Fenty Out

Quoted from arryarryarry

If John Fenty and the other board members aren't funding the club then surely anybody without money could replace them.

Probably so but that’s not really the problem is it

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

Probably so but that’s not really the problem is it

The real problem isn't John Fenty?

Quoted from arryarryarry

The real problem isn't John Fenty?

Agree to an extent, the budget we have is probably not enough but on the other hand the players that we have bought , loaned, begged and borrowed have not been good enough to progress and that is the fault of managers past, there are gems in the lower leagues out there we need to seek them out early.
Is there a manager out there who will suit Grimsby Town`s supporters aspirations, we always seem to get those with the ability to be bloody awkward for awkward`s sake Slade and Hurst come to mind, I`m at the moment giving MJ a bit more time to come good, but sense that good diplomacy by him and good speaking are his main strengths, but alas don`t win matches.
Fenty to be fair to him, does not pick the team, choose the tactics or seek out new players, what he can be held responsible for is choosing the manager and most times at least 50% of the supporters agree with his decision at the time, hindsight is a wonderful gift

Quoted from arryarryarry

If John Fenty and the other board members aren't funding the club then surely anybody without money could replace them.

I totally agree but who ? I want this current Board to go as much as you but where are these mythical investors that are so interested in coming to the club? There is a general consensus on here to JF's presence is putting off possible investors but JF has clearly stated he wants out so that surely can't be an obstacle. If there is so much potential to have a successful league team here then surely even paying JF his " benign loan " would be a small price to pay for a current Football League team? Admittedly I'm no financial expert but surely the potential that is talked about greatly exceeds the cost of someone ( or consortium ) buying out JF completely , shares and all.

Quoted from Garth

Agree to an extent, the budget we have is probably not enough but on the other hand the players that we have bought , loaned, begged and borrowed have not been good enough to progress and that is the fault of managers past, there are gems in the lower leagues out there we need to seek them out early.
Is there a manager out there who will suit Grimsby Town`s supporters aspirations, we always seem to get those with the ability to be bloody awkward for awkward`s sake Slade and Hurst come to mind, I`m at the moment giving MJ a bit more time to come good, but sense that good diplomacy by him and good speaking are his main strengths, but alas don`t win matches.
Fenty to be fair to him, does not pick the team, choose the tactics or seek out new players, what he can be held responsible for is choosing the manager and most times at least 50% of the supporters agree with his decision at the time, hindsight is a wonderful gift

John Fenty may not pick the team but he is the only constant in the past 16/17 years which have been pretty dreadful.

Ignoring the 5 years we spent as tinpot, 12 of the last 13 Football League seasons we've finished, or going to finish, in the bottom half of the League table. I make it 7 out of 13 that we've finished in the bottom quarter.

Is that success or failure?

Quoted from Garth

Agree to an extent, the budget we have is probably not enough but on the other hand the players that we have bought , loaned, begged and borrowed have not been good enough to progress and that is the fault of managers past, there are gems in the lower leagues out there we need to seek them out early.
Is there a manager out there who will suit Grimsby Town`s supporters aspirations, we always seem to get those with the ability to be bloody awkward for awkward`s sake Slade and Hurst come to mind, I`m at the moment giving MJ a bit more time to come good, but sense that good diplomacy by him and good speaking are his main strengths, but alas don`t win matches.
Fenty to be fair to him, does not pick the team, choose the tactics or seek out new players, what he can be held responsible for is choosing the manager and most times at least 50% of the supporters agree with his decision at the time, hindsight is a wonderful gift

This is two interconnected issues isn’t it? Taking Fenty first - he is always reactionary. Whatever he says on an appointment about new futures and the rest must be taken with a ton of salt. Good owners/chairmen are leaders, as at Accrington for example they go out and drag the fans into expectation and optimism. They restructure, they invest in the infrastructure and they explain the way the club is going to work. They explain the roles and responsibilities of backroom staff.

This can still be done even if the chairman doesn’t do it, if he employs someone to run the club or at least the football side of it.

The manager stands or falls by first team results. He ought to be selected purely for his ability to do that and not for any other reason. I know we criticised PH for dire press conferences but he ought not to have given them. They are just a load of meaningless and repetitive crap for kids and social media addicts anyway. That is no job for a football manager, it should be the job of someone who is good at saying nothing in a hundred different ways. ( Employ Matt Dean maybe? )

I don’t rate Jolley as a manager and I am far from convinced he is a great coach either. He will never make it big in either way.  But I don’t think Jolley should be sacked, I think Fenty should employ him to do what he does best - organise and manage a business. He would be a positive asset in that role doing the executive job and overseeing the football side of the club.

Fenty should then employ a really good head coach, a football man whose job is pure and simple - get results on the park with the players available. Nothing else. No PR, no youth development, no nothing except 3 points a game wherever possible.

Quoted from rancido

I totally agree but who ? I want this current Board to go as much as you but where are these mythical investors that are so interested in coming to the club? There is a general consensus on here to JF's presence is putting off possible investors but JF has clearly stated he wants out so that surely can't be an obstacle. If there is so much potential to have a successful league team here then surely even paying JF his " benign loan " would be a small price to pay for a current Football League team? Admittedly I'm no financial expert but surely the potential that is talked about greatly exceeds the cost of someone ( or consortium ) buying out JF completely , shares and all.

Fair point well put.

Yes but there have been prospective investors that's been reported, for whatever reason they haven't met the bar set for ownership by the current board. We don't know what that bar is to say whether it's reaonable or not.

What is clear is that a large portion of the current liabilities appear to have been incurred under the current board. They don't feel it's reasonable to bare the cost of those liabilities existing when they took the club over OR those made through decisions of their own making after that,  but  do expect the next owners to do exactly that. Double standard?

I was always indifferent to the Fenty debate during the NL years: fully aware that his hiring policy had sent us tumbling down into the abyss, but unable to see a way out without him.  His ability to solidify our short-term financial security, keeping the ship steady whilst many of our peers toiled with administration and extinction, is the reason we can still hope for future riches.  And it mustn't be forgotten that he was responsible for dragging us out of non-league as much as he was for our relegation.  He stuck with Hurst when vocal fans were pleading with him to change direction.

That was, until Bignot.  Rocked by the loss of our most capable management in more than a decade, he realised that investing in youthful ideas was our best hope of moving forward.  In came a seemingly bright, perhaps over-eager coach who professed ambition beyond our expectations.  We suddenly developed a strategy to raid non-league of its best talent: the only game in town for clubs such as ours.  

Now Marcus may have, quite possibly, had issues that deservedly earned him the axe.  Fine, carry on and find the next coaching prodigy.  But Fenty was spooked.  He'd heavily invested (relatively) in this new scheme and fallen at the first hurdle.  Panicking, he turned the clock back 10 years and reverted to type.  He ditched every single idea that had brought us a new found hope and dismissed all the lessons of the previous decade.  Any momentum was crushed.

And as I watched Slade and Fenty corner Matt Dean during that forum like bullies in a school playground, I realised that we were in trouble with this lot.  They were two mates doing each other a favour, unaware of how far behind the rest of the world they had fallen.  We may have since realised our mistake and tried to look once again at those ideas we had so easily disposed of, but without a catalyst - a football fortune as one could put it - we will struggle to reignite the flame.

I am seriously worried about next season as are so many on here.  We may not even surpass last season's points total, a clear sign of chronic stagnation.  I used to think that our par for the course was mid-table League One, a small corner of the football pyramid that for many decades we could rightfully claim to be ours.  But now, we're way short of that.  And if we keep declining, our rightful place will be non-league.  I trust Michael to get the best out of the squad he has, it's just a question of how willing we are to give him, and ourselves, the opportunities to get that football fortune. We need to arrest the malaise somehow and boycotting will cause more headaches, namely less income.  All I know is that we can't abandon it as all of our worst fears will become self-fulfilling prophecies.