AB/PH comparisons

Buckley knew what he wanted from his players......the players knew what was expected of them.....
4-4-2 ...no changes....no swapping....no tweaks.....4 -4 fking 2.  Two wingers to cross the ball, two midfielders to get the ball to the wingers...four defenders to stop the opposition....
Never worried about the opposition set up....no square pegs.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Buckley had a big advantage over Hurst because during his time here Grimsby was a bustling Town that was commutable from pretty much every Town, City & Village in the country, therefore made our ability to compete in the Championship much easier.

Unfortunately when Hurst came in we relocated to middle earth & understandably struggled to attract any right minded individual to even step within 100 miles of the training ground.

I know I left Grimsby many years a go but I didn’t know the European tectonic plate shifted resulting in Grimsby and surrounding area now being  off the coast of Norway

Buckley had the massive luxury of pre-Bosman where he could hang on to players when their contract expired - or cash in. Bosman is the single biggest difference between then and now and probably why the Championship is a near impossibility for us.

Back then we used to make a few signings every season (sometimes just a couple of players), and every couple of years sell someone for a huge fee. Now it's half the team and anyone good like McAtee you'll never extend his contract. There's no way we would have kept Groves, Mendonca et al. as long as we did.

PH has given quite a few players longish deals, which is a gamble. Back then you could just keep re-signing them if you wanted.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Buckley had a big advantage over Hurst because during his time here Grimsby was a bustling Town that was commutable from pretty much every Town, City & Village in the country, therefore made our ability to compete in the Championship much easier.

Unfortunately when Hurst came in we relocated to middle earth & understandably struggled to attract any right minded individual to even step within 100 miles of the training ground.

I've never lived in Grimsby but know this is nonsense

For every Mike Jeffrey or Murray jones that sir Alan signed, there’s a Richard Brodie or Jamal fyfield that the short one signed

I think Pontoonlew has his tongue firmly in his cheek, which seems to have gone over the head of a few.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Buckley had a big advantage over Hurst because during his time here Grimsby was a bustling Town that was commutable from pretty much every Town, City & Village in the country, therefore made our ability to compete in the Championship much easier.

Unfortunately when Hurst came in we relocated to middle earth & understandably struggled to attract any right minded individual to even step within 100 miles of the training ground.

Pontoonlew was being sarcastic.  

In the 1990s, GTFC was considered second-tier, which helped to attract quality players to our outpost.  Since then, the likes of Hull, Reading, Swansea and Brentford have built smart new stadia.

Quoted from GrimRob

When Alan Buckley was sacked in 2000 he was 49. Hurst is 48.
Town had a miracle season 2 years before in 1998. Our miracle season was 2 seasons ago in 2021/22.
Alan Buckley originally came from non-league, as did Hurst - for their first spells.
Alan Buckley was in his second spell when he was sacked, so is Hurst. Both went off to "bigger" clubs and came back having failed.
Both got promotions early in their second spells.
Both managers were generally well-liked with a vocal faction that disliked them.

Of course, sacking Buckley was followed by a spiral downwards into instability, which has arguably only been turned around by Hurst.

I assume this is a plea for Jason and Andrew to have patience and not sack Paul.  As I said in a previous thread, we need three wins minimum next month.

Quoted from diehardmariner

As amazing as AB's achievement was in his first spell and as ridiculously good as that football was, there's not a chance in hell anyone would be able to achieve that now.

Garry Birtles signed for us in 1989.  9 years after winning back-to-back European Cups with Forest, for a side that finished 9th in the fourth tier the previous season.  The modern equivalent of that is us (having finished a point off 9th last season) signing Karim Benzema this summer.

Not if we stay at Blundell Park, no.  If we move to a new 20k stadium, then maybe.

It's a pity Premier League players make so much money now from Sky subscribers that they can retire at the top and not turn out in the lower divisions.

Quoted from Sussexmariner

Not a big fan of Hurst, a bit one dimensional and negative for me but in my opinion Buckley has been THE best manager we have ever had so a bit unfair to compare

Let's not forget Frank Womack.  He guided the club to fifth in the top flight in 1935 and an FA Cup semi-final in 1936.