Bottom 4's Projected Points and Form

Here's some simplistic maths but it's indicative:

Points over the last 6 games:

GTFC: 6
CUFC: 7
FGR: 7
SUFC: 4

Points per game over the season as a whole:

GTFC: 1
CUFC: 0.94
FGR: 0.77
SUFC: 0.72

Projected points if teams continue to score points at current rate:

GTFC: 46 (12 games left)
CUFC: 43 (12)
FGR: 36 (11) - I'm being kind, it's really 35.5
SUFC: 33 (10)

37 points COULD be enough to avoid relegation this season, Sutton are all but gone already. My gut says it will be about 40. If we continue at a point per game we're golden. A win on Saturday means that we can afford 2 draws and 2 losses from the nightmare next 4 games after Sutton. And none of this takes into account our much better goal difference which is like an extra point right now.

Sutton and FGR have to play each other, we want a draw there. We have to play Sutton and Colchester - we want a win on Saturday v Sutton. We play Colchester in mid April and although it looks like a 'must win' it could be all over bar the shouting by then if Sutton and FGR don't pick up points in the intervening games.

Beat Sutton and we will be packing our bags for the beach, not quite on it.

Beat Sutton and if FGR lose to Walsall then we’d be all but safe. FGR aren’t making 10pts (11 with GD) up in 10 games Possibly mathematically safe by the time we’ve finished our Easter eggs.

Just an added thought -

When you take into account goal difference Sutton have to find 9 points and FGR 8 to go past us right now. Their PPG suggest they will only get 7 (Sutton) and 9 (FGR) for the rest of the season. Our PPG suggests we will get 12 more.

Sutton and FGR are close to needing snookers to relegate us and nearly as close with Colchester.

Quoted from LH

Beat Sutton and if FGR lose to Walsall then we’d be all but safe. FGR aren’t making 10pts (11 with GD) up in 10 games Possibly mathematically safe by the time we’ve finished our Easter eggs.

I want you to be right!

I hope colchester drop tbh, soulless dump of a stadium, The Cowleys, and they're millions and millions in debt

Quoted from Hagrid

I hope colchester drop tbh, soulless dump of a stadium, The Cowleys, and they're millions and millions in debt

Same

There could be a scenario where we play Colchester with 2 games to go after that knowing that a draw would enable survival for both teams! Now if that would be the case that would be worth a big bet! In reality I'd hope we would be fine by then.

Quoted from Hagrid

I hope colchester drop tbh, soulless dump of a stadium, The Cowleys, and they're millions and millions in debt

My preference would be Sutton to stay up but obviously conditional on their form improving only after Saturday.

Quoted from LH

Beat Sutton and if FGR lose to Walsall then we’d be all but safe. FGR aren’t making 10pts (11 with GD) up in 10 games Possibly mathematically safe by the time we’ve finished our Easter eggs.

I dunno. They've been on sale for weeks now and I'll be completely honest, I tend to inhale them as opposed to actually eating them.

Quoted from Marinerdeano

There could be a scenario where we play Colchester with 2 games to go after that knowing that a draw would enable survival for both teams! Now if that would be the case that would be worth a big bet! In reality I'd hope we would be fine by then.

I don't think that will happen, I think it'll be a dead rubber for both teams. That is game 10 of our remaining 12 games - FGR and Sutton will have 2 games remaining as well and could be already gone.

The only thing at stake will be who finishes 3rd and 4th from bottom.

FGR's run-in is horrific.  

Walsall (7th)
Bradford (15th)
Sutton (24th)
Donny (20th)
Stockport (2nd )
Crewe (4th)
MK Dons (5th)
Mansfield (1st )
Wrexham (3rd )
Morecambe (8th)
Notts County (14th)

Stockport right through to Morecambe is particularly bad.  For the final day County are only 7 points off the play-offs with a game in hand (same as Bradford next Tues.  Probably only the Donny game against someone with nothing, or very little, to play for.

Colchester only seem able to draw but they too aren't playing many who might already be on the beach.  Tranmere perhaps in addition to Donny.

Barrow (6th)
Donny (20th)
Walsall (7th)
Mansfield (1st )
Newport (12th)
Tranmere (18th)
Wrexham (3rd )
Stockport (2nd )
Crawley (11th)
Town (21st)
Notts County (14th)
Crewe (4th)

They get their bottom in gear and Sutton have got Accrington, Salford, Swindon, Harrogate and at that stage potentially Crawley who won't have anything to play for.

Of course football doesn't work out that way, especially at this time of year.

Quoted from Hagrid

I hope colchester drop tbh, soulless dump of a stadium, The Cowleys, and they're millions and millions in debt

I’d rather Sutton and FGR go , they don’t offer anything to this league and have never brought more than a couple of dozen fans to our place , saying that I can’t remember Colchester ever brining many

Staying up with low 40s points though is still a woeful season, if that's what happens and we should easily have gone down. Next season is going to be a total game changer with the crazy kick off times that have been imposed on fans. We need to get off to a better start.

I think the Sutton game is as important as the FGR game last week. They're obviously crap but they're capable of picking up the odd result (Notts County) and will see this game as their last chance to give themselves some hope. They've had a free week too so they'll be a little fresher. We definitely need to avoid defeat but a victory would put us in a very strong position heading into the run-in. We just need to average 1 PPG and avoid giving our rivals a helping hand.

Next year is going to be an entirely different ball game for any number of reasons. Not counting my chickens yet, but I hope we’re in the same league. We no longer look like a team in a tailspin thank goodness.

Quoted from MarinerDevil

They've had a free week too so they'll be a little fresher.

I think we can all agree with Cotterill that it is outrageous that we should be expected to play 3 games in just 8 days.

Quoted from GrimRob

Staying up with low 40s points though is still a woeful season, if that's what happens and we should easily have gone down. Next season is going to be a total game changer with the crazy kick off times that have been imposed on fans. We need to get off to a better start.

You’re right Rob but isn’t it akin to what Stevenage did and they even had a certain Danny Rose playing for them when they did it. We know what happened the next season.

Quoted from diehardmariner

FGR's run-in is horrific.  

Walsall (7th)
Bradford (15th)
Sutton (24th)
Donny (20th)
Stockport (2nd )
Crewe (4th)
MK Dons (5th)
Mansfield (1st )
Wrexham (3rd )
Morecambe (8th)
Notts County (14th)

Stockport right through to Morecambe is particularly bad.  For the final day County are only 7 points off the play-offs with a game in hand (same as Bradford next Tues.  Probably only the Donny game against someone with nothing, or very little, to play for.
i

Interesting. I'm more concerned by FGR than Sutton because they seemed to be picking up before they played us. They are 5 points adrift of Colchester (plus goal difference) and I can't see them getting more than 7 points from this run of games.

Loads of variables but this account is projecting safety to be a measly 39pts. The last 3 games have done wonders for us, Saturday of course the most significant. Agree with Rob though that whatever our total is this season it’s been a shocker.

A lot can happen before the end of the season, until we are mathematically safe then I wont hold my breath, its a funny old game!

Same, it was only when looking at their fixtures (having seen a few people mention it was a tough run-in) that you appreciate the scale of it.

No easy games for anyone but I'd definitely prefer our run-in.  March looks very tough after Sutton but then April, again on paper, far easier.  4 of our final 6 are against teams who shouldn't have anything to play for at the same time FGR and Colchester are mainly playing promotion challenging sides.

Sutton (24th)
MK Dons (5th)
Gillingham (9th)
Wrexham (3rd )
Barrow (6th)
Bradford (15th)
Harrogate (13th)
Crewe (4th)
Colchester (22nd)
Swindon (17th)
Crawley (11th)

One thing I think definitely in FGR's favour is that Cotterill is very much a trench mentality type.  He'll be hammering home the 'us against the world' mantra to his players and such a challenging fixture list will play right into that.

Quoted from GrimRob

Staying up with low 40s points though is still a woeful season, if that's what happens and we should easily have gone down. Next season is going to be a total game changer with the crazy kick off times that have been imposed on fans. We need to get off to a better start.

I never get this be honest Rob.

The objective in a league format is simply to get more points than those you want to finish above.  How many points you get is irrelevant.  I'd rather stay up with 41 points than go down down with 55.  The only way anyone should and does go down is if they fail to get more points on the board than their rivals.  The amount of points in one season has no correlation to the points in other seasons.

Liverpool fans (and their not alone in this) cried when they finished second with 97 and 92 points respectively in recent season, owing to the fact that a points haul that big would be comfortably enough to win the league in any other season.  But it's not any other season, you didn't get as many points as the best team. Simple as.

Quoted from diehardmariner

FGR's run-in is horrific.  

Walsall (7th)
Bradford (15th)
Sutton (24th)
Donny (20th)
Stockport (2nd )
Crewe (4th)
MK Dons (5th)
Mansfield (1st )
Wrexham (3rd )
Morecambe (8th)
Notts County (14th)

Stockport right through to Morecambe is particularly bad.  For the final day County are only 7 points off the play-offs with a game in hand (same as Bradford next Tues.  Probably only the Donny game against someone with nothing, or very little, to play for.

Colchester only seem able to draw but they too aren't playing many who might already be on the beach.  Tranmere perhaps in addition to Donny.

Barrow (6th)
Donny (20th)
Walsall (7th)
Mansfield (1st )
Newport (12th)
Tranmere (18th)
Wrexham (3rd )
Stockport (2nd )
Crawley (11th)
Town (21st)
Notts County (14th)
Crewe (4th)

They get their bottom in gear and Sutton have got Accrington, Salford, Swindon, Harrogate and at that stage potentially Crawley who won't have anything to play for.

Of course football doesn't work out that way, especially at this time of year.

You could argue that Harrogate and Crawley still have 7th place to strive for; only being 5 points adrift as of today.

Quoted from diehardmariner

I never get this be honest Rob.

The objective in a league format is simply to get more points than those you want to finish above.  How many points you get is irrelevant.  I'd rather stay up with 41 points than go down down with 55.  The only way anyone should and does go down is if they fail to get more points on the board than their rivals.  The amount of points in one season has no correlation to the points in other seasons.

Liverpool fans (and their not alone in this) cried when they finished second with 97 and 92 points respectively in recent season, owing to the fact that a points haul that big would be comfortably enough to win the league in any other season.  But it's not any other season, you didn't get as many points as the best team. Simple as.

Exactly, Man U's 1999 title win isn't invalid because they only got 79 points (unfortunately!)

I will just say, please don't get complacent - we don't win on Saturday and only get 1 or 2 points in the next 4 (tough) games and suddenly things aren't quite as clear cut

Beat Sutton and season over
Draw v Sutton and FGR lose to Walsall ……will need to keep on fighting for gruesome points

Quoted from IlkleyMariner

Beat Sutton and season over
Draw v Sutton and FGR lose to Walsall ……will need to keep on fighting for gruesome points

Personally, to declare ourselves “as good as safe” on Saturday evening, I’d be wanting a Town win coupled with a Forest Green defeat, and ideally a Colchester one too as an additional insurance policy.

Still, nice to be contemplating what looks by no means an impossible set of events when you consider that just over a week it looked like a FGR win was about to bring them within a point of us. Walsall are the league’s in-form side with 16 points from their last 18, while Colchester’s 650 mile return trip to 6th placed Barrow has to be a wholly unpalatable prospect for them.

Quoted from IlkleyMariner

Beat Sutton and season over
Draw v Sutton and FGR lose to Walsall ……will need to keep on fighting for gruesome points

If FGR lose against Walsall, I would take that point at Sutton and run with it.  Yes, the next 4 games in particular are hard, but we’re getting results somehow.

Funnily, I actually think the Harrogate game is gonna yield 3 points for us, for once. Just a feeling. But that is ages away…..

I’m not completely convinced that Wrexham will be a certain nil points either. There’s life in this old dog yet.

MK Dons have really picked up, but they don’t worry me either now. What a difference a week makes.

Quoted from Heisenberg

I’m not completely convinced that Wrexham will be a certain nil points either. There’s life in this old dog yet.

Agreed, they've won 1 of their last 7 away games.

I've added home and away, I hope you didn't mind Diehardmariner.

FGR's run-in is

H Walsall (7th)
A Bradford (15th)
H Sutton (24th)
A Donny (20th)
H Stockport (2nd )
A Crewe (4th)
H MK Dons (5th)
A Mansfield (1st )
A Wrexham (3rd )
A Morecambe (8th)
H Notts County (14th)



Colchester's run in is

A Barrow (6th)
H Donny (20th)
H Walsall (7th)
A Mansfield (1st )
H Newport (12th)
A Tranmere (18th)
H Wrexham (3rd )
H Stockport (2nd )
A Crawley (11th)
H Town (21st)
A Notts County (14th)
H Crewe (4th)

Ours

A Sutton (24th)
H MK Dons (5th)
A Gillingham (9th)
H Wrexham (3rd )
A Barrow (6th)
H Bradford (15th)
A Harrogate (13th)
A Crewe (4th)
A Colchester (22nd)
H Swindon (17th)
A Crawley (11th)

Quoted from diehardmariner

I never get this be honest Rob.

The objective in a league format is simply to get more points than those you want to finish above.  How many points you get is irrelevant.  I'd rather stay up with 41 points than go down down with 55.  The only way anyone should and does go down is if they fail to get more points on the board than their rivals.  The amount of points in one season has no correlation to the points in other seasons..

Yes within the season itself but I am looking ahead. If we repeat this year's summer budget/recruitment then it's more likely than not that we'd be relegated.

And to anyone who regards this season as a one-off not to-be-repeated freak year, I would point out that we have spent nearly the whole of the last 20 years in the bottom 10 of League Two or the top 10 of the National League (and probably over half the time in a narrow band of about 10 league places). We even made a film about the 4th of the four transitions between these two divisions.

Quoted from GrimRob

Yes within the season itself but I am looking ahead. If we repeat this year's summer budget/recruitment then it's more likely than not that we'd be relegated.

And to anyone who regards this season as a one-off not to-be-repeated freak year, I would point out that we have spent nearly the whole of the last 20 years in the bottom 10 of League Two or the top 10 of the National League (and probably over half the time in a narrow band of about 10 league places). We even made a film about the 4th of the four transitions between these two divisions.

I don’t think anyone sees this as a freak year, do they? Unexpected, given our recent upward trajectory, but it’s certainly not a statistical anomaly.

If we can stay in League Two this season it does look a somewhat more “normal” division next season in terms of financial doping, especially if the current top 3 of Mansfield, Stockport and Wrexham go up. The current bottom four in League One are all fairly traditional at this level in recent times, with the exception of Fleetwood who are a non-league club seemingly about to re-find their level in the coming years.

Chesterfield are virtually up already, but we’re not going to see the kind of money Wrexham and Notts County brought up into the league last summer.

The new TV deal will level the playing field to some degree. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing for Town remains to be seen.

4/5 of the last games away for us is a slight concern - given we have only picked up 12 points away all season. With two games a week it could easily spiral one way or another: hopefully we have got some momentum for the rest of March so that we start the April run in with a decent buffer. That's my wish in any case..!

Quoted from Poojah

I don’t think anyone sees this as a freak year, do they? Unexpected, given our recent upward trajectory, but it’s certainly not a statistical anomaly.

If we can stay in League Two this season it does look a somewhat more “normal” division next season in terms of financial doping, especially if the current top 3 of Mansfield, Stockport and Wrexham go up. The current bottom four in League One are all fairly traditional at this level in recent times, with the exception of Fleetwood who are a non-league club seemingly about to re-find their level in the coming years.

Chesterfield are virtually up already, but we’re not going to see the kind of money Wrexham and Notts County brought up into the league last summer.

The new TV deal will level the playing field to some degree. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing for Town remains to be seen.

Forest green going down would be helpful too from that perspective as they are another bank rolled team, and them going out the other way would be a real bonus.

Not sure of the Colchester budget, their owner has poured tens of millions (35 mill in debt isn't it) into being a perennial league 2 struggler bizarrely. I assume he's turned the tap off to some degree hence why they don't have a groundsman? You would assume they are bigger spenders than Sutton though.

Quoted from Poojah

I don’t think anyone sees this as a freak year, do they? Unexpected, given our recent upward trajectory, but it’s certainly not a statistical anomaly.

If we can stay in League Two this season it does look a somewhat more “normal” division next season in terms of financial doping, especially if the current top 3 of Mansfield, Stockport and Wrexham go up. The current bottom four in League One are all fairly traditional at this level in recent times, with the exception of Fleetwood who are a non-league club seemingly about to re-find their level in the coming years.

Chesterfield are virtually up already, but we’re not going to see the kind of money Wrexham and Notts County brought up into the league last summer.

The new TV deal will level the playing field to some degree. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing for Town remains to be seen.

The TV deal won't level the playing field a great deal. Wages and/or transfer fees will undoubtedly increase, and if all the big spenders leave the division, another team or two will see it as an opportunity to throw more cash at promotion.

Artell was hired to play the "Grimsby Way" and part of the reason for Hurst going, was an inability to play the "Grimsby Way", so at some point the board are going to start judging Artell on his ability to get the team playing the "Grimsby Way."

Assuming we stay up, I am absolutely terrified about our summer recruitment and how we start next season, if Artell doesn't leave as part of the end of season post-mortem.

Quoted from Meza

I've added home and away, I hope you didn't mind Diehardmariner.

FGR's run-in is

H Walsall (7th)
A Bradford (15th)
H Sutton (24th)
A Donny (20th)
H Stockport (2nd )
A Crewe (4th)
H MK Dons (5th)
A Mansfield (1st )
A Wrexham (3rd )
A Morecambe (8th)
H Notts County (14th)



Colchester's run in is

A Barrow (6th)
H Donny (20th)
H Walsall (7th)
A Mansfield (1st )
H Newport (12th)
A Tranmere (18th)
H Wrexham (3rd )
H Stockport (2nd )
A Crawley (11th)
H Town (21st)
A Notts County (14th)
H Crewe (4th)

Ours

A Sutton (24th)
H MK Dons (5th)
A Gillingham (9th)
H Wrexham (3rd )
A Barrow (6th)
H Bradford (15th)
A Harrogate (13th)
A Crewe (4th)
A Colchester (22nd)
H Swindon (17th)
A Crawley (11th)

Me thinks, no I know that you have missed a game, as we have 12 games left to play, you missed the Newport game at home.

Quoted from Poojah

I don’t think anyone sees this as a freak year, do they? Unexpected, given our recent upward trajectory, but it’s certainly not a statistical anomaly.

If we can stay in League Two this season it does look a somewhat more “normal” division next season in terms of financial doping, especially if the current top 3 of Mansfield, Stockport and Wrexham go up. The current bottom four in League One are all fairly traditional at this level in recent times, with the exception of Fleetwood who are a non-league club seemingly about to re-find their level in the coming years.

Chesterfield are virtually up already, but we’re not going to see the kind of money Wrexham and Notts County brought up into the league last summer.

The new TV deal will level the playing field to some degree. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing for Town remains to be seen.

If Stockport, Mansfield and Wrexham go up I’d expect they would need to significantly cull their squads to add sufficient League one quality to compete at the top end of the league. That should free up a few more decent players at League 2 level.

Quoted from toontown

Forest green going down would be helpful too from that perspective as they are another bank rolled team, and them going out the other way would be a real bonus.

Not sure of the Colchester budget, their owner has poured tens of millions (35 mill in debt isn't it) into being a perennial league 2 struggler bizarrely. I assume he's turned the tap off to some degree hence why they don't have a groundsman? You would assume they are bigger spenders than Sutton though.

Interesting piece about Colchester, worth a read.
https://looksports.media/whats-going-wrong-at-colchester-united-opinion/

Quoted from Poojah

I don’t think anyone sees this as a freak year, do they? Unexpected, given our recent upward trajectory, but it’s certainly not a statistical anomaly.

If we can stay in League Two this season it does look a somewhat more “normal” division next season in terms of financial doping, especially if the current top 3 of Mansfield, Stockport and Wrexham go up. The current bottom four in League One are all fairly traditional at this level in recent times, with the exception of Fleetwood who are a non-league club seemingly about to re-find their level in the coming years.

Chesterfield are virtually up already, but we’re not going to see the kind of money Wrexham and Notts County brought up into the league last summer.

The new TV deal will level the playing field to some degree. Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing for Town remains to be seen.

Ideally a Gateshead or Bromley come up with Chesterfield , they are not bankrolled and would be low hitters .

I think there will still be a few big hitters but obviously not to the extent to those leaving - Carlisle have wealthy new owners , MK Dons (if they don't go up ) Gillingham , Salford probably a few more besides .

Swindon look a basket case waiting to happen (actually I think they already are ) Barrow will probably lose Wild if they don't go up and not be as competitive ; Morecambe & Accrington want to break even at least - so there will be a chance for us to do better no doubt .

I don't think the new TV deal will make a difference in terms of giving less supported teams an advantage over the more well supported clubs - they will be still more well supported in terms of gate receipts even if it's slightly less than this season say if we average 5500 next season that would be about 800 down on this  but much higher than many in this league . I suppose you could argue away fans numbers might be well down , but that hardly effects us anyway as no one seems to travel well here .

I think the more interesting thing is - how do the clubs use the money ?

Are they literally going to all plough it into the playing budget?

Or will there be a disadvantage-  in that some use it on infrastructure costs and other off the field items whereas some just use it all and more on the playing side .

Quoted from Mappers

Ideally a Gateshead or Bromley come up with Chesterfield , they are not bankrolled and would be low hitters .

Yeah, when you look at those potentially following Chestefield up, it doesn’t look the most appetising.

Barnet’s not the worst if you go via central London but still a bit of a schlep on the tube / train. Bromley and Solihull just urgh (although Bromley would at least have to get rid of their plastic pitch). Oldham’s not the worst location-wise, but I still have nightmares about that Scott Vernon inspired 6-0 (and my paradoxical pie) and can’t help but feel they deserve at least another year in purgatory.

Gateshead I have very mixed feelings about. There’s no doubting that their ground is the single worst place to watch a game of football across the top 5 tiers (and possibly beyond), and again memories of our play-off injustice there still hurt. That said, that 6-1 win there just a couple of months later was both hugely entertaining and cathartic. I also learned that day that it’s a piece of píss to get the train into Newcastle city centre and then jump on the metro to the ground, so that does up the ante a bit in terms of away day potential.

I don’t fancy Aldershot or Altrincham much, and then beyond that you’ve got Halifax and Hartlepool - the latter with a very long shot admittedly.

If I had a choice it’d be Halifax all day long, a combination of a convenient location, decent-ish ground and a few cracking pubs in close proximity. I think we’re more likely to end up with one of the above, though.

Quoted from jamesgtfc

Assuming we stay up, I am absolutely terrified about our summer recruitment and how we start next season, if Artell doesn't leave as part of the end of season post-mortem.

Why?  

His recruitment in January was ok.  

Thompson and Hume improvements, I think Tharm looks to be that younger version of Waterfall we needed and now he's settled looks very much the one you use a lynchpin at the back and surround with 'better' footballers.  Smith hasn't impressed and I think Obikwu took a few games to get going but looked good in his last start. 3/5 definite improvements, 1 with the jury out on a little still.  I'd take that level of improvement every window.

Conteh leaving was out of Artell's hands.  Waterfall was a spent force at this level. Khan was/is never fit. Amos was well down the pecking order and general consensus was that we need to upgrade on him.  Hunt, who I'm a big fan of, hasn't exactly done anything at York so far to suggest Artell got that wrong (and he's also stated that he still views him as having a future next season).  Conteh aside, again out of his control, there's no-one we're looking longingly at.

Artell gets a summer of recruitment on his own terms and he can bring in the right players for the system he wants to play.  

Quoted from Poojah

Yeah, when you look at those potentially following Chestefield up, it doesn’t look the most appetising.

Barnet’s not the worst if you go via central London but still a bit of a schlep on the tube / train. Bromley and Solihull just urgh (although Bromley would at least have to get rid of their plastic pitch). Oldham’s not the worst location-wise, but I still have nightmares about that Scott Vernon inspired 6-0 (and my paradoxical pie) and can’t help but feel they deserve at least another year in purgatory.

Gateshead I have very mixed feelings about. There’s no doubting that their ground is the single worst place to watch a game of football across the top 5 tiers (and possibly beyond), and again memories of our play-off injustice there still hurt. That said, that 6-1 win there just a couple of months later was both hugely entertaining and cathartic. I also learned that day that it’s a piece of píss to get the train into Newcastle city centre and then jump on the metro to the ground, so that does up the ante a bit in terms of away day potential.

I don’t fancy Aldershot or Altrincham much, and then beyond that you’ve got Halifax and Hartlepool - the latter with a very long shot admittedly.

If I had a choice it’d be Halifax all day long, a combination of a convenient location, decent-ish ground and a few cracking pubs in close proximity. I think we’re more likely to end up with one of the above, though.

I enjoy Barnet, Halifax is awful, we never ever win there. Wouldnt say its conveniant either.

Altrincham and Oldham are allright, rest are hideous

Quoted from Hagrid

I enjoy Barnet, Halifax is awful, we never ever win there. Wouldnt say its conveniant either.

Altrincham and Oldham are allright, rest are hideous

Can’t argue with our appalling record at the Shay, certainly in my time watching Town, anyway. There’s some really good pubs in the town centre though, and it’s very convenient for me (half-an-hour in a taxi if I don’t fancy driving), so I might be slightly biased in that regard.

Quoted from Hagrid

I enjoy Barnet, Halifax is awful, we never ever win there. Wouldnt say its conveniant either.

Altrincham and Oldham are allright, rest are hideous

Barnet would be my pick. Easy for me to do from south London, decent ground, always take a good following and we often get a result there.

Quoted from jamesgtfc

Artell was hired to play the "Grimsby Way" and part of the reason for Hurst going, was an inability to play the "Grimsby Way", so at some point the board are going to start judging Artell on his ability to get the team playing the "Grimsby Way."

If we start winning games regularly then attendances will rise, if we lose most of them then fans will fall away. Grimsby Way or any other way, the basic reality is we'll be locking people out if we win every game.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Why?  

His recruitment in January was ok.  

Thompson and Hume improvements, I think Tharm looks to be that younger version of Waterfall we needed and now he's settled looks very much the one you use a lynchpin at the back and surround with 'better' footballers.  Smith hasn't impressed and I think Obikwu took a few games to get going but looked good in his last start. 3/5 definite improvements, 1 with the jury out on a little still.  I'd take that level of improvement every window.

Conteh leaving was out of Artell's hands.  Waterfall was a spent force at this level. Khan was/is never fit. Amos was well down the pecking order and general consensus was that we need to upgrade on him.  Hunt, who I'm a big fan of, hasn't exactly done anything at York so far to suggest Artell got that wrong (and he's also stated that he still views him as having a future next season).  Conteh aside, again out of his control, there's no-one we're looking longingly at.

Artell gets a summer of recruitment on his own terms and he can bring in the right players for the system he wants to play.  

A sound assessment, I'd say.