Stop the Sludge

Slade has been utterly shown up so far today. zero  clue. Players instructed to play percentage football and they have no idea what to do if it’s not working. No options from the bench and no vision on the field. Miles off good enough and I can’t eemever such a shocking performance.
Get the bald one out now. Stop The Sludge.

Slade out now. He is a clueless outdated manager who has never won anything and never will win anything.

we will be stuck with him till the end of the season, fans should protest with there feet and then maybe them donuts will realise how bad of a choice he is.

Quoted from OneLove

we will be stuck with him till the end of the season, fans should protest with there feet and then maybe them donuts will realise how bad of a choice he is.

You can't say excrement like that, you'll be accused of bullying by the club.

I’ve just witnessed utter shite. Needs to change. If he won’t, then he needs to be made to.

And to think Buckley early in commentary said he could see some structure within the club compared to this time last year...at the time I thought really ? Slades tactically outdated in his approach and style

Frankly the percentages will keep him in a job as we will continue to tick over doing just enough to land a lower mid table spot.  It's hardly a vision to keep you interested though is it.

Beaten by a better side today.  Changing the manager is not the answer.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

Beaten by a better side today.  Changing the manager is not the answer.

Does the manager not sign the players and set out the tactics then?

That was the bigest load of cr@p i have seen in many decades of going to blundell park .. sack the lot from i am big mr fenty  right down to the wash person.. totall ashamed of the lot of them

Quoted from TheRealJohnLewis

You can't say excrement like that, you'll be accused of bullying by the club.

This ^

Surely the caliber of player all boils down to money? We all know slade was unable to get even his 5th choice forward etc. We need to re-invest into the team.

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

Does the manager not sign the players and set out the tactics then?

Absolutely. I don't think we are good, I just don't think sacking the manager is the answer.

To me it looks like the players are just as p1ssed of as we are. Don't think that they, like us,  enjoy it one little bit being told to defend defend defend. They are now going through the motions playing sladeball hoping that it's going to change sooner or later. Let's hope that when it does change, it's for the better.

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

Frankly the percentages will keep him in a job as we will continue to tick over doing just enough to land a lower mid table spot.  It's hardly a vision to keep you interested though is it.

Spot on and totally miles away from what Fenty claimed he brought him in for as the next level unless he meant the next level of excrement he wants us to endure.

Quoted from GyMariner

Surely the caliber of player all boils down to money? We all know slade was unable to get even his 5th choice forward etc. We need to re-invest into the team.

Our wage bill must be pretty big with the number of players we signed,  perhaps Slade should have signed fewer better players rather than his total scatter gun approach.

Or maybe I am wrong and we aren't able to compete with Accrington on salaries.

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

Our wage bill must be pretty big with the number of players we signed,  perhaps Slade should have signed fewer better players rather than his total scatter gun approach.

Or maybe I am wrong and we aren't able to compete with Accrington on salaries.

Wouldn't couldn't compete with Dover so it won't surprise me as someone in the boardroom likes to do things on the cheap, pound shop sort of cheap.

So since drawing against Notts County which was widely regarded as an excellent result we have failed to beat the two teams around us in the league. We now look a long way off the play off contenders we were assured we would be this season when Slade arrived.

Quoted from denni266

That was the bigest load of cr@p i have seen in many decades of going to blundell park .. sack the lot from i am big mr fenty  right down to the wash person.. totall ashamed of the lot of them

That's harsh, the shirts looked clean enough to me. Especially our midfielders who didn't put a foot in all game.

We've all got to stay strong, keep the #unity going for another fifteen years, JF and RS will get us out the other end of this ITV Digital shitstorm..

Quoted from 75

That's harsh, the shirts looked clean enough to me. Especially our midfielders who didn't put a foot in all game.

you have a point to be fair , the strip looked as good at the end  as it did at the start, i was possibly a bit harsh about  him / her . prob cos all am seeing is red at the moment

The team needs some fresh idea but he seems to be playing in blue and yellow in Birmingham..

Changing the manager will achieve nothing.

If we sack slade who honestly believes that the board will make the right choice to replace him. It’s a mute point in any case as the major shareholder is unlikely to make his mate unemployed is he?

But. If the unlikely happens and slade gets the boot. Who comes in, and what budget will the new manager have?

This is a bigger issue than the manager. The manager is an issue but it goes higher. The problem with this football club is the same problem it has been for years.

We need a change at board level and we need some new direction. F*ck it we need A direction. Because what we have now is nothing.

Merely demanding we rid the club of slade gives the board an easy ride. They need to go. We need root and branch changes. We need investment.
We need direction.
We need a plan for the future beyond somehow getting a new stadium that’ll magically solve all our woes.
We need communication (2 way)
We need investment in back room staff. Coaches. Fitness coaches. PR professionals.
We need investment in facilities both stadium and training.

Then, we can consider management. At the minute changing the manager would be futile. I’m not saying I’m happy with Slade and his tactics but there needs to be an appreciation that the issues are much much greater than who is sat in the dug out.

Can someone please explain why DJ was taken off today? He caused more trouble for Accrington in the first 5 minutes than Woolford did all game on Boxing Day. The brave move would have been to take Jones off and put another midfielder on and push Dembele & DJ on and go 433 - not Slade's way to be innovative though is it?

Quoted from Theimperialcoroner

Slade has been utterly shown up so far today. zero  clue. Players instructed to play percentage football and they have no idea what to do if it’s not working. No options from the bench and no vision on the field. Miles off good enough and I can’t eemever such a shocking performance.
Get the bald one out now. Stop The Sludge.

That is almost word for word what we were saying today. Every time they scored, we did the same routine from the kick off. The players are set such a rigid gameplan that they have no clue what to do when it goes t1ts up. We just cannot get a charge on and pin a team back. The game was as good as over at 0-1.

Quoted from darren9

Changing the manager will achieve nothing.

If we sack slade who honestly believes that the board will make the right choice to replace him. It’s a mute point in any case as the major shareholder is unlikely to make his mate unemployed is he?

But. If the unlikely happens and slade gets the boot. Who comes in, and what budget will the new manager have?

This is a bigger issue than the manager. The manager is an issue but it goes higher. The problem with this football club is the same problem it has been for years.

We need a change at board level and we need some new direction. F*ck it we need A direction. Because what we have now is nothing.

Merely demanding we rid the club of slade gives the board an easy ride. They need to go. We need root and branch changes. We need investment.
We need direction.
We need a plan for the future beyond somehow getting a new stadium that’ll magically solve all our woes.
We need communication (2 way)
We need investment in back room staff. Coaches. Fitness coaches. PR professionals.
We need investment in facilities both stadium and training.

Then, we can consider management. At the minute changing the manager would be futile. I’m not saying I’m happy with Slade and his tactics but there needs to be an appreciation that the issues are much much greater than who is sat in the dug out.

I totally agree. I'm sure many agree and lets be honest, the points you make are nothing new. But HOW to make that in bold happen? That is the eternal question that never seems to get answered.

According to JF appointing managers is a lucky dip anyway. Can you imagine the majority shareholder of any other company saying that about recruitment? Says it all really.

The reason fenty is cr@p at running a football team is because he knows nothing about football... all he knows is how to gut and skin fis...come to think of it  thats what he is still doing,,, just we are the fish

Slade was never EVER going to succeed here.  Normally when a manager takes over he has the full backing of the majority of fans, maybe 5% would disapprove of his appointment but they will generally back him.  Slade, however, did not have that luxury. A very large portion of fans disliked him from his 1st time here and will never warm to him, due to his shite playing style, negative tactics, and his personality.  

Fenty should have known this and never appointed Slade.

This is an article from Cardiff City's perspective, seem familiar? http://www.walesonline.co.uk/s.....ssell-slade-11297487

A leopard doesn't change it's spots!

Football is evolving constantly. It outpaced even the great Alan Buckley in the end.

Slade's been standing still for 10+ years. He's only going to get worse if he's going to persist with this style of football.

And what's worse than League 2 football? Sadly, we know the answer all too well.

Quoted from heppy88

I totally agree. I'm sure many agree and lets be honest, the points you make are nothing new. But HOW to make that in bold happen? That is the eternal question that never seems to get answered.

It can’t be answered unless you have the funds to make it happen. Which, plainly none of us do. Even if I did I do t know how to run a football club. Not really. I can theorise all day long on a message board but if it came to it I’d not doubt do a worse job than the current lot. That’s not to say that as a fan I shouldn’t be prevented from voicing an opinion.

There must be someone out there who could do a better. Job though. Surely there has to be an alternative?

Granted. We’re  a small club. In an shite league. In a run down area of the county and therefore there aren’t many other prospects to come in and sweep us off our feet. There isn’t many Russian oil billionaires who want to invest in Grimsby and I’d bet there aren’t many sheiks who even know we exist.

But there must be someone? And if not there must be a way of attracting other forms of investment and having another sort of board because with all the best will in the world (and I except whole heartedly that the board do not want to see us fail and they have the clubs best interests at heart) it has to be said they’re not doing a great job are they?

A change at board level, and I’m not suggesting a big sack the board and start again - (it would be nice but probably unrealistic) might just kick start something. A bit of momentum. A nudge in the right direction. A change of outlook.

I don’t know how to make it happen but it’s not up to me to make it happen is it? I’m just one stupid name on a message board having a go at those who do the job.

Quoted from RichMariner

Football is evolving constantly. It outpaced even the great Alan Buckley in the end.

Slade's been standing still for 10+ years. He's only going to get worse if he's going to persist with this style of football.

And what's worse than League 2 football? Sadly, we know the answer all too well.

I would like to know how Buckley's budget compared to Newells, Woods and the like because I heard it was one of Towns lowest ever budgets as someone was cutting everything down to the bone, and I heard Buckley was told "I don't mind us being average until we are in the new stadium. Considering it was the lowest ever budget, he got us to Wembley.

Quoted from Marinerz93

I would like to know how Buckley's budget compared to Newells, Woods and the like because I heard it was one of Towns lowest ever budgets as someone was cutting everything down to the bone, and I heard Buckley was told "I don't mind us being average until we are in the new stadium. Considering it was the lowest ever budget, he got us to Wembley.

A very fair point , look through the records, we turned a profit under Buckley Mk3  IMHO his last stint was unfairly judged. Ok we weren't great but we weren't as bad as under Newell, Woods, Rodger, Law,  Bignot and yes I'll say it Slade Mk2.

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

A very fair point , look through the records, we turned a profit under Buckley Mk3  IMHO his last stint was unfairly judged. Ok we weren't great but we weren't as bad as under Newell, Woods, Rodger, Law,  Bignot and yes I'll say it Slade Mk2.

Good review, this Sladeball MK2 is worse than what AB III dished out I would say, certainly the apathy of the fans is the worst I have seen and that includes the non league years.

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

Our wage bill must be pretty big with the number of players we signed,  perhaps Slade should have signed fewer better players rather than his total scatter gun approach.

Or maybe I am wrong and we aren't able to compete with Accrington on salaries.

This sums up the whole situation as regards our present squad and how RS added to it. Too many hasbeens / journeymen and not enough quality. I don't accept the budget wasn't big enough but it was wasted on unnecessary and poor quality signings.

Quoted from Marinerz93

the apathy of the fans is the worst I have seen and that includes the non league years.

In the non-league we used to win (quite) a few and were always in for a shout of promotion. Frankly I don't see what all the excitement about being in the 4th Division as opposed to the 5th is all about - I preferred the Conference

Quoted from Ipswin

In the non-league we used to win (quite) a few and were always in for a shout of promotion. Frankly I don't see what all the excitement about being in the 4th Division as opposed to the 5th is all about - I preferred the Conference

I hope you have your tin hat ready!

This club should never  have seen the conference and should be fully capable of competing in Division 4.

Quoted from darren9

It can’t be answered unless you have the funds to make it happen. Which, plainly none of us do. Even if I did I do t know how to run a football club. Not really. I can theorise all day long on a message board but if it came to it I’d not doubt do a worse job than the current lot. That’s not to say that as a fan I shouldn’t be prevented from voicing an opinion.

There must be someone out there who could do a better. Job though. Surely there has to be an alternative?

Granted. We’re  a small club. In an shite league. In a run down area of the county and therefore there aren’t many other prospects to come in and sweep us off our feet. There isn’t many Russian oil billionaires who want to invest in Grimsby and I’d bet there aren’t many sheiks who even know we exist.

But there must be someone? And if not there must be a way of attracting other forms of investment and having another sort of board because with all the best will in the world (and I except whole heartedly that the board do not want to see us fail and they have the clubs best interests at heart) it has to be said they’re not doing a great job are they?

A change at board level, and I’m not suggesting a big sack the board and start again - (it would be nice but probably unrealistic) might just kick start something. A bit of momentum. A nudge in the right direction. A change of outlook.

I don’t know how to make it happen but it’s not up to me to make it happen is it? I’m just one stupid name on a message board having a go at those who do the job.

Bit in bold never stopped Fenty, Day & Marley having a go.

Quoted from rancido

I hope you have your tin hat ready!

Frankly I'm still trying to see the real difference between the conference and Div 4 apart from the 'Football League status' thingy which seemed to bother many, the  footy was entertaining, we won a lot of games, away clubs and their stewards were in the main far more welcoming. Whats not to like?

I'd much rather be top 6 Conference than bottom half Div 4. Pompey have gone , Luton are going so apart from Coventry there are no 'bigger' clubs to see, the rest of Div 4 are pretty much the same dross as the Conference, in fact there are a lot of 'Div 4' teams down there.

I guess the old problem of persuading players to come here is still around. Which probably contributes to us giving 2 year contracts to average players

Quoted from Ipswin

In the non-league we used to win (quite) a few and were always in for a shout of promotion. Frankly I don't see what all the excitement about being in the 4th Division as opposed to the 5th is all about - I preferred the Conference

The trouble with being in the Conference is that someone has to prop up the club financially.

Last seven games won 3     drawn 2     lost 2 (one of which was to the best team in the division)


Just saying for a little bit of balance.i might have been lucky but I thought the 2 performances I saw at Luton and Barnet were very good in their different ways. Would hate to suggest that the words fishy and over reaction could be used here

Quoted from oldun

I guess the old problem of persuading players to come here is still around. Which probably contributes to us giving 2 year contracts to average players

If only Dixon, Kelly and Hooper were average.

Quoted from forza ivano

Last seven games won 3     drawn 2     lost 2 (one of which was to the best team in the division)


Just saying for a little bit of balance.i might have been lucky but I thought the 2 performances I saw at Luton and Barnet were very good in their different ways. Would hate to suggest that the words fishy and over reaction could be used here

I would suggest you are indeed lucky.

I would love to see a ‘shots on target’ stat for the whole of this division.   I would wager we would be very much in the bottom half. Maybe one of the  ‘statto’s ‘  could provide this.

But isn’t a lot of the frustration is the lack of consistency ?

Never forgiven him since walking out on us after Cheltenham game, never once did he come off the bench to give advice, he just wasn't bothered, all his thoughts were on Yeovil job. Cant think for my life why Fenty brought him back. It hasn't worked out Fenty, so do a facebook job, unfriend him and delete him. Get a new manager in quick so that he can choose his own players in the transfer market, and lets get the 2nd half of the season back on the road, we still have a chance, but only if you get rid of the Clown. UTM

Can't agree with Ipswin on the non league comparison. Teams in League 2 are a cut above that league for sure. No one as good as Accy visited us during our non league days, not to mention Luton, Donny, Pompey etc. We need to get back up to speed to compete but whether we have the right personnel in place to do that, only time will tell.

Quoted from ginnywings

Can't agree with Ipswin on the non league comparison. Teams in League 2 are a cut above that league for sure. No one as good as Accy visited us during our non league days, not to mention Luton, Donny, Pompey etc. We need to get back up to speed to compete but whether we have the right personnel in place to do that, only time will tell.

Time has told - fifteen years of it. When Mr Potato Head was last here, we were looking at going up to League 1 - now the ambition seems to be limited to ensuring we don't go down again. That lack of ambition comes from the top - let's not be afraid to say it.

Go back 10 league games - won 3 drew 3 lost 4,   or last 4 games - Won 0 drew 2 lost 2, we can pick out any particular group of matches to make stats look better or worse, its the stats for every game we have played in the season that matter and they dont look great

Quoted from ginnywings

Can't agree with Ipswin on the non league comparison. Teams in League 2 are a cut above that league for sure. No one as good as Accy visited us during our non league days, not to mention Luton, Donny, Pompey etc. We need to get back up to speed to compete but whether we have the right personnel in place to do that, only time will tell.

Same, the standard is better, how do I measure this? In L2 we see less balls kicked over the stands at BP, in Tin Pot it used to happen a few times a game

Quoted from Ipswin

Frankly I'm still trying to see the real difference between the conference and Div 4 apart from the 'Football League status' thingy which seemed to bother many, the  footy was entertaining, we won a lot of games, away clubs and their stewards were in the main far more welcoming. Whats not to like?

I'd much rather be top 6 Conference than bottom half Div 4. Pompey have gone , Luton are going so apart from Coventry there are no 'bigger' clubs to see, the rest of Div 4 are pretty much the same dross as the Conference, in fact there are a lot of 'Div 4' teams down there.

We were in a division where 2 went up and 4 went down. We're now in one where 4 go up and 2 go down. I know where I'd rather be!

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Time has told - fifteen years of it. When Mr Potato Head was last here, we were looking at going up to League 1 - now the ambition seems to be limited to ensuring we don't go down again. That lack of ambition comes from the top - let's not be afraid to say it.

Yeah, but i'm not going back 15 years. I'm saying that League 2 is better than non league. What went before is irrelevant now.

Quoted from ginnywings

Yeah, but i'm not going back 15 years. I'm saying that League 2 is better than non league. What went before is irrelevant now.

I don't think it is irrelevant. I think the club and particularly the fans have learned how crap non-league is - when Slade was last here, non-league was unthinkable. What has happened in the interim has to affect what happens now.

Quoted from Madeleymariner

Go back 10 league games - won 3 drew 3 lost 4,   or last 4 games - Won 0 drew 2 lost 2, we can pick out any particular group of matches to make stats look better or worse, its the stats for every game we have played in the season that matter and they dont look great

So comfortably mid table = don't look great    In your book?  With the 9th biggest attendances in the league perhaps you could illuminate me as to where we should actually be placed?

Where are we going under Slade ?    Nowhere!

The performance against Accrington was shocking and most of the season has been.

Slade has not achieved anything in his career that spans over 20 years. There is a reason for that. His 'tactics' are outdated.

Town sit around mid table ...nearer the play offs than relegation. I have no issue with our league position. We are still re-establishing ourselves in the league.....mid table is fine but what you want to see is progress. I just dont see it.  Negative approach .....it's just boring to watch. Little creativity. We rely on a young lad in his first season as a pro to provide any hope. People knock the forwards (and none have pulled up any trees) but to be fair the service they get is shite.

I'd get angry but watching this dross has started to take my passion away. If i didnt have my Season Ticket i'd have to really drag myself along and probably wouldnt bother every week. The dwindling gates show many feel the same.

Slade likes his stats and percentage football. Here's some stats for him to ponder.

In 13 home league games we have won...4 . the record is W 4 D 5 L 4. Pretty mediocre at best. Even more damning is that we have failed to score in 6 of those games and have scored a measly 12 goals at home all season. Less than a goal a game. You aint going to win much that way. I am only commenting on the home form as I have only seen them once away. And anyway home form should be the bread and butter. The expectation is to have a go at the opposition. I know its a results business as far as manager are concerned but football is also supposed to be an entertainment apparently.  If we are going to drift along it would be nice to get excited now and again.

Slade seems to have one tactic and if it doesnt work has no plan B. The frustrating thing is this league is pretty mediocre as well. Whilst i rarely leave BP thinking what a great game I also rarely leave thinking we have played a really good team.

Enough is enough. Time's ticking on Slade.

Up to now i have tried not to join the bash Fenty brigade but i think he needs to be accountable for this. Slade was his appointment. JF may say he is no longer the chairman and decisions are board decisions. But we all know it's JF who is in charge and has the final say. Can anyone name anyone else on the board off the top of thier head. You never hear from them or see them. It's always Fenty.
Slade is another in a string of bad managerial choices he has made...Bignot, Woods, Newell.

This season we will probably have enough to stay up but if things dont change at managerial and board level i fear for the future. Another relegation would be a  disaster we might not recover from.

Slade deserves to be fired for giving Hooper, Dixon and Kelly two year deals.

I don't think it's the players fault, completely. We have some decent players, some under performing, some already discarded by the fans and some utilised badly.

We have to look at the leadership and it's not what it should be. Modern football is fast and flowing not the hoofball we witness weekly.

Slade was an unpopular choice and only winning games will appease that. We are not winning enough games! Home form under successive  managers has been poor and the establishment do not see what the fans see with regards to the running of the club.

Either an amazing January transfer window or an up turn in consistent form saves this season from being one of pr disasters and on the pitch misery.


Somehow the apathy amongst supporters needs breaking and Fenty more than anyone needs to be fully made aware of the fans issues.  Unfortunately previous experience suggest he will never change.

Fenty has been and remains the real problem at gtfc.. God knows when he will leave. A tenure of disaster,  embarrassment and failure on so many levels.

I can only hope by the time my son is old enough to really appreciate matches we have new regime.

I dont think it matters who comes in. slade will not change the way we play  or know how to use the new players..  he is a dinosaur , out dated and on the way down and out

If you look at the team for last Saturday it didn't look too bad on paper [before the match] Just about every home game is the same. We start off not too bad and I often sit there thinking we are going to win this one. Then the inevitability happens-their manager susses us out and changes his plans accordingly. What does Slade do to counteract this.? Absolutely nothing -either he hasn't noticed or he doesn't know what to do. Half time comes and still he doesn't do anything. We are the home team and the home team is supposed to have an advantage,but not here. We get worse. Substitutions are made-they are pointless-still the same tactics. Chants of "You don't know what you are doing" are heard throughout the ground-the referee soon realises they are not aimed at him.  IT'S JUST ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE          Do the decent thing Slade

Quoted from forza ivano

So comfortably mid table = don't look great    In your book?  With the 9th biggest attendances in the league perhaps you could illuminate me as to where we should actually be placed?

No, not good enough in my view, we are where we were when he took over, just as much if not more dross under contract for 2 years, crowds getting lower (maybe if we saw a few more goals and wins at home in the first 10 games we wouldn't have the ninth best attendance it might be nearer 5th) little entertainment to get the occasional fan to turn up more often, yesterday the crowd sounded like we were FGR fans. This is it seems a year of consolidation, I thought that was supposed to be last year.

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

On the pitch we are not doing well enough, but I feel we have some decent players. We clearly do not score enough goals, but that is not all down to the strikers, although they should be taking more chances. Problem for me is we do not turn defences, our movement off the ball is is not good enough. We are too static and hit too many hopeful forward balls for people to chase. On occasions when they get behind the defence I have seen cool finishing from Jones, Matt, Hooper and Dembele. Problem is not often enough as we hit and hope. It is frustrating to see this continuing. Our defence is ok but will have the occasional off day, that happens at all levels. We must address the goal scoring but it is not just a case of bringing in more forwards, the style of play and movement must be much better.

Quoted from oldun

On the pitch we are not doing well enough, but I feel we have some decent players. We clearly do not score enough goals, but that is not all down to the strikers, although they should be taking more chances. Problem for me is we do not turn defences, our movement off the ball is is not good enough. We are too static and hit too many hopeful forward balls for people to chase. On occasions when they get behind the defence I have seen cool finishing from Jones, Matt, Hooper and Dembele. Problem is not often enough as we hit and hope. It is frustrating to see this continuing. Our defence is ok but will have the occasional off day, that happens at all levels. We must address the goal scoring but it is not just a case of bringing in more forwards, the style of play and movement must be much better.

I think we have the personnel and that's the frustration - whether we set up as 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-2-3 or 4-3-3, we need to get away from this 'easy to deal with' 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 that we've got now. We've scored 7 goals in the last 12 games with 8 blanks - that's neither acceptable or good enough.

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.................    

A good post Hearts. Can I have some of your DNA? as I wish I could share your pragmatism and balanced viewpoint. But after all the poor decision making and disgraceful behaviour of certain members of the board over the last weeks and months, the dire football since promotion and Saturdays display, then unfortunately my outlook for the club over the coming months and years is far from positive. I’ve discussed and overheard many points of view over the last few weeks and the theme is unanimous: Fans are losing interest. Yes, most will continue to come, but what will be the tipping point? Already we read posters on The Fishy not turning up even though they are season ticket holders. If the club can’t deliver with attendances of 4 -6000 what are the chances of success with sub 3000 attendances? But let’s be honest falling attendances will only be a symptom of the main problem. A much bigger problem which impacts on every aspect of our club and if allowed to remain will continue to do so.

Quoted from devs

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

I think your both right to be honest my Lincoln point was more around the cash has surely helped them to get to their current league position and I agree it was a good appointment, ambition and fans engagement that got them promoted last season rather than cash. In fact I think it's fair to say that their management did exceptionally well with a set of non league standard players.

I am convinced that JF thought he was getting "up & coming" and "new ideas" with Bignot but as ever it appears he did not do his home work and /or never sought the opinion of people within the footballing side of the game. Add to that a lack of control at exec level and in a short time we had chaos.

The leadership is the issue and clearly they want away if the American stories are to be believed, I am undecided if the lack of ambition and energy from the exec is either about JF's exit strategy or just the fact that he and the other 2 "less - enthusiastic amateurs" are just dull.

Like I say I think pretty much everything in the posts above is correct or at least is a fair opinion my post was more about the fact that through circumstances beyond our control and some poor management on and off the pitch we are in a position where we will have to be patient.  

Is Fenty the man to take us forward off the pitch? IMHO No. Is Slade the man to take us forward on the pitch? IMHO potentially not, but until he has had a season and a chance to get some people in and out then I'll reserve judgement.    

Quoted from MuddyWaters

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.

So for clarity.....

1. I think the expectation is coming from elements of the support so your first bit in bold could be challenged

2.  Did I post that the fans should manage the budget?

3. Third bit in bold I agree that it's not up to the fans to take us forward, again I never posted such a suggestion.

You might be worried about the future, I think we all are but as a minor sponsor you cant be that worried surely

I think we will scrape through a mid table position, Mr Slade will then state that he has consolidated and is now building for a promotion attempt next season. Mr Fenty will be happy with this and my prediction is that he will take another £100k of his loan (benign) , so at the next fans forum it will all be sweetness and light, and we have a stable platform. ( Christ, that all sounds PR gobbledygook)

Saturday and now today. Stop The Sludge

It was male masturbation against Accy, and even worse today. Get him gone.

Slade sucking  the life out of the club.

Theres a cliché in football that goes " he went because he felt hed taken the club as far as he could "

well its clear JF has taken this club as far as he can .

Half on here wanted Slade back when hurst was here  

He was excrement the first time and he hasn't improved. Unfinished business my bottom