43 years

I’m feeling a bit fed up and I’m probably over reacting but I just feel like giving up with Town . I haven’t enjoyed going for a long time , with the odd decent game sprinkled in there . It’s not the Town I grew up knowing and loving even the Mick Lyon’s era was better than the last 20 years . Football/finances etc have changed so much I don’t even know what to expect anymore? I know my posts are often a bit off but I’m just at a loss with how hard it is to assemble a set of players capable of competing in lg2 . As we head towards another possible relegation scrap I was wondering if anyone else felt the same

Yes

Quoted from It Bites

I’m feeling a bit fed up and I’m probably over reacting but I just feel like giving up with Town . I haven’t enjoyed going for a long time , with the odd decent game sprinkled in there . It’s not the Town I grew up knowing and loving even the Mick Lyon’s era was better than the last 20 years . Football/finances etc have changed so much I don’t even know what to expect anymore? I know my posts are often a bit off but I’m just at a loss with how hard it is to assemble a set of players capable of competing in lg2 . As we head towards another possible relegation scrap I was wondering if anyone else felt the same

Words fail me.

Being at Blundell Park against Harrogate was depressing, even before the game began to unravel. One of the flattest atmospheres I've experienced. I enjoy away games but home games are a real chore, which living in Birmingham, I have an excuse to miss on the whole.

Having witnessed the quality of your previous posts the absolute Tosh you've written this time sums you up perfectly.  Just promise us that if you stop supporting the team you'll also stop posting here.

Tatty Bye  ✋

Quoted from 141269

Having witnessed the quality of your posts then absolute Tosh you've written this time sums you up perfectly.  Just promise us that if you stop supporting the team you'll also stop posting here.

Tatty Bye  ✋

Oh sorry William Shakespeare

Quoted from It Bites

I’m feeling a bit fed up and I’m probably over reacting but I just feel like giving up with Town . I haven’t enjoyed going for a long time , with the odd decent game sprinkled in there . It’s not the Town I grew up knowing and loving even the Mick Lyon’s era was better than the last 20 years . Football/finances etc have changed so much I don’t even know what to expect anymore? I know my posts are often a bit off but I’m just at a loss with how hard it is to assemble a set of players capable of competing in lg2 . As we head towards another possible relegation scrap I was wondering if anyone else felt the same

Yes.

Quoted from It Bites

I’m feeling a bit fed up and I’m probably over reacting but I just feel like giving up with Town . I haven’t enjoyed going for a long time , with the odd decent game sprinkled in there . It’s not the Town I grew up knowing and loving even the Mick Lyon’s era was better than the last 20 years . Football/finances etc have changed so much I don’t even know what to expect anymore? I know my posts are often a bit off but I’m just at a loss with how hard it is to assemble a set of players capable of competing in lg2 . As we head towards another possible relegation scrap I was wondering if anyone else felt the same

Yes.

On the contrary, the disappointments make the success that much more pleasurable. I have a friend who’s supported City and as much as he loves them now being the best team in the world, he does admit to getting bored of knowing your going to turn up and dismantle pretty much every team you’re playing.

I do find myself getting a bit fed up of always looking to the next manager, the next window, the next season, and never getting it right in the EFL for about two decades now. It would be nice for someone to get us looking up instead of down for a change.

Quoted from It Bites

I’m feeling a bit fed up and I’m probably over reacting but I just feel like giving up with Town . I haven’t enjoyed going for a long time , with the odd decent game sprinkled in there . It’s not the Town I grew up knowing and loving even the Mick Lyon’s era was better than the last 20 years . Football/finances etc have changed so much I don’t even know what to expect anymore? I know my posts are often a bit off but I’m just at a loss with how hard it is to assemble a set of players capable of competing in lg2 . As we head towards another possible relegation scrap I was wondering if anyone else felt the same

Yes

I think all football fans go through these emotions, particularly when your team has been pretty crap for 20 years, but the highs like the Conference play offs and the cup run last season help keep us going.

But as others have commented the appeal of BP is long gone and the atmosphere that many of us older fans recall from our younger days will never return whilst the current structure remains in place. There will be the odd game where it’s lively but those periods,  McMenemy’s team, the late 70’s/early80’s and Buckley’s 2 promotions, are unlikely to recur as the all seater stadium took away too much of the grounds heritage and soul.

Yes.

I’d give up a lot before giving up on Town. There’s a feck of a lot of total bullsh!te in the sporting world, champions league, premier league, Indian premier league cricket - all non-sport as far as I’m concerned. I can’t get to every home game by any stretch but I’d rather travel a 4 hour round trip to Cleethorpes than watch that bollox on TV. The problem is too many people expect instant everything - and that’s reflected in droves walking out of Blundell Park at 2-0 down with 20 minutes left. We might be poor at the moment but catch yourself on, it’s our team from our town/county.

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

I’d give up a lot before giving up on Town. There’s a feck of a lot of total bullsh!te in the sporting world, champions league, premier league, Indian premier league cricket - all non-sport as far as I’m concerned. I can’t get to every home game by any stretch but I’d rather travel a 4 hour round trip to Cleethorpes than watch that bollox on TV. The problem is too many people expect instant everything - and that’s reflected in droves walking out of Blundell Park at 2-0 down with 20 minutes left. We might be poor at the moment but catch yourself on, it’s our team from our town/county.

I don’t want instant anything but 20 years with no Hope in sight

Yes it’s very depressing and the nightmare seems to never end.
And to see teams like Harrogate, Morecambe and Accrington have better teams on a third of the attendance we get.
We fundraise to buy good players who are then sold i think the club takes us for granted.
I couldn’t watch us again in the national league that would be soul destroying.

Quoted from It Bites

I’m feeling a bit fed up and I’m probably over reacting but I just feel like giving up with Town . I haven’t enjoyed going for a long time , with the odd decent game sprinkled in there . It’s not the Town I grew up knowing and loving even the Mick Lyon’s era was better than the last 20 years . Football/finances etc have changed so much I don’t even know what to expect anymore? I know my posts are often a bit off but I’m just at a loss with how hard it is to assemble a set of players capable of competing in lg2 . As we head towards another possible relegation scrap I was wondering if anyone else felt the same

Yes

I guess many here are displaying false expectations of where we are as a football club.  We are not Grimsby Town of 25 years ago.
Look at the transfer fees we paid out then.  Several hundred thousand on players regularly.  Can we do that now? No.

We are not a 2nd tier team anymore, clubs evolved, we didn't.  We stagnated under JF and we'll struggle to play catch up.

Look at the clubs in the Championship, most have been Premier League. Must have newer grounds and most have major investment.

We have to accept we are operating at the level we are able to sustain with our resources.  Those showing signs of disgruntlement probably need to have a dawn of realisation.

We are where we are.
We are who we are.

And I for one will carry on supporting this club until the day I take my last breath.

We're all town aren't we.

UTM

It's depressing at the moment but the last two years have given us two incredible highs.

First the 2022 play off campaign, the most amazing fortnight I can remember in my decades of supporting Town, and secondly the historic cup run, beating five teams from higher divisions, an achievement that no other club has ever managed in the history of the FA Cup.

So yes, we are cheesed off at the moment, but the club are still giving us some incredible highs. So no I won't be tempted to give up supporting The Mariners.

It doesn’t have to be liike this. Plenty of teams with similar or lesser resources have fans who are enjoying themselves. We just have to get it right starting from the top.

It would be nice to just have a squad capable of competing. My first game was in 1999 but I only started regularly going with my Dad in 2002. Since then we've had two finishes in the top half of a FL division. And only one season where we got anywhere near competing for promotion. Even last season was not as good as it looks on paper. The FA cup run was fantastic but in the main we struggled in the league with some dire performances and until getting George LLoyd on loan looked like we might be in for another relegation scrap.

Considering how bad we've been for two decades now we're still remarkably well supported but I feel like the hope of new owners, record season ticket sales and the injection of unexpected cash from the FA cup run means that the failures of this season are an even more bitter pill to swallow than in the past. It really is the hope that kills you.

Quoted from mariner91

It would be nice to just have a squad capable of competing. My first game was in 1999 but I only started regularly going with my Dad in 2002. Since then we've had two finishes in the top half of a FL division. And only one season where we got anywhere near competing for promotion. Even last season was not as good as it looks on paper. The FA cup run was fantastic but in the main we struggled in the league with some dire performances and until getting George LLoyd on loan looked like we might be in for another relegation scrap.

Considering how bad we've been for two decades now we're still remarkably well supported but I feel like the hope of new owners, record season ticket sales and the injection of unexpected cash from the FA cup run means that the failures of this season are an even more bitter pill to swallow than in the past. It really is the hope that kills you.

While I am to old and set in my ways to not go every week I do wonder if I would be the same if like you my first experience was 20 years ago and I had missed the preceding 35 years.

Been going since the late 60’s so have experienced many ups and even more downs, but that’s football, every team, apart from perhaps the big boys in the premiership, will experience highs and lows. You could even say that Man U, for them, are having a down since Sir Alex left. So yes the grounds a dump, the football at the moment is not great but eventually the football gods will smile on us again and we will be smiling.

Quoted from It Bites

I’m feeling a bit fed up and I’m probably over reacting but I just feel like giving up with Town . I haven’t enjoyed going for a long time , with the odd decent game sprinkled in there . It’s not the Town I grew up knowing and loving even the Mick Lyon’s era was better than the last 20 years . Football/finances etc have changed so much I don’t even know what to expect anymore? I know my posts are often a bit off but I’m just at a loss with how hard it is to assemble a set of players capable of competing in lg2 . As we head towards another possible relegation scrap I was wondering if anyone else felt the same

Nope, I am a true, 100% committed GTFC supporter through thick and thin.

Well I know this won't go down very well. I go with my 15 year old son. Hes been going since he was 6 and we've travelled all over. However he's lost that much intrest in coming away dissapointed not just when we lose but with the performances in general. He's also taken intrest in another sport he likes participating in on weekends. I've just sold our season tickets to my friend and his nephew. Il still go now and again.

You can't do it , none of us can there is  no point in pretending .

I love football because I love Town , without Town there is no football for me .

Quoted from Mappers

You can't do it , none of us can there is  no point in pretending .

I love football because I love Town , without Town there is no football for me .

Thanks mate 😊

We have been uninspiring when being successful non league.

It's only a matter of time we will turn the corner and be exciting as well as successful.

Let's hope David is the man who bring back the good old days.

Because of health problems I have watched my last live game but look forward in watching town on the telly and reading reports on here.

It would be great to read every week we were great played fast attacking football and they had no answer to pace and class .

It's the day after a game, a time for naval gazing. As the next game approaches optimism rises and the great thing about this sport is that it always has the capacity to surprise you.

I can't speak for others but we've had 17 of the last 20 years where we've struggled and haven't really hit on like many believed and hoped we would. We've had some really good seasons in that time but they never seem to sustain themselves into something that feels the next 20 years will be better. If we go down again then I think that'll mark a terminal decline as the appetite for non-league football simply won't be there, in my opinion.

Every season, every football fan hopes for the best and for the majority of the teams in each league, it's a sliding scale of disappointment to despair. I think we've spent far too long in the despair stage that the passion is pouring away. Let's be real, we're all here because we love Grimsby Town Football Club and you aren't going to have many, if any roaming football fans picking up an interesting in our club.

If we start the new year well, pick up some vital points and take us up the league to give us some breathing space then we can begin to think about the future. I think a change in management has been positive, albeit sad that Hurst had to go, but this is a business at the end of the day.

I think we can accept being beaten on our day by a better side but that hasn't always been the case and players don't look up for it, either through attitude or a lack of skill. See how we go in the new year, hope for the best! UTM.

We’ve just been so unfortunate to have been owned by a complete moron for nearly 20 years at the time we had been. We’ve dropped from a position that now we’d have to have near oil-state ownership levels of cash to be able to hold regularly. We’ve missed the boat on relocation due to high costs of materials.

The stadium will put a lot of floaters off week to week because at 80% of grounds now you would have better facilities in all areas of the ground. There’s a higher standard expected now. As much as - and this is a generalisation - exiles find Blundell Park comforting it really is a excrement ground by 2020s standards. If we were coming here away we’d absolutely take the urine out of it. I find the board’s stance on relocation frustrating - alright we don’t fill it but you’d change your pants if you slipped a wet one out wouldn’t you even if you hadn’t filled them? I appreciate it’s really not a great time to be trying to get a new stadium but it does seem very final that it’s not being considered at all. The training ground is in progress and seems to be getting close going off the recent fans forum which is a positive.

The playing side of things is difficult. The hangover from the unprofessional former ownership might take 5-10yrs to ease. It’s not an attractive place to come and live for a young man of say 25 (as nice as the Waltham and the Wolds etc are). There’s only so many players of L2 standard who live in W, S and E Yorks, the East Mids and Lincs who can commute in. The YT having a bit of success in the YFA Cup is good and should they get through again it only increases the stock of the set up in general. A local lad has just made his 250th professional appearance whatever your opinion on him and that is definitely good for the Youth set up too. Well done to the staff involved on both of those counts.

Overall I don’t think we’ll see any real change to our fortunes for another year or two yet. It’s a great shame that the Cup money has had to be used on making sure the ground is usable and misinvested in some poor footballers as it would have accelerated us a bit. I just hope the board can find some new cash investment from somewhere or someone to move it along a bit quicker.

I believe that the sun shines after the rain
I believe if you don't get hurt you'll never gain
You don't believe - I won't attempt to make you
You are asleep - I won't attempt to wake you

Quoted from GrimPol

You are asleep - I won't attempt to wake you

Very cleverly

6 wins all season, one of those against Slough, is a really poor return. Nothing even close to a cup run to divert attention away from the league, watching clubs stroll past us up the division, feeling early season optimism, and then new manager optimism dissipate, all takes its toll.

Think some of it is probably over-exposure to it all. I live away from town and have barely got to a game for personal and work reasons for the past couple of seasons, so being engaged online is a way of keeping in touch with the club, friends & the town more generally. It’s great when you win but awful when it’s going badly, it’s hard to just drop it all and ignore it, just log off or whatever. Not helped by people who actively find enjoyment in us losing & constantly negging everyone out. May be different if I could go on a weekly basis & could get my fix by walking 5 mins up Grimsby Road, rather than sitting on here or twitter or listening to podcasts & Humberside shows.

Might just give it all a rest. Take up bonsai or something instead & just watch the highlights on a Saturday night.

2 amazing seasons.

Its like a marriage - not every day is lollipops and unicorns.

If you want that go and support Man City and be bored sh1teless.

Honestly can’t believe the negativity on this thread. If you want trophies and medals then GTFC isn’t for you. I’ve been going to BP since 1968, since I was 5. The good, the bad and the truly fuckingawful.

The Fenty years were awful and the legacy continues to influence the future but then, to me, that’s the time to keep the faith. There’s several aspects of the match day experience that make you question your sanity, I get that but I’ve come far too far to give up on my club.

Quoted from It Bites

I’m feeling a bit fed up and I’m probably over reacting but I just feel like giving up with Town . I haven’t enjoyed going for a long time , with the odd decent game sprinkled in there . It’s not the Town I grew up knowing and loving even the Mick Lyon’s era was better than the last 20 years . Football/finances etc have changed so much I don’t even know what to expect anymore? I know my posts are often a bit off but I’m just at a loss with how hard it is to assemble a set of players capable of competing in lg2 . As we head towards another possible relegation scrap I was wondering if anyone else felt the same

Ffs
If you go please also leave the fishy too so I don’t have to read your crap
Ps hope your season ticket is near me so that will be one less moaning sodomist ihav3to listen to

Fair bit of catastrophising going on here. We're not even that bad at the moment, historically, as we have sat through far worse.

High points following Town can just be being saved at the last minute, like Jolley v Notts County.
Maybe we'll do similar this season.

As Pink Floyd once sang: Hanging on in quiet desperation is the Grimsby way

I have been bored to tears watching the majority of Town's games since McAtee went. We have nobody in the team with anything like the flair that he brought. Surely there must be some money left in the bank for the transfer window

More excitement lately in doing 2 knits instead of a purl.

I've been watching Town since 1981. I've seen the Buckley years. I've seen us beat Everton, Liverpool, Spurs. Some great games of football. I've teams and players I remember fondly to this day and replay some goals in my mind.
True the last twenty years have had more downs than ups, however 2 promotions and FA cup quarter final is more than some have had.
Yes it's hard work at times and Fenty became a real issue. But the new owners are trying to get us somewhere.
If I'd read someone having enough when Holloway was here I'd maybe have that, we looked like a circus.This however is really bad timing.

42 years here. Not bothered about trophies. The only thing that concerns me is staying in the league. Don’t live in the area anymore and my son gets loads of sh1t for following Town. All his mates “support” prem teams. I’ve tried to explain to him, but all you understand at that age is having the P1ss taken out of you. I’m sure his head is being turned.

The optimism of close season, the relaxed demeanour of Hurst  the apparent quality of signings led me to believe we’d do well this season and carry on where we left off. The first few games suggested this would be the case.

And we find ourselves here. Yet a-fúcking-gain.

Missed a few games for a number of reasons. Summoned enough motivation to come back for the Harrogate game…

We’ve gone backwards. I’ve seen nothing (yet) in our new manager to convince me he’ll turn this round. Playing out from the back with players who can’t do this means teams like Mansfield will have over 30 shots on target. Salford is huge. A team that were thrashed at home by Tranmere. I suspect they’ll beat us.

I hope one day I’ll look back at this post and be utterly embarrassed. I won’t hold my breath.

Everything else in my life is pretty rosey......so I need to watch to Town to bring a bit of balance 😁

I think we all get fed up with it from time to time...if it genuinely gets too much then by all means stop going or if Town and wider life is a struggle then reach out, don't just hide away.

Some of the best parts of a matchday can be pre or post match meet ups with friends, or the away day itself, .thats all part of watching Town, not just the 90 mins of football.

I think that we're so far away from where many people (including myself) expected us to be this season and that's really frustrating and highlights how far behind being competitive on and off the pitch we truly are.

I expected us to be hovering around between 10th and 7th playing some reasonable football and things just looking better overall. Instead we've recruited a set of fannies to add to the predominately NL squad we brought up with us, not sure how it happened but pointing the finger is pointless. I suspect data tells us if a player can play and not whether they have the desire to fight.

We started the season with a manager who to some was marmite but is competent and had quite rightly earned a reputation for building squads with unity, spirit, resilience and desire, like the ones that one him two promotions. It became evident pretty quickly that this term was the complete opposite to what had worked reasonably well in the past. In August if you'd have said to me PH would be gone by the end of October I'd have laughed, but managers are only as good as the players they recruit and select and this appears to have been his down fall.

New manager is in place and unlike some will get my support as though he's a bit different to what we've been used to I think he's arguably around the level we could have hoped for, he'll need to change the squad and will need time, though we are in a relegation scenario I'm still optimistic with an ok Jan window that this group will buy him time, just!

I absolutely love what the owners have done, they're really good people with thankfully a growth mindset and like many I'm grateful as they helped get rid of Fenty but I've learned to take some of what they say with a pinch of salt to be honest as they not by intention but just enthusiasm inspire optimism and at time some confidence that things will get better, but where we sit today on the pitch at least they're not but I'm eternally optimistic they will be.

The continual process of re-set we seem to be drifting through often kills my enthusiasm but I'm a "supporter" and not a "fan" so I'll continue to support and attend but after 45 years I'm finally learning to manage my expectations and take things in context as our staring point is much lower in a game where throwing money at things can sometime bring success but as JS quite rightly points out rarely sustainably.

The telling context for me being that we haven't been the "Mighty Mariners" ( a team that opponents worry about) this century, my current reflection is that we're in the EFL (for now) and we have years of catching up to do, some of it doesn't feel that palatable to be honest but I guess it is what it is.

UTM.  

Quoted from HertsGTFC

I think that we're so far away from where many people (including myself) expected us to be this season and that's really frustrating and highlights how far behind being competitive on and off the pitch we truly are.

I expected us to be hovering around between 10th and 7th playing some reasonable football and things just looking better overall. Instead we've recruited a set of fannies to add to the predominately NL squad we brought up with us, not sure how it happened but pointing the finger is pointless. I suspect data tells us if a player can play and not whether they have the desire to fight.

We started the season with a manager who to some was marmite but is competent and had quite rightly earned a reputation for building squads with unity, spirit, resilience and desire, like the ones that one him two promotions. It became evident pretty quickly that this term was the complete opposite to what had worked reasonably well in the past. In August if you'd have said to me PH would be gone by the end of October I'd have laughed, but managers are only as good as the players they recruit and select and this appears to have been his down fall.

New manager is in place and unlike some will get my support as though he's a bit different to what we've been used to I think he's arguably around the level we could have hoped for, he'll need to change the squad and will need time, though we are in a relegation scenario I'm still optimistic with an ok Jan window that this group will buy him time, just!

I absolutely love what the owners have done, they're really good people and will always be grateful as they helped get rid of Fenty but I've learned to take some of what they say with a pinch of salt to be honest as they not by intention but just enthusiasm inspire optimism and at time some confidence that things will get better, but where we sit today on the pitch at least they're not.

The continual process of re-set we seem to be drifting through often kills my enthusiasm but I'm a "supporter" and not a "fan" so I'll continue to support and attend but after 45 years I'm finally learning to manage my expectations and take things in context. The context being that we haven't been the "Mighty Mariners" ( a team that opponents worry about) this century.

My current reflection is that we're in the EFL (for now) and we have years of catching up to do, some of it doesn't feel that palatable to be honest but I guess it is what it is.

UTM.  

Good post.

Nothing will ever be what everyone wants it to be but it’s a hell of a lot better than it has been. The very recent win over Crewe was far more entertaining than most of what we’ve seen in the past decade and I hope that it’s the standard for our future.

Whatever happens, you can be pretty sure that the owners will leave the club in a better place than before and I remain hopeful that the club remains an EFL club for years to come.

What I can’t fathom is that some are giving up on the Artell project after a couple of sub par performances.

I think there's a real danger of apathy setting in and I think it's lingered for a while to be honest.

Since our promotion back into the league in 2016 I've found myself really struggling at times to motivate myself to get enthused about Town for weeks, often months.  The lack of stability probably made it feel less dull though.    Even living relatively close to the game it felt more and more like a chore to go to games, I'm convinced if I didn't get my season ticket every year I would have missed the majority of games.   The 2-hour round trip to games now feels like a real grind and I've lost count of the times I've got home from games on a Saturday and thought "well that was a excrement waste of the bulk of the day".  For those who travel much further, hats off to you.

Covid changed the perspective a lot and I appreciated the value of going to the games, it's far more a social thing than a spectacle.  I weirdly enjoyed that season in some sort of glutton for punishment way.  I think it was probably the insertion of some sort of routine and nod towards normality in a generally excrement time.  Then when we were allowed back to games it felt euphoric and of course that whole season was pretty special.  The month of the play-off campaign was just epic, it'll never be replicated...

And from there on I think that's the problem.  It almost feels like it's peaked.  How can you top that?  Last season was flat as hell, it'll be an unpopular opinion but even the cup run didn't do a lot for me. Southampton away was a great experience and schooling Luton at BP is one of the best performances in a long time from a Town side.  But all in, it did little to mask a really drab season.  Again, how do you top what happened (at the time) 10 months previous?

This season I was hopeful and it got sucked out of me.  I think there's only so much deflating anyone can take and I genuinely feel that a lot of Town fans have just had enough, their enthusiasm is just gone.  Within this I do think it's a  combination of the things I've listed above (generally a bit excrement to watch, struggling to reach the highs of 18 months ago) but also the game in general just grating on people.  The bug bears from the top flight haven't quite reached our level yet, but it chips away.  

I can't quite put my finger on it but I've spoken to quite a few people who just feel disillusioned and losing interest in Town at the minute.   I'm in amazement at the younger lads (and lasses) who've not seen what I would regard as success, perhaps for the older fans it is a case that no amount of wins against Slough will be enough and impressing against Crewe shouldn't be the pinnacle of expectations.  

You only have to look at 1200 to Mansfield on Boxing Day unthinkable we couldn't sell that out in recent times. There seems to be a big switch off from the fans this Season after a fairly positive and upbeat pre season. The  Artell question whilst reasonable to query he must be given time to put his own marker on things. To me in these early days he wants to play offensive football BUT 3-4 of his outfield starters are simply not good enough. I doubt it will take him long to realise this and January should see this put right. The Season for the fans though is largely over and the conversation on the way home from Mansfield was cancelling plans for Salford away deemed a waste of time and money. The next two games are massive to stop the rot and the fanbase becoming more detached .I'm firmly sat on the fence hoping for the best here but fearing the worst and our EFL status o certainly looks at risk.

No town follows Town for the glory and trophies but a top ten place in league 2 maybe pushing outside play off place isn’t to much to ask.
Also players not putting in a shift and being incapable of passing or taking a corner is not acceptable.

Quoted from Yoda

No town follows Town for the glory and trophies but a top ten place in league 2 maybe pushing outside play off place isn’t to much to ask.
Also players not putting in a shift and being incapable of passing or taking a corner is not acceptable.

Exactly the way I feel, when I was playing local football years ago you knew when you had a bad game but was always determined to play better in the next otherwise you would probably get dropped, some of the players at Mansfield looked like they couldn’t be bothered in the 2nd half and would have been happy to be subbed. All I ask from Town players is to show commitment evan if things are going against you.

Quoted from It Bites

I’m feeling a bit fed up and I’m probably over reacting but I just feel like giving up with Town . I haven’t enjoyed going for a long time , with the odd decent game sprinkled in there . It’s not the Town I grew up knowing and loving even the Mick Lyon’s era was better than the last 20 years . Football/finances etc have changed so much I don’t even know what to expect anymore? I know my posts are often a bit off but I’m just at a loss with how hard it is to assemble a set of players capable of competing in lg2 . As we head towards another possible relegation scrap I was wondering if anyone else felt the same

I know how you feel, but at the end of the day, we don't have a choice, do we?  I've been a Town fan for the last 73 years, and I am afraid there's nothing I can do about it.  It's like saying that you don't like the colour of your eyes.... that's the hand you've been dealt, and even if you started going to watch another team home and away every game , you know, like we all do, that you'd be looking up Town's result, and given the slightest encouragement, you'd return to BP.

Quoted from diehardmariner

I think there's a real danger of apathy setting in and I think it's lingered for a while to be honest.

It's an interesting observation, at the start of this season I stayed off here for a bit when I stopped there was a distinct air of expectation  that we'll be successful this year and in some people's mind take up our divine right in our place as the Regions top club.

There has always been a nuance of (paraphrase) "we're a proper club with great history so we deserve success" posters used to use the term "once great club" where we ever a great club? Or just a good club who every 10 years or so would have some success until JF arrived of course.

Now I've come back a bit it feels like expectation is lower and for some their view has changed to be a bit more realistic. Quite often you start watching a team when they're having success, I've often wondered if that programmes and expectation from the off that as a supporter you really don't want to let go of and face onto relaity?

I think the original post is completely over the top. I’ve been on this forum recently being somewhat gloomy and challenging those who think we’re not in a relegation scrap, which right now we certainly are, but out of those 43 years the OP has been supporting town, there have been some that were exponentially worse than this one has so far been.

I am down right now about our prospects, but there’s 22 games left and a win at Salford - as unlikely as it currently seems - would have us all buzzing again.

Harrogate was a horror show, one that I didn’t see coming, but Mansfield are clearly class act as they showed at BP earlier this season. We’re clearly not at that level, but we’ve seen glimpses of what we can achieve.

Onwards and upwards. Let’s hope we extend the gap over the bottom 2 in the coming weeks - I certainly haven’t given up hope.

Quoted from Heisenberg

I think the original post is completely over the top. I’ve been on this forum recently being somewhat gloomy and challenging those who think we’re not in a relegation scrap, which right now we certainly are, but out of those 43 years the OP has been supporting town, there have been some that were exponentially worse than this one has so far been.

I am down right now about our prospects, but there’s 22 games left and a win at Salford - as unlikely as it currently seems - would have us all buzzing again.

Harrogate was a horror show, one that I didn’t see coming, but Mansfield are clearly class act as they showed at BP earlier this season. We’re clearly not at that level, but we’ve seen glimpses of what we can achieve.

Onwards and upwards. Let’s hope we extend the gap over the bottom 2 in the coming weeks - I certainly haven’t given up hope.

Of  course we've had worse, far worse to be honest.  I'm not concerned that we're heading back to the Conference.  As I said on another thread after the Mansfield game the rest of this season will be full of good and bad performances as we adjust, but I don't for a second think we're in trouble.  There's more than enough to comfortably lift ourselves away from the relegation spots and I think we will do so.

But personally it all just feels, at this minute anyway - not just post Mansfield, a bit of Groundhog Day.  Hope, optimism, misguided belief...and then getting let down.  HertsMariner points out the ten-year cycle, well it's 25 year since we've had success really.  Again, that play-off run was just epic and once in a lifetime stuff.  But, perhaps arrogantly, it restored us to a level I've always regarded as our bottom.  I probably do need a reality check and I'm quite certain that I'm truly spoilt, but the achievement of winning promotion to the fourth tier isn't all that.  

That's completely unfair on Artell because he's inherited this position rather than contributed to it.  I really got my hopes up under 1878 that we were going on a journey, which was probably an elevated belief with the promotion in the first season and the emotional journey that was.  Last season I tolerated because I was still basking in the glory a little of the previous season.  But the letdown from this summer really knocked it out of me.  I hope and I'm sure it's nothing more than a bump in the road, but I can't deny how it's left me feeling flat and I don't think I'm alone in how I feel at the minute.

Football's a game of passion, it always has and always will be. You take that out of it and it's just 22 blokes kicking a bag of wind about.  The last 18 months have felt a real slog with largely little to play for and limited entertainment on the way.  I'm sure my enthusiasm for Town will come back, hopefully starting tomorrow night with a good result and performance!

Let's face facts when 1878 took over. Town was on the rocks both on and off the field, I think the learning curve was steeper than they expected, along with ground improvements at BP and Cheapside; likewise, the squad was poor.

For whatever reason the recruitment in the close season has been proven to be poor but we are where we are. PH lost his job because of this and now we have DA. Rome wasn't built in a day, neither is a football club.

We are now in a better place than we were so let's be thankful for what we have. Ground improvements and a League 2 team.

UTM

I hope we are still not employing that recruitment expert we employed to help.Paul Hurst out... He was a great help!

All I want is a team of players who are not only proud to wear the Town shirt but proud to play for the club, at the moment I think we have a few players who can’t really be bothered about either. UTM

The January transfer window is needed to fix nearly every problem  in the squad.  The number of issues is growing. It is critical to get it right.  Difficult to do with no funding or very little money.

Quoted from DB

Let's face facts when 1878 took over. Town was on the rocks both on and off the field, I think the learning curve was steeper than they expected, along with ground improvements at BP and Cheapside; likewise, the squad was poor.

For whatever reason the recruitment in the close season has been proven to be poor but we are where we are. PH lost his job because of this and now we have DA. Rome wasn't built in a day, neither is a football club.

We are now in a better place than we were so let's be thankful for what we have. Ground improvements and a League 2 team.

UTM

This keeps getting repeated, but still isn't true for me.

I don't think anyone has got a consistent tune out of them yet, which is a different matter. When a team is struggling, it's easy to say that the players aren't good enough, but that isn't always the case.

I watched Chelsea last night, and despite spending a gazillion pounds on some of the best and most promising talents out there, they are struggling to get any cohesion in the team.

I know we are not in their orbit, but the point is the same. I believe we have perfectly adequate league 2 standard players in the squad and all that is missing is a bit of direction and belief, with maybe a smidge of luck thrown in.

Yes, we do need two or three in certain areas, mainly in the spine of the team in my opinion. Centre back, centre mid and a forward would be my preference as a minimum.

I think we have a better squad than last season, but they just aren't performing consistently to the levels they are capable of, and the manager has his work cut out correcting this.

I would also argue that performance levels of existing players has been more of an issue than recruitment in the summer

I'd like to think that we've got a decent bit of budget remaining for players. I can't imagine that Hurst intentionally left us with just 3 forwards in the squad at the start of the season and just 3 central defenders (including the ageing Waterfall) seems too few as well. My guess is that one or two signings or other loan deals fell through as the window closed which led to the unbalanced squad we have today.

Hopefully, something which Artell will be able to rectify in January. Andy Smith would be an ideal signing, but I wonder if he might see it as a bit too much of a step down at this point in his career? You'd think he would be looking to play League One football at least this season.

Is Andy Smith the only centre back in the world? We need to look beyond players who have played for us previously. It's an unhealthy obsession.

We need players DA can work with long term to mould into the system he wants us playing.

We have cover at CB as both Efete & Mullarkey can play there.

Quoted from Vance Warner

I would also argue that performance levels of existing players has been more of an issue than recruitment in the summer

I’d agree with that.

No names, no pack drill but several of the retained squad in the summer are simply not up to playing the way Hurst wanted to play or Artell wants to play.

I’d like to put my two pence into this debate. I started supporting Town in 1958. It was a pulsating 2-2 draw at BP v Fulham and it left me with a huge sense of pride. We were the underdogs playing London aristocrats but we gave them a real fright. Town became my team. I was a country bumpkin from Burgh and Grimsby was the place for me. I paired the football team with the fishing and was hugely proud that it was famous world wide for its fishing fleet. Loved going on the paddle steamer out to Spurn Head on day trips with my parents.
I seem to remember more good times then and some great goalscorers such as Ron Rafferty and Matt Tees. Perhaps rose-tinted glasses about the past, but the last 20 years have been very hard. 1998 was a high, two successful visits to Wembley. We were going to get a new stadium, but all sorts of opposition was put in the way and nothing happened. Other places with run down grounds got new stadiums -Donny, Rotherham etc. Why did Grimsby always miss out? I am absolutely desperate for this club to get back to good days but at 76 I am not sure I am going to see them. If I won the Euromillions I would offer most of it to the club. It matters to me, it’s been part of my life but I find it tough having to get over defeat after defeat. When we lose, I am as miseraabke as anything. The area needs a boost and it is not going to come from Tory levelling up. The Mariners are needed to provide that boost and it is why we must keep supporting the club. When we were promoted two years ago from the dreaded NL, those lads played their hearts out and would not accept defeat in those play-offs. It was astonishing to witness such guts, such determination in the face of adversity. That’s why I have so much respect for Luke Waterfall, and it’s that sort of fight we need now. UTM.

Quoted from 141269

It's Andy Smith the only centre back in the world? We need to look beyond players who have played for us previously. It's an unhealthy obsession.

We need players DA can work with long term to mould into the system he wants us playing.

We have cover at CB as both Efete & Mullarkey can play there.

I don't recall claiming Andy Smith was the only central defender around? Just noted that we know he's a decent player at this level and locality and his past time with us shows a loan is viable.

We signed both Efete and Mullarkey as full-backs and they've played in that position pretty much exclusively. There's a difference between covering at centre-back in an emergency and being interchangeable with players who normally play there.

For what it's worth, I think both could probably do a decent job in a back three, but I can't see that happening as we don't really have the players to act as attacking wing-backs.

It just seems that there's an obsession with ex town players.

It's only the last transfer window that we stopped clambering at getting Bogle back.

Former players seem to be like the ex girlfriend that we just can't let go of and spend too much time hoping we can give it another go.

Quoted from 141269

It just seems that there's an obsession with ex town players.

It's only the last transfer window that we stopped clambering at getting Bogle back.

Former players seem to be like the ex girlfriend that we just can't let go of and spend too much time hoping we can give it another go.

I couldn’t care less whether they’ve played for us before. If they’re good enough, it really doesn’t matter.

Quoted from hampshiremariner

I’d like to put my two pence into this debate. I started supporting Town in 1958. It was a pulsating 2-2 draw at BP v Fulham and it left me with a huge sense of pride. We were the underdogs playing London aristocrats but we gave them a real fright. Town became my team. I was a country bumpkin from Burgh and Grimsby was the place for me. I paired the football team with the fishing and was hugely proud that it was famous world wide for its fishing fleet. Loved going on the paddle steamer out to Spurn Head on day trips with my parents.
I seem to remember more good times then and some great goalscorers such as Ron Rafferty and Matt Tees. Perhaps rose-tinted glasses about the past, but the last 20 years have been very hard. 1998 was a high, two successful visits to Wembley. We were going to get a new stadium, but all sorts of opposition was put in the way and nothing happened. Other places with run down grounds got new stadiums -Donny, Rotherham etc. Why did Grimsby always miss out? I am absolutely desperate for this club to get back to good days but at 76 I am not sure I am going to see them. If I won the Euromillions I would offer most of it to the club. It matters to me, it’s been part of my life but I find it tough having to get over defeat after defeat. When we lose, I am as miseraabke as anything. The area needs a boost and it is not going to come from Tory levelling up. The Mariners are needed to provide that boost and it is why we must keep supporting the club. When we were promoted two years ago from the dreaded NL, those lads played their hearts out and would not accept defeat in those play-offs. It was astonishing to witness such guts, such determination in the face of adversity. That’s why I have so much respect for Luke Waterfall, and it’s that sort of fight we need now. UTM.

Yo Hants - I am totally with your first class post. At 76 I have been hooked/suffered since my first game with my dad in September 1957 - a 7- 2 win over Leyton Orient. I sill get depressed if we lose Saturday /Tuesday - my wife thinks I need help.

48 years old and first few games for Town were Norwich in the Milk Cup quarter finals, Newcastle (because Keegan was playing for them) and maybe Watford in the cup. First players of note were Drinkell, Lund, Ford, the Moores, Wilkinson, Batch et al. Names I heard from elders before I even got to attend a game.

I was fortunate enough for my teenage years to largely correlate with Buckley’s most successful times and, intercourse me, we were spoilt then.

First year I met my missus we got relegated from (the now) Championship. And by and large it’s been excrement ever since.

Hats off to anyone of my age or beyond or can still muster proper enthusiasm - I really struggle.

And an even bigger hats off to anyone who can’t remember the above and has grown up on the last 20 years of football and is still here. You guys are the real heroes.

What frightens me a little is that Artell now faces the same situation that Hurst was faced with when he returned to the club in 2020. A disjointed and underperforming squad on the fringes of the relegation zone.

He brought in some better players in the January window but was not able to keep us up.

Do people think we are in a better or worse position now then we were then? The squad DA inherited is probably better than the one Hurst had to deal with, but on the other hand the standard in L2 has improved in the last three years.

Quoted from ginnywings

This keeps getting repeated, but still isn't true for me.

I don't think anyone has got a consistent tune out of them yet, which is a different matter. When a team is struggling, it's easy to say that the players aren't good enough, but that isn't always the case.

I watched Chelsea last night, and despite spending a gazillion pounds on some of the best and most promising talents out there, they are struggling to get any cohesion in the team.

I know we are not in their orbit, but the point is the same. I believe we have perfectly adequate league 2 standard players in the squad and all that is missing is a bit of direction and belief, with maybe a smidge of luck thrown in.

Yes, we do need two or three in certain areas, mainly in the spine of the team in my opinion. Centre back, centre mid and a forward would be my preference as a minimum.

I think we have a better squad than last season, but they just aren't performing consistently to the levels they are capable of, and the manager has his work cut out correcting this.

Consistency has been the problem for most players all season so far. They have one or two good games and then disappear for a few games, We don't seem to have the team, as a whole, singing from the same hymn sheet. We always seem to concede a goal with our dodgy defence while at the other end, they huff & puff. The engine room is running on low power depending who, if any, are playing well.

Quoted from RonMariner

What frightens me a little is that Artell now faces the same situation that Hurst was faced with when he returned to the club in 2020. A disjointed and underperforming squad on the fringes of the relegation zone.

He brought in some better players in the January window but was not able to keep us up.

Do people think we are in a better or worse position now then we were then? The squad DA inherited is probably better than the one Hurst had to deal with, but on the other hand the standard in L2 has improved in the last three years.

The difference is there was no pressure on Hurst to keep us up because it was all Fentys fault and Hurst  got a free pass when we went down. The same will not apply if we go down under Artell.

Quoted from It Bites

I’m feeling a bit fed up and I’m probably over reacting but I just feel like giving up with Town . I haven’t enjoyed going for a long time , with the odd decent game sprinkled in there . It’s not the Town I grew up knowing and loving even the Mick Lyon’s era was better than the last 20 years . Football/finances etc have changed so much I don’t even know what to expect anymore? I know my posts are often a bit off but I’m just at a loss with how hard it is to assemble a set of players capable of competing in lg2 . As we head towards another possible relegation scrap I was wondering if anyone else felt the same

Everything about it ATM is boring.
Over zealous stewards.
Expensive rubbish food.
No atmosphere.
Football is powder puff.
Feeling of stagnation.
Two smoke and mirrors corporate suits owners.
Fans who turn on each other too easily as proven by this forum, the default position is to name call and personal attack anyone with a different viewpoint.

The day Hurst took over in late 2020 (3 years ago tomorrow actually) we were 3 points above 23rd placed Stevenage who had two games in hand on us.

We're currently 7 points above 23rd placed Sutton who have a game in hand of us.  

Our league form 3 years ago read as 1 win in 9 and just five points picked up during that period.  Our league form over the last 9 games as of this morning reads 2 wins with a total of ten points picked up. Twice as good in every respect of form.

Our starting line-up in the final game of 2020 (an awful 0-0 at home with Oldham), the one before Hurst took over was as follows:

Sam Russell;
Luke Hendrie, Luke Waterfall, Mattie Pollock, Danny Preston;
Felipe Morais, Elliott Hewitt, Danny Rose, Owura Edwards;
George Williams;
Matt Green.

For Hurst's first game back a few days later (a defeat at home to Cambridge) he made two changes.  Kyle Bennett and James Tilley in for Edwards and Williams.

Our top scorer that season ended up as Lenell John-Lewis, a player we only signed in January, with a whopping 4.  After that Pollock, Jay Matete (another Jan signing), Green and the equally deadly Ira Jackson. Jr on 3.  This season we've already got Danny Rose (7), Abo Eisa (6) and Donovan Wilson (5) ahead of that with Gav Holohan and Rekeil Pyke on 4 a piece.  It's terrifying but at this stage of this season, we're only 6 goals behind our total scored for the whole of the 20/21 season.

This isn't 2020.  I think we've got gaps in the squad that need addressing and I think there's a couple of key areas where we lack relative quality for this level.  I think changes are needed but we're talking 3 or 4 in the window.  3 years ago that whole squad, from front to back wasn't good enough.  Of those starting elevens, the 'stand-out' players were probably Luke Hendrie who wasn't at his best, Luke Waterfall who had a dreadful season and Mattie Pollock who played most of the season with an injury.  The player of those line-ups who ended the season with most credit was Elliott Hewitt, that was from playing at centre-back though.

We won't go down, not a chance.

Very good opening post.

As for being a fan in the lower leagues I do get the commitment by some. Its a representation of being proud of your local area and the football team often best reflects that. Having said that watching Grimsby play can be boring,expensive and uncomfortable (cold winters day) and at times I feel there are more important things I can spend my time and money on than watching grown men kick a ball about. Family and children and other hobbies for one.

Without repeating too much for whats its worth having seen the high and lows from people first hand Ive known in the professional set up football especially at lower levels can be incredibly tough. Lack of job security and you could be out the door within 1 year(Anthony Church who played for Grimsby is just one example or others who churn out a career at lower levels for a limited time  going on loan,staying in hotels ,rent,travel away from family etc).

I think more should be done to safeguard players in the lower league financially. Again too many chase a dream and very few will actually make it even at semi pro level eg conference /conference north where a good calibre of ability is needed to achieve . I would say population wise in this country its potentially the top 12 %  that could make it at some level of the football pyramid starting from level 7  Northern premier league.

To be honest I think a lot of us are in the same boat here. I like the social side of going and we have been poor for so many years now i just accept it. I will always keep going but I am apathetic. Too many false dawns, our destiny seems to be the bottom end of L2 and I have accepted it. I find no point in taking it too seriously or it is painful but it has taken me a long tme to develop this approach. I celebrate the wins, ignore the losses and rarely look at the league table. You cannot invest too much in something that you cannot control. I will stream the game tonight and live in hope but I have not a clue how we will get on.
I do feel for the committed travelling fans who deserve much better. Utm

Quoted from cardiffmariner

48 years old and first few games for Town were Norwich in the Milk Cup quarter finals, Newcastle (because Keegan was playing for them) and maybe Watford in the cup. First players of note were Drinkell, Lund, Ford, the Moores, Wilkinson, Batch et al. Names I heard from elders before I even got to attend a game.

I was fortunate enough for my teenage years to largely correlate with Buckley’s most successful times and, intercourse me, we were spoilt then.

First year I met my missus we got relegated from (the now) Championship. And by and large it’s been excrement ever since.

Hats off to anyone of my age or beyond or can still muster proper enthusiasm - I really struggle.

And an even bigger hats off to anyone who can’t remember the above and has grown up on the last 20 years of football and is still here. You guys are the real heroes.

Thoughts with fella, the football hasn't been too good either.

Quoted from diehardmariner

The day Hurst took over in late 2020 (3 years ago tomorrow actually) we were 3 points above 23rd placed Stevenage who had two games in hand on us.
.

For sure we have gaps.

Hursty was allowed to bring in what he wanted to fix the problem and failed. Also took an age to play LJL and when he did think we it was his first win.

No it’s not the same.

One in one out if true could end up the same and of course no Covid.

Quoted from Phil the cod

Everything about it ATM is boring.
Over zealous stewards.
Expensive rubbish food.
No atmosphere.
Football is powder puff.
Feeling of stagnation.
Two smoke and mirrors corporate suits owners.
Fans who turn on each other too easily as proven by this forum, the default position is to name call and personal attack anyone with a different viewpoint.

Oh dear,someone has said it ,''the king has got no clothes on''

Last game of 2023 !

This will be my 1,215th Town game.

The 17th November 1995 League Cup against West Ham being the first. (Missed most of seventies and eighties as living and working away from Grimsby). There have been a lot of ups and down over the years, but I am looking forward to tonights game just like I have to over a thousand before. Always optermistic, often disillusioned, but always looking to the next match, and will alway do.

We got into the Championship in the 1980s and the 1990s.  Got there on merit and stayed there for many seasons.  Even challenged for the equivalent of the PL.

Football has moved on since.  Big money and investment rules. Club management has generally got smarter.    Grimsby have struggled with all these key factors.  Not helped by the collapse of ITV Digital.

We need hope and dreams to sustain our support.  At the moment promotion to Div 1 looks a very tall order in the near future.

Staying in Div 1 looks equally difficult as getting there, if not more difficult.  Lincoln are a well run club with capital investment and good attendances.  Yet recently they reported that they need millions each season just to maintain their current position.

I think it’s clear 1878 need to attract other investors for us to move on at the same pace as some people expect, only problem is the word “investor” suggests they’ll get a return on their money, currently that’s hard to see how.

Reckon it’s going to be a longish haul before we realistically compete for promotion from L2, but supports will still support as that’s what we do.

Quoted from GibMariner

For sure we have gaps.

Hursty was allowed to bring in what he wanted to fix the problem and failed. Also took an age to play LJL and when he did think we it was his first win.

No it’s not the same.

One in one out if true could end up the same and of course no Covid.

Think it's a bit unfair to say he brought in what he wanted,

I would be amazed if Hurst's ideal shopping list included two players from the Conf. North (LJL and Coke),  two players who hadn't played for over a year in Habergham and Lamy, a lad on the comeback from a serious car accident (Bunney) and seeing what he could scrap together from the loan market?  

The only player I think was of any stock at the time and potentially had other options was Stefan Payne.  Ultimately he turned out to be more than useless.  The loan signings who did ok in the end (Menayese and Matete) were well on the fringes at their parent clubs.  

Going back to the original post...

There is a lot of psychology involved in supporting a football team, even though many of us don't recognise it. This also allows football and football results to impact our mood, mental health and how we interact with others. This can be changed but some of the 'rules' of supporting a team act against that change.

We have all chosen to support Grimsby and invest time, effort, money and emotion into the club. Some of you will already be reaching for your keyboards to say 'I didn't choose to support Grimsby etc etc' but that isn't true. Even if you are not consciously aware of it, you made a decision. And if that decision was made for you by a parent or significant other there came a point in your life where you could have made a different decision.

So, our delight or depression at Town's results is an emotional response based on the decision we made. It is also completely irrational - we allow our mood and interactions etc to be shaped by something we have absolutely no control over at all. Even if you go to every game and shout louder than anyone else in the ground, you have absolutely no control over the outcome of a game.

But we can make an opposite decision like not going to games or choosing not to allow our emotions to be influenced by something out of our control. Psychologists will often advise people to 'control what they can control' and ignore what is out of their control and that will make them happier, more fulfilled and feel more in control of their lives. Football is a game of emotions but 'the rules' of supporting a team allow the emotions to completely over rule our rational selves.

It is possible to recognise all of this, make different decisions and respond to football in a completely different way but the psychology of supporting a team says that you are not allowed to do this. And the vast majority of us follow those rules without question (primarily because we don't know there are rules and that we are following them!).

Thanks for the therapy session Hans Werner-Gessman ..…😉😂

Quoted from diehardmariner

Think it's a bit unfair to say he brought in what he wanted,

I would be amazed if Hurst's ideal shopping list included two players from the Conf. North (LJL and Coke),  two players who hadn't played for over a year in Habergham and Lamy, a lad on the comeback from a serious car accident (Bunney) and seeing what he could scrap together from the loan market?  

The only player I think was of any stock at the time and potentially had other options was Stefan Payne.  Ultimately he turned out to be more than useless.  The loan signings who did ok in the end (Menayese and Matete) were well on the fringes at their parent clubs.  

It was a patch job anyway you look at it and reminiscent of the transfer business we'd done all season, bringing in players who have not played football in forever, those from lower leagues and some mercenaries. Matete was the only one who turned out to be a bit of a coup, took a couple of games for him to get up to speed with first team football but once he did, he almost kept us up by himself and it was a rush of blood to the head from him as a young player that was the final nail in the coffin. He looked far too good for that level.

Stefan Payne had a reputation already for being a lazy journeyman living off league clubs giving him a chance on the back of two good non-league seasons so maybe we should have foreseen what would happen. Morais who was also bought in and involved in that on pitch fight seems like Coke where he was bought in with the hope of using an experienced head in the dressing room and moving him towards a coaching role as his career winds down, unfortunately never worked out that way.

But yeah lot of players bought in were not even ready for first team football, Habergham was a trier but he never looked fit in any game he played and was blown up after 15 minutes on the pitch. Bunney and Lamy looked completely hopeless with the former looking like he should have retired.

I seem to recall Day said something like money was available for players, but no cheques were signed. He never said how much was available, so make of it what you like.

As for the main subject of the thread: I'm going to keep supporting the club even though it's been rubbish for years now and we've become more of a high level non-league club than a league club these days. The game has changed a lot in the last 25 years with league football becoming more and more expensive to compete it, we aren't the only club who has been a league club for most of our existence to suffer from this. Getting into L1 feels so beyond what we are capable of right now, we'd never compete with the clubs there who are spending money bringing in players, we still struggle to compete in this league even if I believe we are attracting better quality players, we still have not invested as far as we have to for the top talent and I doubt we will anytime soon.

I think I've accepted the reality that the GTFC of now is not going to repeat the past of punching above their weight in the second division pushing for promotion some seasons, football has changed way too much for a club with lower paid but industrious players doggedly matching the big boys on the pitch, the gulf between players and styles of play has become much bigger too.

My love of football is tied to GTFC, I like it because I like supporting the club as frustrating as it can be at times. I didn't even really watch football as a kid until my dad took me to games, I never was interested in Manchester United on TV as a kid, I've never been a football hipster who likes going to random clubs to watch games, I just like supporting my home club because I feel forever connected to it as the place I was born and raised.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Think it's a bit unfair to say he brought in what he wanted,

I would be amazed if Hurst's ideal shopping list included two players from the Conf. North (LJL and Coke),  two players who hadn't played for over a year in Habergham and Lamy, a lad on the comeback from a serious car accident (Bunney) and seeing what he could scrap together from the loan market?  

The only player I think was of any stock at the time and potentially had other options was Stefan Payne.  Ultimately he turned out to be more than useless.  The loan signings who did ok in the end (Menayese and Matete) were well on the fringes at their parent clubs.  

So why did he sign them then, he may as well have tried with the squad we had. Some of those he brought in were clearly his mates.

And for those that say the players already here weren't good enough well despite bringing in what was it 11 players he still ended up with a worse record than Runaway.

Bobby Cummings Tackle said:
'There is a lot of psychology involved in supporting a football team, even though many of us don't recognise it. This also allows football and football results to impact our mood, mental health and how we interact with others’.

You can say that again!!!

Quoted from hampshiremariner

Bobby Cummings Tackle said:
'There is a lot of psychology involved in supporting a football team, even though many of us don't recognise it. This also allows football and football results to impact our mood, mental health and how we interact with others’.

You can say that again!!!

Absolutely 🥰

Quoted from arryarryarry

So why did he sign them then, he may as well have tried with the squad we had. Some of those he brought in were clearly his mates.

And for those that say the players already here weren't good enough well despite bringing in what was it 11 players he still ended up with a worse record than Runaway.

The squad he inherited would have gone down. I'm absolutely certain of that. It was excrement, unfit and getting worse. Everyone else started the season a bit disjointed but got their act together November onwards, we just regressed.

Hurst got some things wrong, but trying to rebuild that squad wasn't one of them.  Look at the line-ups for the last few games before Hurst, there's nothing in them. Even the bench is paper thin.

It was a low bar, very low. But I think he improved the squad a fair bit. The biggest problem, in my opinion, was that he waited too long to unleash the shackles on them. We need tightening up but he focused too much on that and by the time we attacked teams we had too much ground to make up.

I think I am right in saying that, in the end, it was the defeat at Scunthorpe that was significant. They finished 5 points ahead of us so if we had won that game we would have had three points more, they would have had three points less and so we would have finished one point ahead of them. No one knew that at the time of the match, but it just shows how important that game really turned out to be.

Of course had we stayed up we would never have witnessed the most incredible play off campaign in history so every cloud has a silver lining.