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It's a shame to see a top player go but at this stage in the season we need a tight knit squad who play for the team and work hard whether in the 1st 11 or they are back up. I'd rather have a guy like Hamish who has travelled half way round the world to fight for a place on the bench, than guys who think they are too good to work hard, go round saying they are the best left back in non league, get homesick because they aren't used to being north of Watford or some other excuse. We've seen in the past how the business end of the season can get derailed by having difficult personalities in the squad. If we go up this season it's gonna be in the play offs and that requires mental strength, teamwork and desire throughout the squad.

Great talent but unlucky with injuries and could never get a good run of form going. Always great to see him on the team sheet just in case he produced some magic like we knew he could but too many times he just ended up anonymous.

Not gutted to see him leave but wouldn't want to see him at a rival club

Quoted from grimsby pete

With Scot gone,

Does that mean we have the funds to bring in another loan player,

Only one that would improve the squad though.

Assume Pete that we used most of the money paying him off although most negotiations of this nature mean that the club should have saved a few bob on what we would have paid out should he have stayed all season.

The one player who gets you out the seat but must agree not often enough and has on the whole disappointed this season. Think like many before him he is a player who has not made the most of his ability, think Granddad Cliff needs to have a word as he was a player of high quality.

One of the best players at this level on his day but haven't seen it enough this season. From his tweets it looks like his head is elsewhere (possibly the hairdressers). The condition he came back from pre season in was horrendous - which matches up with a rumour I'd heard that he doesn't much like being a footballer.

We need focussed players at the club at this stage of the season. Probably best for both parties that he is released. Good luck Scott.

Neilson or Jolly? Hmm

He's a player who can create a bit of magic out of nothing, for that reason im very sad to see him go

Quoted from BIGChris

Can't sign for anyone at our level as he has been released outside of the transfer window is my understanding. Must be below Conference north/south????

Can he sign for anyone at level above?

Disappointing as individually he's the most talented player, by a huge distance, we've had since relegation from the Football League. That said, clearly issues/problems associated with him. Absolute waste of talent.

Been on the cards for a while. He doesn't often see out his contract anywhere he plays. As i've said before, Conference players usually have talent but no application or plenty of endeavour without the talent. It's the level we are at.

Sad to see him go because on his day, he's one of the few that can get you excited but his day is nowhere near often enough.

On his day a very skill full player but I think Hurst knew there were a few rebels in the squad and fair play he as let them go. It looks as though they did not like being part of the squad and without discipline and respect you are going to struggle best outcome for all concerned. Time to move on.

No coincidence really that he's left shortly after Aswad, is it? In my opinion. We don't need any more Brodie situations.

Think that release explains the signing of Jolley. Congratulations to all of the management for ensuring he can't sign for anyone else in this league.

Quoted from LondonMariner43

It's a shame to see a top player go but at this stage in the season we need a tight knit squad who play for the team and work hard whether in the 1st 11 or they are back up. I'd rather have a guy like Hamish who has travelled half way round the world to fight for a place on the bench, than guys who think they are too good to work hard, go round saying they are the best left back in non league, get homesick because they aren't used to being north of Watford or some other excuse. We've seen in the past how the business end of the season can get derailed by having difficult personalities in the squad. If we go up this season it's gonna be in the play offs and that requires mental strength, teamwork and desire throughout the squad.

This. Even though I'm gutted to see Neilson go. I was always genuinely excited to see him on the pitch - but nonetheless THIS. Love your description of Hamish. It's exactly the ethic I hope Hurst is extolling. Bad pennies can do one.

We don't need him, we've got plenty of wingers to replace him with, Paddy (if needed in that position), Jolley, Mackreth, Arnold.

UTM

There is it seems a fascinating correlation between out and out lower league football talent and fragility of character - a la Thomas and Neilson. They are where they are because of their inability to be the players they could be. QED

Sad to see him go but he is another example of a footballer who has the talent but not the application or work ethic.

Quoted from Mrs Doyle

On his day a very skill full player but I think Hurst knew there were a few rebels in the squad and fair play he as let them go. It looks as though they did not like being part of the squad and without discipline and respect you are going to struggle best outcome for all concerned. Time to move on.

What makes you think that ? Hurst has never said as such.

And to be fair, we don't know they were rebels do we ?

We are only guessing, and listening to endless rumour.

UTM

No idea what's gone on, but such a shame and as said above, a waste :(

Quoted from mariner tommy

We don't need him, we've got plenty of wingers to replace him with, Paddy (if needed in that position), Jolley, Mackreth, Arnold.

UTM

Put all three of them on the pitch at the same time still not worth one Neilson.
Should have used him more IMO but don't think Hurst likes flair players.
Good luck to the lad what ever he does next.

Talented player but not consistent. And did not generally play well against the so called smaller teams. Frustrating for all parties. We move on.

Difficult to call. Always like to see talented footballers in black & white but not at the cost of team spirit - seems that Aswad & Scott tick one box but not the other. Happy however that we won't come across him playing against us this season.

Quoted from TAGG

Put all three of them on the pitch at the same time still not worth one Neilson.
Should have used him more IMO but don't think Hurst likes flair players.
Good luck to the lad what ever he does next.

It's not so much a case of not liking " flair players " but more a case of playing " team players ". Admittedly Scott could be exciting to watch but awful to play with because he very rarely included other players until it was too late.

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

Talented player but not consistent. And did not generally play well against the so called smaller teams. Frustrating for all parties. We move on.

That is very often the case and we've seen it before with the likes of Sweeney. There is no answer to it. If there was he wouldn't be in the Conference at all. Maybe it just took Hurst a long time to work this out or maybe it was just The Long Goodbye. ;)

Too inconsistent, on his day he's the best but just not enough

I'm currently reading Michael Calvin's Nowhere Men. It's about scouts and how they operate. If you are interested in how players such as Raheem Sterling were discovered then give it a read.

There's a great reference to players who end up in League One, League Two or Conference but possess good technique yet lack the mindset or attitude to play higher. Of course there are some players who sustained potential career-ending injuries at a young age such as Carl Magnay. I don't think anyone on here doubts that he would be playing much higher if he had not had such a bad knee injury.

Diego Costa is a player, for example, who possesses world class talent but also a high work rate. When combined, Calvin writes, you get an outstanding footballer.

Back on Scott Neilson and you can probably put Peter Sweeney in the category of those who possess skill and talent but had poor attitudes on the football pitch. That is why they became luxury players for us.

Yes, Neilson had his injury troubles, but if he'd have kept himself in shape I think he'd have stayed. His physical condition was obviously of great concern to Paul Hurst and Chris Doig which is why he's gone.

I wish him all the best as when he was at his peak he was brilliant. I just wonder how many like him will go on to regret that they didn't work hard enough when they had the chance to "make it".

couple of muppets on social media saying Hurst Out for releasing our best player.

are they on crack or something?

honestly glad his gone, wish him all the best elsewhere.

Well I am gutted.

I hope paul knows what he's doing because lets face it two of our better players have left the club in recent days with reasons why all hear say..

Paul has shown his ruthless streak and lets face it no one knows whats happened but scott neilson was one little cracking player at our level.

For your sake paul you better be getting these decisions right.

Brave decision but PH knows his players best. At least he's made a decision, it would have been easy to let Neilson drift through the remaining weeks of the season.

I'm all ready for the negative votes on this one.

Last week how I posted how I thought the fact he was 'ill' was a cover up for something else. Cue people questioning how I could possibly criticise the club who were quite obviously not lying to fans for weeks now. That's now two of our best players gone within a week of each other and nobody has a bloody clue why.

Neilson was our most creative player, bar none. A player who had the ability to tear teams apart on a regular basis when utilised properly (as he was at the start of the season) he's obviously not got a brilliant work ethic but I've not seen some wild idiot who has no interest, if that was the case why would he have uprooted from his preferred location down south to come back up? What I have seen is a player who the manager is happy to publicly criticize despite him being no worse than anybody else on the pitch and despite the manager publicly blowing his top at fans when they criticised other players. I have also seen a player played in a position he's not at his total best in, the Scott Neilson in the first few games of the season you would've built a team around, absolutely no question. Ask yourselves why the club would make sure he couldn't sign for anybody else? If this decision was for footballing reasons then i'll be gobsmacked. Nathan Arnold, who has shown to not have an inch of Neilsons talent coupled with a similar attitude on the pitch is still at the club, what's the difference?

It's an absolutely massive decision from Hurst and I can't help but thinking this is a personal one, which is a dangerous game to play.

It is now February 9th and Neilson had only trained on three days since the Lincoln game,

Four days if he turned up on Saturday,

Yes he had an injury and then he was sick ?

A bit like Thomas and now he has gone like Thomas,

Both very good players at this level,

BUT

Both did not have their hearts in Grimsby or their heads in the right place,

Good luck to both of them, their destiny lies in the conference,

Ours will be much higher.

Well done PH for getting rid of the deadwood who lack commitment! Neilson's career has been full of moves which offered promise at the time but all ended up the same way. That suggests that the issue is not with the clubs but with Neilson himself!

Talent too infrequent to be of use in the run in - not being fit would mean paying Neilson as a squad player to do nothing else all season - just like the other Boreing threads from last season.

We cannot afford to carry one back four player and one midfielder, regardless of talent on paper !

Good moves, well done to Paul Hurst and the directors backing him on the two issues.

Shame, really liked him as a skilful creative player, but as gtfc82 points out, there does appear to be a pattern in his career. Hurst is obviously well aware of the positive things Nielson can bring so it won't be a decision he took lightly.

Not bothered about this one.

Overweight and does not take his fitness serious. That's why he will only ever be a Conference player.

Sheff Weds scouts watching their keeper play for Alfreton at ours earlier this season said exactly this. When asked if they rated him they said "no he is tonnes overweight"

Quoted from pontoonlew

I'm all ready for the negative votes on this one.

Last week how I posted how I thought the fact he was 'ill' was a cover up for something else. Cue people questioning how I could possibly criticise the club who were quite obviously not lying to fans for weeks now. That's now two of our best players gone within a week of each other and nobody has a bloody clue why.

Neilson was our most creative player, bar none. A player who had the ability to tear teams apart on a regular basis when utilised properly (as he was at the start of the season) he's obviously not got a brilliant work ethic but I've not seen some wild idiot who has no interest, if that was the case why would he have uprooted from his preferred location down south to come back up? What I have seen is a player who the manager is happy to publicly criticize despite him being no worse than anybody else on the pitch and despite the manager publicly blowing his top at fans when they criticised other players. I have also seen a player played in a position he's not at his total best in, the Scott Neilson in the first few games of the season you would've built a team around, absolutely no question. Ask yourselves why the club would make sure he couldn't sign for anybody else? If this decision was for footballing reasons then i'll be gobsmacked. Nathan Arnold, who has shown to not have an inch of Neilsons talent coupled with a similar attitude on the pitch is still at the club, what's the difference?

It's an absolutely massive decision from Hurst and I can't help but thinking this is a personal one, which is a dangerous game to play.

The most pertinent part of your post for me.

We can speculate but i'm sure a fit and fighting for the cause Neilson would not have been let go.

Quoted from jonnyboy82

Well I am gutted.

I hope paul knows what he's doing because lets face it two of our better players have left the club in recent days with reasons why all hear say..

Paul has shown his ruthless streak and lets face it no one knows whats happened but scott neilson was one little cracking player at our level.

For your sake paul you better be getting these decisions right.

Was Aswad one of our better players? Out of the four defenders you would consider as first choice, he was definitely the weakest.

Frees up a wage for a talented loan player who could help us win the playoffs, best of luck Scott

Quoted from Garth

Frees up a wage for a talented loan player who could help us win the playoffs, best of luck Scott

Just what I was thinking Garth.

Very mixed feelings on this because I think he's a great player on his day, but you probably need look no further than the fact that he's had his contract terminated at 3 clubs in 3 years now. Could be playing at a higher level if technical ability ws all that mattered, but it's not. Consitency, commitment and attitude count for a lot. He obviously really lets himself down off the pitch, so no doubt Town felt they had no option. Real shame, but it begs the question; how much does Nielson want to be a pro footballer?

Best all round. The club seem to have been patient with him but for whatever reason Scott has not been showing the right attitude. Thanks for some exciting moments Scott, just not enough of them. No team can carry luxuries.

I think the biggest low point of this is that those generous souls who put 50k in will have had most of it spent on paying off Thomas and Neilson's contracts. So far by all accounts Jolley has been rusty and Robertson looked suspect and right footed on Saturday. If Mackreth can keep doing what he did when he came on, beating his full back and putting a wonderful cross in and Arnold can stay in form then Lenny, Zlatan and Diz will score a hat full of goals and we may stand a chance.

Shame really a naturally talented player who could have gone so much higher if he had right work/fitness ethic. Good luck to him, on his day shone up this level of football but that day was often as a married man getting a BJ from his wife.....

Quoted from pontoonlew

I'm all ready for the negative votes on this one.

Last week how I posted how I thought the fact he was 'ill' was a cover up for something else. Cue people questioning how I could possibly criticise the club who were quite obviously not lying to fans for weeks now. That's now two of our best players gone within a week of each other and nobody has a bloody clue why.

Neilson was our most creative player, bar none. A player who had the ability to tear teams apart on a regular basis when utilised properly (as he was at the start of the season) he's obviously not got a brilliant work ethic but I've not seen some wild idiot who has no interest, if that was the case why would he have uprooted from his preferred location down south to come back up? What I have seen is a player who the manager is happy to publicly criticize despite him being no worse than anybody else on the pitch and despite the manager publicly blowing his top at fans when they criticised other players. I have also seen a player played in a position he's not at his total best in, the Scott Neilson in the first few games of the season you would've built a team around, absolutely no question. Ask yourselves why the club would make sure he couldn't sign for anybody else? If this decision was for footballing reasons then i'll be gobsmacked. Nathan Arnold, who has shown to not have an inch of Neilsons talent coupled with a similar attitude on the pitch is still at the club, what's the difference?

It's an absolutely massive decision from Hurst and I can't help but thinking this is a personal one, which is a dangerous game to play.

If I gave out negatives I wouldn't think about doing so for this post. Fair play to you about the ill cover up. It's looking more likely by the minute that it was just that...
However, you talk about Hurst publicly criticising Neilson but then none us of on here appear to have had a clue that this was going to happen so isn't it another example of Hurst keeping his cards very close to his chest? I suspect that for all we might not like being kept in the dark that is exactly how it should be done.
You ask what the difference is between Neilson and Arnold... I think you are being incredibly harsh on Arnold with regard to his level of talent in comparison. Since the Macc debacle I've been impressed with his contribution. Is it classed as "talent" to be able to deliver some decent dead balls? If so then that is just one department where Arnold, for me betters Neilson. The other difference is in the team ethic. Arnold is always looking to "play in" a team mate whereas Neilson seemed often only to pass as a last resort. Don't get me wrong Neilson has got me out of my seat-there have been few better sights in the last couple of years than Neilson taking on defences but this year something is missing...I guess only time will tell whether the decision made today is the right one but you will struggle to find proper evidence that it is for anything other than footballing reasons....

Quoted from chaos33

Very mixed feelings on this because I think he's a great player on his day, but you probably need look no further than the fact that he's had his contract terminated at 3 clubs in 3 years now. Could be playing at a higher level if technical ability ws all that mattered, but it's not. Consitency, commitment and attitude count for a lot. He obviously really lets himself down off the pitch, so no doubt Town felt they had no option. Real shame, but it begs the question; how much does Nielson want to be a pro footballer?

a pertinent question that the lad himself doesn't seem to be able to answer...

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

Talented player but not consistent. And did not generally play well against the so called smaller teams. Frustrating for all parties. We move on.

You could say that of just about every other player we have except two or three, especially the wingers who really haven't been that great so far this season.

Quoted from SamTheMariner

I think the biggest low point of this is that those generous souls who put 50k in will have had most of it spent on paying off Thomas and Neilson's contracts.

Was Thomas paid off?

I doubt either was paid off as I think its been said they asked for their contracts to be terminated.

When I heard the news that Neilson had gone you could have knocked me down with...........an object with a high mass and moving with high velocity. It would be easy to speculate given what's gone on recently with Thomas, but I won't because one conspiracy theory would be as good as another.

Hopefully it's true that he can't sign for another club at this level this season. Shame we couldn't have spun out Aswad's departure a little longer.

We've clearly lost two talented players, but I get the point about needing the best possible team rather than the best possible players. Does more need to be done on player's character before they are brought in or were they a risk worth taking? I know for years a lot of people have been crying out for players who want to "play for the shirt" but I don't think that hard work and application is enough even at this level if you don't have the guile. You don't, for example, see John Oster running around being the water carrier.

I'm a little surprised to see Neilson leave but, thinking about it, I'm not sure how much of a loss he will turn out to be based on his general form this season? He had a great spell at the start of the season after missing the first few games with injury, but it seems months since he put in anything like a decent performance. The fact that he's not played for six weeks now indicates there has either been a serious problem with his fitness or within his private life (if the rumours are to be believed). Possibly both?

Oh well, I wish him well enough in the future - providing he isn't playing against us! Masses of ability, just a pity that he doesn't apparently have the passion for the game that some other less talented players possess.

Let's hope that Jolley finds his feet soon as I think he's the one who is now there to provide the trickery in the team.

Good player, sorry to see him go instead of fighting for his place and proving a point. Good luck to the lad wherever he ends up. 8)
UTMM

People criticising and praising Hurst for this one, but I read it that Neilson requested his contract to be called.

If the above is correct, then. No point in keeping another player who is not happy here for one reason or another

Quoted from SamTheMariner

I think the biggest low point of this is that those generous souls who put 50k in will have had most of it spent on paying off Thomas and Neilson's contracts. So far by all accounts Jolley has been rusty and Robertson looked suspect and right footed on Saturday. If Mackreth can keep doing what he did when he came on, beating his full back and putting a wonderful cross in and Arnold can stay in form then Lenny, Zlatan and Diz will score a hat full of goals and we may stand a chance.

Not sure what 'accounts' you have listened too but certainly not 'all'. In his two appearances so far i think he has looked strong, accomplished and done his job with the minimum of fuss. Definitely LEFT footed. He may not give us dynamic forward runs but equally his games so far have both been away to sides challenging near the play offs. He MAY offer more when we are home but for starters he looks a very solid defender and that is an improvement on what we have had.

Quoted from chicaneuk

Exactly what I thought. Something feels a bit dodgy here.

Real loss for the club :( I know he's been a little inconsistent but when he was great, he was great. Really disappointed he's gone.

My thoughts as well.Still remembered the Barnet away game last season.Best player on the park for me.

Has anyone considered that the club saying he was ill might have been to help Scott by covering up his issues, to give him space to get his head sorted rather than the club covering up a conspiracy on their part. It would seem to relate to their giving Aswad time to get himself sorted, and Liam Hearn's rehabilitation.

I'm not saying the club's perfect, but perhaps we should give them as much of the benefit of the doubt that seems to be accorded to the players.

I'm really sorry to see him go, I always preferred a Town team with Neilson in it than without. After our poor start to the season he came in and really made the team tick and scored a few goals aswell. I'm disapointed Hurst wasn't able to continue to get the best out of him, I know he's had injuries but I dont think he was played in his best position enough. By letting him go Hurst makes life a little easier for himself with team selections and keeping squad players happy.

It's a genuine shame to see him go, but he's not contributed much to the team for a long time now so I don't think we're losing much in that respect.

He hit such great heights at the end of August and throughout September, which makes his release, and loss of form before it, seem a bit odd.

I didn't expect him to sign a new deal with us last summer. When he got sent off at Gateshead I thought that was his Grimsby career done with. I don't think Hurst expected him to sign, otherwise I'm sure we would've appealed against his red card that day. As a result, he was missing for the first 3 games of the new season.

Quoted from Jarmo.Is.God

People criticising and praising Hurst for this one, but I read it that Neilson requested his contract to be called.

If the above is correct, then. No point in keeping another player who is not happy here for one reason or another

That is true and Neilson did not get paid off, he ended his contract and Town agreed to let him go,

I also believe that Thomas did not receive any pay off either because he ended his contract,

So we should have a bit of money foe another loan player,

If there is one out there that is good enough and wants to come on board.

Quoted from grimsby pete

That is true and Neilson did not get paid off, he ended his contract and Town agreed to let him go,

I also believe that Thomas did not receive any pay off either because he ended his contract,

So we should have a bit of money foe another loan player,

If there is one out there that is good enough and wants to come on board.

How do you know we didn't pay either of them off? Nielson doesn't strike me as the sort of person who would walk away for nothing!

How things change quickly for us fans....seems like only yesterday when we were celebrating with these boys in the Black & White stripes

[IMG]http://i62.tinypic.com/kew8jn.jpg[/IMG]

Quoted from chaos33

Very mixed feelings on this because I think he's a great player on his day, but you probably need look no further than the fact that he's had his contract terminated at 3 clubs in 3 years now. Could be playing at a higher level if technical ability ws all that mattered, but it's not. Consitency, commitment and attitude count for a lot. He obviously really lets himself down off the pitch, so no doubt Town felt they had no option. Real shame, but it begs the question; how much does Nielson want to be a pro footballer?

I think too many on here have overlooked this factor. They forget we had him on loan and then he decided to go to Luton and slated us off in the process. The end of that season Luton got shut of him because he didn't fit in with their manages promotion plans. We ended up with him almost by default and although he has had some great games they have been far outweighed by a lot of mediocre and almost non-existent performances.

Quoted from gtfc98

How do you know we didn't pay either of them off? Nielson doesn't strike me as the sort of person who would walk away for nothing!

With Neilson it's down to the fact that he requested that his contract be cancelled, not the club. There may have been a financial settlement but I'm sure it would only have been a minimal amount.

Quoted Text

GRIMSBY Town have announced that Scott Neilson has cancelled his contract by mutual consent.

The 27-year-old winger has not played since he limped out of the defeat to Lincoln City on December 28.

The club have now confirmed that following discussions, the winger has terminated his contract and has left Blundell Park.

A club statement read: "We would like to wish Scott all the best for the future."

Quoted from MrsMariner

I'm really sorry to see him go, I always preferred a Town team with Neilson in it than without. After our poor start to the season he came in and really made the team tick and scored a few goals aswell. I'm disapointed Hurst wasn't able to continue to get the best out of him, I know he's had injuries but I dont think he was played in his best position enough. By letting him go Hurst makes life a little easier for himself with team selections and keeping squad players happy.

It seems like PH hasn't been the only manager not to get the best out of him or he wouldn't have changed clubs so much.

Apologies if this has already been mentioned, but if it was the ' missing darn sarf ' issue, judging by the photos of his bird, there was never any doubt. Keep the relationship with her or stay here!

Quoted from RichMariner

It's a genuine shame to see him go, but he's not contributed much to the team for a long time now so I don't think we're losing much in that respect.

It's difficult for a player to contribute much when the manager seems hell bent on not playing him.

He may well have had his 'off days' when he did play but neither Macreth nor Arnold have really pulled any trees up so far this season.

Just a fat peter bore ? Too fragile and precious these types of player, if I where the manager I would have every player do a weeks work in a fish factory or a building site and get them out grafting at 5 in the morning like us long suffering fans! They would soon develope mental strength and desire trust me.

Quoted from Quagmire

It's difficult for a player to contribute much when the manager seems hell bent on not playing him.

He may well have had his 'off days' when he did play but neither Macreth nor Arnold have really pulled any trees up so far this season.

Spot on - no idea why he didn't get picked, but his ancestor, Cliff Jones at Tottenham, seemed to get picked regularly. Great pedigree, could have been a great for Grimsby Town.
No exciting players for us now - lets hope we can 'grind' out promotion.

UTM

Quoted from FishOutOfWater

How things change quickly for us fans....seems like only yesterday when we were celebrating with these boys in the Black & White stripes

[IMG]http://i62.tinypic.com/kew8jn.jpg[/IMG]

Absolutely, - it makes you wonder who 'we' really are.
Peeved at the loss of these players (Neilson and Thomas) - players who could have helped us to promotion - don't understand it.

Who's now got the nicest hair/teeth combo at GTFC?

Quoted from Abdul19

Who's now got the nicest hair/teeth combo at GTFC?

Thanoj and Neilson gone in less than a year. Arnold and Bore's salon won't do too well now.

Quoted from Abdul19

Who's now got the nicest hair/teeth combo at GTFC?

I think Pearson is in line for that accolade.

Quoted from Abdul19

Who's now got the nicest hair/teeth combo at GTFC?

John Fenty

Quoted from LH

Thanoj and Neilson gone in less than a year. Arnold and Bore's salon won't do too well now.

What's Peter Till up to these days?

Quoted from Abdul19

What's Peter Till up to these days?

These players never think of the consequences for salons and cosmetic dentists do they?

After a brief bit of data mining (makes looking through Soccerbase sound impressive!), I came cross an interesting stat.

In the matches in which Neilson was an unused substitute on the bench, our record stands at played 5, won 5!

I realise there are lies, damned lies and statistics, but you can see why Hurst was never overly keen to bring him back into the team when we were on a good run of form!

Just a pity we couldn't have left him on the bench a bit more often. ;)

Overall, our points per game is only a little better without Neilson in the team than with. Not much in it really.

I know here in the Conference it isn't exciting , It just seems now we haven't go a flare player any more, we have grafters who do a job . Think I'm a bit disappointed because Scott , on his day was a game changer, Lincoln knew that and did a job on him here . Who knows , if he hadn't got injured and had a prolonged run in the team things might have been different .

Next 2 games are pivotal, silly mistakes have mapped our season , play off lottery again all being well .

Quoted from Abdul19

Who's now got the nicest hair/teeth combo at GTFC?

Dave Moore

Quoted from Abdul19

What's Peter Till up to these days?

Now where's that picture? Not see it in a while.

Quoted from Theimperialcoroner

Now where's that picture? Not see it in a while.

Do what I do and have it as your phone screen image.

Quoted from Maringer

I realise there are lies, damned lies and statistics, but you can see why Hurst was never overly keen to bring him back into the team when we were on a good run of form!

I sort of agree with this, but I'd also make the point that Hurst is also a tinkerer. I'd love him to keep a settled side when things are going well but he doesn't, not really. He rotates his wingers, inside forwards and strikers all the time, almost irrespective of form.

Take Mackreth as an example. He scores the winner at Macclesfield then gets dropped the very next game (home to Lincoln - for Neilson, ironically).

He only does it with the attacking players, though. He doesn't seem to fear that Pearson might get jaded, or Magnay, by playing them week in, week out.

Just for clarity, I'm happy that he doesn't chop and change the defence. It's what makes it one of the tightest in the league.

I just wish he'd stop chopping and changing his attacking players so much - I'd argue that it doesn't allow the players to understand one another and doesn't support little partnerships here and there. Maybe with a more settled front line, we'd score more goals.

I tend to agree Rich. The one almost ever present when available exception being Shop. If we had top class players it'd be different, you'd expect them to find their way quicker when the squad is rotated, but we haven't.

Quoted from RichMariner

I sort of agree with this, but I'd also make the point that Hurst is also a tinkerer. I'd love him to keep a settled side when things are going well but he doesn't, not really. He rotates his wingers, inside forwards and strikers all the time, almost irrespective of form.

Take Mackreth as an example. He scores the winner at Macclesfield then gets dropped the very next game (home to Lincoln - for Neilson, ironically).

He only does it with the attacking players, though. He doesn't seem to fear that Pearson might get jaded, or Magnay, by playing them week in, week out.

Just for clarity, I'm happy that he doesn't chop and change the defence. It's what makes it one of the tightest in the league.

I just wish he'd stop chopping and changing his attacking players so much - I'd argue that it doesn't allow the players to understand one another and doesn't support little partnerships here and there. Maybe with a more settled front line, we'd score more goals.

Thing is we have struggled to score enough goals and I can understand why PH has made changes to the team in forward areas. At FGR he left it alone and that did not work. The only constant factor seems to be Lenny when fit.

Quoted from oldun

Thing is we have struggled to score enough goals and I can understand why PH has made changes to the team in forward areas. At FGR he left it alone and that did not work. The only constant factor seems to be Lenny when fit.

Well if we're not scoring enough goals why won't he drop LJL and try something different .
He's not been pulling up trees the last few weeks has he, been poor imo and always looking for cheap free kicks

I am sad Scott has left the club.

i think he is one of the most talented players in this league and on his day a matchwinner. There arent too many of those around. Of course he has not played consistently well and i accept that. Ultimately his lack of consistency (like many other players) is why he is playing at this level when his talent could see him play higher.

I was surprised when i first heard the news but the signing of Jolley seems to show the club knew this was likely to happen. Hurst always had an issue with Nielson's workrate, particularly off the ball and theres have been issues with his fitness for some time. Get the impression Nielson liked to live it up off the pitch and In his recent comments Hurst said Nielson wasnt fully committed to the cause.

if thats the case his days were numbered. We need players who are fully committed to the club. Same applied to Aswad Thomas. It is disappointing quality players have left but if they dont want to be here it is as well they go. At least we appear to have signed quality replacements in Jolley and Robertson .

PH:

With Scott's situation, I always demand that the lads work hard for me – most have and some haven't. I didn't feel there was that hunger and desire with him.

For example, he was asked to do some running prior to Macclesfield game, having originally told me that he'd be fit to play, but then he only did one run before dropping out because his foot was hurting

Can you imagine if I'd have involved him, and put him on the pitch when he wasn't fit?

Ultimately, I don't think he was fully committed to the cause – so in the end we came to a mutual agreement and we move on.

-------------------

Fair play to Hurst on this one !

give me the shop, Magnay, Brown, Disley, Pearson any day of the week over Neilson, because they actually want to play

Quoted from Jarmo.Is.God

PH:

With Scott's situation, I always demand that the lads work hard for me – most have and some haven't. I didn't feel there was that hunger and desire with him.

For example, he was asked to do some running prior to Macclesfield game, having originally told me that he'd be fit to play, but then he only did one run before dropping out because his foot was hurting

Can you imagine if I'd have involved him, and put him on the pitch when he wasn't fit?

Ultimately, I don't think he was fully committed to the cause – so in the end we came to a mutual agreement and we move on.

-------------------

Fair play to Hurst on this one !

give me the shop, Magnay, Brown, Disley, Pearson any day of the week over Neilson, because they actually want to play

There's an ex town players thread at the top of the page :P ;D

Quoted from grimsby pete

There's an ex town players thread at the top of the page :P ;D

Had a feeling someone would pull me up on that comment !

Quoted from BottesfordMariner

I am sad Scott has left the club.

i think he is one of the most talented players in this league and on his day a matchwinner. There arent too many of those around. Of course he has not played consistently well and i accept that. Ultimately his lack of consistency (like many other players) is why he is playing at this level when his talent could see him play higher.

I was surprised when i first heard the news but the signing of Jolley seems to show the club knew this was likely to happen. Hurst always had an issue with Nielson's workrate, particularly off the ball and theres have been issues with his fitness for some time. Get the impression Nielson liked to live it up off the pitch and In his recent comments Hurst said Nielson wasnt fully committed to the cause.

if thats the case his days were numbered. We need players who are fully committed to the club. Same applied to Aswad Thomas. It is disappointing quality players have left but if they dont want to be here it is as well they go. At least we appear to have signed quality replacements in Jolley and Robertson .

Bang on!

Just signed for Conference South side Whitehawk, likely to make his debut at home to Concord Rangers on Tuesday.

Back in the big time Scotty.

What a waste or what a waist, more to the point.

He'll come back to BP to haunt us next season 8)

They used to have a fair bit of money behind them I think, but not if they still do. They tried to change their name to Brighton City not long back but nothing came of it.

http://whitehawkfc.com/ex-crawley-winger-signs/

Shitehawk more like.

That concludes this evening's comedy.

He will be happy there,

They only train twice a week. ;D

Quoted from grimsby pete

He will be happy there,

They only train twice a week. ;D

He'll be 'ill' at least once a week. Seriously, what a waste of talent. He isn't Dave Gilbert, Dave Smith or Ivano Bonetti but he has talent. I love playing football, at nearly 40 years of age. In fact, every game I play at my age I cherish as I know as recovery time gets longer and longer, minor injuries take weeks, not days to get over and I know I'm pushing it playing against opponents 20 years younger than me. Yet this bloke has real talent but it seems he doesn't want to play football. Maybe I'm wrong and I've just bought the club PR but I get the feeling I'm not wrong this time.

Like Barry Conlon, he will find very soon that real life kicks in soon. He had some great moments with us, I hope he wakes up and kicks on but his time is running out.