Are huge games all barring Dover maybe.

Grimsby v Forest Green     Sat 20 Dec     15:00     

Macclesfield v Grimsby     Fri 26 Dec     15:00     

Grimsby v Lincoln City     Sun 28 Dec     15:00     

Grimsby v Macclesfield     Thu 1 Jan     15:00     
     
Dover v Grimsby     Sun 4 Jan     15:00     
     
Grimsby v Barnet     Sat 17 Jan     15:00

Macclesfield twice who are 4th
FGR are 8th
Lincoln are crap our rivals
and then Barnet

We could be in the bottom half come mid january, but we could also be in reaching distance of Barnet.

lets get behind the boys and get promoted!

UTFM !!

Dover are in the cup so our game with them will be postponed,

They might arrange it for  Tues 6th Jan,

BUT

I doubt it.

4 home and 2 away games, let's hope we can get at least 14 points from these games.

Draw away to Dover and Macc and win the rest. ;)

If we're top after these games we deserve to go up as champions.

Disagree. Games against the teams at the bottom are worth just as much. Whoever's top after 46 games deserves to be there.

Quoted from Jarmo.Is.God

Are huge games all barring Dover maybe.

Grimsby v Forest Green     Sat 20 Dec     15:00     

Macclesfield v Grimsby     Fri 26 Dec     15:00     

Grimsby v Lincoln City     Sun 28 Dec     15:00     

Grimsby v Macclesfield     Thu 1 Jan     15:00     
     
Dover v Grimsby     Sun 4 Jan     15:00     
     
Grimsby v Barnet     Sat 17 Jan     15:00

Macclesfield twice who are 4th
FGR are 8th
Lincoln are crap our rivals
and then Barnet

We could be in the bottom half come mid january, but we could also be in reaching distance of Barnet.

lets get behind the boys and get promoted!

UTFM !!

5 games in 15 days! Yes.

FGR is Friday 19th 1945 8)
UTMM

No gobby, it's this year  :P

cant see us getting too much out these games and will slip down out the play off places , we are not a top 5 side.. we have the players  but not the manager

Quoted from denni266

cant see us getting too much out these games and will slip down out the play off places , we are not a top 5 side.. we have the players  but not the manager

So who was managing last season?

Hope you are wrong Grimsby Pete. Now I and my oldest girl ordered airfare and hotel for the match against Dover. Our little trip to England from Sweden would feel like a failure if we do not get to see the game.

Quoted from Abdul19

Disagree. Games against the teams at the bottom are worth just as much. Whoever's top after 46 games deserves to be there.

Exactly.

To be honest I am fed up of "the next 6 games" or "the games against Barnet" "are important" every game we need to win if we want to get out of this crap league.

We may not win every one but they are all important.

Quoted from Sweden

Hope you are wrong Grimsby Pete. Now I and my oldest girl ordered airfare and hotel for the match against Dover. Our little trip to England from Sweden would feel like a failure if we do not get to see the game.

The Dover game definitely won't be on that weekend as they're in the FA Cup and have drawn Crystal Palace at home.

Disappointed.... :(

Quoted from mariner91

So who was managing last season?

thats the same as saying we was good 11 years ago

Not really - you stated we weren't a top 5 side with this manager, and were rightly pulled up on that.

Quoted from mike_d

Not really - you stated we weren't a top 5 side with this manager, and were rightly pulled up on that.

we will all se at the end of the season .  thats my belief, and a few odd wins wont change my mind, like i have said before, we have good players capable of ripping some of these teams a new one, but not with mr  hurst in charge with his 7/8  players trying to defend

Quoted from denni266

thats the same as saying we was good 11 years ago

Except we weren't. And it's not.

Quoted from denni266

we will all se at the end of the season .  thats my belief, and a few odd wins wont change my mind, like i have said before, we have good players capable of ripping some of these teams a new one, but not with mr  hurst in charge with his 7/8  players trying to defend

Then we must have had an exceptionally good squad of players last season for them to make the play offs despite the hindrance of the current manager being in charge.

Quoted from mariner91

Then we must have had an exceptionally good squad of players last season for them to make the play offs despite the hindrance of the current manager being in charge.

Must say i agree,, we do have good players ,

Quoted from mariner91

Then we must have had an exceptionally good squad of players last season for them to make the play offs despite the hindrance of the current manager being in charge.

No we had a squad that just managed to get there despite the manager making it more difficult by picking a very weakened side and losing what he considered an unimportant game that cost 3 valuable points we could easily have regretted if you remember.

That is just one of the manager's "tactical" selections that some would say have cost the side several points already this season.

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

No we had a squad that just managed to get there despite the manager making it more difficult by picking a very weakened side and losing what he considered an unimportant game that cost 3 valuable points we could easily have regretted if you remember.

That is just one of the manager's "tactical" selections that some would say have cost the side several points already this season.

We were 4 points ahead of Braintree, hardly scraping in is it? Amuses me that the anti-Hurst fans keep saying "we've got a good squad but might not make the play offs because of the manager". Based on what exactly?! He's made the play offs comfortably the past two seasons so it's not like it's beyond him. And this squad that might be hindered by him according to the experts, was put together by him, so he can't be completely useless.

Is he perfect? No. Does he frustrate me at times with selections and tactics? Yes. Is there still room for improvement? Of course. But he's a young manager who has done pretty well the last two seasons and will hopefully continue to improve. His record here alone should prove to the doubters that he isn't completely clueless. Even our form in the last 10 games should prove that, 21 points from 30 is not a bad showing and is in fact better than Barnet's.

We are a fifth tier football team. We are not going to be able to afford a top class manager, whoever we have will have their faults. PH would be snapped up very quickly by nearly any other club in this league and we'd have to be pretty canny to get a better manager for the same amount that we're paying Hurst, Luton had a better manager but I read somewhere he was on £200,000 a year which I bet is four times what we're paying PH. We can't afford that!

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

No we had a squad that just managed to get there despite the manager making it more difficult by picking a very weakened side and losing what he considered an unimportant game that cost 3 valuable points we could easily have regretted if you remember.

That is just one of the manager's "tactical" selections that some would say have cost the side several points already this season.

Best bit of the re-writing of history I've seen on here for a good while. IF you are referring to the Dartford game it came a couple of days after our r previous game and 48 hours before an equally important home game v Chester. Something had to give. The easier of the two games on paper was Dartford and Hurst picked a team that should've had enough about them to have won...  

Quoted from mariner91

We were 4 points ahead of Braintree, hardly scraping in is it? Amuses me that the anti-Hurst fans keep saying "we've got a good squad but might not make the play offs because of the manager". Based on what exactly?! He's made the play offs comfortably the past two seasons so it's not like it's beyond him. And this squad that might be hindered by him according to the experts, was put together by him, so he can't be completely useless.

Is he perfect? No. Does he frustrate me at times with selections and tactics? Yes. Is there still room for improvement? Of course. But he's a young manager who has done pretty well the last two seasons and will hopefully continue to improve. His record here alone should prove to the doubters that he isn't completely clueless. Even our form in the last 10 games should prove that, 21 points from 30 is not a bad showing and is in fact better than Barnet's.

We are a fifth tier football team. We are not going to be able to afford a top class manager, whoever we have will have their faults. PH would be snapped up very quickly by nearly any other club in this league and we'd have to be pretty canny to get a better manager for the same amount that we're paying Hurst, Luton had a better manager but I read somewhere he was on £200,000 a year which I bet is four times what we're paying PH. We can't afford that!

Using Barnet as a yardstick is pointless until April because their opponents have not been the same as ours over those games. Many would argue that if you looked at the fixtures before those games we had some pretty easy ones. After those games we are left looking at points lost in those games.

My concern is that good managers learn from mistakes, that's why I mentioned his Braintree decision. Has he learned or has he gone in the wrong direction? There has been some funny sides chosen hasn't there? Why is it also that on several occasions the side has failed to capitalise on weaker opposition and good situations in the games by taking the game to the opposition. Someone has already said that just a small number of goals in drawn games would have seen us above Barnet.

But when the side don't do these things we get the usual stuff trotted out. It's down to the players, they say. Well they are his players, his team. Nobody else to look at there, surely. Then they trot out the old chestnut about budget. But, did York have a bigger budget than us? What's Gateshead's or Woking's or Macclesfield's like compared to ours? Somebody will no doubt find out. Bet they are massive!

We are a conference team, they say. Don't we know it? Some of us remember the first time and the second time we were inches away from promotion to the top league in the land and it grates to hear that 'we are a conference team'. We aren't. We are a league team in the wrong place and unless we start to believe that we will stay in this league for ever.

In my opinion for what it's worth, it is the manager's job at Grimsby Town to install that belief and arrogance in the team and I don't care what his salary is. I cannot find anyone who thinks that is currently the case. No, it's all oh we've done well haven't we? The manager has done well hasn't he? Playoffs for the past two seasons! Whoopee! And where are we now? Still in fifth place in the conference hoping the others don't win their games to send us sliding down, praying to scrape into the playoffs again and then squeeze back into the league somehow.

I get fed up of reading these reasonable explanations about why we are where we are and if we get X points while the others drop Y points we will be Z points nearer to Barnet by Pancake Tuesday. The one fact I am interested in is that our team is a long way from the top of this crappy league and it shouldn't be.

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

Using Barnet as a yardstick is pointless until April because their opponents have not been the same as ours over those games. Many would argue that if you looked at the fixtures before those games we had some pretty easy ones. After those games we are left looking at points lost in those games.

My concern is that good managers learn from mistakes, that's why I mentioned his Braintree decision. Has he learned or has he gone in the wrong direction? There has been some funny sides chosen hasn't there? Why is it also that on several occasions the side has failed to capitalise on weaker opposition and good situations in the games by taking the game to the opposition. Someone has already said that just a small number of goals in drawn games would have seen us above Barnet.

But when the side don't do these things we get the usual stuff trotted out. It's down to the players, they say. Well they are his players, his team. Nobody else to look at there, surely. Then they trot out the old chestnut about budget. But, did York have a bigger budget than us? What's Gateshead's or Woking's or Macclesfield's like compared to ours? Somebody will no doubt find out. Bet they are massive!

We are a conference team, they say. Don't we know it? Some of us remember the first time and the second time we were inches away from promotion to the top league in the land and it grates to hear that 'we are a conference team'. We aren't. We are a league team in the wrong place and unless we start to believe that we will stay in this league for ever.

In my opinion for what it's worth, it is the manager's job at Grimsby Town to install that belief and arrogance in the team and I don't care what his salary is. I cannot find anyone who thinks that is currently the case. No, it's all oh we've done well haven't we? The manager has done well hasn't he? Playoffs for the past two seasons! Whoopee! And where are we now? Still in fifth place in the conference hoping the others don't win their games to send us sliding down, praying to scrape into the playoffs again and then squeeze back into the league somehow.

I get fed up of reading these reasonable explanations about why we are where we are and if we get X points while the others drop Y points we will be Z points nearer to Barnet by Pancake Tuesday. The one fact I am interested in is that our team is a long way from the top of this crappy league and it shouldn't be.

All this yet I don't think I've ever seen you offer a viable alternative to PH. Certainly not one we could get within the immediate future if PH was to be sacked. We have a good conference level manager. Certainly not excellent, not the best in the league but he's a good manager for this level. Whilst we are in the current position (where only Eastleigh could reasonably expect to over take us with games in hand) I'd say it would be one hell of a gamble to try and get a better manager than PH as there are no obvious or outstanding candidates readily available.

I won't say if we get X points or Y points or whatever. But we're in the mix at the right end of the table, on a decent run of form with the best defence in the league. It's not ideal but it's not a terrible position to be in either. We drop points against teams that we arguably shouldn't do but you conveniently forget to mention we often pick up wins against teams considered difficult. It's a lot easier to start beating lower placed teams than it is to start beating teams at the top of a table, look how Arsenal continue to struggle against teams around them.

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

Using Barnet as a yardstick is pointless until April because their opponents have not been the same as ours over those games. Many would argue that if you looked at the fixtures before those games we had some pretty easy ones. After those games we are left looking at points lost in those games.

My concern is that good managers learn from mistakes, that's why I mentioned his Braintree decision. Has he learned or has he gone in the wrong direction? There has been some funny sides chosen hasn't there? Why is it also that on several occasions the side has failed to capitalise on weaker opposition and good situations in the games by taking the game to the opposition. Someone has already said that just a small number of goals in drawn games would have seen us above Barnet.

But when the side don't do these things we get the usual stuff trotted out. It's down to the players, they say. Well they are his players, his team. Nobody else to look at there, surely. Then they trot out the old chestnut about budget. But, did York have a bigger budget than us? What's Gateshead's or Woking's or Macclesfield's like compared to ours? Somebody will no doubt find out. Bet they are massive!

We are a conference team, they say. Don't we know it? Some of us remember the first time and the second time we were inches away from promotion to the top league in the land and it grates to hear that 'we are a conference team'. We aren't. We are a league team in the wrong place and unless we start to believe that we will stay in this league for ever.

In my opinion for what it's worth, it is the manager's job at Grimsby Town to install that belief and arrogance in the team and I don't care what his salary is. I cannot find anyone who thinks that is currently the case. No, it's all oh we've done well haven't we? The manager has done well hasn't he? Playoffs for the past two seasons! Whoopee! And where are we now? Still in fifth place in the conference hoping the others don't win their games to send us sliding down, praying to scrape into the playoffs again and then squeeze back into the league somehow.

I get fed up of reading these reasonable explanations about why we are where we are and if we get X points while the others drop Y points we will be Z points nearer to Barnet by Pancake Tuesday. The one fact I am interested in is that our team is a long way from the top of this crappy league and it shouldn't be.

good well reasoned reply ,

[quote=657]

Using Barnet as a yardstick is pointless until April because their opponents have not been the same as ours over those games. Many would argue that if you looked at the fixtures before those games we had some pretty easy ones. After those games we are left looking at points lost in those games.

My concern is that good managers learn from mistakes, that's why I mentioned his Braintree decision. Has he learned or has he gone in the wrong direction? There has been some funny sides chosen hasn't there? Why is it also that on several occasions the side has failed to capitalise on weaker opposition and good situations in the games by taking the game to the opposition. Someone has already said that just a small number of goals in drawn games would have seen us above Barnet.

But when the side don't do these things we get the usual stuff trotted out. It's down to the players, they say. Well they are his players, his team. Nobody else to look at there, surely. Then they trot out the old chestnut about budget. But, did York have a bigger budget than us? What's Gateshead's or Woking's or Macclesfield's like compared to ours? Somebody will no doubt find out. Bet they are massive!

We are a conference team, they say. Don't we know it? Some of us remember the first time and the second time we were inches away from promotion to the top league in the land and it grates to hear that 'we are a conference team'. We aren't. We are a league team in the wrong place and unless we start to believe that we will stay in this league for ever.

In my opinion for what it's worth, it is the manager's job at Grimsby Town to install that belief and arrogance in the team and I don't care what his salary is. I cannot find anyone who thinks that is currently the case. No, it's all oh we've done well haven't we? The manager has done well hasn't he? Playoffs for the past two seasons! Whoopee! And where are we now? Still in fifth place in the conference hoping the others don't win their games to send us sliding down, praying to scrape into the playoffs again and then squeeze back into the league somehow.

I get fed up of reading these reasonable explanations about why we are where we are and if we get X points while the others drop Y points we will be Z points nearer to Barnet by Pancake Tuesday. The one fact I am interested in is that our team is a long way from the top of this crappy league and it shouldn't be.[/quote


Excellent post IMO

Where's the Red Cross brigade  :P

Quoted from mariner91

All this yet I don't think I've ever seen you offer a viable alternative to PH. Certainly not one we could get within the immediate future if PH was to be sacked. We have a good conference level manager. Certainly not excellent, not the best in the league but he's a good manager for this level. Whilst we are in the current position (where only Eastleigh could reasonably expect to over take us with games in hand) I'd say it would be one hell of a gamble to try and get a better manager than PH as there are no obvious or outstanding candidates readily available.

I won't say if we get X points or Y points or whatever. But we're in the mix at the right end of the table, on a decent run of form with the best defence in the league. It's not ideal but it's not a terrible position to be in either. We drop points against teams that we arguably shouldn't do but you conveniently forget to mention we often pick up wins against teams considered difficult. It's a lot easier to start beating lower placed teams than it is to start beating teams at the top of a table, look how Arsenal continue to struggle against teams around them.

I honestly don't care who the manager is, I only care what he is.That's why I don't offer an alternative. It's not my job to pick managers. If PH suddenly becomes the inspirational leader we need who takes us shooting up the table then I would be delighted.

On the subject of dropping points, a manager said a few years ago that if you win your games against the teams below you then you win the league. That was Evans at Crawley after we won there. We seem to go into too many games against teams below us with worry beads in the dressing room. Teams above us and it's a different story for some reason known only to the manager and players.

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

I honestly don't care who the manager is, I only care what he is.That's why I don't offer an alternative. It's not my job to pick managers. If PH suddenly becomes the inspirational leader we need who takes us shooting up the table then I would be delighted.

On the subject of dropping points, a manager said a few years ago that if you win your games against the teams below you then you win the league. That was Evans at Crawley after we won there. We seem to go into too many games against teams below us with worry beads in the dressing room. Teams above us and it's a different story for some reason known only to the manager and players.

It's not anyone's job on here to choose an alternative but unless there is one so blatantly obvious and available, why would we risk gambling in our current position? In the mix, good defence, good run of form. Not ideal but a decent place to be. Why get in a new manager and put it all at risk with everything still to play for? You used the games in hand stick to beat PH earlier but after tonight's results if we win ours we would go either third or second depending on Macc, that is a good position.

My opinion for the reason we don't beat teams below us is that we've not got the right striker playing against them. LJL is fantastic against teams who will come at you because he can hold it up and cause them problems taking the pressure off our defence. Against teams who will park the bus he lacks the finesse and finishing often required. Not always, he did it against Braintree, but too often. I'd like to think Pittman could be the man to get us beating those teams but he needs to remain fit and get a good run of games going. If that isn't possible, then a striker who will get us beating those teams lower down is the only thing stopping us catching Barnet.

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

I honestly don't care who the manager is, I only care what he is.That's why I don't offer an alternative. It's not my job to pick managers. If PH suddenly becomes the inspirational leader we need who takes us shooting up the table then I would be delighted.

On the subject of dropping points, a manager said a few years ago that if you win your games against the teams below you then you win the league. That was Evans at Crawley after we won there. We seem to go into too many games against teams below us with worry beads in the dressing room. Teams above us and it's a different story for some reason known only to the manager and players.

That's the cautious nature of the manager I'm afraid and that will be nailed into the players
Take brown when he first came here,, always getting forward, now thinks about defence first and foremost . We just invite pressure by sitting deeper and deeper the longer the game goes on.
Always get hurst in the paper saying that he didn't like the way we defended deep during the second half,, that's when I'd be balling at them from the touch line but he just stands there with his hands behind his back doing nothing.
It all comes from him and nobody else, fills me with no confidence at all about getting promotion from this league

Quoted from mariner91

It's not anyone's job on here to choose an alternative but unless there is one so blatantly obvious and available, why would we risk gambling in our current position? In the mix, good defence, good run of form. Not ideal but a decent place to be. Why get in a new manager and put it all at risk with everything still to play for? You used the games in hand stick to beat PH earlier but after tonight's results if we win ours we would go either third or second depending on Macc, that is a good position.

My opinion for the reason we don't beat teams below us is that we've not got the right striker playing against them. LJL is fantastic against teams who will come at you because he can hold it up and cause them problems taking the pressure off our defence. Against teams who will park the bus he lacks the finesse and finishing often required. Not always, he did it against Braintree, but too often. I'd like to think Pittman could be the man to get us beating those teams but he needs to remain fit and get a good run of games going. If that isn't possible, then a striker who will get us beating those teams lower down is the only thing stopping us catching Barnet.

But he can't attract that striker can he, so left with a forward line that isn't good enough

Quoted from mariner91

It's not anyone's job on here to choose an alternative but unless there is one so blatantly obvious and available, why would we risk gambling in our current position? In the mix, good defence, good run of form. Not ideal but a decent place to be. Why get in a new manager and put it all at risk with everything still to play for? You used the games in hand stick to beat PH earlier but after tonight's results if we win ours we would go either third or second depending on Macc, that is a good position.

My opinion for the reason we don't beat teams below us is that we've not got the right striker playing against them. LJL is fantastic against teams who will come at you because he can hold it up and cause them problems taking the pressure off our defence. Against teams who will park the bus he lacks the finesse and finishing often required. Not always, he did it against Braintree, but too often. I'd like to think Pittman could be the man to get us beating those teams but he needs to remain fit and get a good run of games going. If that isn't possible, then a striker who will get us beating those teams lower down is the only thing stopping us catching Barnet.

Well there you go then. It's all hunky dory isn't it? We are in the mix. Wonderful. Let's all be happy with that. The manager and the team seem to be happy with that too so we'll all sleep well tonight. Who knows, we might even dream that we beat Telford and Altrincham.

Sorry, that might be good enough for some but it ain't good enough for me.

Quoted from ackomariner

But he can't attract that striker can he, so left with a forward line that isn't good enough

He got Hearn here. He got Pittman here (I will concede before it's pointed out, probably due to his injury record). LJL isn't a terrible striker. Many thought Hannah would be the striker we crave and if we managed to get his loan form back he maybe could be (though I think this is unlikely). Our strikers aren't bad, but not quite good enough to make us the best team in the league. I was hoping in the summer we'd be in for Akinde, he is the sole difference between ourselves and Barnet in my opinion.

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

Well there you go then. It's all hunky dory isn't it? We are in the mix. Wonderful. Let's all be happy with that. The manager and the team seem to be happy with that too so we'll all sleep well tonight. Who knows, we might even dream that we beat Telford and Altrincham.

Sorry, that might be good enough for some but it ain't good enough for me.

Conveniently you either choose to not read what I wrote or to misquote it. I said it's not ideal. Ideally we'd be walking away with this league. But until more than one automatic promotion spot becomes available, the odds of being the team in that spot are pretty slim. Therefore, to still be in with a chance of promotion and to be comfortably sat in the play offs, is acceptable. Not ideal; acceptable. We have no divine right to be at the top of the table and to demand nothing other than that is frankly ridiculous.

Quoted from mariner91

Conveniently you either choose to not read what I wrote or to misquote it. I said it's not ideal. Ideally we'd be walking away with this league. But until more than one automatic promotion spot becomes available, the odds of being the team in that spot are pretty slim. Therefore, to still be in with a chance of promotion and to be comfortably sat in the play offs, is acceptable. Not ideal; acceptable. We have no divine right to be at the top of the table and to demand nothing other than that is frankly ridiculous.

No more ridiculous than accepting it is OK (but not ideal) to be in the mix pratting about waiting to see if we can finish above the mighty Woking. We have every right to be at the top of the table. Who would have said Barnet would be the pacesetters? The league this year was always going to be the most open since we came into it. I don't think it is at all unreasonable to demand that we are at least on a par with Barnet.

Quoted from mariner91

Conveniently you either choose to not read what I wrote or to misquote it. I said it's not ideal. Ideally we'd be walking away with this league. But until more than one automatic promotion spot becomes available, the odds of being the team in that spot are pretty slim. Therefore, to still be in with a chance of promotion and to be comfortably sat in the play offs, is acceptable. Not ideal; acceptable. We have no divine right to be at the top of the table and to demand nothing other than that is frankly ridiculous.

Is it though? He who dares wins etc etc, I just want us to be and sound more arrogant in and around the club even if we fall short,  say Win enough times  then folks get to believe

Quoted from Garth

[/b]

Is it though? He who dares wins etc etc, I just want us to be and sound more arrogant in and around the club even if we fall short,  say Win enough times  then folks get to believe

Indeed. Too many people are asking "why?" instead of "why not?".

Quoted from mariner91

Conveniently you either choose to not read what I wrote or to misquote it. I said it's not ideal. Ideally we'd be walking away with this league. But until more than one automatic promotion spot becomes available, the odds of being the team in that spot are pretty slim. Therefore, to still be in with a chance of promotion and to be comfortably sat in the play offs, is acceptable. Not ideal; acceptable. We have no divine right to be at the top of the table and to demand nothing other than that is frankly ridiculous.

Why, surely we are one of the favourites every season especially considering our budget is likely to be at least in the top 5.

Also when you look at the recent record of clubs being relegated why are Barnet at the moment bucking that trend.

You should also be asking how clubs with part-time players, low crowds and much smaller budgets are able to compete near the top of the table.

Come the end of the season and we fail to go up then that responsibility must lay with the manager and the players he has signed.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Why, surely we are one of the favourites every season especially considering our budget is likely to be at least in the top 5.

Also when you look at the recent record of clubs being relegated why are Barnet at the moment bucking that trend.

You should also be asking how clubs with part-time players, low crowds and much smaller budgets are able to compete near the top of the table.

Come the end of the season and we fail to go up then that responsibility must lay with the manager and the players he has signed.

We probably are one of the favourites but we're one of the favourites because of our performances during the last couple of seasons under the current management. If we fail to go up then other factors need to be accounted for and it shouldn't automatically mean firing the manager. As long as we improve year on year then it's progress. If there is no improvement or we're miles away from promotion then yes, he should be fired.

Quoted from mariner91

We probably are one of the favourites but we're one of the favourites because of our performances during the last couple of seasons under the current management. If we fail to go up then other factors need to be accounted for and it shouldn't automatically mean firing the manager. As long as we improve year on year then it's progress. If there is no improvement or we're miles away from promotion then yes, he should be fired.

Sorry but I completely disagree, for me it is down to the size of the club and/or budget we should have.

Why do you think FGR are up amongst the favourites each season, it is because of the wedge they have to spend not because they have been crap these past few seasons.

As regards improving year on year then we failed to improve last year as we lost at the same stage in the play-offs as the previous season.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Sorry but I completely disagree, for me it is down to the size of the club and/or budget we should have.

Why do you think FGR are up amongst the favourites each season, it is because of the wedge they have to spend not because they have been crap these past few seasons.

As regards improving year on year then we failed to improve last year as we lost at the same stage in the play-offs as the previous season.

Improvement doesn't just necessarily mean finishing position in my opinion, you may disagree.

Lincoln are one of the bigger clubs in this league but are never anywhere near the favourites.

Quoted from mariner91

Improvement doesn't just necessarily mean finishing position in my opinion, you may disagree.

Lincoln are one of the bigger clubs in this league but are never anywhere near the favourites.

You've completely lost me on that one surely improvement must mean you did better than the previous season, what else could it mean?

More than likely because they don't have the budget that some of the clubs have which proves my point really.

Quoted from arryarryarry

You've completely lost me on that one surely improvement must mean you did better than the previous season, what else could it mean?

It's all hypothetical but you don't need to improve on your league position necessarily to have shown improvement. Over the course of a season you might get unlucky with injuries, suspensions, postponements etc which could leave you with less points than you might have otherwise gained. But if you've played better in general than the season before, the team is more cohesive or tighter at the back, although you haven't improved on your league position you have still shown improvement in your overall play and it is sign of progress.

Ron makes many good points. Satisfaction with our current plight is a classic case of lowering your expectations. And a refusal to accept the evidence of your own eyes.

Quoted from mariner91

It's all hypothetical but you don't need to improve on your league position necessarily to have shown improvement. Over the course of a season you might get unlucky with injuries, suspensions, postponements etc which could leave you with less points than you might have otherwise gained. But if you've played better in general than the season before, the team is more cohesive or tighter at the back, although you haven't improved on your league position you have still shown improvement in your overall play and it is sign of progress.

Clutching at straws here. Football is about tangible progress, points in the bag and league positions. My only sympathy in all of this arguing is with youngsters who have never seen the club doing well because that is bound to colour their judgement about the present position. Those who know what the club is capable of will never accept that it should be struggling to crawl out of non-league. Therefore they look at the important things like Barnet, a club of similar resources, being clear at the top while GTFC is failing to beat minnows and seems to have settled for a creep into the playoffs.

Now, unless we see a turnaround in attitudes (not necessarily personnel or even tactics) then that position is the best we can hope for.

Maybe the club should forget the Parkway and think about re-locating to Little Grimsby.

Talk of past 'glory' is bunkum. We live in the here and now and it doesn't matter one jot what we were doing five, ten, twenty or fifty years ago.

The facts are that we probably have a top 5 budget in the Conference and have finished in the top 5 for the past couple of seasons. We're well-set to do the same this season so we're operating within reasonable expectations. Do I think we ought to have done better in general since our relegation? Certainly. Our first two seasons only saw a mid-table finish and this wasn't nearly good enough. Since then, we've done well here and there but the two play-off defeats have been poor, though last season you'd have to say that we did at least play OK in the two games but for refereeing decisions and individual errors to cost us.

If people want to criticise Hurst's cautious approach to the game, fair enough, but you have to accept that we don't have any divine right to do better just 'because'. We don't operate in a vacuum and we simply don't have as much money to spend as several of the teams currently in the Conference with us. In fact, most of the teams promoted out of the Conference since we were relegated spent a heck of a lot of money to achieve this task.

Barnet are doing well this season, but they are hardly romping away with things and there is still a long way to go yet. Don't forget that just a couple of years ago, Newport were about 9 points clear in November yet only the season finished in 3rd place, well behind the top two teams. Lots to play for yet.

That said, I'm disappointed we don't have more points on the board already. I think the general standard of the squad is improved over last season, but I do still worry that this team can just inexplicably fail to put in anything like a performance, even when on a good run. I think Hurst's failure to sign an attacker or two more earlier in the season has cost us a few points as we just haven't had the depth on the bench to change things when Plan A isn't working. Hopefully, this is something which will be rectified once the transfer window reopens or perhaps Watson will turn out to be a good option.

Regardless, we've only played OK for much of the time this season. This leaves a lot of room for improvement and it won't take too much for us to begin picking up more points and climbing the table. As long as we're in touch with the top with ten games to play, anything can happen.

Quoted from Maringer

Talk of past 'glory' is bunkum. We live in the here and now and it doesn't matter one jot what we were doing five, ten, twenty or fifty years ago.

The facts are that we probably have a top 5 budget in the Conference and have finished in the top 5 for the past couple of seasons. We're well-set to do the same this season so we're operating within reasonable expectations. Do I think we ought to have done better in general since our relegation? Certainly. Our first two seasons only saw a mid-table finish and this wasn't nearly good enough. Since then, we've done well here and there but the two play-off defeats have been poor, though last season you'd have to say that we did at least play OK in the two games but for refereeing decisions and individual errors to cost us.

If people want to criticise Hurst's cautious approach to the game, fair enough, but you have to accept that we don't have any divine right to do better just 'because'. We don't operate in a vacuum and we simply don't have as much money to spend as several of the teams currently in the Conference with us. In fact, most of the teams promoted out of the Conference since we were relegated spent a heck of a lot of money to achieve this task.

Barnet are doing well this season, but they are hardly romping away with things and there is still a long way to go yet. Don't forget that just a couple of years ago, Newport were about 9 points clear in November yet only the season finished in 3rd place, well behind the top two teams. Lots to play for yet.

That said, I'm disappointed we don't have more points on the board already. I think the general standard of the squad is improved over last season, but I do still worry that this team can just inexplicably fail to put in anything like a performance, even when on a good run. I think Hurst's failure to sign an attacker or two more earlier in the season has cost us a few points as we just haven't had the depth on the bench to change things when Plan A isn't working. Hopefully, this is something which will be rectified once the transfer window reopens or perhaps Watson will turn out to be a good option.

Regardless, we've only played OK for much of the time this season. This leaves a lot of room for improvement and it won't take too much for us to begin picking up more points and climbing the table. As long as we're in touch with the top with ten games to play, anything can happen.

I don't disagree with reality. My take on the past glories is not that it is bunkum but that it is an indicator of what this club has achieved and what it could achieve again.

I don't disagree about budgets. My take on "in the top 5 budgets" is that we did well in the old Div.2 with a bottom 5 budget. The key isn't how much money you have but how well you spend it.

I do agree with you that there have been some strange selections and tactics, there has been some good play and it is still to play for and that Barnet could come tumbling down. My take on the future this season is that if we have a mindset that says playoffs = good then playoffs will be the most we achieve. Which takes us back to square one - we have shown what can we achieve with a really positive and aggressive outlook on and off the field in the past regardless of money, so why not now?

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

I don't disagree with reality. My take on the past glories is not that it is bunkum but that it is an indicator of what this club has achieved and what it could achieve again.

I don't disagree about budgets. My take on "in the top 5 budgets" is that we did well in the old Div.2 with a bottom 5 budget. The key isn't how much money you have but how well you spend it.

I do agree with you that there have been some strange selections and tactics, there has been some good play and it is still to play for and that Barnet could come tumbling down. My take on the future this season is that if we have a mindset that says playoffs = good then playoffs will be the most we achieve. Which takes us back to square one - we have shown what can we achieve with a really positive and aggressive outlook on and off the field in the past regardless of money, so why not now?

Lock Stock and Barrel

Quoted from Garth

Lock Stock and Barrel

Because 20 years ago money didnt matter as much as it does now.

The gap between the clubs at the top and bottom of most leagues is massive. Yes we did well in the Championship/Division 1 for a while, but how long did we feasibly sustain it for each time?

Even in the late 90's/early 00's, when we probably had a bottom 5 budget for the league.....we usually finished bottom 5.

1998–1999     Division One     11th     –     
1999–2000     Division One     20th     –     
2000–2001     Division One     18th     –     
2001–2002     Division One     19th     –     
2002–2003     Division One     24th     

Clubs will almost always end up in a league position based upon their relative wage/transfer spending in the modern era.

Quoted from biggles9999

Because 20 years ago money didnt matter as much as it does now.

The gap between the clubs at the top and bottom of most leagues is massive. Yes we did well in the Championship/Division 1 for a while, but how long did we feasibly sustain it for each time?

Even in the late 90's/early 00's, when we probably had a bottom 5 budget for the league.....we usually finished bottom 5.

1998–1999     Division One     11th     –     
1999–2000     Division One     20th     –     
2000–2001     Division One     18th     –     
2001–2002     Division One     19th     –     
2002–2003     Division One     24th     

Clubs will almost always end up in a league position based upon their relative wage/transfer spending in the modern era.

Ultimately that is true. Barnsley, Watford, Wimbledon, Bradford ........ and others got to the top division and couldn't sustain it. The Mariners team that Dave Booth almost got up there was a fluke combination of quality local young players maturing together plus a few judicious signings on the way started by John Newman. Booth knew it needed strengthening, Ramsden knew the only way to get money into the club was with a great fundraiser. That nearly worked but in the end even Trevor Wymark wasn't enough.

I accept that. But football is ups and downs. The art is not to get so far down that you can't get up again when the next good manager assembles a group of players that he inspires to play above themselves.

Are we too far down? Not far off I'd say. If ever we needed some inspiration from the dugout and some aggression and belief on the pitch it is now.

Unfortunately, my view is that the situation in the past is somewhat different to today so the longer term chances of getting ourselves back in the upper levels of the Football League are pretty slender.

Back in the good old days when our teams were regularly playing (and often beating) the likes of Man City and Wolves in the second tier, the world of football was very different indeed. Unfortunately, pretty much every change since then discriminates in favour of the bigger clubs as money goes to money so, even if (when?  :)) we manage to get promoted back into the League, the best we can hope for longer-term is to establish ourselves in one of the bottom two divisions with the (very) odd jaunt up into the second tier for a season or two once in a blue moon. Much like Scunny have been over the past few years, really.

Smaller clubs just can't compete for players with the amount of money on offer from the bigger Championship clubs, especially now that any young talent is hoovered up for a pittance. The Bosman ruling means that any decent players you do manage to sign/develop tend to leave for either nothing or much below their actual worth.

However, that's all rather a long way in the future.

For the present, I think Hurst has gathered together a decent squad, but it is one very much in his image - set up to be difficult to beat and without a huge amount of flair. But then, we are talking about Conference football here! I don't think there is anything wrong with playing this style but we do still seem to be short a player or two who can provide that extra quality we need to push on further. Lots of talk about how well Akinde is doing for them - I seem to remember reading that we enquired about him earlier in the year, but he was already set for a move to Barnet? Hardly surprising that he decided to move there given a choice as he's from the south east and Alfreton was by far the most northerly club he's played for.

Unfortunately, I don't think we have the players to play the expansive game many want to see. Not enough pace in the middle of the park. However, I certainly think we could be a little more aggressive in attack in some games, but how much of this is down to the players and how much is the manager, I don't know.

Bang on the money Maringer.