Released by M.J.

Thoughts on this?

I thought he played well in the second half of the season he signed with a few goals looked useful.

But in M.J. we trust.

He's not terrible but there's a reason Mansfield weren't bothered about us signing him. If we want to be challenging then we need better. Good luck to him.

Quoted from mariner91

He's not terrible but there's a reason Mansfield weren't bothered about us signing him. If we want to be challenging then we need better. Good luck to him.

and the money we paid for him and the wages agreed would make your eyes water!

good, another dead weight off the payroll. one trick pony with his cruyff turn .(not my favourite player, as you might have guessed  ;D ;D )

Another one that got better without playing

He will be going to FGR then no doubt

Supposedly was on decent money here.

Quoted from Jarmo.Is.God

Another one that got better without playing

Scored 4 goals in 16 matches, worked hard and got stuck in during his first season after signing. He was a good player during that time - not brilliant, but good. Let's not try to rewrite history.

No idea what happened last season as I thought he'd be an important part of the team before he fell out or whatever with Slade/Fenty. My guess is that it was trying to get his wages off the books, which worked to some degree with his loan spells.

Always reminded me of a poor mans Nolan

Clements is a good player.  If we look at the ones Slade fell out with, it's mainly Clements, Sam Jones and Jamey Osborne.  Personally I'd have all 3 back here in a flash, but admittedly Jones and Osborne were stand-out players, Clements maybe less so.

Jolley couldn't make an assessment on him.  Obviously Clements has told him he doesn't want to come back, so Jolley's let him go instead of fighting against the wishes of a disillusioned player.

Anyway, him leaving makes Harry Clifton a more likely starter, which is a good thing.

Onwards and upwards, good luck to the guy.  No animosity from any of us.

Quoted from Heisenberg

Clements is a good player.  If we look at the ones Slade fell out with, it's mainly Clements, Sam Jones and Jamey Osborne.  Personally I'd have all 3 back here in a flash, but admittedly Jones and Osborne were stand-out players, Clements maybe less so.

Jolley couldn't make an assessment on him.  Obviously Clements has told him he doesn't want to come back, so Jolley's let him go instead of fighting against the wishes of a disillusioned player.

Anyway, him leaving makes Harry Clifton a more likely starter, which is a good thing.

Onwards and upwards, good luck to the guy.  No animosity from any of us.

There is from me!

He turned up late last summer grossly overweight like some player from the 1970's. He then wasnt prepared to put the effort in to get back in to shape. I, like most others, werent a fan of Slade but i dont blame him one bit for getting rid.

When virtually the highest paid player is tossing it off and not giving a excrement then that makes me angry.

Good riddance

Didn't he turn up late because his mum died?

Quoted from Abdul19

Didn't he turn up late because his mum died?

Cloudy obviously thinks players need to act like robots, Abdul. How dare he have human emotions!

Quoted from Heisenberg

Cloudy obviously thinks players need to act like robots, Abdul. How dare he have human emotions!

That's because a cloud has no emotions and is just full of water.

If he was on the money that he was supposed to be on then I would hope MJ will replace him with someone who represents better value.

That said, his Mum's passing would have had a serious impact on him last summer and Slade should have cut him some slack.

Capable player but he was mostly missing in games. The poor games outnumbered the good. One of those players that gets better when they’re out of the team.
Still a shame about his personal problems, I think he would’ve played more without them.  

Quoted from Cloudy

There is from me!

He turned up late last summer grossly overweight like some player from the 1970's. He then wasnt prepared to put the effort in to get back in to shape. I, like most others, werent a fan of Slade but i dont blame him one bit for getting rid.

When virtually the highest paid player is tossing it off and not giving a excrement then that makes me angry.

Good riddance

Heaven forbid we, as a club, tried to work with a player who clearly was suffering rather than just hang him out to dry.

Just like Jamey Osborne, the club failed in its duty to Clements here.  Both were treat as numbers rather than as people and rather than helping them the approach was to move them out the building - out of sight, out of mind.  Thankfully Jolley seems far more clued up than Slade and will look to the psychology and happiness of his players, rather than just thinking a table and Sky TV will make put smiles on their faces.

As a player, I felt Clements was very decent for us.  Scored a fair few goals, despite not being a box-to-box midfielder and was also very capable of picking a pass out.  Put it this way, I would have had him in the team over both James Berrett and Mitch Rose who managed 60 appearances between them last season.

If, as suggested, he was a top-earner and well above the rest of the squad, I would say he's probably not best value for money and would trust Jolley to use that money better.

You want your top earner to be a regular match winner and I’m not sure he was that. He, like Asante, McAllister and Osborne, improved exponentially while out of the side. Hopefully MJ can spread his pay around other areas and find players of better quality in all positions.

The Invisible Man. If he was that highly thought of why was he rarely picked and then loaned out?

The Invisible Man. If he was that highly thought of why was he rarely picked and then loaned out?

Clements played in most games after he joined us that first season. Even under Slade when we had a stupid number of central midfielders on the books.

In fact, he had played in most of Mansfield's games before he joined us as well - not to mention most of their games the previous two seasons!

We must just have tried to get rid of him due to the level of his wages. See also Osbourne and Jones.

I'd imagine he'll stay at FGR where his wages demands are probably considered quite reasonable!

Clements would of been a better option then Berrett in my opinion and he does get goals from midfield aswell.

Quoted from fiveallive

Clements would of been a better option then Berrett in my opinion and he does get goals from midfield aswell.

Maybe he would have - but I think we're better off with neither than either or both.

Good decision
We can do much better
MJ getting excrement of quote a few high earners I would think
Emphasis next season on bringing along 3/4 youth players
Should free up more dosh for marque signings!

The best part of his game was getting in front of the ball and into the box. He got some useful goals which made it all the more surprising he was let go on loan. I’d have thought Slade would have been grateful for  goals from anywhere. But really the lad was just not value for money was he? We can do better.

no wonder we cannot attract decent players with bell ends like slade and co

I like Clements as a player, however I can imagine he doesn't fit in with Jolley's vision of the club.

If the man REALLY wanted to feature for Grimsby he would've made it publicly known.

Quoted from MarinerBen

I like Clements as a player, however I can imagine he doesn't fit in with Jolley's vision of the club.

If the man REALLY wanted to feature for Grimsby he would've made it publicly known.

Like Asante did.

Personally, rightly or wrongly, I thought RS man management or the handling of some of the players was awful.  I don't know the ins and outs, and for all I know Asante could have been a bad apple, but he never had a chance, shame really as from the brief appearance he looked decent.

Slade was the bad apple. Osborne and Clements should have been managed. They weren’t. They were hung out to dry by a bullying old  PE teacher.

It was all about getting the bigger earners off the books and coasting 'til the end of the season. Trouble is, we got rid of too many and were left with no flair whatsoever and nearly paid the price. I'm now glad Slade fooked up, because it meant he has gone, never to return, and i think the whole Slade episode may well be the catalyst that finally make the club take a long hard look at how they do things. It should do anyway, but i'm not counting my chickens just yet.

Quoted from Theimperialcoroner

Slade was the bad apple. Osborne and Clements should have been managed. They weren’t. They were hung out to dry by a bullying old  PE teacher.

You saying he'd be played by Brian Glover (if he were still alive) in the film version?

Get off that crossbar Casper...

Quoted from OllieGTFC

He will be going to FGR then no doubt

Ha ha that is one of the best comments I have ever read on the fishy !!!

Quoted from ginnywings

It was all about getting the bigger earners off the books and coasting 'til the end of the season. Trouble is, we got rid of too many and were left with no flair whatsoever and nearly paid the price. I'm now glad Slade fooked up, because it meant he has gone, never to return, and i think the whole Slade episode may well be the catalyst that finally make the club take a long hard look at how they do things. It should do anyway, but i'm not counting my chickens just yet.

Agree completely, but there is no evidence to suggest this board learns from it's mistakes. I don't know if Slade really was as inept as it appears or is it more likely he was under instruction to clear out the high earners from Bignot's brief reign? Agree the board / RS thought it had enough points and went into coasting mode from Christmas, but I do not have faith the board will learn. Three brushes with relegation from the football league and six long years in the cesspit suggest they don't.

Brian Glover in the film Kes, was 100% like my sport's teacher at school.

I never stop laughing when I see it.
Denis Lawson would play and referee, amazing the free kicks he got, and the opposition none.

Superb.

We'll see how good he is by where he goes in the summer. I'm going for Conference north.

Some managers are rubbish at man management, if a player is not fit for any reason some of them don't even speak to the player until they are available for selection.

Forget the duty of care they should be showing,

I imagine Slade is one of those who discounts any player if they are not available for selection.

Is Clements any good ?  I have no idea but he was entitled to a bit of compassion from his employers, very poor GTFC.

I would like to add I hope that MJ has a bit more about him when a player has a personal problem,

I believe he will show he has compassion along with his tactics and brains.

Quoted from grimsby pete

Some managers are rubbish at man management, if a player is not fit for any reason some of them don't even speak to the player until they are available for selection.

Forget the duty of care they should be showing,

I imagine Slade is one of those who discounts any player if they are not available for selection.

Is Clements any good ?  I have no idea but he was entitled to a bit of compassion from his employers, very poor GTFC.

Pete, with respect that is all supposition on your part. I don't think any of us are party to what may have gone on and how he might have been treated.

Quoted from oldun

Pete, with respect that is all supposition on your part. I don't think any of us are party to what may have gone on and how he might have been treated.

If I remember correctly  Slade said Clements returned late and overweight ,

It was not until a couple of weeks  had gone by that we heard his mother had died,

By then Slade wanted him gone so he went.

No mention that the club needed to support him at that difficult time

Quoted from 75

Agree completely, but there is no evidence to suggest this board learns from it's mistakes. I don't know if Slade really was as inept as it appears or is it more likely he was under instruction to clear out the high earners from Bignot's brief reign? Agree the board / RS thought it had enough points and went into coasting mode from Christmas, but I do not have faith the board will learn. Three brushes with relegation from the football league and six long years in the cesspit suggest they don't.

There were certainly things that happened with JO that could and should have been managed better. I actually don’t think Fenty would force any manager to sell a player if the manager felt he was worth it. I’m of the opinion that Slade was a bombastic, thick twit. He felt that if players didn’t fit in, he wasn’t arsed about keeping them. I’ll bet Cheapside is a much happier and professional place now.

Quoted from oldun

Pete, with respect that is all supposition on your part. I don't think any of us are party to what may have gone on and how he might have been treated.

Agree, certainly in his first spell out players (Gary Cohen, Michael Reddy) said the players were running through walls for Russ. I have no reason to think any different this time regarding his man management. Even from this spell, I hear Russ was meticulous in his preparation, the performances, the tactics and results spoke for themselves though of course.  I don't ever want to see Town playing like that again, we made Lincoln look like Ajax's total football!

As far as Clements goes, I doubt it's a straightforward case of the club not supporting him when he sadly suffered a bereavement. Was it a case of him coming back seriously overweight? That seems to be the clubs stance, perhaps it was also a case of him being on a big contract (for reasons I can't see - he was nothing special), and it isn't like Bignot sorted the wages out. Maybe a simple case of he wasn't value for money.

Certainly didn't look value for money at Ilkeston against County reserves on a hot day. Players on peanuts like Hall Johnson, Clifton, Cardwell and DJ all looked more promising. He was tubby and laboured but could still spray some good passes every now and then.