on much more evidence than a couple of poor results or our current position in the table.

When considering a manager's future, particularly when there isn't an immediate concern about preserving a place in a particular division, the key questions should be these. Is there a manager out there who would do better with the players that the current manager has at his disposal? If so, is he realistically going to be interested in taking the job? Only if we can answer 'Yes' to both of those should we make a change.

But when I see the likes of Dave Hockaday and Steve Burr, managers who have achieved as much or even less than Paul Hurst has, being suggested as good alternatives, that seems to me to be more about a wish to see a change for the sake of it, rather than whether they are actually better managers. Gary Brabin? Where has he been since Luton sacked him? Why would any of them do a better job than Hurst? At this moment, still relatively early in the season, I think it is a far bigger gamble to sack Hurst than to keep him. This is a time for cool heads and sound reasoning, not the panic that I fear could be triggered if things go awry on Tuesday night.

Good post but a tad too sensible for me in that sticking with the status quo could get us promotion, the fact is apart from the two high scoring results we have labored to put out weekly a team that can confidently take on the opposition even though on paper and IMO  they are inferior to us skill and fitness wise.

Will this change all of a sudden from tomorrow onwards, bookies think not thats why we are not 4th favourites any more, Yes Rob Hurst would not be out of a job long should he depart from here his nearly record speakes for itself, but his seemingly stubborn attitude has started to build up a barrier between him and the supporters and thats something only consecutive wins and a change in his outlook on the opposition will mend.

IMO we are at a crossroads as I have said before where we stick with a nearly man and all his negatives regarding team picking ,subtitutions and failure to procure a striker when required,  or twist and try a new man with all the risks, excitement and possible failure this might bring.

After giving it a lot of thought I think we as a club now need some kind of  promise and a new adventure Sh1t or bust