Just back

Worried? i am now

Dire performance, made a mediocre side win with ease, again. Created next to nothing, the defence hopeless, Glennon, Mullarkey, Rodgers, get them gone.

The midfield 3 were out fought and thought, and offered nothing, and he leaves Gav on the bench till 5 mins from the end😂😂

Wtf was he doing dropping Vernam and putting clifton out wide.

No better than under Paul Hurst, this manager needs to stop flipping persisting with this stupid system he wants the players to play, they cant do it. They are garbage.


Im worried. Very

I really want clifton to succeed and do beleive he can be a good player at this level, same with rodgers, but how theyve played so many games this season I dont know. If I was a holohan or a maher id be drunk off tbh

First time the finger can be pointed at Artell IMO.

He can’t help our midfield 3 being incapable of passing to each other or Glennon being an absolutely woeful defender.

What he can help is starting 2 kids in that midfield, not starting Vernam who was our only attacking threat all game (he played 25 mins) and not adapting in a game we were clearly struggling in.

He said when he arrived that hopefully you’d be able to see what we’re trying, today was the first time I couldn’t, we were shite.

Plus side I thought Tharne was an improvement (although now he’s injured). We’re going to need 4 more improvements minimum in the next few days or it’s going to be a tough watch until May.

I’m generally a happy clapper but that was poor today, really poor from the minute I saw the team and the midfield 3 I thought it would be a struggle.

Why not play H in the middle considering he’s actually a midfielder with Gav in front of Green and Chas on the right of a front three? Instead Green in front of the back 4 with 2 young loanees? If that’s your A licence coaching then you can keep it.

The players really p1ssed me off, soft spineless, brainless and gave an average side complete control, they cheated the loyal support today, not for the first time.

Instead of the video of the game this lot need to go and see the ATAW film to understand what proper players do & how much this means to us, absolutely unacceptable.

Artel and the club need to stop talking about projects as getting relegated isn’t part of the project plan but it soon will be.

Saw the team news and thought not alot of inspiration there.....
And so it turned out.

Not slagging the effort but woefully short of quality and the initial selection poor for how he wants to play.

Vernam at least looked lively but Tranmere were one place above us prior to kick off....that set up and players selected  hardly laid a glove on them.

Yes two urine poor bits of defending again...First one  Glennon wholly responsible...second one from that side of the pitch again.

The relegation fight is Truly On.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

I’m generally a happy clapper but that was poor today, really poor from the minute I saw the team and the midfield 3 I thought it would be a struggle.

Why not play H in the middle considering he’s actually a midfielder with Gav in front of Green and Chas on the right of a front three? Instead Green in front of the back 4 with 2 young loanees? If that’s your A licence coaching then you can keep it.

The players really p1ssed me off, soft spineless, brainless and gave an average side complete control, they cheated the loyal support today, not for the first time.

Instead of the video of the game this lot need to go and see the ATAW film to understand what proper players do & how much this means to us, absolutely unacceptable.

Artel and the club need to stop talking about projects as getting relegated isn’t part of the project plan but it soon will be.

When we go down we'll be back on track, since apparently we got promoted too soon and that's the excuse for us being shite.

It has turned into a massive week now. If we don’t do some good business before the deadline, we are going to be in the mix for sure.

If I was worried about Artell before his post match interview - I am now extremely worried about his incoherent and defeatist response. If he is like that in the dressing room then God help us all.

Quoted from chipsandgravy

If I was worried about Artell before his post match interview - I am now extremely worried about his incoherent and defeatist response. If he is like that in the dressing room then God help us all.

He said we would stay up! Defeatist!?!?

What’s worried me most is that we’re now relying on 2 young loanees and a CDM that was signed because his stats said he ran around the most, to complete our middle 3  

Quoted from smokey111

He said we would stay up! Defeatist!?!?

Did he convince you then? And does he convince you now?

Quoted from chipsandgravy

Did he convince you then? And does he convince you now?

Sounds a bit deluded to me.

Agree above:  Eisa also poor. Wanted Vernam to start.  

Worry is number of weaknesses in the team.

Subs should have been made 10-15 mins earlier.

Quoted from chipsandgravy

Did he convince you then? And does he convince you now?

Not entirely, no. But, 7 weeks in I didn't expect miracles. He never goes OTT or publicly slates the players. He keeps reiterating that we will stay up. I just didn't think the defeatist comment married up with this.

That was a really hard watch.  I really hope we get some full backs that can defend before the transfer window shuts.  

We need a replacement for Conteh sharpish because Green can’t play football, he just runs around missing tackles.

Couldn’t identify a plan for us to create much today either, a bad day at the office all round.

Very poor performance and surprised things weren't changed at half time. Playing out from the back ant then hoofing it up in the air, made an average Tranmere team look good.
Listened to Artell saying we won't get relegated on the radio, I wish I had his confidence. Too me points are more important than style of play.
Hope Artell doesn't turn out to be the next Mick Lyons.
UTM

Perhaps the most comprehensively inept midfield performance I've ever seen. Wood lost the ball pretty much every time he received it, Green wasn't far behind him in those stakes, Clifton was utterly invisible on the right and then wasn't capable of controlling the ball when he was moved into the middle, Andrews looked knackered from the start and not one of them had the nouse to move into a position to receive the ball when the defenders were in possession.

We've just lost 2-1 to a team who only had 1 effort on target all game that I can remember! We managed a couple of decent moves in between lots of dross but we can't be that bad again too often this season and avoid the drop.

That post-match interview was worrying. Has he lost the plot already?

I've not seen a Town team devoid of enthusiasm, game plan and motivation since the last relegation season. I just hope that this is not a bad omen.

It's not just another bad day at the office because if the team worked in an office they'd have been fired.

Only two sides have got fewer points than us this season. That is shocking.

We have a seven point cushion right now and if we could pick up a couple of wins we will all sleep a little easier. But the way the team is playing and the clear lack of quality all over the pitch is deeply concerning. We definitely need more new faces in this window.    

I’m trying desperately not to be too angry but that was absolutely woeful.

When it comes to player ratings, there’s going to be a few shockers. Our best player was probably Chas - even Danny was subdued after getting carded early. Anybody remember how good we were against Crewe?

It was a mistake to play Wood and Andrews. Thought Wood had few decent touches and was unlucky to be the one subbed. Holohan should've been in from the start for one of them, and Vernam was really unlucky to miss out. When Harry moved into the middle he pinched the ball more times than the two young lads had managed all game. Thought Maher's passing improved us slightly and Vernam was lively.

Ref let them intercourse about and control it. We also had a clear pen denied for the rugby tackle on Green.
That doesn't take away from us being excrement.

We can't risk going back down and it just feels like Artell is flipping about with a revolution when some of the experienced players he's freezing out atm have a better chance of keeping us up. He also comes across as a bit of a know it all male masturbator in his interviews, which is fine if we aren't excrement.

I'm too depressed to have a decent rant. That's how bad things are.

Quoted from davmariner

That post-match interview was worrying. Has he lost the plot already?

Hope not ,it took him 3 seasons (and a promotion) at Crewe so a few games in would be a bit early in the piece

Two weeks into his tenure, we completely outplayed Crewe with 8 of today’s starting eleven. Green, Andrews and Wood are the three who played today - they were all shocking - Conteh, Gnahoua and Hunt are the three they replaced.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

It was a mistake to play Wood and Andrews. Thought Wood had few decent touches and was unlucky to be the one subbed.

Really? I can't recall a single occasion in the second half where we retained possession when he received the ball. He just kept turning into trouble and losing it of miscontrolling it and losing it. It was much the same during the first half as well. Hopefully, just an off-day for him because he did nothing to help the defence and rarely found a teammate with the ball.

Not that he was alone in this sort of a performance. Clifton was much the same, for instance.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Two weeks into his tenure, we completely outplayed Crewe with 8 of today’s starting eleven. Green, Andrews and Wood are the three who played today - they were all shocking - Conteh, Gnahoua and Hunt are the three they replaced.

I really like Arthur and I think we miss him.

No idea if Hunt is injured, I know some have said he is, but he’s just completely vanished

Everything about today was poor....

- The whole performance from the players (not one of them can come out with any credit).
- Artells selections (Holohan and Maher should of been in from the start for some leadership).
- Artells late subs (dont understand 87th minute subs when we are chasing a game).
- Artells interview (sounded depressed and didnt offer any encouraging words).
- The atmosphere (but lets be honest, who can blame us).

However, the fact of the matter is that at least 8 of them players are not good enough and the others are inconsistant.
In the summer, if we survive relegation (which to be honest i think we will but only because there will only just be two teams worse than us) then an absolute full overhaul is needed of the whole squad.

The defensive back line is probably one of the worst I've seen watching Town and I've seen a fair few relegation teams.

Harvey Rodgers is one of the worst centre backs i've seen in a Town shirt.
Made me laugh in the second half, when the ball got played in the air, and he had about 20 minutes to judge it and he still missed it and the striker nearly got in on goal.

I'll be honest, the season just seems dead to me.
I dont see any decent signings in January coming (lets be honest, who would want to come here) and i think we just muddle of way through to May.

Quoted from Hagrid

I really like Arthur and I think we miss him.

No idea if Hunt is injured, I know some have said he is, but he’s just completely vanished

I’ve been told today that Hunt and Khouri are going out on loan. There’s an argument to say both should have started today.

Regarding Vernam, he was apparently injured in training early in the week which is why Wood started.

Agree about backline. Relegation back 4 and Harvey Rodgers is the worst starting centre back since Hope and Heywood

Going through the turnstiles today turned to my son and brother that the ground felt drab and quite completely the opposite to the Notts County game. Well that theme continued throughout a ninety minutes that was completely dire.

As others have said why the intercourse would you play Clifton wide right ahead of Vernam? Absolute madness. The midfield trio didn’t have one player good enough to play at this level and they were hiding every time our defenders looked to play the ball forward. Shocking team selection.

Fed up of watching Rose battle up front totally isolated, we have no physicality anywhere in the team and based on today no tactical plan. The after match interview reminded me of Keith Hill when he was at Scunny and we all know how that finished. He seems to become more incoherent with every interview and I for one am very quickly losing confidence in him.

After the excitement of the last game this was back to reality and yet another drab and miserable afternoon spent on at Blundell Park. Getting harder to make the effort and season ticket money might go on something more entertaining next season.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

I’ve been told today that Hunt and Khouri are going out on loan. There’s an argument to say both should have started today.

Regarding Vernam, he was apparently injured in training early in the week which is why Wood started.

Completely forgot about Khouri, you'd have thought both of them would've had a sniff at the anchor role.

Quoted from chipsandgravy

If I was worried about Artell before his post match interview - I am now extremely worried about his incoherent and defeatist response. If he is like that in the dressing room then God help us all.

Is there a link please?
I might as well listen to it as I can't be any further depressed than I am already! 😁

Absolutely inept today, everyone from the manager to the players weren’t good enough. He sounds more and more like David Brent every time I hear him, won’t get relegated? We bloody will playing like that mate! And you’re setting us up to get beat every week! Still persisting with slowly playing out from the back with players that can’t do it. I thought Tharme might be the centre half to help us do that but he looked no better than Maher or Rodgers. In front of them he put Green who has zero composure, positional sense or technical ability, and every time we attempted to play it out he disappeared and left a huge hole in front of the centre halves and therefore limited options. Then having 2 on loan youngsters ahead of him in midfield and leaving an experienced potential game changer in Gav sat on his derrière until the 85th minute is absolute criminal. Harry on the right? Vernam on the bench? Obikwu on instead of Wilson? The questions go on and on. And to top it off that interview afterwards was embarrassing!

We don’t need a project, a philosophy or pretty statistics, we need a manager to stiffen us up, sort out the basics, make us hard to beat and get away from the prospect of being relegated to the NL for a third time in 14 years.

Quoted from Germo66

Very poor performance and surprised things weren't changed at half time. Playing out from the back ant then hoofing it up in the air, made an average Tranmere team look good.
Listened to Artell saying we won't get relegated on the radio, I wish I had his confidence. Too me points are more important than style of play.
Hope Artell doesn't turn out to be the next Mick Lyons.
UTM

Steady I can read.

Quoted from Lincoln Mariner 56

Going through the turnstiles today turned to my son and brother that the ground felt drab and quite completely the opposite to the Notts County game. Well that theme continued throughout a ninety minutes that was completely dire.

As others have said why the intercourse would you play Clifton wide right ahead of Vernam? Absolute madness. The midfield trio didn’t have one player good enough to play at this level and they were hiding every time our defenders looked to play the ball forward. Shocking team selection.

Fed up of watching Rose battle up front totally isolated, we have no physicality anywhere in the team and based on today no tactical plan. The after match interview reminded me of Keith Hill when he was at Scunny and we all know how that finished. He seems to become more incoherent with every interview and I for one am very quickly losing confidence in him.

After the excitement of the last game this was back to reality and yet another drab and miserable afternoon spent on at Blundell Park. Getting harder to make the effort and season ticket money might go on something more entertaining next season.

Because Mularkey is a top RB, who stays back at the right time and destroys wingers and gives the guy in front of him so much freedom to focus on attacking without thinking about defensive duties... Why would he play Clifton in front of him?

Quoted from headingly_mariner

Completely forgot about Khouri, you'd have thought both of them would've had a sniff at the anchor role.

I thought Khouri would have been an Artell player, is he injured ? not even on the bench to at least be an alternative to Glennon?

Hunt has vanished from the matchday squad after Artell initially said he looked like a player who had 400 games under his belt and would definitely improve him over time.

The only reason I can think of playing Clifton out wide is that he has no faith in Mullarkey's defensive attributes and Harry will give better cover than Vernam.

I think we are pinning our hopes on Sutton and FGR remaining shite to save our season.

So, we have a new manager and he's somehow made us worse. Every winger that comes here has a field day and we are getting destroyed down the sides. Last game it was our right side, and this time it was the left. Maybe Clifton was put there to help out Mullarkey after the last game? I said at half time, get Wood off, get Vernam on and put Harry in the middle, because their midfield were totally bossing the game, and Wood was moving like he had a stick up his ar$e. He wanted way too long on the ball and was just getting picked off time and again. One of the worst full debuts I have ever seen.

They started way brighter than us, and it took 10 mins before we even got the ball into their box. We are at home against the team one place above us FFS. It then took us until the 80th minute to force a save from their keeper. The only one he made I think.

That midfield of ours today was shockingly bad. How the hell did we end up with two loanees in there, with about 2 dozen league games between them? Then there was Green, who has barely played all season, and Clifton stuck out wide, who with the best will in the world, will run all day and graft, but needs better players around him. Wood is even slower than Andrews if that is possible. Tharme didn't look much better than what went before, and I would like to see their winner again because I thought he could have cut out the cross. Rodgers somehow looked worse on the left then he does on the right.

Then there is that running theme of other players in other teams who just know how to do the basics. They seem to be able to head the ball properly, control it and pass to a team mate, something that looks beyond our lot 9 times out of 10.

As for the tactics, Adkins won hands down. Let us have the ball at the back, and close down our midfield. We looked clueless in how to progress up the pitch.

Tranmere were totally untroubled and I never at any time thought we would get back in the game, unless we got a lucky break, like the first goal, which landed at his feet unmarked. Was a decent finish mind, which is about the only positive from the entire 90 mins.

Totally p1ssed off with our continuing ineptitude.

All been said already. Need a left back who can defend. Artell must use what he has at his disposal and no make a team with little technical ability play like this. It is just dumb , Amos in my opinion is  a better defender than Glennon. The formation was a shambles from minute 1 and a manager is paid to fix this. Wood should have been off at half time, had a rough day. game too fast for him and his control was lousy. I lost count of the times he lost it or was out muscled. Not a fan of Rodger either , we need a tougher central defender, but only after we get full backs who can defend
I am an idiot but I could see that the midfield was hopeless. Their tactic of focussing on Glennon was a good one, he is a good footballer but no use at left back and should have been taken off.Clifton at full back would have been more solid
I can accept defeat but not that. 4 rotten home performances defensively in a row
It has become a chore to go again and I am very disappointed and I support Artell but for a supposedly smart guy he was nothing like proactive today and that bothered me. Tactically a complete mess for 90 mins and the management that was poor again. OK to talk a smart game but this is about execution and a plan and we look abject and clueless. This is no time for revolution and Pearson and Davies had the right idea, eke out some points and steady the ship. This is simply crap.Rant over and glad we are away next week.
UTM

Quoted from davmariner

That post-match interview was worrying. Has he lost the plot already?

Did he ever have a plot to lose? Hearing DA speak how on earth did he get the job ? Fenty got hammered for his Managerial appointments well 7 weeks in and I'm hugely annoyed. JS talks about anything and everything but the only thing he's had to do so far is replace Hurst and it looks like a balderdash been dropped to me.

For me Amos LB with Glennon LM solves the problem Eisa is bone idle and scores a screamer 1/7.

Quoted from 1mickylyons

Did he ever have a plot to lose? Hearing DA speak how on earth did he get the job ? Fenty got hammered for his Managerial appointments well 7 weeks in and I'm hugely annoyed. JS talks about anything and everything but the only thing he's had to do so far is replace Hurst and it looks like a balderdash been dropped to me.

Like stick with Hurst when every person on the fishy wanted him gone? A decision that took us up....

Memories are short here...

Quoted from jimgtfc

Absolutely inept today, everyone from the manager to the players weren’t good enough. He sounds more and more like David Brent every time I hear him, won’t get relegated? We bloody will playing like that mate! And you’re setting us up to get beat every week! Still persisting with slowly playing out from the back with players that can’t do it. I thought Tharme might be the centre half to help us do that but he looked no better than Maher or Rodgers. In front of them he put Green who has zero composure, positional sense or technical ability, and every time we attempted to play it out he disappeared and left a huge hole in front of the centre halves and therefore limited options. Then having 2 on loan youngsters ahead of him in midfield and leaving an experienced potential game changer in Gav sat on his derrière until the 85th minute is absolute criminal. Harry on the right? Vernam on the bench? Obikwu on instead of Wilson? The questions go on and on. And to top it off that interview afterwards was embarrassing!

We don’t need a project, a philosophy or pretty statistics, we need a manager to stiffen us up, sort out the basics, make us hard to beat and get away from the prospect of being relegated to the NL for a third time in 14 years.

Got to disagree on the last part, not having a long term style or plan is an absolute recipe for disaster. It’s not going well at the minute but we’re going to have to go through some real pain short term.

Im not for one minute saying today was acceptable, but to just decide we’re going to be ‘tough to beat’ and play percentage football is not a long term plan at all. It’s short term thinking that might have worked 10 years ago, but football is evolving and we need to be part of it to progress.

I totally understand the nervousness, but I really feel we need to hold our nerve a bit.

Definitely regressed back to pre Artell levels today, treating the ball like a hot potato and losing every 50-50 ball because we've got no physicality like I've seen so often at BP in recent years. Were never going to be able to try and pass the ball around with that midfield.

I'd like to see us play a 3-5-2 to add some defensive solidity and give Rose some support up front.

Quoted from ginnywings

So, we have a new manager and he's somehow made us worse. Every winger that comes here has a field day and we are getting destroyed down the sides. Last game it was our right side, and this time it was the left. Maybe Clifton was put there to help out Mullarkey after the last game? I said at half time, get Wood off, get Vernam on and put Harry in the middle, because their midfield were totally bossing the game, and Wood was moving like he had a stick up his ar$e. He wanted way too long on the ball and was just getting picked off time and again. One of the worst full debuts I have ever seen.

They started way brighter than us, and it took 10 mins before we even got the ball into their box. We are at home against the team one place above us FFS. It then took us until the 80th minute to force a save from their keeper. The only one he made I think.

That midfield of ours today was shockingly bad. How the hell did we end up with two loanees in there, with about 2 dozen league games between them? Then there was Green, who has barely played all season, and Clifton stuck out wide, who with the best will in the world, will run all day and graft, but needs better players around him. Wood is even slower than Andrews if that is possible. Tharme didn't look much better than what went before, and I would like to see their winner again because I thought he could have cut out the cross. Rodgers somehow looked worse on the left then he does on the right.

Then there is that running theme of other players in other teams who just know how to do the basics. They seem to be able to head the ball properly, control it and pass to a team mate, something that looks beyond our lot 9 times out of 10.

As for the tactics, Adkins won hands down. Let us have the ball at the back, and close down our midfield. We looked clueless in how to progress up the pitch.

Tranmere were totally untroubled and I never at any time thought we would get back in the game, unless we got a lucky break, like the first goal, which landed at his feet unmarked. Was a decent finish mind, which is about the only positive from the entire 90 mins.

Totally p1ssed off with our continuing ineptitude.

Exactly this, credit to Adkin’s they aren’t world beaters but they were functional and played with a front 3 away from home.

Quoted from 1mickylyons

For me Amos LB with Glennon LM solves the problem Eisa is bone idle and scores a screamer 1/7.

Eisa is a greedy player & needs to play for the team. That attempt from a stupid angle in the first half when Rose had dropped off and was ready to pull the trigger was shocking.

Quoted from ginnywings

So, we have a new manager and he's somehow made us worse. Every winger that comes here has a field day and we are getting destroyed down the sides. Last game it was our right side, and this time it was the left. Maybe Clifton was put there to help out Mullarkey after the last game? I said at half time, get Wood off, get Vernam on and put Harry in the middle, because their midfield were totally bossing the game, and Wood was moving like he had a stick up his ar$e. He wanted way too long on the ball and was just getting picked off time and again. One of the worst full debuts I have ever seen.

They started way brighter than us, and it took 10 mins before we even got the ball into their box. We are at home against the team one place above us FFS. It then took us until the 80th minute to force a save from their keeper. The only one he made I think.

That midfield of ours today was shockingly bad. How the hell did we end up with two loanees in there, with about 2 dozen league games between them? Then there was Green, who has barely played all season, and Clifton stuck out wide, who with the best will in the world, will run all day and graft, but needs better players around him. Wood is even slower than Andrews if that is possible. Tharme didn't look much better than what went before, and I would like to see their winner again because I thought he could have cut out the cross. Rodgers somehow looked worse on the left then he does on the right.

Then there is that running theme of other players in other teams who just know how to do the basics. They seem to be able to head the ball properly, control it and pass to a team mate, something that looks beyond our lot 9 times out of 10.

As for the tactics, Adkins won hands down. Let us have the ball at the back, and close down our midfield. We looked clueless in how to progress up the pitch.

Tranmere were totally untroubled and I never at any time thought we would get back in the game, unless we got a lucky break, like the first goal, which landed at his feet unmarked. Was a decent finish mind, which is about the only positive from the entire 90 mins.

Totally p1ssed off with our continuing ineptitude.

Spot on

Utter sh1t. It’s got 20/2021 written through it like a stick of rock.

Quoted from AncientExiledMariner

Because Mularkey is a top RB, who stays back at the right time and destroys wingers and gives the guy in front of him so much freedom to focus on attacking without thinking about defensive duties... Why would he play Clifton in front of him?

Well if that’s the reason we definitely have appointed the wrong Manager. Clifton is a mediocre footballer who has the qualities of grit and determination which on occasions might merit his selection in midfield. But given his versatility I would have him on the bench but others disagree. Others will also disagree but Efete is a far better defender then Mullarkey and would add some much needed height and physicality to the team but if we sign better great.

It was an obvious error which should have been corrected and our midfield second half should have been Gav, Green, Clifton as we needed league experience on the pitch. Vernam wide and Wilson for Eisa after about 65 mins might have changed our fortunes but to practically do nothing was very poor management.

To let Waterfall go before Glennon, Mullarkey or Rodgers was criminal in my opinion.
When I saw that Luke had departed a couple of days ago I was shocked and now think more of these sort of results will come thick and fast

Another relegation battle incoming

We should have let Glennon go to Preston 😂😂😂

They’re not great but I’d give Amos & Michee a go, at the moment I sense neither Glennon or Mullarkey are under pressure to keep their places. Glennon looked like a competition winner in defence today.

Quoted from AncientExiledMariner

Like stick with Hurst when every person on the fishy wanted him gone? A decision that took us up....

Memories are short here...

You won't find a post from me advocating keeping Hurst at any point during his second tenure.The change was a must but so was changing him for the better and of that I'm not convinced? This team are awful and Hurst put them together DA hasn't improved them at all at the back and his decision to let Waterfall go whilst Rodgers,Mullarkey and Maher play is bordering on Madness.3 players non of whom can head a ball.

I think Glennon and Mullarkey are much happier as wing backs/part of a 5 than full backs.

You know there’s been a rash reaction to a defeat when Michee Efete is dubbed as Cafu

I can’t see any leadership on the pitch- whoever gets the captains armband I’m not seeing that translate- especially when heads drop

In virtually all games this season you can see the instant where we lose focus- around 30 mins mark

No one calls it or addresses it- we concede…

Artell can’t do much aside from shout from the sidelines

I know the team needs a lot of change/work but leadership could make a difference

Quoted from Lincoln Mariner 56

Going through the turnstiles today turned to my son and brother that the ground felt drab and quite completely the opposite to the Notts County game. Well that theme continued throughout a ninety minutes that was completely dire.

As others have said why the intercourse would you play Clifton wide right ahead of Vernam? Absolute madness. The midfield trio didn’t have one player good enough to play at this level and they were hiding every time our defenders looked to play the ball forward. Shocking team selection.

Fed up of watching Rose battle up front totally isolated, we have no physicality anywhere in the team and based on today no tactical plan. The after match interview reminded me of Keith Hill when he was at Scunny and we all know how that finished. He seems to become more incoherent with every interview and I for one am very quickly losing confidence in him.

After the excitement of the last game this was back to reality and yet another drab and miserable afternoon spent on at Blundell Park. Getting harder to make the effort and season ticket money might go on something more entertaining next season.

Sounds like I dodged a bullet then. Back in October  I was offered work at Donny races this weekend. I decided to take it given the poverty of what I was watching at the time. Not sure I'll be able to muster the enthusiasm to renew next season.

I seriously thought about going to Accrington but I've had enough misery there before. Probably watch my local side Club Thorne Colliery instead and save at least £30 of ticket and travel cost.

Donny is a big game. Their fans expect them to go down.

Quoted from 140381

I think Glennon and Mullarkey are much happier as wing backs/part of a 5 than full backs.

Glennon and Mullarkey are only happy going forward. Both absolutely woeful at Defending. Add Rodgers’ appalling positioning to the mix and you have the ingredients to leak goals left, right and Chelsea!

Only just back, as went to Steels to ease the pain, of what was the worst home performance since some of last seasons under Hurst.

Worried a bit for the first time tbh.

Midfield was awful, off the pace, technically deficient and lacked physicality.

Our fullbacks can’t defend and Glennon is a wingers delight to play against.

If Forest Green or Sutton wake up, could be an uncomfortable run in.

Need some quality in quickly
.
Ps. We signed a new left back this evening welcome Kemar Lawrence

Quoted from Lincspoacher

Only just back, as went to Steels to ease the pain, of what was the worst home performance since some of last seasons under Hurst.

Worried a bit for the first time tbh.

Midfield was awful, off the pace, technically deficient and lacked physicality.

Our fullbacks can’t defend and Glennon is a wingers delight to play against.

If Forest Green or Sutton wake up, could be an uncomfortable run in.

Need some quality in quickly
.
Ps. We signed a new left back this evening welcome Kemar Lawrence

New LB? Have we??

Many very sensible views above.  Looking purely at home stats:  We have lost 11 points from the last 12. The only point was when we conceded 5.

We have averaged conceding very close to 4 goals a game during the last 4 home games.

Truly shocking.  Performances are getting worse not better. Drastic corrective action is needed to stop the rot.

Artell??

Quoted from HelensburghMariner

To let Waterfall go before Glennon, Mullarkey or Rodgers was criminal in my opinion.
When I saw that Luke had departed a couple of days ago I was shocked and now think more of these sort of results will come thick and fast

Another relegation battle incoming

Agree with this. The idea that Luke Waterfall was the problem, given he’d barely played was a nonsense.

Quoted from pontoonlew

You know there’s been a rash reaction to a defeat when Michee Efete is dubbed as Cafu

He’s no Cafu, but he’s better than Mullarkey who is dogshit.

Checking back that is the fifth time in the last six games we have conceded game defining goals between 35 mins and half time.

Quoted from davmariner

He’s no Cafu, but he’s better than Mullarkey who is dogshit.

You’re better than Mullarkey mate.

At least Michee doesn’t get bullied

We should have made changes at half-time
If we'd left Rose and Cartwright on and subbed in Cockers for those other 9 kittens we would have got at least a point

They' should be made to play in skins next week. So many shite performances this season from most of them, they really don't deserve the shirt

Quoted from davmariner

Agree with this. The idea that Luke Waterfall was the problem, given he’d barely played was a nonsense.

I don't think he was 'the problem ', just not the answer. 4th choice who has 4 months remaining in his contract. Offered a couple of years elsewhere. I should imagine he pushed for the move.

Quoted from davmariner

Agree with this. The idea that Luke Waterfall was the problem, given he’d barely played was a nonsense.

Luke is loved here and rightly so, but less than a week ago, it was unanimous that he moves on. He's clearly a professional and a leader, but he's no longer up to league 2 football. If we play him, we have to sit deep, and if we sit deep, we have to score and hope we can cling on to a lead, something our team isn't capable of. We have to attack and score a few more, and even then it's a shaky cushion.

Petit said 1 out 1 in. We either sit with Maher or Rodgers as 1 and 2 and hope we avoid injuries or rolled the dice. We rolled them, but in trying to fix our defensive problems with Tharme, we expose our leadership weakness. If we did nothing, we'd still be here with a defensive and leadership problem...

I have to admit, I’m pretty dumbfounded this evening. Not because we lost a game, or played poorly; there’s nothing new about either of those things. But because this result, this performance, is just so fúcking typical of Town. And then I ask myself “why?”, and I’m down the rabbit hole.

We were relegated to this level in 2003. At that point, we had spent 37 of 45 seasons in which the English league pyramid comprised of four divisions, above that level - and none below it. We’ve since spent 13 seasons in League Two and 7 below it. In that time, we’ve finished in the top half of League Two twice - as many times as we’ve been relegated from it. And we seem to be giving it our best effort to complete an unwanted hat trick. Has anyone ever done that?

Whatever our history, despite record season ticket sales two seasons running and despite the seven figures made from last season’s incredible cup run, we still find ourselves unable to build a convincing side at this level. In the last 18 years, an entire childhood, the only time we’ve looked a capable outfit in the league has been in the Conference. Is that really our level? If it is, and we seem to have it keyed into our sat nav once again, you have to ask why, why, why that’s the fúcking case.

The F word will inevitably feature in any attempts at answers, and I’m certainly not about to leap to his defence. But the man himself was able to use the ITV Digital collapse as an excuse for way too long, and we have to be careful of letting history repeat itself. He’s been gone nearly 3 years, but can we truthfully say that what’s been served up on the pitch this season has been a positive departure from the Fenty era?

There’s no denying that this is a tough League Two this season, but that’s no excuse for looking like a pub team all too regularly. Back in the summer, virtually every measurable factor looked rosier than it had in at least 20 years. And yet we’re still shít. We’re still in a relegation battle. A relegation battle ffs. I can’t keep doing this.

I just can’t fathom it. It doesn’t seem to matter who we have in the boardroom, the dugout, or on the pitch, we seem simply unable to crack this level. League fúcking Two. Ffs.

Until today, I wasn’t really worried about relegation. But we’ve now won 1 game in our last 7, and have conceded 13 in our last 3. If we’re not already in one, we are a tailspin away from finding ourselves in serious, serious shít. It would be too dramatic and unfair to pin all of this on Artell, and I won’t, but 10 games in with a win ratio of 20%; it’s not unreasonable to suggest that needs to improve markedly if he wants to maintain a career in football management. Away at 10th place Accrington next Saturday, then home to the league leaders the following week, it’s gonna be bloody hard work improving on it in the short-term.

I’m fúcked off, I’m concerned, but more than anything else, I’m just absolutely bored to tears of being, at the very best, stinking League Two bottom feeders. As strongly as I feel we’re better than this, all of the contemporary evidence says we’re categorically not.

Quoted from Poojah

I have to admit, I’m pretty dumbfounded this evening. Not because we lost a game, or played poorly; there’s nothing new about either of those things. But because this result, this performance, is just so fúcking typical of Town. And then I ask myself “why?”, and I’m down the rabbit hole.

We were relegated to this level in 2003. At that point, we had spent 37 of 45 seasons in which the English league pyramid comprised of four divisions, above that level - and none below it. We’ve since spent 13 seasons in League Two and 7 below it. In that time, we’ve finished in the top half of League Two twice - as many times as we’ve been relegated from it. And we seem to be giving it our best effort to complete an unwanted hat trick. Has anyone ever done that?

Whatever our history, despite record season ticket sales two seasons running and despite the seven figures made from last season’s incredible cup run, we still find ourselves unable to build a convincing side at this level. In the last 18 years, an entire childhood, the only time we’ve looked a capable outfit in the league has been the Conference. Is that really our level? If it is, and we seem to have it keyed into our sat nav once again, you have to ask why, why, why that’s the fúcking case.

The F word will inevitably feature in any attempts at answers, and I’m certainly not about to leap to his defence. But the man himself was able to use the ITV Digital collapse for way too long, and we have to be careful of letting history repeat itself. He’s been gone nearly 3 years, but can we truthfully say that what’s been served up on the pitch this season has been a positive departure from the Fenty era?

There’s no denying that this is a tough League Two this season, but that’s no excuse for looking like a pub team all too regularly. Back in the summer, virtually every measurable factor looked rosier than it had in at least 20 years. And yet we’re still shít. We’re still in a relegation battle. A relegation battle ffs. I can’t keep doing this.

I just can’t fathom it. It doesn’t seem to matter who we have in the boardroom, the dugout, or on the pitch, we seem simply unable to crack this level. League fúcking Two. Ffs.

Until today, I wasn’t really worried about relegation. But we’ve now won 1 game in our last 7, and have conceded 13 in our last 3. If we’re not already in one, we are a tailspin away from finding ourselves in serious, serious shít. It would be too dramatic and unfair to pin all of this on Artell, and I won’t, but 10 games in with a win ratio of 20%; it’s not unreasonable to suggest that needs to improve markedly if he wants to maintain a career in football management. Away at 10th place Accrington next Saturday, then home to the league leaders the following week, it’s gonna be bloody hard work improving on it in the short-term.

I’m fúcked off, I’m concerned, but more than anything else, I’m just absolutely bored to tears of being, at the very best, stinking League Two bottom feeders. As strongly as I feel we’re better than this, all of the contemporary evidence says we’re categorically not.

We should be a lower end league 1 club minimum imo but in reality for whatever reason(s) we are what we are it's not ideal but we need to stay up otherwise it's 2 steps back again . Hope Artell has the minerals for a relegation battle because we are in 1 .

if we stick & go down & i dont want artell sacked yet we wont bounce straight back again

Quoted from Poojah

I have to admit, I’m pretty dumbfounded this evening. Not because we lost a game, or played poorly; there’s nothing new about either of those things. But because this result, this performance, is just so fúcking typical of Town. And then I ask myself “why?”, and I’m down the rabbit hole.

We were relegated to this level in 2003. At that point, we had spent 37 of 45 seasons in which the English league pyramid comprised of four divisions, above that level - and none below it. We’ve since spent 13 seasons in League Two and 7 below it. In that time, we’ve finished in the top half of League Two twice - as many times as we’ve been relegated from it. And we seem to be giving it our best effort to complete an unwanted hat trick. Has anyone ever done that?

Whatever our history, despite record season ticket sales two seasons running and despite the seven figures made from last season’s incredible cup run, we still find ourselves unable to build a convincing side at this level. In the last 18 years, an entire childhood, the only time we’ve looked a capable outfit in the league has been the Conference. Is that really our level? If it is, and we seem to have it keyed into our sat nav once again, you have to ask why, why, why that’s the fúcking case.

The F word will inevitably feature in any attempts at answers, and I’m certainly not about to leap to his defence. But the man himself was able to use the ITV Digital collapse for way too long, and we have to be careful of letting history repeat itself. He’s been gone nearly 3 years, but can we truthfully say that what’s been served up on the pitch this season has been a positive departure from the Fenty era?

There’s no denying that this is a tough League Two this season, but that’s no excuse for looking like a pub team all too regularly. Back in the summer, virtually every measurable factor looked rosier than it had in at least 20 years. And yet we’re still shít. We’re still in a relegation battle. A relegation battle ffs. I can’t keep doing this.

I just can’t fathom it. It doesn’t seem to matter who we have in the boardroom, the dugout, or on the pitch, we seem simply unable to crack this level. League fúcking Two. Ffs.

Until today, I wasn’t really worried about relegation. But we’ve now won 1 game in our last 7, and have conceded 13 in our last 3. If we’re not already in one, we are a tailspin away from finding ourselves in serious, serious shít. It would be too dramatic and unfair to pin all of this on Artell, and I won’t, but 10 games in with a win ratio of 20%; it’s not unreasonable to suggest that needs to improve markedly if he wants to maintain a career in football management. Away at 10th place Accrington next Saturday, then home to the league leaders the following week, it’s gonna be bloody hard work improving on it in the short-term.

I’m fúcked off, I’m concerned, but more than anything else, I’m just absolutely bored to tears of being, at the very best, stinking League Two bottom feeders. As strongly as I feel we’re better than this, all of the contemporary evidence says we’re categorically not.

As usual, you hit the nail on the head. Talking to friends before the game, no one has any clue what to expect. Worried that the last manager that made me feel like that was Marcus Bignot then realised we were really not this bad when he was manager, then really worried.

we need a new goalkeeper the two we have got are crap think this is hurst s fault three home games 13 goals against

As we kicked off today I looked at the side and only Glennon & Clifton played in the cup game this weekend 12 months ago.

Only Clifton played in the play off final 17 months ago.

We’ve changed the squad, the manager and now we’re trying to change the style.

Continuity delivers success or at least it helps.

We probably would have the biggest budget in the league as it's emptied out of the well financed and supported clubs (barring Oldham who might go up) Southend are still abit messy . So it would be all the smaller clubs York , Scunthorpe (maybe] etc .I don't want to find out though tbh

Quoted from MuddyWaters

As usual, you hit the nail on the head. Talking to friends before the game, no one has any clue what to expect. Worried that the last manager that made me feel like that was Marcus Bignot then realised we were really not this bad when he was manager, then really worried.

That’s a frightening benchmark, but you’re quite right. Bignot was sacked with a win rate of 33.3% (versus Artell’s current tally of 20%), btw. There’s nuance and context to those numbers, of course, but if Artell loses the next two games, which looks quite possible, he has to be on dodgy ground.

The last time we had 3 managers in a season was when Bignot was sacked and replaced by Slade, incidentally.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

As usual, you hit the nail on the head. Talking to friends before the game, no one has any clue what to expect. Worried that the last manager that made me feel like that was Marcus Bignot then realised we were really not this bad when he was manager, then really worried.

Marcus Bignob vibes is a worry

Quoted from Poojah

That’s a frightening benchmark, but you’re quite right. Bignot was sacked with a win rate of 33.3% (versus Artell’s current tally of 20%), btw. There’s nuance and context to those numbers, of course, but if Artell loses the next two games, which looks quite possible, he has to be on dodgy ground.

The last time we had 3 managers in a season was when Bignot was sacked and replaced by Slade, incidentally.

Is Gru available?

Quoted from Poojah

That’s a frightening benchmark, but you’re quite right. Bignot was sacked with a win rate of 33.3% (versus Artell’s current tally of 20%), btw. There’s nuance and context to those numbers, of course, but if Artell loses the next two games, which looks quite possible, he has to be on dodgy ground.

The last time we had 3 managers in a season was when Bignot was sacked and replaced by Slade, incidentally.

I have defended Hurst in the past when people have criticised him to struggle to turn around a struggling team, and I think we all know that we had a big problem before Artell came here. He said it was a big job, and it really is. A few good performances doesn't magically turn a squad around.

You have players that are good or bad defensively, offensively, technically and in terms of football intelligence. Even then, you have mentality which is different to how the read the game on the field, that ties into how they handle adversity, whether they're leaders or followers. Jurgen Klopp called his team mentality monsters at one point, and you cannot ignore that this is a thing. Unfortunately our team is at the opposite end of that. Mentality wise, they collectively have big problems. Not enough people pulling others out of the swamp. Not enough people pulling themselves out of the swamp, and some that probably keep walking towards the swamp, intentionally or unintentionally. Each player on their day can have a solid game, but underneath, that consistency is partly based on their mentality. You can only kick people up the backside, or encourage them so much before you realise you're spending most of your time trying to get them to do something they should own themselves.

We're trying to stave off relegation by putting windows on to stave off draughts, but ultimately the foundations need to be rebuilt from scratch. We have a long-term job to make us a competent league 2 team. This could take at least 2 summer transfer windows with the right manager minimum. Probably 3 if we assume everyone makes mistakes. We need someone to save our arses from relegation. If the same person can do both jobs, we're going to save ourselves some time, but we need to stop kidding ourselves about the state we're in right now. Paul Hurst got us into league 2, but we are yet to establish ourselves as a consistent league 2 outfit.

Tranmere embarrassed us.  We made them look good; they made us look like useless plodders.   Nigel Adkin is in the process of proving (again) that he is a top manager at our level.

After Notts County, Mr Artell said it was impossible to play at 100 mph for a full 90 minutes.  He said he’d show the players how to control a game without constantly going hell for leather.  I don’t suppose he meant them to take their foot off the gas for a full 90 minutes, but that was what it looked like yesterday.  Tranmere were on the front foot, first to every ball and stole the ball from us at every opportunity.  

Only when Charles Vernam came on did we start to get up to speed.   Charles was one of the few positives for me.  (The other one was scoring from a corner – don’t see that very often at Grimsby.)

We were a match for high-flying Notts County the other week.  I wonder if our players looked at Tranmere and thought ‘They’re more at our level – we can ease off a bit.’  If that’s the case, then we paid the price.

I’ve been trying not to think about another relegation, but must admit it’s a worry.

Bad as we were if we had had the ref from the Notts County game we would probably have won . Allowed Tranmere to kill any tempo to the game from the off with constant time wasting and missed a probable penalty . Yes we need to be able to overcome these things but he was poor and I wouldn’t want to watch an Adkins team every week

Just seen Bryn fn Morris front of centre of Newport’s graphic promoting their game v Man Utd today and it got me even pining for someone as average as him to still play for us. At least he was willing to receive the ball and could pass it to a team mate.

Quoted from sam gy

Just seen Bryn fn Morris front of centre of Newport’s graphic promoting their game v Man Utd today and it got me even pining for someone as average as him to still play for us. At least he was willing to receive the ball and could pass it to a team mate.

I wonder how many remember berating Morris and clamouring for Green to play in his place?

Quoted from HerveJosse

Bad as we were if we had had the ref from the Notts County game we would probably have won . Allowed Tranmere to kill any tempo to the game from the off with constant time wasting and missed a probable penalty . Yes we need to be able to overcome these things but he was poor and I wouldn’t want to watch an Adkins team every week

Neither would I but I’d take it in a heartbeat for the next 4 months if it guaranteed us staying up.

Never mind Adkins’s side I certainly don’t want to watch what Town served up yesterday every week.

I did find a positive in yesterday's game. The refs whistle at full time which put an end to my misery.

Others above have described how bad we were. Adkins did his homework and kept Rose quiet, so we had no outlet from the back. No midfield and a holey defence, it was the left side punished this time and Glennon was extremely poor, especially for their goal. He may have brilliant games now and again, like Mullarkey, but these are rarities.

A few more days left to bolster our back 4, but it is like 2 seasons ago. Who wants to sign for a club struggling at the bottom of the table?, with B Corp compliance?

As long as we finish 3rd from the bottom or higher I'll be happy this year. Then a clearout for the start of the next season

If we'd had a left-back who could defend, we wouldn't have lost yesterday. Not so sure we'd have won, but we wouldn't have lost. Glennon is generally OK, but has too many of these games where he is miles off good enough doing the defensive side of things. Especially when he's up against a nippy winger as he's simply very slow.

In fact, the whole defence is badly lacking in any pace - Maher probably the quickest of those who played yesterday, and the lots of them are distinctly lightweight in the tackle. Given the size of him, you'd think Mullarkey would be a bit stronger in this regard, but he looks weak. Rodgers was beaten in the air way too often by Jennings, who times his jumps very well, but a bigger defender needs to be ploughing through him to win the ball in that sort of an aerial challenge.

Adding in Efete is an option, I suppose, and he's decent defensively (and would add some pace and strength), but he's never going to be capable of playing in the way which Artell wants a team to line-up. That's why we were all expecting him to leave during the transfer window.

No doubt about it that adding a bit of pace in attack with Vernam coming on helped out, but otherwise, we looked too slow across the pitch and they were first to pretty much ball in midfield (often due to our hopeless passing and control).

Regarding the post-match interview, I thought it was reasonable from both Matt and Artell, so I'm not sure why some think it was such a car crash. Artell should have ended it earlier as he was just left repeating the same points and it ended up overly-long with nothing much said.

The thing with the players we have, is that they have shown that they can perform very well, but it is a rare event and they are just as likely to have a real stinker as a good game. It's going to be looking for survival this season and we'll then have to see just how much of a rebuild we can manage during the summer.

Quoted from Maringer

If we'd had a left-back who could defend, we wouldn't have lost yesterday. Not so sure we'd have won, but we wouldn't have lost. Glennon is generally OK, but has too many of these games where he is miles off good enough doing the defensive side of things. Especially when he's up against a nippy winger as he's simply very slow.

In fact, the whole defence is badly lacking in any pace - Maher probably the quickest of those who played yesterday, and the lots of them are distinctly lightweight in the tackle. Given the size of him, you'd think Mullarkey would be a bit stronger in this regard, but he looks weak. Rodgers was beaten in the air way too often by Jennings, who times his jumps very well, but a bigger defender needs to be ploughing through him to win the ball in that sort of an aerial challenge.

Adding in Efete is an option, I suppose, and he's decent defensively (and would add some pace and strength), but he's never going to be capable of playing in the way which Artell wants a team to line-up. That's why we were all expecting him to leave during the transfer window.

No doubt about it that adding a bit of pace in attack with Vernam coming on helped out, but otherwise, we looked too slow across the pitch and they were first to pretty much ball in midfield (often due to our hopeless passing and control).

Regarding the post-match interview, I thought it was reasonable from both Matt and Artell, so I'm not sure why some think it was such a car crash. Artell should have ended it earlier as he was just left repeating the same points and it ended up overly-long with nothing much said.

The thing with the players we have, is that they have shown that they can perform very well, but it is a rare event and they are just as likely to have a real stinker as a good game. It's going to be looking for survival this season and we'll then have to see just how much of a rebuild we can manage during the summer.

Agree with pretty much every word

Basically we were rubbish and if we are going to play out from the back we can't be having Green as the pivot or a 30 yard gap between between defenders and midfielders when the ball is rolled out and them not hiding behind their markers It really was shocking and embarrassing 😞

Quoted from Madeleymariner

Basically we were rubbish and if we are going to play out from the back we can't be having Green as the pivot or a 30 yard gap between between defenders and midfielders when the ball is rolled out and them not hiding behind their markers It really was shocking and embarrassing 😞

If you ever needed to expose how poor Green is then playing him in the Conteh role was the way to do it. Add the inept Andrews and the inexperienced and ineffective Wood and you’ve probably got our worst midfield performance of the season.

Quoted from DB

I did find a positive in yesterday's game. The refs whistle at full time which put an end to my misery.

Others above have described how bad we were. Adkins did his homework and kept Rose quiet, so we had no outlet from the back. No midfield and a holey defence, it was the left side punished this time and Glennon was extremely poor, especially for their goal. He may have brilliant games now and again, like Mullarkey, but these are rarities.

A few more days left to bolster our back 4, but it is like 2 seasons ago. Who wants to sign for a club struggling at the bottom of the table?, with B Corp compliance?

As long as we finish 3rd from the bottom or higher I'll be happy this year. Then a clearout for the start of the next season

What is it with you and B Corps?  You always have to bring it up in a negative way.  B Corps has absolutely nothing to do with how we play, ffs grow up!

Quoted from 123614

What is it with you and B Corps?  You always have to bring it up in a negative way.  B Corps has absolutely nothing to do with how we play, ffs grow up!

Whether or not you agree or disagree with business certification and compliance, the most important element of a football club is what happens on the pitch on a Saturday afternoon. The way things are looking, the financial implications of what's happening on the pitch will outweigh B Corp several times over.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Whether or not you agree or disagree with business certification and compliance, the most important element of a football club is what happens on the pitch on a Saturday afternoon. The way things are looking, the financial implications of what's happening on the pitch will outweigh B Corp several times over.

Do you remember 'Investors in People' that all large employers were busting a gut to be awarded,No?neither do I .

Quoted from friskneymariner

Do you remember 'Investors in People' that all large employers were busting a gut to be awarded,No?neither do I .

Yep another buzzword load of cobblers that amounted to zero.

Quoted from friskneymariner

Do you remember 'Investors in People' that all large employers were busting a gut to be awarded,No?neither do I .

I’ve seen the badge on several occasions. But never anywhere memorable.