Reflection Time

Quoted from lukeo

Providing we end up no lower than we are now (I think we'll finish 12thish) then I'll look back on this season as a positive. Fantastic fa cup run and a mid table finish in our first season back.
We do need to be realistic and see the teams like Bradford will always attract better players due to the amount they can invest with their fanbase etc.
I am optimistic for next season. Top half finish should be the goal, the aim should be the play offs. PH will already have 1 eye on next season and have a few conversations lined up. I believe we have a back bone of a very good league 2 team. If we added in 3-4 quality players I think we can hit top 7.

'Teams like Bradford will always atteact better players '
Questionable for me think Emmanuel , Maher ,Green and Harry walk into their team .

I will give them the leeway of all the variables this season but there can be no excuses next term ,I am expecting a conserted effort for the top 3  with play -offs a bonus  if we fall short marginally.

There will be clubs with far larger budgets than Bradford have next season but its no reason for us to not have high aspirations next term - Leyton Orient,Carlisle and Stevenage this season show us its extremely possible without shooting our load on the playing budget .

Bought a copy of four four two magazine the other day due to the fact mainly they were doing a feature on the top 50 players in the football league. I noticed there was a small write up for Harry Clifton in there which was nice to see. Missed out on making the list  but they included small write ups for players  who had just failed to make the cut:

"A local lad who's been with the club since he was a boy,this versatile hard-working midfielder is the on - pitch avatar for match - going Mariners in the stands. He scores some useful goals too."

Just my opinion but I feel that is over expecting so soon after being back in the FL. I'd love for us to do it but I'm being realistic

Quoted from lukeo

Just my opinion but I feel that is over expecting so soon after being back in the FL. I'd love for us to do it but I'm being realistic

Agree with you.

We shouldn't forget that Hurst couldn't find a decent striker willing to come to us in January.
Unless that changes, we won't be pushing for the top 3...or the play-offs either imo.

We've got some extra cash from the cup success, but there'll be at least half-a-dozen clubs with larger budgets than ours.

Our FA Cup exploits may make us a more attractive proposition, but let's not kid ourselves: cash in hand trumps FA Cup history.

Think we need to moderate our hopes and expectations till we see what El General can do in the summer transfer market.

If we're going to be honest this season was pretty much a miracle, All I wanted was to not get relegated.   El General had about 3 weeks to dip his hand in the bargain bin blindfolded and still constructed a squad that will finish somewhere between 10-14th in the league after playing a horrendous amount of games, it's pretty remarkable even without the cup run. He's improved players too, start of the season we got some results from hard work and graft alone, fast forard a few months and we are knocking it around like Arsenal.  Only thing I think he could have done differently is to have kept Manny and Sousa as options - not because of rose-tinted glasses but because they wouldn't have been any worse than the loan signings we've had and both had different attributes to bring in when needed.

I think some of the squad have been playing for their futures for a few games already tbh, be interesting to see how the summer goes after all the focus on us, new head of recruitment etc coming on board and an improved budget. Must be a lot easier to say to player 'Hi, I'm from Grimsby Town and we'd like to sign you' now than at any point in the last 10 years.  We don't and never will have the budget to win the league, but I think to get in the playoffs next season should be a realistic target.

Sorry i cant accept we wont /are not capable of challenging for the top 3 -look at the last 5 seasons in league 2 :
2017-2018:1st -Acc Stanley 2nd Luton Town 3rd Wycombe
2018--2019 :1st Lincoln City 2nd Bury 3rd Mk Dons
2019-2020 :  1st Swindon 2nd Crewe 3rd Plymouth
2020-2021: 1st Cheltenham 2nd Cambridge 3rd Bolton
2021-2022: 1st FGR 2nd Exeter 3rd Bristol Rovers

All those season there were teams with big budgets competing in league 2 but the footballing giants of Accrington , Crewe , Cheltenham ,Cambridge and Exeter all managed to find a way through league 2 .

We have to be looking emulate them we have a well run club with a good manager (I mean he nearly took Shrewsbury up to the Championship so this should be a walk in the park ).

No more settling for second best , the years of our former stadium tour guide custodian downgrading our expectations needs to be over and more glory days chased .

Quoted from OddShapedBalls

If we're going to be honest this season was pretty much a miracle, All I wanted was to not get relegated.   El General had about 3 weeks to dip his hand in the bargain bin blindfolded and still constructed a squad that will finish somewhere between 10-14th in the league after playing a horrendous amount of games, it's pretty remarkable even without the cup run. He's improved players too, start of the season we got some results from hard work and graft alone, fast forard a few months and we are knocking it around like Arsenal.  Only thing I think he could have done differently is to have kept Manny and Sousa as options - not because of rose-tinted glasses but because they wouldn't have been any worse than the loan signings we've had and both had different attributes to bring in when needed.

I think some of the squad have been playing for their futures for a few games already tbh, be interesting to see how the summer goes after all the focus on us, new head of recruitment etc coming on board and an improved budget. Must be a lot easier to say to player 'Hi, I'm from Grimsby Town and we'd like to sign you' now than at any point in the last 10 years.  We don't and never will have the budget to win the league, but I think to get in the playoffs next season should be a realistic target.

I must have missed those games where we knocked it about like arsenal🤣🤣

It wasn't all game we knocked it about like Arsenal, he was talking about first half's of games.

I confess to being one that felt we could mount a play off push this season, mainly based on the feel-good factor that the summer brought and all the positivity that was flying around.

Hasn't happened and I'm not disappointed about that in one hand. On the other hand, I do believe that there have been so many games that have been that marginal that the elusive quality striker we crave might have added valuable points that we'd currently be in the running. 5 goals turns 5 draws into wins and would put us 9th on 58 points, just 5 points outside.

However, we could all talk like that til Xmas and it won't change the actual position we're in and a mid table finish that will follow.

For me what it suggests though, is that we are only a handful of players away from being competitive in and around those play off spots. I think 3 or 4 quality players added to what we have gets us into the last 2 positions. 5 or 6 quality players gets us in the mix for automatic.

Our squad this season have shown that they can beat teams higher up. We've had some very poor games but not many, most are tightly fought and not much in them, including against the teams right at the top. I think there are players who we could improve on but of the 'regular' players, I can't think of any who I immediately think "he has to go". No-one has been poor to the point of making the list of inept performances on another thread.

The summer window will be the most interesting and highly anticipated for many a year and I can't wait to see who comes in but even though it won't be a 'demand' in my eyes, I will have some hopes on making a push for the play-offs next year because I genuinely feel our setup is capable.

There will be a little bit of realist on the shoulder though reminding me that we're moving onwards and upwards and so long as that trajectory continues year after year then it won't be long until we do achieve the goal of L1 football.

Quoted from Norseman

I must have missed those games where we knocked it about like arsenal🤣🤣

Ok then, not Arsenal under Wenger, Arsenal under Emery