Artell pre-Wimbledon

Thought that's the best interview he's given..

Also this from a man with a spade on his head.

You listen to Artell now abd he just sounds different, up until the Donny game I'm convinced the pressure was really getting yo him, but since that game and the 1.5 hour dressing room chat, his demeanour is lighter, happier and more convincing

I understood the interview Doug Tharme far more easily than the one with Dave Artell, he says the things us fans want to hear , he would make a good team captain.

Hadn't realised Obikwu was on international duty with Trinidad and Tobago.



He might be in Canada when we play Wrexham

Quoted from Southwark Mariner

Hadn't realised Obikwu was on international duty with Trinidad and Tobago.



He might be in Canada when we play Wrexham

I mentioned this on Saturday when people were berating Artel for omitting him from the team completely on Saturday.

Credit to JT for several excellent questions, particularly the one asking if he’d changed too much too soon.

Quoted from Spurn boy

I understood the interview Doug Tharme far more easily than the one with Dave Artell, he says the things us fans want to hear , he would make a good team captain.

Yeah that was a good interview, he speaks well

Sounds like a man who has cast a monkey off his back.

Hopefully if we get at least a draw tomorrow we can start to believe

Even if we lose, let’s keep the nasty posts off fishy for once?

Time to unite. We still have a win up our sleeve at Sutton on Saturday….

A good clear the air meeting works wonders and it seems to have united the players and coaching staff even more.

A draw tomorrow and a win Saturday will do nicely lads.

Quoted from Poojah

Also this from a man with a spade on his head.

Speaks very well that young man so he does…

Quoted from Limerick Mariner

Speaks very well that young man so he does…

Yeah, he does - I thought as much from his post-signing interview. I had assumed that he had been at a Prem club as a youngster and was therefore a beneficiary of some formal media training, but no, apparently just a bright kid.

I agree with the above as well - DA’s best interview and that includes the interview after he was appointed. Overall, more coherent and he put his hands up on the too much too soon point. Also, reading between the lines (which was helped by some good questions from JT), I think there has been a bit of player power exerted, likely mixed with a strong influence from Shaun and Ben - DA’s reference to the 2 hour staff meeting.

Buoyed by both these two interviews.

That’s the best interview with him I’ve heard since he started.

Thanks to insomnia, i've spotted the deliberate mistake! Obikwu is 20 now not 19....    (Unless wiki is wrong, or unless the interview is from a month ago)  Did he get his own age wrong?!

I make it 4 Internationals so far this season - Khan, Conteh, Eisa, now Obikwu.

I get the distinct feeling that this change was practically forced upon artell by the players, the staff, 1878 n the fans ( in descending order of importance)
Notice how he tries to downplay the extent of the change and that it's really injuries that forced him to do it.
Had to laugh when he said he wished the players had spoken up 3 or 4 weeks earlier! As tho it was their fault! Hes the manager ffs!
Having said that it's good to see that the scales have finally appeared to fall from his eyes, n he does seem a little more humble and relaxed, as a result

3 days is a long time in football.

I think that pre-15:00 on Saturday, most people would have certainly suggested that if we lost DA would and prospectively should have been sacked.

That press conference (and in fairness, the one prior to FGR) sounds like a much more reassured, confident and calm David Artell. Whatever was said in that “clear the air” meeting, clearly had merit.

I’m sure I can speak on behalf of everyone, saying that I hope this is the start of the resurgence!

Quoted from forza ivano

I get the distinct feeling that this change was practically forced upon artell by the players, the staff, 1878 n the fans ( in descending order of importance)
Notice how he tries to downplay the extent of the change and that it's really injuries that forced him to do it.
Had to laugh when he said he wished the players had spoken up 3 or 4 weeks earlier! As tho it was their fault! Hes the manager ffs!
Having said that it's good to see that the scales have finally appeared to fall from his eyes, n he does seem a little more humble and relaxed, as a result

I would suggest that 1878 are far more important in terms of Dave’s future prospects than the players or staff.

Quoted from forza ivano

I get the distinct feeling that this change was practically forced upon artell by the players, the staff, 1878 n the fans ( in descending order of importance)
Notice how he tries to downplay the extent of the change and that it's really injuries that forced him to do it.
Had to laugh when he said he wished the players had spoken up 3 or 4 weeks earlier! As tho it was their fault! Hes the manager ffs!
Having said that it's good to see that the scales have finally appeared to fall from his eyes, n he does seem a little more humble and relaxed, as a result

I agree - id have thought as a manager he should have been able to see what fans, chairman, staff, players and even John tondeur could see really...

Quoted from forza ivano

I get the distinct feeling that this change was practically forced upon artell by the players, the staff, 1878 n the fans ( in descending order of importance)
Notice how he tries to downplay the extent of the change and that it's really injuries that forced him to do it.
Had to laugh when he said he wished the players had spoken up 3 or 4 weeks earlier! As tho it was their fault! Hes the manager ffs!
Having said that it's good to see that the scales have finally appeared to fall from his eyes, n he does seem a little more humble and relaxed, as a result

When DA first came he said the team were a bit " meh" which I thought it was a reflection on the performances he had seen. This I assume was both in physically attending games and looking at match recordings. After his first training sessions he did say that he was pleasantly surprised at the players abilities. IMO his subsequent team selections were based on what he had seen in training. But how players perform in training and how they do in a competitive game is two different scenarios . Practicing routines and formations against your fellow team mates who obviously know what your plan is , is totally different to a real game. This I think has lead to the disappointing performances. What was said in the " clear the air" meetings we will never know but all sort of things could have been raised. It could have taken some time for the squad he inherited to completely trust DA and feel confident that they could speak their minds and be honest with him . It's easy to blame DA but communication is a two-way thing. Whatever has happened we can only hope that the squad and coaching staff ( DA included) are in a better place now and understand each other better.

I was surprised John Tondeur had to ask about Obikwu's whereabouts when it is so widely known that he has been away on international duty.

Never doubted Artell is intelligent and he’s been smart enough to get the players & staff involved in the conversation on how to stop the slide into relegation.

To be honest if we “keep us shape” and come away with a 0 - 0 tonight I’d be more than happy.

Quoted from forza ivano

I get the distinct feeling that this change was practically forced upon artell by the players, the staff, 1878 n the fans ( in descending order of importance)
Notice how he tries to downplay the extent of the change and that it's really injuries that forced him to do it.
Had to laugh when he said he wished the players had spoken up 3 or 4 weeks earlier! As tho it was their fault! Hes the manager ffs!
Having said that it's good to see that the scales have finally appeared to fall from his eyes, n he does seem a little more humble and relaxed, as a result

You don’t think the style of play he attempted to use was actually forced on him by the owners? Their fabled “Grimsby way”. Who is it that’s backed down to play pragmatic football? Artell or the owners?

Quoted from GollyGTFC

You don’t think the style of play he attempted to use was actually forced on him by the owners? Their fabled “Grimsby way”. Who is it that’s backed down to play pragmatic football? Artell or the owners?

I think it's clear they brought in Artell as a manager with a defined playing style and an aspiration to play more attacking and attractive football. I doubt that the owners interfered with the football beyond that and certainly don't believe that until Morecambe they were the ones demanding a continued commitment to total football and wouldn't allow a more pragmatic approach.

Quoted from toontown

I agree - id have thought as a manager he should have been able to see what fans, chairman, staff, players and even John tondeur could see really...

In the JT-DA interview he said this
  06m:20s  “The performances weren’t as bad as everyone thought they were. You know the data backed that up, but I do appreciate that data can tell you what you want see or hear or whatever..but there was too much data saying the right positive things”  

On Saturday if FGR goalkeeper tried to throw out the ball and a wayward seagull deflected it into the goal, and we won 1:0 would data transcribe that as a fantastic move?

I'm glad a " clear the air meeting did some good, but I worry.     “The performances weren’t as bad as everyone thought"  No David they were worse than that. You and the team should own it and move on.

Quoted from bradzmilne

3 days is a long time in football.

I think that pre-15:00 on Saturday, most people would have certainly suggested that if we lost DA would and prospectively should have been sacked.
!

Could Harvey Rodgers be David Artells mark robins ??

Let’s hope so!!

On the note of the interviews, I got bored listening to the ones that PH used to give pre/post match this season. The way that even the players sound is somewhat ‘happier’

I like that he's acknowledged his wilingess to change  , he's actually gone up in my estimation as I honestly thought it was his way and down . I'm a lot more confident now and think the guy deserves credit - I wanted him gone badly ,really badly after the Doncaster game . The question  now will be how does  he construct a team in the summer that will be capable of his way of playing ?  (I'm very confident we will grind our way to safety now )

There is going to be a massive turnover of players you would have thought this summer.

Quoted from Mappers

I like that he's acknowledged his wilingess to change  , he's actually gone up in my estimation as I honestly thought it was his way and down . I'm a lot more confident now and think the guy deserves credit - I wanted him gone badly ,really badly after the Doncaster game . The question  now will be how does  he construct a team in the summer that will be capable of his way of playing ?  (I'm very confident we will grind our way to safety now )

There is going to be a massive turnover of players you would have thought this summer.

Agree with most of that, but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves - there’s still work to do yet. On the one hand, we could be sitting pretty on Saturday evening with a virtually unassailable 12 point cushion, or the gap could be back down to 3 points with Sutton also hot on our heels.

The pressure tonight is substantially lower than it was on Saturday, but it’s an important game regardless and one we could really do with taking something from. 4 points from the next 2 days would do very nicely.

Quoted from Poojah

Agree with most of that, but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves - there’s still work to do yet. On the one hand, we could be sitting pretty on Saturday evening with a virtually unassailable 12 point cushion, or the gap could be back down to 3 points with Sutton also hot on our heels.

The pressure tonight is substantially lower than it was on Saturday, but it’s an important game regardless and one we could really do with taking something from. 4 points from the next 2 days would do very nicely.

I would take 2 tbh it's weird because 2 points stopping Sutton winning would be better than winning tonight and losing to them .

If Sutton don't beat us it's the final nail for them I think , no way are they turning it around to around 2.1PPG to reach 45 points which I think will just about do it now - if we made it out of these 2 games with 2 points or a win at Sutton I would back us to reach 1PPG probably maximum 1.2PPG for safety . It might even be lower than 45 points for safety with  that nasty run FGR have .

FGR and Sutton play each other in a couple of weeks aswell so  one drops points or they cancel each other out .

If we won both of these 2 we would be pretty close (maybe even enough points ?) and  looking upwards strangely .

Quoted from Poojah

Agree with most of that, but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves - there’s still work to do yet. On the one hand, we could be sitting pretty on Saturday evening with a virtually unassailable 12 point cushion, or the gap could be back down to 3 points with Sutton also hot on our heels.

The pressure tonight is substantially lower than it was on Saturday, but it’s an important game regardless and one we could really do with taking something from. 4 points from the next 2 days would do very nicely.

Challenging week for the players TBH, the need to at least avoid defeat in both games and arguably win on Saturday plus a journey down South, back up North and then back down South again to another club 5 miles away from the one they're visiting tonight,

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Challenging week for the players TBH, the need to at least avoid defeat in both games and arguably win on Saturday plus a journey down South, back up North and then back down South again to another club 5 miles away from the one they're visiting tonight,

Agree totally with this. Whoever accepted the change in date didn’t look at the calendar propery. Would even possibly have made more sense to play tomorrow night and stay over for a couple of days. There must be a hell of a fatigue with the journey itself and disruption in training.

Quoted from WOZOFGRIMSBY

Agree totally with this. Whoever accepted the change in date didn’t look at the calendar propery. Would even possibly have made more sense to play tomorrow night and stay over for a couple of days. There must be a hell of a fatigue with the journey itself and disruption in training.

That assumes that we actually had an option as to choose when the games were played. I'd imagine there are regulations regarding this and the League told us when they had to be played.

Quoted from forza ivano

I get the distinct feeling that this change was practically forced upon artell by the players, the staff, 1878 n the fans ( in descending order of importance)
Notice how he tries to downplay the extent of the change and that it's really injuries that forced him to do it.
Had to laugh when he said he wished the players had spoken up 3 or 4 weeks earlier! As tho it was their fault! Hes the manager ffs!
Having said that it's good to see that the scales have finally appeared to fall from his eyes, n he does seem a little more humble and relaxed, as a result

I heard that as more the staff than the players to be honest.

No surprise really that he sounds simply better on the back of two decent results as opposed to after a tonking at home to a relegation rival.  Equally so JT's line of questioning is much easier than Matt Dean's more relentless (especially of late) approach.

I'm at the point where I don't care if it was injuries, the fans, Stockwood, a 3am epiphany from Artell or someone in the set-up hammering home some truths.  The last few performances have seen more of what we need as opposed to trying to see the longer term picture.  But we're still poor, long term that needs addressing.

Quoted from diehardmariner

I heard that as more the staff than the players to be honest.

No surprise really that he sounds simply better on the back of two decent results as opposed to after a tonking at home to a relegation rival.  Equally so JT's line of questioning is much easier than Matt Dean's more relentless (especially of late) approach.

I'm at the point where I don't care if it was injuries, the fans, Stockwood, a 3am epiphany from Artell or someone in the set-up hammering home some truths.  The last few performances have seen more of what we need as opposed to trying to see the longer term picture.  But we're still poor, long term that needs addressing.

That's where recruitment is going to have to be a hell of a lot better (stating the obvious ) which probably won't come cheap in the template Artell favours . I'm interested how Ainley fit's into his plans medium to long term as he played a lot of games in Artell's/Crewe's system so he  is probably one of the few players who is a good fit for it .

Quoted from diehardmariner

I heard that as more the staff than the players to be honest.

No surprise really that he sounds simply better on the back of two decent results as opposed to after a tonking at home to a relegation rival.  Equally so JT's line of questioning is much easier than Matt Dean's more relentless (especially of late) approach.

I'm at the point where I don't care if it was injuries, the fans, Stockwood, a 3am epiphany from Artell or someone in the set-up hammering home some truths.  The last few performances have seen more of what we need as opposed to trying to see the longer term picture.  But we're still poor, long term that needs addressing.

Yet he specifically said that he wished the players had spoken up earlier!

Tonight's game will be interesting:

Wimbledon need the points to keep looking toward the play offs. We need the points for obvious reasons.

Both teams coming off wins at the weekend in emotionally charged situations, big games for both but in very different ways.

Their form is mixed overall, home form better than away but still mixed (w8 d4 l5). They've scored marginally more goals than us but been much better in defence (no surprise there).

It's another test for our grit and our more prosaic style of football.

It has draw written all over it. And I'll take that. See you in the away end.

Currently breathing a huge sigh of relief that Artell appears to have taken on board the views of players and staff - it had begun to look as if we were stampeding towards relegation if we simply carried on with the same kamikaze way of playing.

Fortunately, this fetish for getting whipped every week is no longer considered to be a pleasurable activity, and
I sincerely hope that the team can now resort to more conventional methods of stimulation.

I checked the last few seasons league tables and 45 points is usually about right. One of the relegated teams usually get stranded and one gets a few more points. On this basis. We need four more victories. If I was Artell, I would continue with the attritional approach from Saturday and grind out results in any fashion. We have some tricky games coming , so I would prefer to play Wimbledon and Sutton , we are not out of the scrap by any stretch.FG were toothless but not useless, Sutton are physically tough. We could finish Sutton on Saturday. Four points from the next  two would be fantastic.utm

Quoted from A Brace Of Tees

Fortunately, this fetish for getting whipped every week is no longer considered to be a pleasurable activity, and
I sincerely hope that the team can now resort to more conventional methods of stimulation.

Oooh! Matron!

Quoted from A Brace Of Tees

Currently breathing a huge sigh of relief that Artell appears to have taken on board the views of players and staff - it had begun to look as if we were stampeding towards relegation if we simply carried on with the same kamikaze way of playing.

Fortunately, this fetish for getting whipped every week is no longer considered to be a pleasurable activity, and
I sincerely hope that the team can now resort to more conventional methods of stimulation.

I think it’s refreshing that he’s:

a) demonstrated that he’s been watching the same game as everyone else

b) shown a degree of humility and introspection in moving away from his stated ideas and principles, a quality you don’t often see in leadership in general and even less so in football

c) apparently been prepared to listen to and take on board the opinions and ideas of his subordinates at the expense of his own ego, again something you rarely see in leadership

As much as we saw the better side of Artell’s tactical qualities against Forest Green, I think what we’ve really seen in the past few days are his human traits.

I’ve been very critical of Artell, because frankly results and performances have largely been atrocious this year, but he’s gone up slightly in my estimation this last week. I say “slightly”, because he’s still got a very long way to go, but since there’s been so little positivity of late, let’s give some credit where it’s due.

Quoted from rancido

Yet he specifically said that he wished the players had spoken up earlier!

About 6:45 in:

"We were in the next day and the staff had a meeting for 2 hours and we were very open and frank with each other, really open and frank which was good. I just wish it had happened 3 weeks previous...or 5 weeks previous because we'd have probably not hurt as much as what we were doing at the time.  But the fact we could have those conversations was really good.  We learnt a lot, about the players, about each other, the staff learnt a lot about each other as well."

We have 13 games left. Over the last 13 games, we've achieved exactly 1 PPG. If we carry that over to the next 13 we'll finish with 46 points which would probably see us safe. FGR and Sutton would need 1.81 and 2.1 PPG respectively to overhaul us from here, so basically promotion form. Given the fact we've been largely crap over the last 13 games and our run-in is quite good, we've got a very good chance.

If we take a point tonight and at least avoid defeat on Saturday to extend our little unbeaten run to 4 matches, I'll be feeling much more confident about our chances.

Quoted from Poojah

I think it’s refreshing that he’s:

a) demonstrated that he’s been watching the same game as everyone else

b) shown a degree of humility and introspection in moving away from his stated ideas and principles, a quality you don’t often see in leadership in general and even less so in football

c) apparently been prepared to listen to and take on board the opinions and ideas of his subordinates at the expense of his own ego, again something you rarely see in leadership

As much as we saw the better side of Artell’s tactical qualities against Forest Green, I think what we’ve really seen in the past few days are his human traits.

I’ve been very critical of Artell, because frankly results and performances have largely been atrocious this year, but he’s gone up slightly in my estimation this last week. I say “slightly”, because he’s still got a very long way to go, but since there’s been so little positivity of late, let’s give some credit where it’s due.

I would substitute ego with principles. He admitted that he had only managed one team before he joined us and was still learning. When he took over at Crewe he inherited a squad and club that had a style of play ingrained in its DNA and his own. In some ways it was easier to progress and achieve the success he did with promotion. We don't have that playing style ethos and as such he has had too start from scratch. I'm sure we will escape relegation but the real measure of his capabilities will be his recruitment in the summer when he has to find players to suit his playing style and principles.

Quoted from MarinerDevil

We have 13 games left. Over the last 13 games, we've achieved exactly 1 PPG. If we carry that over to the next 13 we'll finish with 46 points which would probably see us safe. FGR and Sutton would need 1.81 and 2.1 PPG respectively to overhaul us from here, so basically promotion form. Given the fact we've been largely crap over the last 13 games and our run-in is quite good, we've got a very good chance.

If we take a point tonight and at least avoid defeat on Saturday to extend our little unbeaten run to 4 matches, I'll be feeling much more confident about our chances.

Exactly. It’s a low bar to clear to achieve safety…….lets hope we continue the run this week

Quoted from Poojah

I think it’s refreshing that he’s:

a) demonstrated that he’s been watching the same game as everyone else

b) shown a degree of humility and introspection in moving away from his stated ideas and principles, a quality you don’t often see in leadership in general and even less so in football

c) apparently been prepared to listen to and take on board the opinions and ideas of his subordinates at the expense of his own ego, again something you rarely see in leadership

As much as we saw the better side of Artell’s tactical qualities against Forest Green, I think what we’ve really seen in the past few days are his human traits.

I’ve been very critical of Artell, because frankly results and performances have largely been atrocious this year, but he’s gone up slightly in my estimation this last week. I say “slightly”, because he’s still got a very long way to go, but since there’s been so little positivity of late, let’s give some credit where it’s due.

a) demonstrated that he’s been watching the same game as everyone else Its a damn good start, as one had to wonder with PH and then DA that someone was giving them a different Memory Stick to rewatch a different match.

Sounds like a positive outcome from the team meeting which is not always the case when people start speaking their minds. An old guy I knew used to call them butchers shop meetings- by the time we finish we need blood dripping down the walls. They can easily get out of hand and need to be very well managed

Whilst acknowledging it’s good to see - finally/at last - the penny has dropped and common sense is prevailing - in respect of a change of approach (much needed) - I can’t ignore that it took eith the owner, or staff, or players - to force it. The manager was taking us to relegation if he had have carried on with his ‘philosophy’ stance ..and I think he would’ve carried on without being ‘forced’ out of it.

Nothing wrong with a footballing philosophy..and sticking to it - but has to be a recognition and an awareness of a time and place and situation.

Whilst many have gone from ‘oo he’s great..just what we need’ on appointment, to ‘get him out’ three weeks ago, back to ‘oo I like the cut of his jib’ after latest draw/win and interview - I’m still, and have been since day 1 - far from convinced on Artell on many fronts. I’ve said before I’d like nothing better than for him to prove me massively wrong. And I hope he does. For me.. too many reservations atm. But fingers crossed for another result tonight.. I don’t see any reason why we can’t get something, again a point would be fine. Come on Town. 🤞

Quoted from GrimPol

a) demonstrated that he’s been watching the same game as everyone else Its a damn good start, as one had to wonder with PH and then DA that someone was giving them a different Memory Stick to rewatch a different match.

Think the problem is that in spells the players were showing that they were capable of doing what he was asking, there was just too many moments of capitulation and we was often out the games by that time. I've stood by the ethos that if he keeps us up then we will see the fruits of his labour. The players he's brought in have improved us and he's quite clearly got a togetherness in the dressing room that mirrors a PH side based on what we saw at full time on Saturday. The interview was a good listen as you could tell he was slightly more relaxed and gave some good answers to some good questions from JT.

He only changed it because he knew he was going to get the sack with the most humiliating record of practically any manager for years .
I’m absolutely relieved he had to ditch his total football as it’s given us a fighting chance of staying up but still have little of no confidence he’ll do any better next season when he gets his dream team assembled.

One swallow doesn’t make a summer but it allows a different tune to be played for a few days at least . I am not sure there are going to be to many games like last Saturdays and in many ways I hope not.if we get through these two away games in a no worse position I have no ideal how we will set up for the next home game.i wonder if Artell does?!

https://open.spotify.com/track/1HpZmEGmT9Y658IUMyTPhB?si=EdXpJ8iqST2m4FzQCkdiFQ%0A
Great to be there on to Sutton  UTM

Quoted from marinerjase

Whilst acknowledging it’s good to see - finally/at last - the penny has dropped and common sense is prevailing - in respect of a change of approach (much needed) - I can’t ignore that it took eith the owner, or staff, or players - to force it. The manager was taking us to relegation if he had have carried on with his ‘philosophy’ stance ..and I think he would’ve carried on without being ‘forced’ out of it.

Nothing wrong with a footballing philosophy..and sticking to it - but has to be a recognition and an awareness of a time and place and situation.

Whilst many have gone from ‘oo he’s great..just what we need’ on appointment, to ‘get him out’ three weeks ago, back to ‘oo I like the cut of his jib’ after latest draw/win and interview - I’m still, and have been since day 1 - far from convinced on Artell on many fronts. I’ve said before I’d like nothing better than for him to prove me massively wrong. And I hope he does. For me.. too many reservations atm. But fingers crossed for another result tonight.. I don’t see any reason why we can’t get something, again a point would be fine. Come on Town. 🤞

As always, good and balanced viewpoint jase.  

Nature of football fans to flip and flop on their views, our club won't be exclusive in that one.  I don't think Artell should be judged solely on this season (disaster avoided of course) nor should he be done on a six-week run of form.  Alas, he largely was (myself included) as emotion and panic set in.

Fingers crossed we've ridden that wave.  I've said since his appointment there would be as many ups as downs, I certainly didn't imagine those down points would be quite so traumatic though!  I thought the point of him still learning was really interesting from his interview.  Brave point to make and I respect that from him.  Only becomes a valuable admission if you learn from the mistakes.  Without wanting to flip this back too much to previous managers, that was always the biggest downfall with Hurst in my eyes.  He was too stubborn on ideas and approaches, even if it was clear they weren't working.  I'm hoping Artell has and continues to reflect on what hasn't worked (as much as what has) in the last 3/4 months to make him a better manager and us a better side.  

Quoted from rancido

I would substitute ego with principles. He admitted that he had only managed one team before he joined us and was still learning. When he took over at Crewe he inherited a squad and club that had a style of play ingrained in its DNA and his own. In some ways it was easier to progress and achieve the success he did with promotion. We don't have that playing style ethos and as such he has had too start from scratch. I'm sure we will escape relegation but the real measure of his capabilities will be his recruitment in the summer when he has to find players to suit his playing style and principles.

A huge challenge the summer IMHO. Save one season with Slade we’ve had nothing but struggle for 20 odd years outside of Hurstball. The days of recruiting and keeping creative, and combative / dominant midfielders like Paul Groves, essential for what I perceive Artell’s style to require,  for likes of GTFC are gone. We couldn’t hang to one youth that had the potential to be that for more than half a season. Our best final third player that we’ve had for years, McAtee lasted a season plus a loan back.

Buckley mk 1 is possible, and by that I mean his first season. After a very slow start, we had the cup run and play-off form, from a team of mostly really good national leagues players plus the cultured forward play of Kelly, the Buckley equivalent of Ryan Taylor. I can’t see us landing the second season type signings - a Gary Birtles. I’m impressed with the Rose Wilson combo though. think we need to retain them both not just Rose.

I think Artell has to adapt his preferred approach. We need a Green upgrade, someone as combative but who can also pass better to make up for the mobility limitations of Thompson, who could be the midfield director with right players alongside.

We must have a better outlet. This could be Vernam if he stays fit. Eisa, for all his spectacular 20 yarders doesn’t do it for me. Doesn’t track back to look for the ball and doesn’t find space to make an easy pass available for the FB and midfielders sitting deep.

I’d like to keep Harvey, he’s growing in confidence - great area dominating performance last night.