Stop the Sludge

Just saying, but Luton got back from the conference two years before us and it's taken them 4 seasons to mount a promotion challenge. Similar, Mansfield, and they've spent a load of money and might only get in the play offs with a bit of luck. Consolidation takes time - probably longer than 1 season if we are being fair. Yes, we want to see progress each successive campaign and yes we want to see ambition. It's probably the apparent absence of either of these that is frustrating us. That and the plethora of very average players and a lack of entertainment. We have to hang in there.

Bristol R went straight up. Lincoln doing well, FGR in the mire, it comes down to the managers and the players they sign/how they utilise them.

It's little things, people left up at corners (even when we are losing), goal kicks being punted to one side of the field (keep defenders guessing), zonal marking at corners, one up front at home... I could go on. All of this is driven by negativity and if that is your first thought you are doomed. Percentage football can work, but you need to be adaptive and have the players for it, even then I don't think it wins leagues.

I get the way people are feeling in all of the posts above and agree with plenty of it but I do have an alternate view.

What I don't get is that people are saying "it's not good enough" but not really being clear on what good enough looks like. In reality what do people expect? Buckley style football, play off contenders, automatic, Slade quits, Fenty writes off £2 million and a new backer come in to throw money down the bottomless pit? For differing reasons most of that won't happen at the moment.  

Do people expect us to be playing champagne football? Well in reality that probably not going to happen though I have not seen every game this season I have seen most of the teams who could be considered mid table or above and to be honest they are not setting the world on fire either. Remember this is the 4th division and the players down here are in the main 4th tier level for a reason.

What does moving forward look like? Well 20 months ago in April 16 we where non league, the football was non league and after missing out on a couple of occasions we where still not 100% certain we would be coming up and had to go through "another" play off campaign.

People are throwing around the phrase "our once great club" hurts to say it and i'll no doubt need a tin hat to deflect the red crosses but in reality we have never really been a "once great club" we punched above our weight for a number of seasons in the 80's and 90's but in reality we have been a "small Town club" for most of our post war history with a small Town budget. Decent players and decent managers are not falling over themselves to sign for clubs like us in the current money driven climate.

Yes I am frustrated at how quickly we lost the momentum after promotion the appointment of Bignot was another poor decision from a man (Fenty) who evidently knows very little about football or creating a "club environment" that appointment and the p1ssing away of the Omar money has left is where we are now. What is even more galling is that JF does not appear to seek support and expertise on football matters like appointing managers and in the main has made poor/average appointments, At one time we even had joint managers FFS?

Has Slade got it wrong in the transfer market to date? Maybe but none of us really know what he had to play with and who he might of wanted but they wouldn't come to Grimsby for either the money or just the fact that it's Grimsby. The disposals list is high at the moment and it will take time for the dead wood to wash through.

Things have changed since we went down and money rules even at this level whether it's used for signings or infrastructure, look at Lincoln they are doing well and have a good manager with forward looking ideas but he can only implement those ideas on the back of their strong TV revenue, cup success last season and South African money. If they didn't have that their progress would be slower I feel.  

Luton, Exeter, Accrington, Wycombe, Mansfield, Newport, Cambridge, Stevenage, Crawley, Yeovii , Morecombe, Barnet and Carlisle all have one thing in common in that they have been in this league longer than us and are yet to achieve promotion. It takes time to get out of here or at least be competitive and it will possibly take us longer after some of the recent fcuk ups.

Am I happy about what we have seen on days like Saturday? No, but changing the manager now will not take us forward as the likely hood is he would be replaced by another average manager as the person doing the hiring is the real issue and as we all know unless someone is willing to pump millions in to the bottomless pit with no real hope of getting anything back to get rid of the 3 stooges this is where we are I'm afraid.  

We have stayed loyal when we have been in deeper shi1t, yes things are not good on and off the pitch but we need to let the manager manage for a bit and see what happens, there is still 21 games to go we won't be going up but at the end of the season at the very least we could be better set for a tilt next season, 3rd season back and competitive?  After some of the dark days of tin pot I'd be happy with that.      

Quoted from Theimperialcoroner

It's little things, people left up at corners (even when we are losing), goal kicks being punted to one side of the field (keep defenders guessing), zonal marking at corners, one up front at home... I could go on. All of this is driven by negativity and if that is your first thought you are doomed. Percentage football can work, but you need to be adaptive and have the players for it, even then I don't think it wins leagues.

Lack of ambition, negativity etc adds up with all the other stuff to create a poor matchday experience and dwindling attendances. The board need to contemplate the consequences of this.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Lack of ambition, negativity etc adds up with all the other stuff to create a poor matchday experience and dwindling attendances. The board need to contemplate the consequences of this.

It was evident at the fans forum with JF's ignorance about the facilities in the main stand that this club does not have a clue about making going to a game an event.

On Saturday a steward and member of the bar staff was having an extended argument with the lad who runs the bar in the Upper turnstile foyer about the position of a wheelie bin???  While all this is going on my dad who does not walk too well has to walk up two flights of wet stairs (again) where the litter from the last home game created a sip hazard.  

Yes the example above might seem small but for me it is a perfect example of how this club treats it's supporters/customers whilst it drowns in poor leadership and apathy.

Herts, you mention Lincoln and the fact that they have TV money from their cup run. Well, they had to have a team capable of making that cup run in the first place, which brought in the money. The Cowleys came in and quickly changed Lincoln from mid table non league also rans going nowhere, to league champions and cup giant killers. Lincoln were dead on their ar$e and down to crowds in the 2000's. A good appointment changed that in one season and now they are playing in front of big crowds every week and moving forward much more quickly than us. In short, they did something that captured the imagination of the fans and transformed everything, on and off the pitch. They tapped into their potential. We on the other hand....................

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Things have changed since we went down and money rules even at this level whether it's used for signings or infrastructure, look at Lincoln they are doing well and have a good manager with forward looking ideas but he can only implement those ideas on the back of their strong TV revenue, cup success last season and South African money.      

We could have had American money (allegedly) but it was turned down as Fenty and Marley wanted the club to remain owned by the fans as shareholders (allegedly) As a shareholder I was never asked (nor I suspect was anyone else other than in the boardroom) but then I didn't expect to have been consulted as the main shareholder had probably already dismissed the idea as he wanted the club to remain owned by the main shareholder

Quoted from HertsGTFC

I get the way people are feeling in all of the posts above and agree with plenty of it but I do have an alternate view.

What I don't get is that people are saying "it's not good enough" but not really being clear on what good enough looks like. In reality what do people expect? Buckley style football, play off contenders, automatic, Slade quits, Fenty writes off £2 million and a new backer come in to throw money down the bottomless pit? For differing reasons most of that won't happen at the moment.  

Do people expect us to be playing champagne football? Well in reality that probably not going to happen though I have not seen every game this season I have seen most of the teams who could be considered mid table or above and to be honest they are not setting the world on fire either. Remember this is the 4th division and the players down here are in the main 4th tier level for a reason.

What does moving forward look like? Well 20 months ago in April 16 we where non league, the football was non league and after missing out on a couple of occasions we where still not 100% certain we would be coming up and had to go through "another" play off campaign.

People are throwing around the phrase "our once great club" hurts to say it and i'll no doubt need a tin hat to deflect the red crosses but in reality we have never really been a "once great club" we punched above our weight for a number of seasons in the 80's and 90's but in reality we have been a "small Town club" for most of our post war history with a small Town budget. Decent players and decent managers are not falling over themselves to sign for clubs like us in the current money driven climate.

Yes I am frustrated at how quickly we lost the momentum after promotion the appointment of Bignot was another poor decision from a man (Fenty) who evidently knows very little about football or creating a "club environment" that appointment and the p1ssing away of the Omar money has left is where we are now. What is even more galling is that JF does not appear to seek support and expertise on football matters like appointing managers and in the main has made poor/average appointments, At one time we even had joint managers FFS?

Has Slade got it wrong in the transfer market to date? Maybe but none of us really know what he had to play with and who he might of wanted but they wouldn't come to Grimsby for either the money or just the fact that it's Grimsby. The disposals list is high at the moment and it will take time for the dead wood to wash through.

Things have changed since we went down and money rules even at this level whether it's used for signings or infrastructure, look at Lincoln they are doing well and have a good manager with forward looking ideas but he can only implement those ideas on the back of their strong TV revenue, cup success last season and South African money. If they didn't have that their progress would be slower I feel.  

Luton, Exeter, Accrington, Wycombe, Mansfield, Newport, Cambridge, Stevenage, Crawley, Yeovii , Morecombe, Barnet and Carlisle all have one thing in common in that they have been in this league longer than us and are yet to achieve promotion. It takes time to get out of here or at least be competitive and it will possibly take us longer after some of the recent fcuk ups.

Am I happy about what we have seen on days like Saturday? No, but changing the manager now will not take us forward as the likely hood is he would be replaced by another average manager as the person doing the hiring is the real issue and as we all know unless someone is willing to pump millions in to the bottomless pit with no real hope of getting anything back to get rid of the 3 stooges this is where we are I'm afraid.  

We have stayed loyal when we have been in deeper shi1t, yes things are not good on and off the pitch but we need to let the manager manage for a bit and see what happens, there is still 21 games to go we won't be going up but at the end of the season at the very least we could be better set for a tilt next season, 3rd season back and competitive?  After some of the dark days of tin pot I'd be happy with that.      

All very plausible stuff BUT it's not up to the fans to manage the expectation levels, it's not up to the fans to manage the budget and it's not up to the fans to create a way forward for the club. The question for the board is how confident they are of delivering a viable future for GTFC and when the major shareholder only rates the chances of a new stadium as 7 out of 10, then I worry.

Herts, you mention Lincoln and the fact that they have TV money from their cup run. Well, they had to have a team capable of making that cup run in the first place, which brought in the money. The Cowleys came in and quickly changed Lincoln from mid table non league also rans going nowhere, to league champions and cup giant killers. Lincoln were dead on their ar$e and down to crowds in the 2000's. A good appointment changed that in one season and now they are playing in front of big crowds every week and moving forward much more quickly than us. In short, they did something that captured the imagination of the fans and transformed everything, on and off the pitch. They tapped into their potential. We on the other hand....................

Ginnywings is spot on - it's not always about mega bucks but a manager/s that transforms the ethos of a club both on and off the pitch. Look at Accrington - they cannot have a bigger budget than us surely? But Coleman believes in decent football (progressive and on the ground) and has found the players to do that; if I was an Acc fan I would really buy into that and be passionate about my small club fighting the big boys
If your ethos is like Buckley's - and remember he first came to GTFC when we had suffered two relegations - then it puts a smile back on faces and everyone gets behind the team
What we have is dinosaur attitudes both on and off the pitch and fans are finding it hard to stomach - 'indifferent' is the way my mate summed it up.

It is a pursuit of mediocrity allied with no ambition, on and off the pitch... and it is mind-numbingly dull