In defence of Hurst

Quoted from Vance Warner

He was out of contract and wanted to play in a higher league for a team nearer his home - not much we could have done about that. The further down the pyramid we've fallen the bigger a burden our geographical location is. It certainly gives Barnet a big advantage over us.

Quoted from ginnywings

http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.....91-detail/story.html

Quoted from lukeo

Very honest and professional in my eyes. I was gutted when he went.

Quoted from EY Mariner

Other posters have talked about having a sense of deja vu in recent days. I share that, only mine relates to the latest round of criticism aimed at Paul Hurst that is not remotely supported by a reasonable analysis of the facts.

What do I mean by that? Well, let's think back to early October, when Hurst's position was last under as much scrutiny as it is now. After the home draw with Altrincham on October 7, I feared that Hurst would be dismissed. But, since then and with Hurst still in place, we have taken 26 points out of the 39 available to us. Prior to last Sunday, we had only lost once in our previous 11 league games (won eight, drawn two). And if you care to look back to the last point at which we suffered successive league defeats in September, we had taken 35 points out of a possible 51 available before last Sunday. Forgive me for not wanting to join in the witch hunt, but I cannot see how that record warrants the level of criticism posted on this forum in the last few days.

I wasn't at the game yesterday, but I was at the Lincoln game and, as much as they played very well on the day, I don't think we were, as has been suggested, poor. Perhaps I'm alone in recalling the three or four excellent saves that Farman made in the second half or the fact that we really should have been 2-0 up before their magnificent equaliser. We made enough chances to win the game and, like at their place in September, deserved at least something from it. It wasn't to be, but we'd had an extraordinary record against them in recent seasons before this year. They were always going to have their moments and those moments, as frustrating as they are, are not enough to justify a change of manager on their own.

I said in October that I felt it was a bigger gamble to sack Hurst than to stick with him and nothing that has happened since then has changed my view. Unless it becomes clear before the end of the season that we will not go up, and we are nowhere that point at the moment, the time to judge him is not now, not in the heat of the moment after a game, but at the end of the season. I'm prepared to wait. I'm as frustrated as anybody when we don't perform to the ability that we all know our squad possesses. But I try to keep things in their proper perspective and, sadly, I think too many of my fellow supporters, and certainly too many posters here, are either unable or unwilling to do that. I hope I'm wrong, but I fear Paul Hurst may end up being another Russell Slade – someone with whom we only truly realised what we had after he'd long gone.

Quoted from forza ivano

Found myself nodding in agreement. I don't think it'd be wise to get rid of him now and I don't think his record necessarily deserves it. No doubt we will fail miserably in the play offs again and that would be the time to do the deed

Quoted from ginnywings

Yes, EY mariner makes some very good points and i gave him a +, even though i don't entirely agree with his post as it only tells the stats. It doesn't tell of the dire way those points were achieved and the alienation the fans feel toward Hurst and the club at the moment.

I accept that some fans are happy just to get the points by any means necessary, but for me his whole footballing philosophy goes against the grain and is painful to watch.

If he takes us up via the play offs, then fair enough, job done. I don't think he will though. The lottery of the play offs seems to be the aim, when we should be challenging harder for the title. It's all very deja vu.

Quoted from ginnywings

Yes, EY mariner makes some very good points and i gave him a +, even though i don't entirely agree with his post as it only tells the stats. It doesn't tell of the dire way those points were achieved and the alienation the fans feel toward Hurst and the club at the moment.

I accept that some fans are happy just to get the points by any means necessary, but for me his whole footballing philosophy goes against the grain and is painful to watch.

If he takes us up via the play offs, then fair enough, job done. I don't think he will though. The lottery of the play offs seems to be the aim, when we should be challenging harder for the title. It's all very deja vu.

Quoted from Maringer

When people talk about sacking the manager at any time but the close season, I think back to recent history and how things went for us.

Getting rid of the manager mid-season just hasn't worked for us that I can remember from the past 20-odd years. It was sheer luck (i.e. Luton's enormous points deduction) that kept us up when Newell arrived but his chaotic reign ultimately set out the stall for our collapse into the Conference. Every other time, getting rid of the manager mid-season has led to relegation directly or a further downward spiral.

This isn't too surprising because it must be pretty difficult for a new manager to come in to a club and quickly discover what the strengths/weaknesses of the current squad are. This is why there tends to be a massive turnover of players very quickly with all sorts of loan signings coming in. Our circumstances mean that these players will either generally not be up to much or will bring a number of problems with them.

The arrival of a new manager can, on rare occasions, invigorate a club but there are few such managers around and you'd have to say it would a surprise if we got one of them given our current situation. Unsurprisingly, the better managers tend to be mostly in employment already or, if looking for a job, aiming their sights higher than a Conference club.