Unbelievable

So our esteemed leader now believes that today was the most difficult win of the three. Really? More difficult than winning at the league leaders?

Fed up of saying it - a combination of 442 at home, Paul Hurst and his obsession with Lenny will keep us in this godforsakenshitehole of a league. According to the pre-match interview 'the rest of the team know what Lenny brings'. Could you please share it with the rest of us? Is it the half-time oranges? The post-match beer? A goal from open play would be nice. A shot on target even.

Three wins in a row, up to third, still in with a shout and you're bitching about interviews. Unbelievable is about right.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

Three wins in a row, up to third, still in with a shout and you're bitching about interviews. Unbelievable is about right.

So you're saying that beating the mighty Braintree 1-0 with your only shot on target is harder than winning away at the league leaders?

Quoted from MuddyWaters

So you're saying that beating the mighty Braintree 1-0 with your only shot on target is harder than winning away at the league leaders?

When your team hasn't played well, yes.

We were shite yet still won. When you play well, you expect to win. Our problem all too often has been failing to win games like the one today. The three points you receive at the end of the game are still exactly the same.

Unfortunately , or fortunately illness prevented me from attending . Sounded as bad as people are saying .  Agree wholeheartedly with your comments , however others views it differently . Three points are three points ok , but it's the manner of how we get them . Some are willing to accept it and say nothing , some give comments and get slated .  Can't win either way .

Quoted from MuddyWaters

So our esteemed leader now believes that today was the most difficult win of the three. Really? More difficult than winning at the league leaders?

Fed up of saying it - a combination of 442 at home, Paul Hurst and his obsession with Lenny will keep us in this godforsakenshitehole of a league. According to the pre-match interview 'the rest of the team know what Lenny brings'. Could you please share it with the rest of us? Is it the half-time oranges? The post-match beer? A goal from open play would be nice. A shot on target even.

You are so right with the rigid 4-4-2. I felt for Christian Jolley today when he come on, the lad is a born outside forward. He isn't a centre forward and never will be. He wants the ball played in front of him, we've seen him destroy us playing wide left of a front three. We are so strong in the middle of the park. We have Disley, Clay, Paddy and Scott Brown. Any three of them would be superb in this league, Macreth would be superb playing wide of the central striker. We can call on Palmer who can do LJL's hold up job, be a physical presence and score goals. I'd be fine with either starting. 4-3-3 does require full backs get a bit further forward, perhaps Magnay and Robertson in particular aren't ideal there but overall the squad makeup is begging for a 4-3-3. At home, we are struggling to break teams down, I know it's generally more about players than formations but we have square pegs in round holes. Put the round pegs in round holes and let them go! We have time, we have a cushion in the play offs but let's go for the title.

It was boring and dull today but 3 points is all that matters. Hurst annoys me but I find it hard to be critical when we are winning.

That said, I can see why home gates are low. Hard working watching that and none of the fun of going away.

Boring match.

Boring performance.

Boring experience.

Boring manager.

3 points.

Quoted from Maringer

When your team hasn't played well, yes.

We were shite yet still won. When you play well, you expect to win. Our problem all too often has been failing to win games like the one today. The three points you receive at the end of the game are still exactly the same.

Yep, they are the same three points that we have chucked away in so many home games by not being bold enough tactically or attacking enough at the start of games.

Hurst talks about negative fans a lot. Why doesn't he try some positive tactics to get what's left of the home faithful to cheer not moan.

Quoted from psgmariner

It was boring and dull today but 3 points is all that matters. Hurst annoys me but I find it hard to be critical when we are winning.

That said, I can see why home gates are low. Hard working watching that and none of the fun of going away.

Not for me. I understand some are happy with "the end justifies the Means" approach but i'd like to see a bit of skill and flair now and again.

What i am seeing regularly at BP is not the game i fell in love with and got me so enthused that i couldn't wait for the next home game.

All about opinions i know but there are lots of stayaways that i know who have voted with their feet.

Quoted from psgmariner

It was boring and dull today but 3 points is all that matters. Hurst annoys me but I find it hard to be critical when we are winning.

That said, I can see why home gates are low. Hard working watching that and none of the fun of going away.

"3 points is all that matters" that may be the case with a side that people are queueing up to watch the but its no good saying that about a side like Town who need bums on seats.
The type of football we play will not get anyone extra through the gate in fact it will do the opposite.
If 3 points is all that counts then why are people walking away from BP after games on such a downer even after a win???? And why are people not flooding back to BP in numbers seeing as we are 3rd in the league????

That was a tough game, different to Tuesday because Braintree were well organised and set out to be difficult to break down, so many times in the past we have fails to win tricky games like that, today we dealt with it. 3 wins on the spin and up to third in the table, good day imo.

I don't know what it was like today but BP was like a morgue on Tuesday and that's pretty telling as we won the game, beat the leaders in the previous game and won today. Those results are excellent and what really matters, but this is a promotion push and we are winning games, yet the home crowds are almost silent, with many staying away and lots that do go immensely frustrated. Why is this?

I've got my own view, but maybe I'm missing something?

Quoted from chaos33

I don't know what it was like today but BP was like a morgue on Tuesday and that's pretty telling as we won the game, beat the leaders in the previous game and won today. Those results are excellent and what really matters, but this is a promotion push and we are winning games, yet the home crowds are almost silent, with many staying away and lots that do go immensely frustrated. Why is this?

I've got my own view, but maybe I'm missing something?

That's easy. The football is as boring as the manager.

Quoted from TAGG

"3 points is all that matters" that may be the case with a side that people are queueing up to watch the but its no good saying that about a side like Town who need bums on seats.
The type of football we play will not get anyone extra through the gate in fact it will do the opposite.
If 3 points is all that counts then why are people walking away from BP after games on such a downer even after a win???? And why are people not flooding back to BP in numbers seeing as we are 3rd in the league????

They are not flooding back because it is the Conference when all said and done. Hardly ever any away fans means lack of atmosphere. IMO I think if we were in league 1 we wouldn't get many more, possibly ave 4000.

Unbelievable people moaning after 3 wins on the bounce. Bristol Rovers only scraped a win against Braintree on Tues. We'd all like to see us destroying teams with free flowing football but at this stage of the season it's all about the 3 points. There are no teams in this league that are enjoyable to watch every week. We're 3rd in the league and people are calling for changes in formation and style of play. If we don't go up this season then it's time for a change but with 10 games to go lets get behind them FFS

Quoted from chaos33

I don't know what it was like today but BP was like a morgue on Tuesday and that's pretty telling as we won the game, beat the leaders in the previous game and won today. Those results are excellent and what really matters, but this is a promotion push and we are winning games, yet the home crowds are almost silent, with many staying away and lots that do go immensely frustrated. Why is this?

I've got my own view, but maybe I'm missing something?

We need to be entertained better than the last 2 games. The manager is so so cautious in everything he does and although we're 3rd in the league, it will cost us. After Tuesdays boredom in the cold, If I wasn't a season ticket holder, I would not have gone today.
Only 2 points of note in the full 90 minutes: the goalmouth scramble (in our goalmouth) and Disleys excellent goal. A 3rd could be Magnays performance but when a right back is consistently our best player then there's something wrong with the rest of it.

Quoted from Cod Cheeks

We need to be entertained better than the last 2 games. The manager is so so cautious in everything he does and although we're 3rd in the league, it will cost us. After Tuesdays boredom in the cold, If I wasn't a season ticket holder, I would not have gone today.
Only 2 points of note in the full 90 minutes: the goalmouth scramble (in our goalmouth) and Disleys excellent goal. A 3rd could be Magnays performance but when a right back is consistently our best player then there's something wrong with the rest of it.

Add to that Pearson's run in the first half !

Expecting entertainment is a tall order at this stage of the season for any team with things so tight in the league. Plus the manager does not rate entertaining very high on his priorities does he? He's the one who will accept 1-0 every game. Fair enough.

But I don't think entertainment is the problem. Failing to score goals is the problem. If your strikers are not scoring then something is obviously wrong and a good manager will not be fooled by streaky 1-0 wins where few chances are made and even fewer taken. The pressure on the defence is there in every game.

So a good manager would know that 1-0 could easily become 1-1 or 1-2 if the luck runs the other way. A good manager would not sit around waiting for that to happen, he would change his tactics or players or both while the going is good.

That's what worries me. 9 points this week is great, our position looks promising ....... on paper

I'm not even concerned about the lack of a Buckleyesque style of play. But the banana skins of just one defensive mistake or two, a terrible refereeing decision or a simple bad bounce of the ball in a couple of games could send us right back into the chasing pack because we simply do not score enough goals to kill off the opposition.

One of the two strikers had better start contributing more than just a cross country run every game and soon.

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

Expecting entertainment is a tall order at this stage of the season for any team with things so tight in the league. Plus the manager does not rate entertaining very high on his priorities does he? He's the one who will accept 1-0 every game. Fair enough.

But I don't think entertainment is the problem. Failing to score goals is the problem. If your strikers are not scoring then something is obviously wrong and a good manager will not be fooled by streaky 1-0 wins where few chances are made and even fewer taken. The pressure on the defence is there in every game.

So a good manager would know that 1-0 could easily become 1-1 or 1-2 if the luck runs the other way. A good manager would not sit around waiting for that to happen, he would change his tactics or players or both while the going is good.

That's what worries me. 9 points this week is great, our position looks promising ....... on paper

I'm not even concerned about the lack of a Buckleyesque style of play. But the banana skins of just one defensive mistake or two, a terrible refereeing decision or a simple bad bounce of the ball in a couple of games could send us right back into the chasing pack because we simply do not score enough goals to kill off the opposition.

One of the two strikers had better start contributing more than just a cross country run every game and soon.

Totally agree..streaky 1-0 wins are great if you are in pole position...they may just yet sneak the title, but i doubt it...... and as we know streaky performances dont get you through the play off process..

Probably the best response to the question from TRRFC. I agree with you. I don't think boredom covers it - I wasn't bored on Tuesday. I was frustrated. Hurst frustrates me immensely. I think it's about our ethos and set up. Our lack of ambition and guts. Big ideas. Swagger etc. It's not there.
Notice Hurst's lack of direction, vocal input etc from the touchline. The club need to look like they know what they're doing and believe they can do it, and maybe the fans would follow suit.

We're not energetic and urgent enough. We seem to hedge our bets, think ourselves into tight spots, set too low standards. This is about Hurst and the general lack of ambition and self confidence about those around the club for me. It's too conservative and defensive, with too much left to chance. With the players we've got we should be destroying teams at BP. We should have set our stall out as title chasers at the start of the season and stuck to it. We're as big and as competent as any other team in this division, but the club don't show it. They don't buy into it. They don't project it. We seem to be just trying to keep it tight and hope for the best. I think people feel that and act accordingly. They're nervous and edgy and expect disappointment, because these are the signals they get.

Bristol Rovers have scored fewer goals than us.

Hurst out, promotion isn't good enough for Grimsby Town fans. Our history and size of the club automatically means that we should be demolishing every team in this league and we shouldn't need to earn the right to play league football.

Quoted from 1739

Hurst out, promotion isn't good enough for Grimsby Town fans. Our history and size of the club automatically means that we should be demolishing every team in this league and we shouldn't need to earn the right to play league football.

Absolutely. Couldn't agree more!  

Look, you're missing the point GF.

Quoted from chaos33

Look, if your not able to take part in a reasoned, honest and informed discussion GF, then keep out out of it. Just posting facetious, churlish stuff and dishing out red crosses isn't really contributing much. You're missing the points.

Quite. We have to expect to be in the play offs and I can't see us being good enough to win our home leg.

Quoted from Theimperialcoroner

Bristol Rovers have scored fewer goals than us.

True enough. But if you take away those two whopping wins in early season the comparison isn't quite so good is it?

So, 1-0 wins aren't good enough, but if you score a lot of goals, they don't count?  

Quoted from Maringer

So, 1-0 wins aren't good enough, but if you score a lot of goals, they don't count?  

1-0 wins aren't good enough for Town. They're fine for Bristol Rovers.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Quite. We have to expect to be in the play offs and I can't see us being good enough to win our home leg.

Absolutely. Impossible to see us winning at home against someone like Barnet, Forest Green or Halifax. If we only make the play offs we should probably withdraw from them.

This thread should be deleted! Withdraw from the Play Offs!?!? What the heck is wrong with people?!!? We have 9 points this week, , scored 5 and conceded a wonder goal, , yes the home games haven't been enthralling affairs but we are WINNING and have 10 more games to go and not many of them are going to be all that entertaining but let's just get out of this league and be entertained in Lg2

I was watching Makreth today from the Upper as he was right in front of me for the first half. What  i noticed was that he always had half an eye on his defensive duties. Never really committed himself to go forward unless we were high up the pitch and never gambled to get behind the full back. He was never at any stage goalside of the full back. A couple of times when the play was on the other wing, he never even ventured forward at all, despite the fact that the ball may have found it's way over to his side of the goal and give him a chance to score or deliver the ball back into the mix. That must come from instruction. It's like he was playing with shackles on.

RRFC is right. It's not about entertainment as such, it's about goalscoring and whatever way we play, we just don't do enough of it. Very rarely do we get ourselves into a comfortable position where we can give fringe players a run out and rest key players. Most substitutions are trying to make things happen that should have happened earlier in the game

That last point is a very good one mate.

Quoted from chaos33

That last point is a very good one mate.

Doubt many will see it as such. I'll probably be labelled a doom-monger.

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

True enough. But if you take away those two whopping wins in early season the comparison isn't quite so good is it?

That's right, if you do that, we have very similar goals scored. Especially if you remove their two highest scoring games too.

Personally I thng PH has too much of a pragmatic approach to the game, relying on percentage football much in the same way as Slade did. As a purist, I can't abide it, but it didn't stop me going mental when Kalala scored, nor will it stop me aching for us to get promotion playing that way. I'd just prefer there to be another way of doing it. However I'm not the manager so it doesn't matter one bit what I think, or, as a fan of 40+ years, does it???

Quoted from Theimperialcoroner

That's right, if you do that, we have very similar goals scored. Especially if you remove their two highest scoring games too.

Personally I thng PH has too much of a pragmatic approach to the game, relying on percentage football much in the same way as Slade did. As a purist, I can't abide it, but it didn't stop me going mental when Kalala scored, nor will it stop me aching for us to get promotion playing that way. I'd just prefer there to be another way of doing it. However I'm not the manager so it doesn't matter one bit what I think, or, as a fan of 40+ years, does it???

But it does, because you pay their wages when you walk through the turnstile. Yes, promotion is achievable, but I think we can all see that some players attacking instincts are being stifled, indeed, it's one reason one player left.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

But it does, because you pay their wages when you walk through the turnstile. Yes, promotion is achievable, but I think we can all see that some players attacking instincts are being stifled, indeed, it's one reason one player left.

I'd leve to see the evidence for that last comment.....

But there's got to be a balance. You look at any winger in any league playing 442 and they have to do their defensive duties. If you really want to analyse how many players we commit forward you could look at how often the central midfielders get beyond the strikers. I'd like to see us do this more but the winning goals today and against Barnet have come from Disley doing this so it's obviously something we're working on.

Quoted from ginnywings

Not for me. I understand some are happy with "the end justifies the Means" approach but i'd like to see a bit of skill and flair now and again.

What i am seeing regularly at BP is not the game i fell in love with and got me so enthused that i couldn't wait for the next home game.

All about opinions i know but there are lots of stayaways that i know who have voted with their feet.

The end justifying the means is all very honourable, but IF we go up by this means, what about the next season...? If it's as turgid as this season, we may as well be down here where the away fans are nice, the beer better and there are some actually nice places to go..

intercourse the fact that the prize money is massively better in L2, I for one don't really care for the financial stats. All I want to see is GTFC entertaining me with good football, goals and cup runs and a feeling of superiority on our close neighbours.

Do I get a feeling of superiority from a healthy balance sheet? No.

Do I get a feeling of superiority from us beating teams by lots of goals and exciting football. Yes.

Does it matter what division I see that in? A bit, maybe. But we're historically a L1. L2 Yoyo club anyway. Yeah, I'd be happy to get there again but realistically it's a while away judging from this last few months performances.

Dunno what that all means.

Quoted from 1739

Hurst out, promotion isn't good enough for Grimsby Town fans. Our history and size of the club automatically means that we should be demolishing every team in this league and we shouldn't need to earn the right to play league football.

The thing is promotion is more than good enough for Grimsby town fans.

Have we been promoted ?

answer is NO.

We're a Conference club with Conference players paying Conference wages.

Hopefully we'll manage to get ourselves promoted sooner rather than later, but we just don't have any sort of divine right to go up.

As with most people, I'd be a lot happier if we were playing good football more frequently - back in the Buckley Mk. 1 era I remember being disappointed that we'd not played well in the final game against Torquay when I ought to have been delighted we had won promotion! I've had to become a pragmatist since then.

To be honest, I'm pretty embarrassed by some of the wailing and gnashing of teeth on the board tonight on a day when we've won our third consecutive game. If we'd lost heavily then you could perhaps understand the angst, but we squeezed through following a poor performance which any Town fan would surely have to admit is a good thing?

No one is claiming we've played well today, but the result is what counts when you've played this poorly.

Quoted from chaos33

Probably the best response to the question from TRRFC. I agree with you. I don't think boredom covers it - I wasn't bored on Tuesday. I was frustrated. Hurst frustrates me immensely. I think it's about our ethos and set up. Our lack of ambition and guts. Big ideas. Swagger etc. It's not there.
Notice Hurst's lack of direction, vocal input etc from the touchline. The club need to look like they know what they're doing and believe they can do it, and maybe the fans would follow suit.

We're not energetic and urgent enough. We seem to hedge our bets, think ourselves into tight spots, set too low standards. This is about Hurst and the general lack of ambition and self confidence about those around the club for me. It's too conservative and defensive, with too much left to chance. With the players we've got we should be destroying teams at BP. We should have set our stall out as title chasers at the start of the season and stuck to it. We're as big and as competent as any other team in this division, but the club don't show it. They don't buy into it. They don't project it. We seem to be just trying to keep it tight and hope for the best. I think people feel that and act accordingly. They're nervous and edgy and expect disappointment, because these are the signals they get.

PERFECT Chaos,  PERFECT and how anyone can give a x to that God only knows. Hurst is a liability.  He will not last. He will never go down as a Town favourite even if we get promoted. We are doing OK despite Hurst, not because of him. If some of former favourites were in charge we would be pulling in crowds of 5 or 6 thousand with being in the position we are.I'm certain of that. Can't wait until he inevitably leaves.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

So our esteemed leader now believes that today was the most difficult win of the three. Really? More difficult than winning at the league leaders?

Fed up of saying it - a combination of 442 at home, Paul Hurst and his obsession with Lenny will keep us in this godforsakenshitehole of a league. According to the pre-match interview 'the rest of the team know what Lenny brings'. Could you please share it with the rest of us? Is it the half-time oranges? The post-match beer? A goal from open play would be nice. A shot on target even.

They know he will start. Not sure what else, seems on a bit of an ego-trip. Felt sorry for him early season before his goal-rush but seemed to be trying harder then, even if it was a little too hard and resulting in daft misses.

Quoted from jonnyboy82

The thing is promotion is more than good enough for Grimsby town fans.

Have we been promoted ?

answer is NO.

The answer is not yet. We are 3rd with 10 games left. It is extremely unlikely we will catch 1st place, whilst still doable - but we have every chance of going up as the best team in the play-off spots.

It's a bit ridiculous to not at least wait till the end of the season to draw your conclusions - especially when we are in a very strong position.

Quoted from Maringer

We're a Conference club with Conference players paying Conference wages.

Hopefully we'll manage to get ourselves promoted sooner rather than later, but we just don't have any sort of divine right to go up.

As with most people, I'd be a lot happier if we were playing good football more frequently - back in the Buckley Mk. 1 era I remember being disappointed that we'd not played well in the final game against Torquay when I ought to have been delighted we had won promotion! I've had to become a pragmatist since then.

To be honest, I'm pretty embarrassed by some of the wailing and gnashing of teeth on the board tonight on a day when we've won our third consecutive game. If we'd lost heavily then you could perhaps understand the angst, but we squeezed through following a poor performance which any Town fan would surely have to admit is a good thing?

No one is claiming we've played well today, but the result is what counts when you've played this poorly.

I think people's concerns are that all these poor performances are perceived by those people as lucky wins. You certainly don't want these performances in the play-offs. You want three nils, full of confidence, something one nil will never give you. It's more worry if anything I reckon.

We were one nil up, not looking like scoring another but neither were they. Why not play it safe and take a striker off. We had more chance of keeping a clean sheet with an extra man back than getting another goal given the 80 minutes or so prior to the substitution. People will moan, but it's stupid to throw away 3 points.

Simples =

Town go up through the playoffs, Hurst done his job.

Town fail to go up, Hurst given enough chances, part company with respect.

Quoted from Maringer

We're a Conference club with Conference players paying Conference wages.

Hopefully we'll manage to get ourselves promoted sooner rather than later, but we just don't have any sort of divine right to go up.

As with most people, I'd be a lot happier if we were playing good football more frequently - back in the Buckley Mk. 1 era I remember being disappointed that we'd not played well in the final game against Torquay when I ought to have been delighted we had won promotion! I've had to become a pragmatist since then.

To be honest, I'm pretty embarrassed by some of the wailing and gnashing of teeth on the board tonight on a day when we've won our third consecutive game. If we'd lost heavily then you could perhaps understand the angst, but we squeezed through following a poor performance which any Town fan would surely have to admit is a good thing?

No one is claiming we've played well today, but the result is what counts when you've played this poorly.

Personally I'm not 'wailing' or 'gnashing my teeth'. You've gotta be chuffed with 9 points in a week. IMO, the Telford game wasn't as bad as some would have you believe, but the ground was stony silent. I was merely wondering why BP is so subdued when the team are on a promotion push and then speculating on the possible reasons for that.
I think people on here need to learn to distinguish between moaning and general or critical discussion.

Quoted from chaos33

Personally I'm not 'wailing' or 'gnashing my teeth'. You've gotta be chuffed with 9 points in a week. IMO, the Telford game wasn't as bad as some would have you believe, but the ground was stony silent. I was merely wondering why BP is so subdued when the team are on a promotion push and then speculating on the possible reasons for that.
I think people on here need to learn to distinguish between moaning and general or critical discussion.

Agree....I said on another thread the other day about atmosphere at BP and said that the football on the pitch will be the only thing to get the crowd going...whilst it's boring the crowd will stay silent

Quoted from MuddyWaters

So you're saying that beating the mighty Braintree 1-0 with your only shot on target is harder than winning away at the league leaders?

Who cares which was the hardest of the three - we won them all.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

Who cares which was the hardest of the three - we won them all.

We did. But once again, the most positive performance - by a mile - was away from home. I have no problem with our tactics away from home but we are mind-numbingly dull and defensive at home.

The fact is the game was not very entertaining but that was not town's fault. Fans seem to ignore the fact that there was another team out there and they efficiently closed down the game and prevented us from creating chances so I do not blame our strikers yesterday, unlike Tuesday when we wasted many chances. When we come up against a situation where he opposition are also trying to win the game we also look a better team.

What a thread this would have been if we had lost !

Quoted from Mariner Timsky

This thread should be deleted! Withdraw from the Play Offs!?!? What the heck is wrong with people?!!? We have 9 points this week, , scored 5 and conceded a wonder goal, , yes the home games haven't been enthralling affairs but we are WINNING and have 10 more games to go and not many of them are going to be all that entertaining but let's just get out of this league and be entertained in Lg2

Well said

Quoted from chaos33

Personally I'm not 'wailing' or 'gnashing my teeth'. You've gotta be chuffed with 9 points in a week. IMO, the Telford game wasn't as bad as some would have you believe, but the ground was stony silent. I was merely wondering why BP is so subdued when the team are on a promotion push and then speculating on the possible reasons for that.
I think people on here need to learn to distinguish between moaning and general or critical discussion.

Not you personally, perhaps, but we're now into page 6 of a thread bitching about the manager's post-match interview following our third win in a week! That marks out wailing and gnashing of teeth to me. That is what is truly unbelievable.

You're quite right about the Telford game where we played pretty well in the first half but were poor in the second half. Some people seem to be retrospectively deciding it was a terrible performance for some reason or other (7 shots on target, their keeper was probably the man of the match) when it simply wasn't.

Quoted from Mariner Timsky

This thread should be deleted! Withdraw from the Play Offs!?!? What the heck is wrong with people?!!? We have 9 points this week, , scored 5 and conceded a wonder goal, , yes the home games haven't been enthralling affairs but we are WINNING and have 10 more games to go and not many of them are going to be all that entertaining but let's just get out of this league and be entertained in Lg2

I can't find any reference to withdrawing from the play offs in this thread???
Why do you have a problem with this discussion? Saying the thread should be deleted sounds a bit, well.....North Korean to me.

Quoted from Maringer

Not you personally, perhaps, but we're now into page 6 of a thread bitching about the manager's post-match interview following our third win in a week! That marks out wailing and gnashing of teeth to me. That is what is truly unbelievable.

You're quite right about the Telford game where we played pretty well in the first half but were poor in the second half. Some people seem to be retrospectively deciding it was a terrible performance for some reason or other (7 shots on target, their keeper was probably the man of the match) when it simply wasn't.

It wasn't a terrible performance on Tuesday, but there were poor individual performances - one in particular.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

It wasn't a terrible performance on Tuesday, but there were poor individual performances - one in particular.

Keep on banging the drum...  

Quoted from Maringer

Keep on banging the drum...  

I will do don't worry about that

Quoted from oldun

The fact is the game was not very entertaining but that was not town's fault. Fans seem to ignore the fact that there was another team out there and they efficiently closed down the game and prevented us from creating chances so I do not blame our strikers yesterday, unlike Tuesday when we wasted many chances. When we come up against a situation where he opposition are also trying to win the game we also look a better team.

Yeah, this cropped up in another thread. Any team in the conference is capable of stifling a match if their only ambition is not to score, even when 1-0 down! I assumed that goal would bring Braintree out and we were in for a decent 2nd half, but it seems they didn't open up at all.

Quoted from Maringer

Keep on banging the drum...  

If you so wish - Paul Hurst's obsession with Lenny will cost us promotion and ultimately, his job.

I could put up with early season Lenny. He balanced his lack of ability with considerable effort. I've seen him twice this week and on both occasions, there has been little or no movement off the ball, no making space for runners and very rarely won anything in the air. All fundamental parts of forward play.

Along with several others, I've noticed how several of our squad would look better in a 433 - Palmer, Jolley, Arnold, Mackreth, Paddy, Clay yet we continue with turgid 442 to accommodate Lenny. Why? He doesn't score, he rarely hits the target.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Yep, they are the same three points that we have chucked away in so many home games by not being bold enough tactically or attacking enough at the start of games.

Hurst talks about negative fans a lot. Why doesn't he try some positive tactics to get what's left of the home faithful to cheer not moan.

I think he struggles to understand, as I do, what fans have to moan about when we're third in the table and still in the title race with 10 games to go. That doesn't mean I don't share many of the frustrations expressed about a performance yesterday in which our front two were feeding off crumbs, never mind scraps for large parts of the game. But at this stage of the season, putting points on the board is the only thing that matters.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

If you so wish - Paul Hurst's obsession with Lenny will cost us promotion and ultimately, his job.

I could put up with early season Lenny. He balanced his lack of ability with considerable effort. I've seen him twice this week and on both occasions, there has been little or no movement off the ball, no making space for runners and very rarely won anything in the air. All fundamental parts of forward play.

Along with several others, I've noticed how several of our squad would look better in a 433 - Palmer, Jolley, Arnold, Mackreth, Paddy, Clay yet we continue with turgid 442 to accommodate Lenny. Why? He doesn't score, he rarely hits the target.

How many games have you seen? He has 15 goals and has been one of our most consistent performers, he has had an excellent season so far.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

If you so wish - Paul Hurst's obsession with Lenny will cost us promotion and ultimately, his job.

I could put up with early season Lenny. He balanced his lack of ability with considerable effort. I've seen him twice this week and on both occasions, there has been little or no movement off the ball, no making space for runners and very rarely won anything in the air. All fundamental parts of forward play.

Along with several others, I've noticed how several of our squad would look better in a 433 - Palmer, Jolley, Arnold, Mackreth, Paddy, Clay yet we continue with turgid 442 to accommodate Lenny. Why? He doesn't score, he rarely hits the target.

Was that because you never went to the games?

You guys are crazy!! This is the funniest thing I ve read for years on here... And there's been some crap on the fishy before....

9 pts in a week and third in the table. Now bitching cos we re not being entertained, I m gonna really suggest you guys get away from your computers and go do something interesting or fun, because it's abundantly clear that the problem here is not the manager, or Lenny or whatever other rubbish you guys come out with...

Brilliant!!

If you want entertainment, watch this game from yesterday.
http://youtu.be/V2HPAA3EWvU

Lenny was hopeless yesterday, just like all the other attackers on the pitch, but to claim he didn't show any movement on Tuesday night strikes me as bizarre. One of his chances came when he ran through onto a ball helped on by Jolley in which he beat the defence than ran 40 yards to goal before having his shot well-saved. The one he put over the bar after a near post effort came because he ran out wide for the ball and beat the defender leaving a clear run towards goal. His effort then was poor, but the movement was decent. A good turn for the effort which hit the bar. The one he only just managed to reach and toe-ended just over the bar from Robertson's cross was a good run towards the near-post!

His finishing wasn't great on Tuesday and he should certainly have scored, but he wasn't all that bad overall.

For me, LJL looked jaded yesterday and I expect Palmer would have been brought on in the second half if there weren't concerns about his fitness. The question for me is why Pittman also looked jaded pretty much from the start as he's certainly not been overplayed recently.

Quoted from BIGChris

Was that because you never went to the games?

Probably lol! What frustrates me is the fact we have a pretty talented squad, probably the most talented we've had since being in this league, yet we seem determined to play to the strengths of one of our least talented players.

I've no problem with constructive criticism but just mercilessly slagging off one of our players, who I think gives his all and has contributed a lot this season really irritates me.

Quoted from MeanwoodMariner

Yeah, this cropped up in another thread. Any team in the conference is capable of stifling a match if their only ambition is not to score, even when 1-0 down! I assumed that goal would bring Braintree out and we were in for a decent 2nd half, but it seems they didn't open up at all.

They did have a go after we scored. In fact they pretty much hogged the ball the whole of the second half. They just weren't good enough to do anything with their possession and we weren't good enough to exploit the extra space we had. They looked under no more pressure with 10 men than they did with 11.

To be honest both sides were very poor in an attacking sense and it was a very dull match indeed.

On a wider note, there seems to be this notion that no criticism is allowed because the team have won three games in nine days and that winning is all that matters. Some people on here subscribe to that view and that's fine, it's all about opinions. Some others, myself included, subscribe to the view that football isn't just about winning, yet we get called doom-mongers and told that if we want entertainment, we need to do something else on a Saturday afternoon. Well plenty of people are doing something else on a Saturday afternoon as a result of the dire offerings at BP, which to my mind is a problem for the club.

Does it not bother anyone that we are third in the league, yet are only getting around the 3300 mark and the place is like a morgue? Does skill, flair and excitement have no place in the game anymore? Have we really been that bad for that long that people are willing to accept any old shite on the pitch as long as we pick up three points? How would people be feeling if like many times this season we hadn't managed to nick a goal and drew both games 0-0. Would those performances be acceptable then?

The big question for me now is, what if we do what we have done the last 2 seasons and fizzle out in the play offs because we can't create chances and score goals? Is it then OK to criticise another season of mostly dire fare at BP and the prospect of having to go through it all again come next August?

Finally, i am thrilled that we won the last three games but it doesn't mean that the set up is beyond criticism. There is always room for improvement. Standing still is going backwards and for me, Hurst has had us standing still for his entire reign.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

I've no problem with constructive criticism but just mercilessly slagging off one of our players, who I think gives his all and has contributed a lot this season really irritates me.

We'll agree to differ. His goal tally up to Christmas was excellent but one penalty since 19th December isn't. All I'm saying is that we have several other attacking options available to us, so why is he bomb-proof?

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

I've no problem with constructive criticism but just mercilessly slagging off one of our players, who I think gives his all and has contributed a lot this season really irritates me.

Although Scott Neilson was exempt from criticism despite being a bit porky and training twice in a month because occasionally he was brilliant in games. Logical.

Quoted from LH

Although Scott Neilson was exempt from criticism despite being a bit porky and training twice in a month because occasionally he was brilliant in games. Logical.

Before being hounded out of the club because of the managers negativity....

Quoted from ginnywings

They did have a go after we scored. In fact they pretty much hogged the ball the whole of the second half. They just weren't good enough to do anything with their possession and we weren't good enough to exploit the extra space we had. They looked under no more pressure with 10 men than they did with 11.

To be honest both sides were very poor in an attacking sense and it was a very dull match indeed.

On a wider note, there seems to be this notion that no criticism is allowed because the team have won three games in nine days and that winning is all that matters. Some people on here subscribe to that view and that's fine, it's all about opinions. Some others, myself included, subscribe to the view that football isn't just about winning, yet we get called doom-mongers and told that if we want entertainment, we need to do something else on a Saturday afternoon. Well plenty of people are doing something else on a Saturday afternoon as a result of the dire offerings at BP, which to my mind is a problem for the club.

Does it not bother anyone that we are third in the league, yet are only getting around the 3300 mark and the place is like a morgue? Does skill, flair and excitement have no place in the game anymore? Have we really been that bad for that long that people are willing to accept any old shite on the pitch as long as we pick up three points? How would people be feeling if like many times this season we hadn't managed to nick a goal and drew both games 0-0. Would those performances be acceptable then?

The big question for me now is, what if we do what we have done the last 2 seasons and fizzle out in the play offs because we can't create chances and score goals? Is it then OK to criticise another season of mostly dire fare at BP and the prospect of having to go through it all again come next August?

Finally, i am thrilled that we won the last three games but it doesn't mean that the set up is beyond criticism. There is always room for improvement. Standing still is going backwards and for me, Hurst has had us standing still for his entire reign.

WHS with bells and whistles! I wish I had the typing skills to post such a long reply without falling asleep!

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

I've no problem with constructive criticism but just mercilessly slagging off one of our players, who I think gives his all and has contributed a lot this season really irritates me.

Agree , constructive criticism , but the fact that we haven't  seen any improvement implies  to me that he has reached his competency level . Unfortunately we  know nothing is going to change , what anyone says , but more are saying the same thing .

And that's the Conference in a nutshell. LJL will run 'til he drops but try as he might, he has never and will never have a clever football brain. Neilson has all the skills required but can't be arsed. The two archetypal non-league players.

Which type do you go with? Getting the balance right is the hard part.

It's fear. Nothing complicated like entertainment or not being satisfied with 9 points this week or anything stupid like that. It's fear pure and simple.

It's the worry that having clawed our way so far this season by our fingernails we could lose everything through one bad refereeing decision in one game, one piece of bad luck in another and one defensive lapse in another. The margins are so tight and we are incredibly reliant on the form of the back five.

It's the concern that if any team like Braintree that sets up to park the bus, gets a goal, then we won't score two. We have runners up front but don't have a Hearn to conjure something from nothing and we don't appear to want to compensate for that with more aggressive tactics against limited opposition.

With continued luck this approach might even take us into the play offs but then we have to go out with the intention of actually winning games rather than just not losing them. It could be a big ask for a team to change its outlook like that.

Now, some may think this is unduly pessimistic but the beauty of being a pessimist is that you are rarely disappointed and the surprise when things go well is all the more pleasurable.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

We'll agree to differ. His goal tally up to Christmas was excellent but one penalty since 19th December isn't. All I'm saying is that we have several other attacking options available to us, so why is he bomb-proof?

Unfortunately, the other attacking options aren't any better.

I personally find it amusing how Hannah is apparently becoming a better player, the less he is played. I've not seen him have a good game yet this season (though I've only seen home games thus far) but it seems to be assumed he'll fire us to victory if only he is played? Regardless, he's not a replacement for LJL as he needs somebody to play off and we don't have the players capable of putting clever balls through for him to run on to. I just don't think he's good enough, unfortunately.

Pittman could perhaps play the target man role at a push but isn't fully recovered from his most recent injury and, in any case, played even worse than LJL yesterday. Palmer hasn't been fit to play, Jolley has been in indifferent form since his arrival.

How exactly do we have several other attacking options available to us with this in mind?

Oh, I forgot that we did have Watson available until his loan though he is yet unproven in English football. The fact that Hurst hasn't been willing to give him a start (or much game time at all) makes me think he's not ready just yet. I'd be inclined to trust his judgement on the matter as he sees him in training every day whereas we've seen about 30 minutes of play from brief sub appearances spread over a few months. It will be interesting to see how his loan spell at Gainsborough goes. If he knocks a few in there, perhaps he will return and get a chance or perhaps the loan will be extended? It seems to me that we are viewing him as a longer-term prospect.

Quoted from Maringer

Unfortunately, the other attacking options aren't any better.

I personally find it amusing how Hannah is apparently becoming a better player, the less he is played. I've not seen him have a good game yet this season (though I've only seen home games thus far) but it seems to be assumed he'll fire us to victory if only he is played? Regardless, he's not a replacement for LJL as he needs somebody to play off and we don't have the players capable of putting clever balls through for him to run on to. I just don't think he's good enough, unfortunately.

Pittman could perhaps play the target man role at a push but isn't fully recovered from his most recent injury and, in any case, played even worse than LJL yesterday. Palmer hasn't been fit to play, Jolley has been in indifferent form since his arrival.

How exactly do we have several other attacking options available to us with this in mind?

Oh, I forgot that we did have Watson available until his loan though he is yet unproven in English football. The fact that Hurst hasn't been willing to give him a start (or much game time at all) makes me think he's not ready just yet. I'd be inclined to trust his judgement on the matter as he sees him in training every day whereas we've seen about 30 minutes of play from brief sub appearances spread over a few months. It will be interesting to see how his loan spell at Gainsborough goes. If he knocks a few in there, perhaps he will return and get a chance or perhaps the loan will be extended? It seems to me that we are viewing him as a longer-term prospect.

Was I talking about just yesterday? No. Since the New Year, we've had the options of LJL, Palmer, Jolley, Pittman, Hamish, Arnold, Neilson, Mackreth and Hannah (all of whom could play as part of a front 3) yet one name has been constant irrespective of the fact he's scored one penalty.

Love him or loathe him, LJL is pivotal to the way we play and the players we have. He's never going to be prolific, so he has to bring other things to the party, which he is capable of. Problems arise when he stops doing that as well as not scoring, which has been the case recently. He isn't winning headers, holding the ball up or linking play as well as he has done in the earlier part of the season. He looks jaded but we don't have a natural replacement. We would have to change tack if we dropped him.

Of course we are all pleased to get 3 points in each game, but the fact remains that fans DO have a right to
expect to be entertained - watching football at BP is not cheap considering the league we are in and most home
performances have been uninspiring , dull and flairless,hence 6 home defeats already for  a club pushing for
promotion, the fact is obvious that the way PH sets his teams out is ideal for away performances, which is why we
have such a good away record, but his lack of adaptability for home games has already cost us dear and is the reason we will not win the league, or sadly IMO go up via he playoffs.
I am as desperate as everyone else to see us back in the FL again, but when i think that it will condemn us to more
turgid home performances under PH if we did go up, i no longer know what to want.

Is it a right to expect to be entertained or a risk of going to watch football (especially given the wide knowledge amongst GTFC fans that we're not that entertaining to watch at the minute)?

Quoted from petethemariner

Of course we are all pleased to get 3 points in each game, but the fact remains that fans DO have a right to
expect to be entertained - watching football at BP is not cheap considering the league we are in and most home
performances have been uninspiring , dull and flairless,hence 6 home defeats already for  a club pushing for
promotion, the fact is obvious that the way PH sets his teams out is ideal for away performances, which is why we
have such a good away record, but his lack of adaptability for home games has already cost us dear and is the reason we will not win the league, or sadly IMO go up via he playoffs.
I am as desperate as everyone else to see us back in the FL again, but when i think that it will condemn us to more
turgid home performances under PH if we did go up, i no longer know what to want.

This is the conundrum though. We all want promotion and preferably this season. But if PH achieves that then he will be manager next season in charge of a league team. Will he change his cautious approach or will it be much more of the same? Some might disagree but I think he has proved that he can pick decent players but he does seem unable to get the best out of them. Of course if we do get promoted and we struggle then obviously the Board will have to make a decision about keeping him but that is for another day. It's more than likely easier to get a half decent manager if you are a league team as opposed to a non-league but getting the right manager is always a gamble. If we don't get promoted then Hurst has to go but that means finding a replacement which could resign us to another two seasons at this level and all the problems that entails.

Quoted from DocTower

Agree , constructive criticism , but the fact that we haven't  seen any improvement implies  to me that he has reached his competency level . Unfortunately we  know nothing is going to change , what anyone says , but more are saying the same thing .

This for me is what I see as our big problem at the moment. I cannot really comment on home performances as I cannot get to many and have not seen the last 2 so will have to concede to the opinion of others, but it sounds the same as the past couple of years.  We have improved the squad by a long ay IMO, and if Palmer and LJL are together up front I think that is an excellent partnership. However this is the same as last year and the year before, we look like we can just about go up, but a bad decision or a bit of bad luck and we will be left licking our wounds again.  I fear that we cannot make that next step and improve further which will prevent us from getting back into the league.  

Hurrst is almost a perfect storm, good enough that he can get us close, deliver some great victories eg. Barnet H&A, and therefore make any attempt to remove him seem mad.  We are 3rd in the league after all and have just won 3 games back to back.  But he seems so unambitious and can make overcoming part time teams like such a struggle that we have 8 pages of dicussion lamenting how poor we are despite this.  That is the same story for the past 3 years, we just have to hope that it has a different ending which it definatly can be!      

Been supporting Town for 46 years and I've never left BP before the final whistle.
Yesterday at half-time I said to my two mates I was leaving. Went outside, had a smoke & a chat to a couple of other smokers who were just as underwhelmed as I was...and decided if they could stomach 45 more minutes like that then I could too.

THE POINT
I actually found myself hoping we don't get promoted this season - because that will secure Hurst's job, which means more football which, frankly, isn't worth turning up to pay and see.

Yes we're third in the league and have taken 9 points in a week, and we may get promoted. That will not matter if Grimsby Town FC play football which doesn't entertain its paying customers.
If I hadn't bought a ST I wouldn't be thinking of going to BP again this season.

Final thought: if Hamish Watson couldn't play better than LJL and Pittman did yesterday, why the hell did we sign him?
If he could - why did we loan him out?

FFS

Quoted from 137

Been supporting Town for 46 years and I've never left BP before the final whistle.
Yesterday at half-time I said to my two mates I was leaving. Went outside, had a smoke & a chat to a couple of other smokers who were just as underwhelmed as I was...and decided if they could stomach 45 more minutes like that then I could too.

THE POINT
I actually found myself hoping we don't get promoted this season - because that will secure Hurst's job, which means more football which, frankly, isn't worth turning up to pay and see.

Yes we're third in the league and have taken 9 points in a week, and we may get promoted. That will not matter if Grimsby Town FC play football which doesn't entertain its paying customers.
If I hadn't bought a ST I wouldn't be thinking of going to BP again this season.

Final thought: if Hamish Watson couldn't play better than LJL and Pittman did yesterday, why the hell did we sign him?
If he could - why did we loan him out?

And this is where the club's financial situation is also affected. I've been less this season than any time in the last 15 years and the only game I've enjoyed was the Barnet away game, the five games at BP have been dull in the extreme. It's a proper conundrum, get promotion Hurst probably stays, fall short he probably goes. I want promotion but not Hurst - is that possible?

Quoted from BIGChris

Was that because you never went to the games?

So if you don't go to games you are not allowed an opinion.

I'm one of LJL's biggest fans but he looks knackered and could do with a rest. He always puts in a proper shift and also always takes the physical battle to big hairy arsed centre backs - that takes its toll.

Quoted from LH

FFS

Amen brother.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

How many games have you seen? He has 15 goals and has been one of our most consistent performers, he has had an excellent season so far.

Aahh   -- that's most unfair HM - using that hoary old chestnut of deploying data to disprove the rantings of the permanently disaffected. Good luck with that  

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

Before being hounded out of the club because of the managers negativity....

I presume you have some proof of this wild statement

Quoted from cleethorpes_mariner

I presume you have some proof of this wild statement

Deep breath Cleethorpes it was a joke which  I thought reasonably clear in the context of the thread.

Quoted from nickmariners

Aahh   -- that's most unfair HM - using that hoary old chestnut of deploying data to disprove the rantings of the permanently disaffected. Good luck with that  

Data? Lenny scored 14 in the first 28 games and 1 in the 13 since.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

I've no problem with constructive criticism but just mercilessly slagging off one of our players, who I think gives his all and has contributed a lot this season really irritates me.

Really! was you at the match, he was the only Grimsby player who had his name sung again and again, and got a standing ovation on his substitution, some slagging off

Quoted from Garth

Really! was you at the match, he was the only Grimsby player who had his name sung again and again, and got a standing ovation on his substitution, some slagging off

I meant on this thread and specifically by one or two posters.