Michael Jolley and the 3rd round of the Cups.

I was just thinking about the third round of the FA Cup which we got to 3 years ago against Crystal Palace and played 87 minutes with ten men. What a performance! Then remembered we played Chelsea in the League Cup (or whatever they call it these days) the following season and the delight when Green scored to make it 1-2. Also, that the pride in Grimsby was reflected in the applause for them at the end of the game. Both games had Michael Jolley as manager.

Add to that his amazing 10 game run at the end of 2018, which kept us up, and the sheer ecstasy when Town scored the wining goal against Notts County by Jamille Matt deep into injury time to secure our place in League Two. I feel his tenure has probably given us our best moments over the last four years.

What a shame he lost it with his barrage of swear words. I, for one, am very happy that he was with Town and gave us some great memories.

Keeping us up after Slade got rid of all the decent players was a miracle, and those two cup games were great days out. I was proud of the team and plenty of fans from other clubs commented on our exposure.

However, the style of play in that final season (narrow midfield and full backs expected to deliver crosses) made us very predictable, with far too many crosses from the half way line diagonally to Hanson. Whilst he would invariably win them, it was always with his back to goal, and sadly we rarely got in a cross from the by line for him to attack facing the direction of the goal. That style of play worked for the first half a dozen games, but once teams sussed us out, we had little alternative.

It’s a shame how it ended, but by then I can’t say I minded either way whether he continued in charge.

You could argue he got it wrong going man for man against Chelsea but we were probably going to get smashed that night whatever we did. I'd rather be there than not though.

I think Jolley is a decent short-term manager and his weaknesses were found out when the squad was truly his own. We got both Hanson and Green a few years too late and although I don't deny his budget was probably poor, he chose to spend it on a very small squad.

I think, other than Paul Hurst mkI, Michael Jolley is the only Town manager this side of the Millennium to have left the club in better shape than he found it when he arrived. That’s a sad fact, but also a reflection of what a good job he did, on balance, given the circus running the club at the time.

It’s a shame; just a couple of months prior to his departure Town were in the League Two play-off positions. You could at least see what he was trying to do - having tried to take the tippy-route, playing out from the back, the previous season and failed, he’d gone a little more route one with balls into the channels ready to pick out big James Hanson in the box. It was Sladeball, really, but Ahkeem Rose playing the role of Michael Reddy wasn’t quite the same. You need to consider the difference in budget between those two sides though, which must have been substantial.

We were always patchy under him though - spells of undefeated and winless runs following I’ve another like night follows day. However, I’d have been intrigued to see how he’s have done with a fair crack of the whip; with a decent budget, decent facilities and decent owners. Personally, I think he could have done something here under those circumstances, but I guess we’ll never know.

I’ll never forget the elation of that Jamille Matt goal against Notts County, or the optimism going into that 18/19 season. Jolley gave us more positive memories than most managers here have in many a year. I wish him well.

Adding on to getting spanked in the Chelsea FA Cup game was the sheer amazement being at Exeter a few days later and putting in an unbelievable performance to win 3-1. He may have done a few things wrong when he was here but we had some great days with him in charge too. Players he brought in like Obgu and the Swedish Centre back(his name escapes me) really played for him and played how he wanted to play

I think Jolley applied to much theoretical coaching from the coaching manuals and not enough practical experience from the games we played. I got the impression that he never fully grasped  that the players he was working with were from lower down the league pyramid.  

Quoted from jaygy

Adding on to getting spanked in the Chelsea FA Cup game was the sheer amazement being at Exeter a few days later and putting in an unbelievable performance to win 3-1. He may have done a few things wrong when he was here but we had some great days with him in charge too. Players he brought in like Obgu and the Swedish Centre back(his name escapes me) really played for him and played how he wanted to play

Ludvig! Who i really liked

See Ring is now playing for Wisla Krakow

Quoted from Poojah

I think, other than Paul Hurst mkI, Michael Jolley is the only Town manager this side of the Millennium to have left the club in better shape than he found it when he arrived. That’s a sad fact, but also a reflection of what a good job he did, on balance, given the circus running the club at the time.

It’s a shame; just a couple of months prior to his departure Town were in the League Two play-off positions. You could at least see what he was trying to do - having tried to take the tippy-route, playing out from the back, the previous season and failed, he’d gone a little more route one with balls into the channels ready to pick out big James Hanson in the box. It was Sladeball, really, but Ahkeem Rose playing the role of Michael Reddy wasn’t quite the same. You need to consider the difference in budget between those two sides though, which must have been substantial.

We were always patchy under him though - spells of undefeated and winless runs following I’ve another like night follows day. However, I’d have been intrigued to see how he’s have done with a fair crack of the whip; with a decent budget, decent facilities and decent owners. Personally, I think he could have done something here under those circumstances, but I guess we’ll never know.

I’ll never forget the elation of that Jamille Matt goal against Notts County, or the optimism going into that 18/19 season. Jolley gave us more positive memories than most managers here have in many a year. I wish him well.

Slade mk1 definitely left GTFC in better shape than he inherited.

Quoted from GollyGTFC

Slade mk1 definitely left GTFC in better shape than he inherited.

Slade Mk II on the other hand...

Going through the managers I've experienced:

Alan Buckley Mk II - ✅
Lennie Lawrence - ❌
Paul Groves - ❌
Nicky Law - ❌
Russell Slade Mk I - ✅
Graham Rodger - ❌
Alan Buckley Mk III - ✅
Mike Newell - ❌
Neil Woods - ❌
Rob Scott & Paul Hurst - ✅
Paul Hurst Mk I- ✅
Marcus Bignot - ❌
Russell Slade Mk II - ❌
Michael Jolley - ✅
Ian Holloway - ❌
Paul Hurst Mk II - TBC but currently ❌

I don't think I've forgotten any but 16 managers since 1997!

Buckley Mk III was a tough one. The joint management of Rob Scott and Paul Hurst got into the play offs which was an improvement on 11th under Woods (finished by them) and then their own 11th placed finish.

He was a shocking manager, tactically possibly the most anti-football manager I can remember.
His time at Barrow also shows what a total crackpot he was.