I am still 100% behind Paul Hurst

Quoted from Mayaman

Could be a number of factors:

1 Confidence / belief - players were shooting from everywhere at the beginning of the season.  If it doesn't go in you might get a lucky deflection, score on the rebound or get a corner.   The question is why did that 'having a pop change?'  

2. Play to your strengths -  I am no tactician but he fiddles to much depending on who we play.  We want a settled side but changing formation every five minutes prevents that.  It also has players playing in odd positions - McAtee last week.

3. Dropping players who have had a bad game.  We all perform badly from time to time.  If somebody is having a 'mare, sub him but don't can him for the next game.  This creates a climate of fear - when we are in that situation, we often screw up.

4.  Respect but don't big up your opposition too much.  I played footie in Mexico and they often thought I was German.  At first I didn't like it, but then I realised if I confirmed I was, it gave me an edge. It made me a better player than I was. Trying bigging up your own team.

5. DUIgate / youthswhoareboredwiththeareagate.

It's probably a combination of the above.

Or could it be more simple? General poor recruitment?

Hurst’s first season last time around was frustrating, but you could see they had put in place the spine of a team (McKeown, Pearson, Disley & Hearn) to build around. What is in place for the future to build around?

I’ve listened to most of Hurst’s post match interviews and win lose or draw he’s usually upbeat, but now having watched his post Wrexham interview, it’s the first time that I’ve seen him looking totally beat, he’s looks like a manager on borrowed time that has run out of ideas.

I’m not his biggest fan but I do appreciate that he generally cares and is hurting for the club as the interview shows, and just on that I would love it for him and the fans if we hammer Wealdstone on Saturday, and then go on a run and a least challenge for the play offs but I just can’t see it. Anything other than a convincing win on Saturday he should be put out his misery.

Quoted from Zmariner

I have reflected on this now. I am with Hurst for the whole of Feb - no crying if we draw against Wealdstone. If we have a rotten month then hard to defend. Up to the end of feb 100% support from me. I have not seen a home game that we deserved to lose and I donot go to away games any more.
We are due a bit of luck and Hurst looked smashed on his interview last night. He is a decent guy and I am not seeing a lack of effort here. There is a lack of quality that is clear.
Only 2 will escape this pit this season, if we cannot escape let it be Stockport and Wrexham , that would be a much better division next season
Feels like a time for pulling together and not pathetic protests.
I am fully behind the team and I have been really saddened by some of the recent hysteria and it has pulled me back in to support. I am as guilty as the next man of a rant when full of emotion after a defeat but enough is enough. 100% support and take the pressure off them , the team looks nervous and that is just confidence.
100% IN - UP THE MARINERS

This is spades... although of PH left today/tomorrow I could hardly complain
We are losing games by fine margins - I think 9 of the losses have been odd goal and we have only been beaten by two goal margin once in this run?
I am happy to give him until end Feb - obvs if we haven't won another (or lost them all by then) then it would not be unreasonable for him to leave
Can he get a striker in? Can the players we currently have start delivering? Will the two new midfield lads get a run and start to help McAtee create more chances? Can we find that ruthless edge both ends of the park?
We need to and quick!

I would ring changes for Saturday and be far more positive

Clifton (Smith) Wright/Maguire Drew (Sousa) Burgess (Coke) Raikhy (Abrahams) all start

4231
Front six
Fox Raikhy
Maguire Drew/Wright McAtee Burgess
Taylor

Nothing to lose - all 6 of those are hardworking and Id' say 4 are out and out creative

Sadly though managers (and PH is like this) tend to go back to basics and grind results out - but that isn't working cos we have little creativity
And the Clifton sub Saturday does little to win PH fans

Be more ruthless both ends and results will turn quickly

It is bloody amazing we are still in touch - so it 's a long way from being a lost cause

And remember this - one of big spending Stockport, Chesterfield, Wrexham will NOT be going up so it's not all about cash!

The tough thing is, that the start threw us off compared to now, weve been critical of hurst for not being attacking enough until too late when were chasing a game, but he could also not be being defensive enough either. I think if any new manager came in now theyd first try and make the team alot more disciplined and harder to beat, and we'd praise them for it, but if hurst played a defensive lineup against wrexham id probably have moaned.

Its a tough one but maybe time to gamble on a complete shake up, get fringe players involved, if nothing else it could just give the first choice players like ryan taylor a mental break for a week

Quoted from aldi_01

It’s difficult because some folk will find it hard to be pragmatic about things but aside from Dagenham, possibly Tuesday and Bromley away I don’t think we’ve really been battered or dominated yet we still haven’t won.

We were the makers of our down fall against Bromley and Halifax and we missed a prime chance on Tuesday and would probably have seen out the draw.

It’s frustrating and I don’t think there’s just one reason for it which makes it all the harder to kinda stop. It will stop though and we will turn a corner but I am well aware that for some, that won’t come soon enough. We’ve also got to contend with the fact that some town fans are giant babies and can’t forgive a man that called them out and rightly so, so they’ve been almost wishing him to fail…

I think that’s a pretty fair and reasonable post, though I can sort of see things both ways. From the other perspective, I suspect that had Hurst been a new personality to the club, the level of support for him would have been much lower having ultimately overseen relegation and this current run of form (which however you frame it, has been shocking).

But at the macro-level, I think certain things have compounded people’s frustration. We can’t overlook the amount of money which has gone right through the club and into the pockets of its former owner. It’s not inconceivable that this season’s budget could have been £300k+ larger than it is. And that might only sound like two or three top players extra, but in reality it means turning the 5th and 6th choice options we signed in the summer into 1st and 2nd choices, which would have had a profound impact on the complexion of the squad.

And I still think there’s an element of our support which conflated the ‘takeover’ with a rush of investment into the playing squad. That’s because takeovers at other clubs only generally make headlines when there’s a sugar daddy involved (a la Wrexham and Stockport), but that was never the promise here. People might not want to hear it, but the plan is much more seated in steady, sustainable growth and restoration of the club. It will take time for the wounds of the last 20 years to heal.

To that end, recruitment is always difficult when to all intents and purposes you are assembling a new squad. There will be unavoidable mistakes, and for that reason I always felt this season would be attritional (except perhaps during those rose tinted days early in the season). That we’ve almost been forced into a further mini-rebuild of the squad in January isn’t ideal, I’ll admit, but in my opinion regardless of where we finish this season will go into next season stronger and more stable than we did this.

I don’t think for a moment Hurst should be shielded from criticism, something he will be only too aware of himself. The sparkle in his eyes that we saw in the Autumn has long since disappeared. The current run is thoroughly unacceptable regardless of context or any mitigating circumstances, and I simply can’t argue otherwise.

But it’s important not to act on impulse and emotion, something our former custodian was rightly accused of far too often. If we do sack Hurst, then what? There doesn’t appear to be an abundance of readily available replacements out there, and I do think that’s an important and relevant consideration. Would we welcome Steve Evans to BP with open arms? I’m not sure we would, and I don’t think the board would entertain it either.

Ultimately, the fixtures in the coming weeks look kinder than they have been. Hurst needs to avoid any embarrassing results during this period, he really does, but IF he can navigate these next few games with a series of wins then ultimately we go into the final third of the season with something to play for and the ability to put these dreary last few months behind us.

Stay calm. There are a lot of factors at play here, maybe some not entirely known to those of us in the stands. Let’s take it one game at a time. I concede we cannot afford defeat at home to Wealdstone on Saturday, but I believe we’ll win and things will look ever so slightly brighter for a moment.

If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs…

UTM!

Quoted from Humbercod

I’ve listened to most of Hurst’s post match interviews and win lose or draw he’s usually upbeat, but now having watched his post Wrexham interview, it’s the first time that I’ve seen him looking totally beat, he’s looks like a manager on borrowed time that has run out of ideas.

I’m not his biggest fan but I do appreciate that he generally cares and is hurting for the club as the interview shows, and just on that I would love it for him and the fans if we hammer Wealdstone on Saturday, and then go on a run and a least challenge for the play offs but I just can’t see it. Anything other than a convincing win on Saturday he should be put out his misery.

Bloody hell, you've surprised even me there, thought you'd be all over this calling for Hursts head knowing your dislike fir his style of football, nice too see some empathy being shown.
Gotta agree though, never seen him so brow beaten as Tuesday, almost looked like a man at the end of the plank waiting to be pushed. Think he needs to look back at those first eleven games, show those to the squad in attempt to instill some belief back into the squad

What I will never understand is how we failed to build on that fantastic start
Or is it more the case that other 'fancied' teams are stronger and once in their stride we have been left behind?
But surely confidence must have been sky high and it is a complete mystery to me and others I suspect
It's not just bad form it's defeat after defeat... very odd

Quoted from Humbercod

I’ve listened to most of Hurst’s post match interviews and win lose or draw he’s usually upbeat, but now having watched his post Wrexham interview, it’s the first time that I’ve seen him looking totally beat, he’s looks like a manager on borrowed time that has run out of ideas.

I’m not his biggest fan but I do appreciate that he generally cares and is hurting for the club as the interview shows, and just on that I would love it for him and the fans if we hammer Wealdstone on Saturday, and then go on a run and a least challenge for the play offs but I just can’t see it. Anything other than a convincing win on Saturday he should be put out his misery.

Definitely the most balanced and empathic post of yours I’ve ever seen.

100% support or 10% support it goes without saying Saturday is huge in so many ways.

If we don't win the fans will turn and in respect of Hurst's record last season and this who can blame them? Maybe harsh maybe not but that's football.

It's a huge day for the owners as well; whatever they have provided the manager with is not delivering results so they have to think whether a different manager would turn things around, and have more success in the medium term. I think talk of long term plans  on the playing side based on one manager is a bit daft as obviously sliding down the table in tier 5 is just not remotely acceptable and the owners would have step in.

Like others I hope we beat Wealdstone and go on a run and give Hurst some breathing space but he has got to motivate the team and himself otherwise it will be curtains.

I rarely post these days and only occasionally visit, primarily, to enter the POM.

Here are a few of my thoughts on the current situation

Firstly everyone is entitled to an opinion but abuse of people who see things differently can never be right, nor the language aimed at the owners or employees of our club.

With results since October, I don’t think any football fan would be surprised if Paul Hurst were to be relived of his duties. How many times have we all read, or said, ‘it’s a results business’? I know I have!

It is just the way football is today. A run of defeats, the fans get angry and boards react. Didn’t our former owner say that 6 defeats and you are out was the ‘thing’? We certainly have chopped and changed managers often enough and that applies to the vast majority of other football clubs.

I think I recall our new owners saying something along the lines of doing something different, like running the football club on the same lines as a ‘normal’ business? Trying to build a culture, where everyone is treated with kindest and respect. If an individual is struggling in their role it is usual in business to help them through it, give them support and help them improve. A long term strategy.

Fans have quite rightly imo, expressed concern about team building. We only have around 5 players under contract for next season, one of which is currently out on loan at Woking ( I think we may have options on a few more) It looks like the summer will once again see a huge turnover in players with the inevitable claim that they will take time to gel.
My guess is that Paul Hurst is as much finding the type of players he doesn’t want rather than his signings being ones for the long term. It could perhaps to be a form of team building, learning more about what types do work in the NL and what don’t. I think the league is better than when we were previously here. There are still teams that fit the image of big bruisers, long ball etc but whilst I think you need some big lads and some legs I think you probably need more technical gifted players than last time around. Maybe PH is finding the same? McAtee is this type and although it was a brief cameo at Wrexham the loanee from Villa looked a proper footballer to me.
We all have differing opinions on how the team should be set up, formations. IIRC Hurst always had two central strikers in his previous spell here but has hardly ever started this way this season. I think 2 up top would give us a better chance of scoring the goals which have dried up, even if it does potentially reduce the bodies in midfield and possession stats.

Maybe we do need to show more patience? Most fans I spoke to at the end of last season or before the start of this season, was that it was likely to take a least 3 seasons to rebuild to get back to the EFL.
I must add that I expected, and still do, that we are, at the very least, challenging for the play offs this season.

Will this patient, long term supportive approach work at GTFC? Absolutely no idea? Chopping and changing managers hasn’t exactly got us flying up the divisions that’s for sure!

As stated nobody would be surprised if PH was sacked, many are calling for the his head but maybe, just maybe, the owners vision and commitment to the ethos may work longer term so that if and when we do go up, we are in a far far better place to kick on that we were last time. They could be wrong. There are, I am sure, examples of clubs going for stability but ultimately have to dismiss the manager because they stagnate. Other clubs swop and change virtually every season, mostly to no avail but sometimes it works.

There are no right or wrong methods it seems but by owning the club, Messrs Stockwood & Pettit have the right to choose and we as fans can either be supportive or choose it is not for us.

Question is do we, as fans have the patience to support the owners vision?