two signings this week

On os but not sure if they are two new players or two signing to stay on.

Hmmm

More than likely re-signers. If i was to guess I'd say one of them will be Disley. Just gut instinct though.

Be LJL and Disley at a guess.

Defo Diz, maybe Robertson as well/

Quoted from pontoonlew

Be LJL and Disley at a guess.

Yeah this

What makes people think it'll be Disley?

Quoted from davmariner

What makes people think it'll be Disley?

Unlikely that another club comes in for him due to his age?

Could be Clay or Pittman, they both gave away clues they want to commit for next season in the comments they have made since the play-off final.

I think LJL might well have a club higher take a punt on him after his personal best season and if not he'll be one of the last to re-commit.

Quoted from LH

I think LJL might well have a club higher take a punt on him after his personal best season and if not he'll be one of the last to re-commit.

I've heard an Europa League chasing SPL side are in for him.

Quoted from LH

I think LJL might well have a club higher take a punt on him after his personal best season and if not he'll be one of the last to re-commit.

Quoted from Wrawby_Mariner

I've heard an Europa League chasing SPL side are in for him.

Falkirk are in the Championship, so probally St Johnstone then, Inverness Caledonian Thistle have already guaranteed a place in the Europa League.

If Inverness beat Falkirk in the Scottish Cup final, then St Johnstone claim the other Europa League spot I think.

Aberdeen in the other spot at the minute. I can't see it though myself!

Heard Jamie Chandler is talking with us from a few Gateshead fans?

Dizza said immediately after Wembley that we need to keep the squad together so he could well be trying to lead the way by signing up early. Pittman said he wants to make amends for the miss.

I think it would send a positive message to the rest of the players if Disley signed first - club captain committing first might lead a few others to re-sign with us.

It's possible that some of the other players could earn a bit more money elsewhere, or play at a higher level, but a lot needs to be said for team spirit.

What we've had in the last season (particularly since the Forest Green game) is the best player/fan relationship in my time of supporting the club. Hopefully the players value this too. It's something a massive contract can't buy.

Also, moving to a league club doesn't necessarily mean you'll be a first team fixture. Warm the bench at another club, having moved your family to another part of the country, or stay in Grimsby where you're comfortable, happy and well supported?

Quoted from Wrawby_Mariner

I've heard an Europa League chasing SPL side are in for him.

Hope not

Jamie Chandler, Craig Clay, Scott Brown and Craig Disley would be a very good centre midfield pairing with also young Josh Venney. 2 younger players Chandler and Clay with older players Brown and Disley gives us enough rotaition over the season.

I would say the 2 players signing are Pittman and Disley but thats a guess.

Why would we want Brown to stay, he alone turned several attacks at Wembley into defence. We need marauding midfielders who put in tackles not blokes who do a pirouet then pass back to the centre half every time it goes to them in the opponents half.

Quoted from Madeleymariner

Why would we want Brown to stay, he alone turned several attacks at Wembley into defence. We need marauding midfielders who put in tackles not blokes who do a pirouet then pass back to the centre half every time it goes to them in the opponents half.

Completely disagree.

Quoted from Madeleymariner

Why would we want Brown to stay, he alone turned several attacks at Wembley into defence. We need marauding midfielders who put in tackles not blokes who do a pirouet then pass back to the centre half every time it goes to them in the opponents half.

Pretty sure most Town fans would agree he has been a great signing this season.

Quoted from Laddy89

Pretty sure most Town fans would agree he has been a great signing this season.

Really?

I wouldnt say that. but if we can get him back to the player at the start of last season, then we've got a good player on our hands ( if he signs)

Quoted from RichMariner

I think it would send a positive message to the rest of the players if Disley signed first - club captain committing first might lead a few others to re-sign with us.

It's possible that some of the other players could earn a bit more money elsewhere, or play at a higher level, but a lot needs to be said for team spirit.

What we've had in the last season (particularly since the Forest Green game) is the best player/fan relationship in my time of supporting the club. Hopefully the players value this too. It's something a massive contract can't buy.

Also, moving to a league club doesn't necessarily mean you'll be a first team fixture. Warm the bench at another club, having moved your family to another part of the country, or stay in Grimsby where you're comfortable, happy and well supported?

Exactly.................... Different considerations to take into account if you are a player at this level.  

I wouldn't say he's been a great signing. Good enough though. Why would keeping hold of the ball by passing backwards rather than chancing a run where you're more likely to lose it be a bad thing though? Never understood why people moan at that to be honest.

Quoted from Laddy89

Pretty sure most Town fans would agree he has been a great signing this season.

Great? Thought he was our poorest player at Wembley and we improved markedly when Clay came on.

I wasn't referring to Wembley, but most town fans are up his behind on twitter and he has been solid throughout the season.

Perhaps 'Great' was a slight over statement lol

With regards to Brown,remember Pearson was no great shakes in his first season.

Often works like that,  Rob Jones wasn't that special in his first season, then he went on to better things.

Quoted from Laddy89

Often works like that,  Rob Jones wasn't that special in his first season, then he went on to better things.

He went to Hibs then Scunthorpe how is that better  

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Great? Thought he was our poorest player at Wembley and we improved markedly when Clay came on.

Really ? i thought Palmer was very very poor. wasnt brown on in the first half when we had the lion share of play?

Quoted from fiveallive

Jamie Chandler, Craig Clay, Scott Brown and Craig Disley would be a very good centre midfield pairing with also young Josh Venney. 2 younger players Chandler and Clay with older players Brown and Disley gives us enough rotaition over the season.

I would say the 2 players signing are Pittman and Disley but thats a guess.

Might be good for a 433 formation as well?

I could be wrong, but I really don't expect to see Hurst playing 4-3-3 next season.

I've heard the Chandler story before but was told that it was more a case that the player wanted to play for us rather than we wanted to sign him. I don't really agree that a midfield 4 of Disley, Clay, Brown and Chandler would be 'very good'. I hope Disley resigns, and I think Clay is decent but needs to come on a bit in terms of assists and goals, but I think we need two more centre midfielders who are better than Brown and Chandler. Just my view. For me, Brown is erratic, hot headed, wasteful with the ball, and inconsistent, although not without some good attributes. Chandler brings aggression, presence and passing ability, but I'd like to see us add some pace, presence and skill.

I think there is more mileage in Clay being an aggressive ball playing midfield player that we require than Brown, who seems very predictable in his movements to me as apposed to Clays more smooth passing ability

Try and remember we are a conference team! You cant have the best in every position. But for what its worth i dont rate chandler at all

Ben Parker from guiseley was the left back I heard we were interested in?

Quoted from Garth

I think there is more mileage in Clay being an aggressive ball playing midfield player that we require than Brown, who seems very predictable in his movements to me as apposed to Clays more smooth passing ability

That touch at Wembley to cut inside before playing in Pitman was brilliant. Think we will see a lot more of "the worst signing ever" next year.

Ben Parker has a decent pedigree and will be a hungry player to play for a club like us in a way playing for teams like Leeds and Bradford he come in and not be effected by the our crowd when things get tense, we need extra cover at LB with hopefully Gregor Robertson and either Fitzpatrick or Parker or anybody different we have apprently been linked with them.

I would of preferred Sean Newton but Wrexham have took him and took a good player at this level.

Clay looks light years ahead of Brown to me. Such a dramatic change from when both were signed. If Brown loses some weight, gets fit and finds his passing boots we may yet have a player on our hands.

Clay should be in the starting 11 imo. He looked the better player in all the playoff games.

Chandler over Brown every day of the week.

I think Brown is the sort of player who looks good in a team that needs a bulldog but not so good in a good team that needs a bit of quality. Clay has outshone Brown for most of the season, and I'm surprised that this has been the case.

If we do sign Chandler I'd be reasonably happy because he would provide quality back-up, but back-up only. If Clay can be less ponderous in possession and Brown the same we might have a quality midfield on our hands.

Quoted from jamesgtfc

That touch at Wembley to cut inside before playing in Pitman was brilliant. Think we will see a lot more of "the worst signing ever" next year.

Clay was the better player for much of the season and I'd have preferred to see him start at Wembley, buuuut, in that instance he should have shot. It was calling out for a curler into the far corner!

Hopefully we have offered Clay a longer deal this time, two possibly three years. That thread from when he signed is Fishy Gold.

I bloody hope we arent giving out 3 year deals!!!!^

Quoted from Hagrid

I bloody hope we arent giving out 3 year deals!!!!^

I would hope that if we unearth another potential Ryan Bennett, that we don't offer them a measly one year deal, otherwise they will be sold for peanuts at the end of the season.

I've just read Fleetwood only bought Jamie Vardy for 20K, we probally could not of afforded his wages, but even if Fleetwood was paying him 2K a week, we would of made a fortune selling him on just like they did.

That's not something negative, but I hope our club consider the potential gamble on quality players, that could make Grimsby Town a decent profit and be a benefit to any one or two seasons.

He's only just turned 23 and has proven he is good enough. For the reasons Nelly states it is worth taking a bit of a gamble on one or two younger players if they have proven their worth. Three years on a player 5 or 10 years older would be stupid but surely we've got to take a bit of a punt on our YPOTY? How old was Shaun Pearson when we signed him?

The one year deals have their uses but we find ourselves in a bit of a situation now where really good players are free to move on and we get nothing out of it. I understand the reservations people have with longer deals and even worse the option deals with "Bignot" clauses.

Quoted from LH

Hopefully we have offered Clay a longer deal this time, two possibly three years. That thread from when he signed is Fishy Gold.

There's no way that any player of ours will be offered a 3 year deal, and I'd be very, very surprised if more than a couple were offered 2 years.

Would be a massive statement of intent to the 10 others if Pearson and Magnay signed first. Cmon guys you know it makes sense

Quoted from SamTheMariner

If we do sign Chandler I'd be reasonably happy because he would provide quality back-up, but back-up only. If Clay can be less ponderous in possession and Brown the same we might have a quality midfield on our hands.

But isn't that like saying, if the midfielders we've got were different to how they actually are, they'd be quality?
Their strengths are their strengths - for example, I think Brown has great energy, and Clay is very good at breaking up attacks and using the ball generally, but we just need a player or two who is better all round, and definitely offensively IMO.

I think Disley has been great and hopeflly he'll play on for another year or so with us and keep producing like he has done, but I think we're crying out for an outstanding partner for him who can really get hold of a game and dominate it. A player with a bif of pace and skill, and who can create and score. Add up Clay and Brown's combined assists and goals last season and you'll see what I'm getting at.

To fit the Hurst mould he'll still need to be solid defensively, but if we can find such a player (I thought Brown looked like it could be him in pre-season/early season last year), then we'll win more games, especially at home. When was the last time everyone agreed that Grimsby won the game because their midfield were dominant? For me, a really good centre midfielder, and a genuine goalscorer are the only vital pieces of the jigsaw missing in the team 2014/2015. I feel positive about the situation we're in now, because it's abundantly clear what we need to do to progress. That's much better than standing around at the end of a season scratching our heads, wondering where it all went wrong, and arguing bitterly amongst ourselves about what we should be doing next. We can see clearly and we should act decisively and confidently - do what needs to be done and go all out for the title next season. The support is there.

Of course, I realise that this means that all (or almost all) of the players offered deals will need to sign for us.

Contracts should always have an option for a further year or two in the club's favour. That way you don't risk losing them for nowt/next to nowt if they have a good season. I don't know why ours don't. Too risky.

Quoted from psgmariner

Clay looks light years ahead of Brown to me. Such a dramatic change from when both were signed. If Brown loses some weight, gets fit and finds his passing boots we may yet have a player on our hands.

you missed out ..... and has a growth spurt.....but i dont think that will happen now at his age.

I agree to an extent about two year deals, but it's such a difficult balancing act in more ways than one, that the cub must really be up against it when trying to decide what to do for the best in the long term. As always - hindsight is a wonderful thing - it's easy for everyone to agree that it might have been a great idea to give the likes of Pearson and Magnay and one or two others two year deals, but these decisions have to be made ahead of that kind of assessment. Plus, in our current position, there's a world of difference in playing for us in the Conference and playing for us in the FL. Terms would always need to be reviewed in the light of a promotion. Imagine how complex that could get.

I've got a lot of symathy for the club on this one - we supporters are always going to oversimplify it. Plus, the other thing I'd say is....look at some of the recent two year deals we gave - Hannah, McLaughlin and Bignot. That worked out badly for club and players in the second year of those deals, both in terms of game time for the individuals, and VFM for the club.

Quoted from chaos33

I agree to an extent about two year deals, but it's such a difficult balancing act in more ways than one, that the cub must really be up against it when trying to decide what to do for the best in the long term. As always - hindsight is a wonderful thing - it's easy for everyone to agree that it might have been a great idea to give the likes of Pearson and Magnay and one or two others two year deals, but these decisions have to be made ahead of that kind of assessment. Plus, in our current position, there's a world of difference in playing for us in the Conference and playing for us in the FL. Terms would always need to be reviewed in the light of a promotion. Imagine how complex that could get.

I've got a lot of symathy for the club on this one - we supporters are always going to oversimplify it. Plus, the other thing I'd say is....look at some of the recent two year deals we gave - Hannah, McLaughlin and Bignot. That worked out badly for club and players in the second year of those deals, both in terms of game time for the individuals, and VFM for the club.

See my above post. Essentially a two-year deal with a one-year break clause in the club's favour if they want to move a player on. Most clubs at this level seem to do it. You also can't put Magnay and Pearson in the same bracket when weighing up the pros and cons of handing out 2-year deals as we've known how valuable Shaun is for a long time now; it's a bit different when signing new players as it's a bit more of a gamble. As you say though, easy for us as supporters to over-simplify it but I can't help but feel we should have been offering our 'must-keep-regardless-of-division' players contracts earlier when the opportunity/attraction for them to talk to other clubs wasn't so much there.

Bignot was on an option deal wasn't he? Activated the option in his first year and played virtually no game time in the second year. LJL activated an option in his deal too from memory so they aren't all bad.

Quoted from LH

Bignot was on an option deal wasn't he? Activated the option in his first year and played virtually no game time in the second year. LJL activated an option in his deal too from memory so they aren't all bad.

Yeah, they were in the player's favour. That's a different kettle altogether.

Quoted from immariner

See my above post. Essentially a two-year deal with a one-year break clause in the club's favour if they want to move a player on. Most clubs at this level seem to do it. You also can't put Magnay and Pearson in the same bracket when weighing up the pros and cons of handing out 2-year deals as we've known how valuable Shaun is for a long time now; it's a bit different when signing new players as it's a bit more of a gamble. As you say though, easy for us as supporters to over-simplify it but I can't help but feel we should have been offering our 'must-keep-regardless-of-division' players contracts earlier when the opportunity/attraction for them to talk to other clubs wasn't so much there.

I think it's a good point about Pearson, but again, we might be oversimplifying. How do we know that we didn't offer Pearson or others two years on terms that they weren't happy with? It does take two to agree and sign a contract. I do generally agree with you though, and I think everyone probably will see the advantages, but my point is - with most of our players it is impossible to know how well that's going to work out, especially if they've had (say) a very serious injury in the past, like Magnay had. Its easy for us to sit and pick out the players we should have signed on a 2 year deal now the season's over.
I think, perhaps, many of us would like to have seen several players sign extensions part way through this season, with suitable clauses for renegotiation in the event of promotion/remaining in the conference. That, perhaps, might have spared us some of the insecurity we now face, and the pressure to re-sign those players we value highly or face 'losing our assets' for no return to rivals. It's easy to assume that players want to sign for as long as they can.

Quoted from LH

I think LJL might well have a club higher take a punt on him after his personal best season and if not he'll be one of the last to re-commit.

my thoughts exactly. I wouldn't stay after the abuse he received for 2/3 of the season! My only negative from our fans this season for our top scorer!

With hearing that players are being picked up by other sides in the division , it's obvious we to would like to hear the same . If we do have the same faces as last year we can expect much of the same . Seeing as we have released a number  of players,  we must assume that hopefully those funds will be allocated to playing staff . Which position is up to our manager , so the debate of whether it be defence , midfield or forward line will go on .  

I think  the loan market will come into play for us , it's just picking up the right one of two . I believe there are new rules regarding loan players  this season,  have they got to be a season  long loan ?

Would be happy to see Ollie back .

Quoted from excusebeef

my thoughts exactly. I wouldn't stay after the abuse he received for 2/3 of the season! My only negative from our fans this season for our top scorer!

I would say he received far more negative comments the season before but he used the re-signing clause that was in his contract to sign for last season.

Matt Dean from Radio Humberside just tweeted another player has signed. Details in the morning

I've been told it's Pittman.

It's JPP

JPP Signs a new deal with the club. Announced on Mariners Player.

Does this mean we've had our quota of two signings and have to wait until next weekend now for more? Boo hiss.  Come on Town!

It did say at least 2, maybe another. My guess is the next one will be Clay.