Matt Dean - Paul Hurst interview

Quoted from ginnywings

Hats off to the guy. No-one has doubted him more than me. Never doubted his honesty, integrity and sheer hard work but i just felt he would never achieve what we all wanted so badly, especially after losing so unfairly last season. Most teams don't come back from that and fade after a failed play off final. All the previous seasons stats were against us in terms of coming back after losing the home leg, form going into the play offs etc etc but hand on heart, i am so pleased he proved me wrong and nothing gives me more pleasure than to say that.

He also sounded like a man who is not intending to go anywhere anytime soon, so we shall see what the coming months bring. Whatever happens now, he has earned our respect and a crack at league football, whether with us or someone else.

you and me both ginny, you and me both...

Quoted from ginnywings

Perhaps, just perhaps, the criticism of the players and manager was the catalyst to them getting over the line. It has been mentioned several times by them that they wanted to prove the doubters wrong. Although there may have been some over the top comments by a minority on social media and at games; most of it was well meaning concern and not all criticism is necessarily negative by nature. It came from a place of genuine concern for many that we had to get out of this league before it got even harder to do so and yes, looking at that interview, you can see it got to PH and as he pointed out, it's not as easy as some think to go and beat teams just because they don't have the history and tradition that we do. Some of us may have lost sight of that fact but i am happy that at no point did i abuse the players or management at games and can honestly say that i missed only a handful of home games in our 6 year tenure in non league.

I can't see it myself, I see that view as those who had decided a change was needed or that he couldn't get us up trying to turn their negativity and loss of faith into a positive. I have heard and read some proper nonsense on here and at the games, that was uncalled for and disproportionate when you actually looked at the performances. I think there is a real difference with the way you express your doubts about Hurst on here and the way that many other people hysterically went about it.
It's fine margins, we should have been promoted last season at Wembley and I honestly think if we hadn't gone up this season Hurst would have lost his job. FWIW I've always thought he's been a good developing manager who will get better, at times he reverts to negative tactics and could be a bit more proactive with subs, but the players attitudes and team spirit under him have been great. I also have to say I have serious respect for him for never blaming his players, I think we have all had managers at work who would hang people out to dry when things go wrong, but there has never been any of that from him.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

I can't see it myself, I see that view as those who had decided a change was needed or that he couldn't get us up trying to turn their negativity and loss of faith into a positive. I have heard and read some proper nonsense on here and at the games, that was uncalled for and disproportionate when you actually looked at the performances. I think there is a real difference with the way you express your doubts about Hurst on here and the way that many other people hysterically went about it.
It's fine margins, we should have been promoted last season at Wembley and I honestly think if we hadn't gone up this season Hurst would have lost his job. FWIW I've always thought he's been a good developing manager who will get better, at times he reverts to negative tactics and could be a bit more proactive with subs, but the players attitudes and team spirit under him have been great. I also have to say I have serious respect for him for never blaming his players, I think we have all had managers at work who would hang people out to dry when things go wrong, but there has never been any of that from him.

Decent and balanced post .I think it`s mostly down to sheer frustration and I soley let rip on here not during the game I always try my best to give positive support to the players and Manager for 90 mins.I get frustrated with the 70 min subs every week when I feel he could change the game at half time for the better but I also accept he knows those players better than I do.PH will rightly now be revered by many Town fans in years to come but his work here is not finished he has done the hard part.Now with League 2 I feel he could seriously have us in contention again ala Bristol Rovers we have a good team and with a couple of additions we will be right up there cos we have the momentum.

I have been a critic of PH but hopefully with reasoned arguments that have never been personal and mainly aimed at certain team selections and substitutions. I also firmly believed that he was a far better Manager in away games then home matches and was genuinely pleased when I knew we would be away second leg in the play offs (although I did not plan on us being 1-0 down but thought a 0-0 in the home leg was a near certainty after watching the home league fixture v Braintree).

In the final two matches we have fielded a side that a number of us, certainly where i sit in the Upper Findus, have been wanting for some time & have put forward on here especially after the first half performance v wrexham. That side allowed Nolan to play further forward andbe creative, & when he loses the ball, which he clearly will, we are well up the pitch & had Clay & Dis covering. Also Monkey was injured & therefore out.

Would PH have made those changes if Monkey had been fit? to be honest I have no idea and do not really care as the ultimate objective has been achieved.

I al so accept that PH will be learning & improving all the time & if the last two games have influenced how, on occasions, he addresses team selections and substitutions in order to either influence or change a way is going then he will clearly be heading for a very successful managerial career.

After the Chester game I would have been happy to see him move on, but not only the results, but the content of his numerous personal interviews & those interviews with players have made me acknowledge the strength of the group & that is solely down to PH's character & leadership.

If he moves to a club that he believes is bigger & more potential than GTFC good luck but that is certainly Notts County!!!

Excellent interview, well done PH.

Hurst might recruit a few duffers, however, generally he has a great eye for a very good player and a good player that will fit in.  He is not afraid to back his judgement even if other clubs can't see the diamond that they have. This is a skill that we will need this close season.

Mr Fenty

I certainly hope the club are paying for PH's holiday (anywhere he wants to go).

He atleast deserves it

Thats is all.

Great interview that Matt, you managed to do what other interviewers have failed to achieve before,  that is to peel off the protective overcoat from the quiet man and give us all an insight into his true feelings.

A couch for him to relax on would not have been out of place during the interview so probing and relaxing were the questions and answers.

Well done to both of you because I`m sure after that interview,   the majority of us will him in a different light

If Hurst wants a quiet time on holiday, send him to Gloucestershire. Around Nailsworth it is always so quiet that you can hear a pin drop!  

I can't deny I've had my doubts at times during this season but I'm not one of those who has come on here and spewed them all over or indeed done the same thing from the stands. Even in these times of social media and day long news coverage very few of us have the opportunity to really get to know the personalities at the club and having watched this interview a few times now it would do us all well to remember that we base our conclusions about Paul Hurst in particular on no more than sound bites and prejudice - not the best way of getting the full picture about someone I'm sure we can all agree.

My view of Paul has changed based on this interview and also on his reactions and the reactions of the players to him over the last week or so. I used to think he didn't really get the club and what it means to the fans, I now think he does. We as fans do tend to forget that most of the time players and management are professionals and don't have the same emotional connection with the club that we do. We want them to
love the club like we do and unless you have that one club player or a local lad who only ever wanted to play for the Town it's never going to be the same for them. Sometimes though circumstances combine that it all clicks and a team of players and a manager are taken to heart of the fans either in adversity or in success and this massive promotion is one of those moments in my opinion.

To really get the fans of GTFC as an outsider you have to understand the character of the area - let's face it honestly the Grimsby character contains large doses of pessimism bred of long experience that if something can go wrong it will. I read a great piece on Codalmighty recently which summed it up brilliantly where the contributor was talking about his grandad being literally lost at sea but it could have been worse because the same thing had happened to the lad next door. A town where the collective experience for years and years has been that life is brutally hard doesn't do happy clappy. We've had sodomist all to cheer about collectively for about 50 years and that does something to people so that when we see our hopes apparently being dashed again it does all come out - we don't mean any offence really we're just bloody sick of being kicked whilst we're down.

On the other hand we are a community bound together by adversity and disappointment but when we take an outsider to our hearts particularly one who's put some pride back into our football club then he'll never have to buy himself a drink again. For life. I think we might have discovered a quiet little yorkie who is starting to understand what the club means to the town and who cares almost as much as we do. I'd like to shake his hand and say thanks Paul, stick with us we're worth it in the long run.