John-Lewis

Interview with the telegraph is great, sounds a really good guy

"It was nice to become a father for the first time, and I'm really enjoying it.

"I never really planned to miss any games, but that's how the situation just fell – I'm feeling revived and glad to be back.

On the trip to Chester, he added: "We will see what happens tomorrow.

"But whether I'm picked in the team or not, all that matters is that we go there and pick up three points.

It's been a great year, and getting promotion would be the icing on the cake.

What a guy. I wasn't a fan at all in his first season but now I bloody love him. He'd be the first name on my team sheet every week. LJL and Palmer up top tomorrow for me

Quoted from gtfc98

He'd be the first name on my team sheet every week. LJL and Palmer up top tomorrow for me

Hi Paul!

Quoted from pizzzza

Hi Paul!

Quoted from gtfc98

What a guy. I wasn't a fan at all in his first season but now I bloody love him. He'd be the first name on my team sheet every week. LJL and Palmer up top tomorrow for me

Agreed. Although some will ally you with Hurst for saying so. 'Cos you know, picking a consistent scorer who is up there amongst the top scorers in the league is such a barmy idea only someone as out-of-touch and inept as Paul Hurst could do it. A bit like leading a team to 4 consecutive wins really. Madness.

On the field certainly a split in fans on his worth to team but things like that Christmas Video you cant fault him as a person.

He is a very important member of the team,

He might miss a few chances,

BUT

He does not give the opponents defence a minutes rest,

No my name is Peter  not Paul  

Quoted from MarinerWY

consistent scorer

??

His last goal from open play was way back in mid December, since then he's scored just 1 goal, a penalty, hardly 'consistent'.

In the same period Pittman has 4, Palmer 3.

I don't care who he plays as long as we keep winning.

If fit, I expect that Palmer and Pittman will start together. If either of them isn't fully fit (and bearing in mind both have been struggling with hamstring problems this season), it seems entirely sensible to bring in one of the League's top scorers instead.

Regardless of whether LJL starts or not, he's likely to play some part in the game as I can't see both Palmer and Pittman lasting the 90 minutes.

Good interview and I like it.Good vibes like that create a better harmony in the camp and chances are will allow this club to succeed .Hopefully we can continue our good run as in truth I didnt expect us to be so close to the top given what has happened earlier in the season.Just shows in football (within reason) anything is possible

I like Lewis,  nobody can question his desire and spirit but what sits on my mind is the absolute sitters he has fluffed and let's be honest there's been a few.

All strikers miss sitters. LJL misses more than some which is why he's playing for us at the moment and not at a higher division club.

We just need to hope he gets on another goalscoring run like the one he managed earlier in the season (unless Palmer and Pittman don't knock them in).

Don't really care who scores the goals, just as long as they come!  

If you pick a team on current form and if they are fit then he should start....on the bench.

Quoted from MarinerWY

Agreed. Although some will ally you with Hurst for saying so. 'Cos you know, picking a consistent scorer who is up there amongst the top scorers in the league is such a barmy idea only someone as out-of-touch and inept as Paul Hurst could do it. A bit like leading a team to 4 consecutive wins really. Madness.

I'm sorry, he might be a hassle for defenders, hard working and a nice guy. But consistent goalscorer? Are you serious?

On form he theoretically should be on the bench Saturday. Being a nice hardworking guy isn't a reason for him to start. League Champions are ruthless, the best in form players must start IMO.

didn't post this expecting ti to turn into another debate about him.

simply that his interview was very pleasing and refreshing to read !

Quoted from Jarmo.Is.God

didn't post this expecting ti to turn into another debate about him.

simply that his interview was very pleasing and refreshing to read !

He is a nice guy.

Not having a go at LJL but Palmer and Pittman both scored in an away win, so should start for me. Neither is likely to last 90 mins judging by last Saturday's game, so LJL will get on at some stage.

Palmer and Pittman have by far the best goals to minutes ratio but LJL brings other attributes. Most teams in this league would be happy with those three in the squad i reckon.

Quoted from Jarmo.Is.God

didn't post this expecting ti to turn into another debate about him.

simply that his interview was very pleasing and refreshing to read !

That surprises me - because if I started a thread entitled 'Marmite', I wouldn't expect to be discussing anything other than a spread made from yeast. If you start a thread, isn't it there for everyone to pass an opinion - isn't that what a forum's for?

Quoted from ginnywings

Not having a go at LJL but Palmer and Pittman both scored in an away win, so should start for me. Neither is likely to last 90 mins judging by last Saturday's game, so LJL will get on at some stage.

Palmer and Pittman have by far the best goals to minutes ratio but LJL brings other attributes. Most teams in this league would be happy with those three in the squad i reckon.

Agree with all of this.

None of them have scored 40+ goals so i'd put all 3 on the bench and go for the long ball tactic and stick Pearson and Toto upfront.

For the first 40 mins at Woking, I was saying how much we were missing LJLs hold up play, for that reason I would start him today, probably with Palmer as IMO they play better together than LJL and Pittman.
On the way to the game so UTFM

If Palmer and Pittman have injury problems ,

The best thing to do is,

Play John Lewis for 90 mins,

Palmer and Pittman have 45 min each,

Start with Palmer and he might score in the 1st half,

Bring on Pittman and he might score in the 2 nd half.

Plus Lenny might score as well so we win,

Palmer and Pittman do not overdo things and hopefully stay fit until the end of the season.

The Shop gets stick for the easy chances that he misses.  

Andy Cole used to get the same criticisms.  You have to create them to miss them, and be in the right place in the first place.

I watched a documentary about Andy Cole on TV last night  I did not realise how good his goal-scoring record was.  He got 41 goals in one season in the 90s with Man United, in all competitions.      

It's a real shame that LJL wasn't fit enough to be on the bench today. Cautious as he is, I'd tend to think that Hurst would have done a like for like change LJL for Palmer had he been available.

Oh well, let's hope we've got a full squad to choose from next game.

We are a better team with him than without.

Agree with Maringer we certainly needed the shop yesterday for Ollies replacement and hurst would have done that but FOR  HURST ALSO TO KEEP 4,4,2 at least until the last 10 mins or so.

Gives OUR defence a fecking break and keep the ball higher up the pitch it what attackers do don't you know???

Town unsure when LJL will be back -


http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.....0-detail/story.html?

Ah, crap.

If it's a fractured metatarsal, that's it for him for the season. Let's hope it isn't that serious as I'm not convinced that Palmer and Pittman will both stay fit for the remaining games this season.

Quoted from Maringer

Ah, crap.

If it's a fractured metatarsal, that's it for him for the season. Let's hope it isn't that serious as I'm not convinced that Palmer and Pittman will both stay fit for the remaining games this season.

I'm not one for wanting our own players injured at all but let's be honest he wasnt exactly banging them in since everyone got erect at him getting 12 goals or summat daft.

Quoted from jonnyboy82

I'm not one for wanting our own players injured at all but let's be honest he wasnt exactly banging them in since everyone got erect at him getting 12 goals or summat daft.

You're clearly just happy that there is an improved chance of your ringo staying intact at the end of the season.  

Seriously though, regardless of your disdain for our top scorer, do you seriously think that both Palmer and Pittman will stay fit for the rest of the season or that Jolley and Hannah could possibly stand in for Palmer as the target man if he gets crocked again?

Quoted from Maringer

You're clearly just happy that there is an improved chance of your ringo staying intact at the end of the season.  

Seriously though, regardless of your disdain for our top scorer, do you seriously think that both Palmer and Pittman will stay fit for the rest of the season or that Jolley and Hannah could possibly stand in for Palmer as the target man if he gets crocked again?

Maringer my ringo was always safe , as i always maintained as much as he works hard LJL is not and never will be a consistent goalscorer.

If Pittman was fit regularly he would get you 20 goals.

Regarding who to come in if LJL isn't fit then imo one option is the loan market.

Hannah ain't got the goals in him and jolley could possibly do the job but he is better suited in a 4-3-3.

If I'm being honest LJL is never going to fire a team to promotion.

Well, clearly he's not a player who is going to single-handedly fire a team to promotion. This is pretty normal as the big, target man types rarely score too many goals because of the other work that they do for the team. Akinde is the real exception to the rule this season as he leads the line and has been lethal in front of goal as well. Parkin is playing a couple of divisions below his true level and that's why he's scoring plenty this season as well.

I said at the start of the season, I thought LJL could easily score 15 goals in a good season and, if he does come back from injury relatively soon, he could achieve this. I'd say that was a good season for him when you consider the amount of work he gets through.

The problem is that the other strikers just didn't contribute enough earlier and it is only since the turn of the year that they have begun to score goals. Not too surprising that this coincides with the arrival of Palmer and Jolley as a bit of competition for places is certainly going to keep them on their toes more.

Just makes you wonder where we would stand now had Palmer been with us since the start of the season.

Quoted from Maringer

Well, clearly he's not a player who is going to single-handedly fire a team to promotion. This is pretty normal as the big, target man types rarely score too many goals because of the other work that they do for the team. Akinde is the real exception to the rule this season as he leads the line and has been lethal in front of goal as well. Parkin is playing a couple of divisions below his true level and that's why he's scoring plenty this season as well.

I said at the start of the season, I thought LJL could easily score 15 goals in a good season and, if he does come back from injury relatively soon, he could achieve this. I'd say that was a good season for him when you consider the amount of work he gets through.

The problem is that the other strikers just didn't contribute enough earlier and it is only since the turn of the year that they have begun to score goals. Not too surprising that this coincides with the arrival of Palmer and Jolley as a bit of competition for places is certainly going to keep them on their toes more.

Just makes you wonder where we would stand now had Palmer been with us since the start of the season.

Hurst stated we needed another striker in the close season and failed to bring one in, but by god he never messes around in finding a defender

I've criticised Hurst many a time this season for his failure to sign enough strikers. Our attacking resources were much, much, too thin on the ground before we signed Palmer and Jolley and this has undoubtedly cost us a few points at the very least.

That's not really the point of this thread though, is it?

Regarding the comments about how easily Hurst was able to sign defenders/midfielders, I personally think it is probably a lot easier to sign defensive players than attackers, especially on loan. Defenders only tend to get dropped if they are in really poor form so you get a lot of defenders (and defensive midfielders) who are not first choice and either sit unused on the bench or don't even get picked for the matchday squad. Easier to get these types of players in on loan. Strikers and wingers, on the other hand, tend to get much more game time as subs and therefore are less likely to drop down the pecking order at a club to become available for other clubs.

This is why I think it is much better to make signings at the beginning of the season and this is also why I think Hurst made a big error in only having a few strikers available at that point.

We can ill afford to lose Lenny. Yesterday showed that as he would have been the ideal replacement for either forward.

Hurst may have brought Parslow on anyway but we'll never know now.

Agree

Quoted from Maringer

I've criticised Hurst many a time this season for his failure to sign enough strikers. Our attacking resources were much, much, too thin on the ground before we signed Palmer and Jolley and this has undoubtedly cost us a few points at the very least.

That's not really the point of this thread though, is it?

Regarding the comments about how easily Hurst was able to sign defenders/midfielders, I personally think it is probably a lot easier to sign defensive players than attackers, especially on loan. Defenders only tend to get dropped if they are in really poor form so you get a lot of defenders (and defensive midfielders) who are not first choice and either sit unused on the bench or don't even get picked for the matchday squad. Easier to get these types of players in on loan. Strikers and wingers, on the other hand, tend to get much more game time as subs and therefore are less likely to drop down the pecking order at a club to become available for other clubs.

This is why I think it is much better to make signings at the beginning of the season and this is also why I think Hurst made a big error in only having a few strikers available at that point.

Yeah agree with this.....but other clubs managed to find strikers soon enough but hurst decided to wait and it backfired on him big time