- Print Topic - Archive

If you actually listened to whole interview, he described the away fans in particular as "outstanding" and that the vast majority of fans were very supportive. He then went on to say he left because the budget didn't increase significantly and he didn't get the off pitch stuff he wanted. He went out of his way to say that was nothing to do with a small majority of fans. Please stop this anti-Hurst, Hurst hating fans agenda, it's not true!

https://twitter.com/NTT20Pod/status/1097885254113771520

Worth a listen. As always, for me, speaks a lot of sense.

Quoted from Mariner_09

If you actually listened to whole interview, he described the away fans in particular as "outstanding" and that the vast majority of fans were very supportive. He then went on to say he left because the budget didn't increase significantly and he didn't get the off pitch stuff he wanted. He went out of his way to say that was nothing to do with a small majority of fans. Please stop this anti-Hurst, Hurst hating fans agenda, it's not true!

The point being made in this thread isn't that we thought Hurst left because of the fans (that is what our leader said). It's that the guy lacks class.

“I felt there were people celebrating promotion that didn’t deserve to”. What a fricking stupid thing to say. Even if people ate the time went over the top with criticism, the majority of them had been around a lot longer than Hurst and are still around supporting the club through thin and thin. The twerp has no right to say they didn't deserve to celebrate promotion.

Getting a bit boring now to be honest, he got us out that excrement league with shithole grounds and excrement dirty players, that’s all that matters now.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

The point being made in this thread isn't that we thought Hurst left because of the fans (that is what our leader said). It's that the guy lacks class.

“I felt there were people celebrating promotion that didn’t deserve to”. What a fricking stupid thing to say. Even if people ate the time went over the top with criticism, the majority of them had been around a lot longer than Hurst and are still around supporting the club through thin and thin. The twerp has no right to say they didn't deserve to celebrate promotion.

The point for me is that he's the only manager in my lifetime who could be considered remotely successful (Jolley looks promising but hasn't actually achieved anything yet) and some still go on nit picking about his flaws. The way some people chanted on that awful day at Halifax or who booed when we lost the first leg against Braintree. He got us out of that wretched league and all that abuse, yes I will call it that, would grate any of us. I just wish some people would accept that he actually did a really good job!

Monkhouse got injured, he had to change the team that’s why we got out the conference. We’d still be there if not. Hurst didn’t make the changes to get us out the conference it was forced upon him and thank god that happened.

Quoted from Mariner_09

If you actually listened to whole interview, he described the away fans in particular as "outstanding" and that the vast majority of fans were very supportive. He then went on to say he left because the budget didn't increase significantly and he didn't get the off pitch stuff he wanted. He went out of his way to say that was nothing to do with a small majority of fans. Please stop this anti-Hurst, Hurst hating fans agenda, it's not true!

Erm, he's the one that keeps bringing up comments about some of the fans, perhaps he should let it go now especially how he is currently out of a job after being dumped by Ipswich.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Erm, he's the one that keeps bringing up comments about some of the fans, perhaps he should let it go now especially how he is currently out of a job after being dumped by Ipswich.

He was doing a podcast interview where he was asked questions, some about his time at Grimsby (it covered his whole career). Of course he's going to bring it up when specifically asked about his relationship with the fans.

If you'd bothered to listen to the whole podcast you'd hear he compliments the fans, says that some still send him letters now, and talks about how he is happy he brought success to the club as he knows how important it is to the whole town...

Quoted from Mariner_09

If you actually listened to whole interview, he described the away fans in particular as "outstanding" and that the vast majority of fans were very supportive. He then went on to say he left because the budget didn't increase significantly and he didn't get the off pitch stuff he wanted. He went out of his way to say that was nothing to do with a small majority of fans. Please stop this anti-Hurst, Hurst hating fans agenda, it's not true!

Well said. I listened to the interview and thought he spoke about his time at Blundell Park quite positively and that includes "the vast majority of fans". Some people just pick out little bits so they can have a go.

Three managers on and some people are still obsessed with Hurst. He's history, move on.

Think it's very easy to forget that after the 1st leg against Braintree, there was a very high amount of supporters calling for his head before the 2nd leg including a banner on the flyover with 'Hurst Out' written on it.

Imagine the team bus seeing that on the way out of town as they head to the biggest game of the season?

At the final whistle of the Play Off final, it's clear that emotions are running high. Was he right in cupping his ears? Perhaps not but were people right to abuse him going into such a massive game either? Not at all. He's a human being and I can imagine the stress of the whole situation getting to him and his family.

He's not the first manager who has openly criticised sections of our support. Buckley was always open in his views of moans he would get from people in the main stand. In fact the last speakers evening he did, he said 'you lot treat me better now then you did when I was manager'.

I criticised Hurst numerous times for being negative and talking up the opposition before games especially at home . I had no problem with him cupping his ears in so much I had given him earache he was perfectly entitled to have a pop back. Did it lack class and was it a good thing to do at that time not sure ? I backed PH with back to back ST and I hadn`t done that since Buckley left the 2nd time so I was happy enough with him and think he is a decent lower league Manager and wished him well at Ipswich. I much prefer our current Manager though and I wouldnt swap them for £1M

Quoted from KingstonMariner

The point being made in this thread isn't that we thought Hurst left because of the fans (that is what our leader said). It's that the guy lacks class.

“I felt there were people celebrating promotion that didn’t deserve to”. What a fricking stupid thing to say. Even if people ate the time went over the top with criticism, the majority of them had been around a lot longer than Hurst and are still around supporting the club through thin and thin. The twerp has no right to say they didn't deserve to celebrate promotion.

Perhaps he meant members of the Board not deserving to celebrate?

Quoted from oochiad

Monkhouse got injured, he had to change the team that’s why we got out the conference. We’d still be there if not. Hurst didn’t make the changes to get us out the conference it was forced upon him and thank god that happened.

Whatever you think of the bloke, this is spot on.

Anyway, Jolley.

Point One - Hurst did not have to do the interview. It was his choice.

Point Two - Hurst was the one who raised the issue of criticism from "one or two" as he puts it in the interview.

Point Three - Hurst does indeed mention the away support, but only for the support ie when it is unquestioning. His attitude to fans in general was still to tar them all with the same brush as not knowing anything worth listening to about the game or the club.

Point Four - What about Operation Promotion? His attitude was dismissive if not downright negative because it was fan based and placed fans' expectations on his management.

My original point was around a lack of class. Even within the full interview that still stands. He had no need to cup his ears, he had no need to bring this excrement up again, especially in this manner. I think he thrives on a siege mentality and needs an enemy. Toward the end of the promotion season he pulled this in against the fans. Even if there was one or two who were vocal in their challenge of him, to act in the way he does tarnishes it for the rest.

Lack of class? Dunno. Possibly. He's human, and he was doubted by a lot of fans throughout his time here. I remember very clearly that a lot of posters on the Fishy said we'd never go up with him in charge so, personally, I didn't mind him having a little pop at the fans because he proved them wrong.

Let's not forget that our much-loved captain at the time also said 'a lot of people had written us off' during that emotional speech with Clem on the pitch at the end of the Braintree semi-final win. He wasn't talking about the media. He was talking about the same section of fans that Hurst was also irritated by.

Hurst bore the brunt of all that vitriol. He protected the players and kept them focused when everyone around them began doubting them. He deserves more than a pat on the back for getting us promoted and those who can't accept that he's been prickly about it since are probably the very fans who gave him stick at the time.

Quoted from RichMariner

Lack of class? Dunno. Possibly. He's human, and he was doubted by a lot of fans throughout his time here. I remember very clearly that a lot of posters on the Fishy said we'd never go up with him in charge so, personally, I didn't mind him having a little pop at the fans because he proved them wrong.

Let's not forget that our much-loved captain at the time also said 'a lot of people had written us off' during that emotional speech with Clem on the pitch at the end of the Braintree semi-final win. He wasn't talking about the media. He was talking about the same section of fans that Hurst was also irritated by.

Hurst bore the brunt of all that vitriol. He protected the players and kept them focused when everyone around them began doubting them. He deserves more than a pat on the back for getting us promoted and those who can't accept that he's been prickly about it since are probably the very fans who gave him stick at the time.

As fan`s though Rich when it comes to judging a Manager the Town fan`s in the main are a pretty patient bunch.Yes at times he was challenged by large parts of the fanbase especially his lack of a plan B however like I pointed out previously in the main he was still backed with decent ticket sales . Slade was in my opinion a far more deserving cause of grief due to his poor style of play and outdated tactics and the fans soon voted with their feet. MJ had a wobble earlier this Season but is held in pretty high esteem by most of the fanbase and when his next tough period comes along hopefully again they will stick with him and the players.

Listened to the whole interview and thought he came across really well, open and honest.

Some people making a mountain of a molehill from one sentence/incident...feel like the only ones who get offended by this are probably the fans he's referring to.

As for only getting promoted because he had to replace Monkhouse...what about the fact that he was in the team for the majority of the season, pretty much all of which we were in the playoff places for? And the 8 goals and 3 assists he provided in that time?

Will never ever understand a fan who thinks its a good idea to slag off the team/manager whilst we're about to go into the second leg of a playoff semi final.

The Halifax away thing. How can he not expect to be criticised after being 4-0 down at half time to a team you'd beaten 7-0 a few weeks earlier? We had fallen away (again) and our challenge for the only automatic promotion place was all but over.

Anyway, he's gone. I'm glad, he had six years and if it wasn't for some defender pulling Josh Gowling's shirt, we'd probably still be there now. He has to realise that in the Internet age, there are thousands of would be managers out there, all with an opinion. Rightly or wrongly, the media side of the job is so important and he didn't help himself in that respect.

This is clearly a case of the Telewag cherry picking bits and pieces from what was a pretty long interview. It's had the desired effect of people clicking on their site, which is what they intended.

I was not a fan of Hurst and as Imperial says, he lacked a bit of class sometimes, but i listened to the entire interview and thought he came across well in the main. The club came out of it worse, but no-one is mentioning that. Had they backed him, he probably wouldn't have left, and even fans like me who were not fans of his, thought he had earned the right to have a crack in league football with a bigger budget and better back room staff. Unfortunately, the club thought otherwise, hastening his departure and two years of turmoil. They then gave to Slade what Hurst had asked for. Go figure!

Quoted from fishboyUTM

The Halifax away thing. How can he not expect to be criticised after being 4-0 down at half time to a team you'd beaten 7-0 a few weeks earlier? We had fallen away (again) and our challenge for the only automatic promotion place was all but over.

Anyway, he's gone. I'm glad, he had six years and if it wasn't for some defender pulling Josh Gowling's shirt, we'd probably still be there now. He has to realise that in the Internet age, there are thousands of would be managers out there, all with an opinion. Rightly or wrongly, the media side of the job is so important and he didn't help himself in that respect.

Three years ago yesterday that Halifax episode ( it was 3-0 at HT btw ) and it's still a talking point for many

It wasn't pretty football on the day and it was an even less pretty performance on the terraces ( with the "We know what we are... 'king spoilt" song being sung loud and clear from behind the goal plus the alleged racism against Toto )

Was it something that galvanised the manager and the team afterwards because they as well as Hurst must have been well aware of the wrath of a substantial number of fans that day, so knew what lie in wait if they failed to get us up... who knows but in the grand scheme of things they/we carried on and got the promotion.

Would Hurst have stayed on after the end of the season if FGR had won the final? We just don't know so imho time to leave Hurst and that time behind us...

We now have a positive vibe with Jolley at the helm and long may it continue and dark days such as Halifax will fade into the distance

UTM

Quoted from sam gy

Listened to the whole interview and thought he came across really well, open and honest.

Some people making a mountain of a molehill from one sentence/incident...feel like the only ones who get offended by this are probably the fans he's referring to.

As for only getting promoted because he had to replace Monkhouse...what about the fact that he was in the team for the majority of the season, pretty much all of which we were in the playoff places for? And the 8 goals and 3 assists he provided in that time?

Will never ever understand a fan who thinks its a good idea to slag off the team/manager whilst we're about to go into the second leg of a playoff semi final.

By the law of averages, if you keep belting the ball 50 yards diagonally across the park onto the same player’s head game after game, eventually something good might happen and those monkeys will have typed the Complete Works of Shakespeare (Will that is).

I listened to the whole of it as well and you can guess the sort of manager he is just by listening. He would rather go 12 games unbeaten with 4 wins and 8 draws than have 8 wins and 4 losses.

Quoted from Mariner_09

If you actually listened to whole interview, he described the away fans in particular as "outstanding" and that the vast majority of fans were very supportive. He then went on to say he left because the budget didn't increase significantly and he didn't get the off pitch stuff he wanted. He went out of his way to say that was nothing to do with a small majority of fans. Please stop this anti-Hurst, Hurst hating fans agenda, it's not true!

Really?

You sound like a remoaner.

Fcuk the telewag, the only people I know who buy the telewag are old age pensioners who remember the old days when the local paper was worth reading nowadays it's not fit to wipe anyone bottom, let alone grace a bag of fish and chips.

The only thing the telewag is good for is Deja Moo for all the recycled bullshit it continually prints.

Quoted from Marinerz93

Fcuk the telewag, the only people I know who buy the telewag are old age pensioners who remember the old days when the local paper was worth reading nowadays it's not fit to wipe anyone bottom, let alone grace a bog of fish and chips.

The only thing the telewag is good for is Deja Moo for all the recycled bullshit it continually prints.

I prefer to sit at a table to eat my fish and chips and possibly grace a bog later. ;)

If, in his eyes, the vast majority of fans were brilliant with only a handful of bad ones then why did he celebrate our best day for a long time in the manner he did?
The guy is rubbish and was lucky to have one of the best budgets to eventually get us back in the league. I like to think he was also lucky at Shrewsbury.
His luck ran out at Ipswich which just leaves the rubbish.
A bitter little man.
Good night Vienna

Typical cheap Telegraph reporting picking bits out to cause controversy.

If you listen all the way through, it forms part of his career that he’s got some regrets over. Was I a fan? Not really. Did he get a bit lucky with the Monkhouse injury? Probably. But it’s harsh to judge the interview on just the GTFC bits.

Hopefully the Telewag won't be doing something similar with Slade any time soon.

Quoted from jock dock tower

Hopefully the Telewag won't be doing something similar with Slade any time soon.

I wonder what Slade and Wilko are doing now ?

Cold light if day......

When he took over on his own the squad wasn’t good enough largely because we where skint he improved us the next year and just missed out versus Brizzle. He improved us again and took us up from a league where only 2 go up. We came up and when he left looked relatively stable.

The football wasn’t great, has to be said though that the players we had though decent at that level where playing non league for a reason.

Before Hurst where all our managers nice friendly souls who engaged with the supporters, showed them complete reverence and always got it right in the press? Nope! In fact our most successful ever Sir Alan could be a right miserable so and so when he wanted to be.

It’s really easy to focus on the micro but the makro is that he get us up. On and off the pitch at times it wasn’t pretty but in the end effective.

Comments in the press? Well he’s out of work and clearly like many managers worried about being forgot about. He’s entitled to his opinion as everyone is but history is history and it ain’t going to change.

Cupping ears? No big deal for me players inc ones in Town shirts have done it before and will do it again in fact in the PO final Omar did it in front of the FGR fans, does that make him a d1ck, nah not IMHO. Those who dish it out shouldn’t be surprised to get a bit back, that’s the way it is.

As a club we’re moving forward he’s part of our history and some success so I’d prefer to just remember the feeling when Nathan scores the 3rd on the day to take us back up, the rest means fcuk all in reality.

Regarding the Telewag, I was flicking through it when I visited my parents house earlier and was amazed to see that they are advertising hand jobs! The class ads have a "Adult Services" section with lots of massagers selling their, erm, wares. That's the 21st century for you.

Why has the telegraph given his short bottom the time of day? the stubborn dwarf is finished in football by doing podcasts to make himself relevant is all he’s got now. I will be glad if I never hear his name again the most overrated manager we’ve ever had, a tactical bore who got a lucky

Quoted from Cod Cheeks

If, in his eyes, the vast majority of fans were brilliant with only a handful of bad ones then why did he celebrate our best day for a long time in the manner he did?
The guy is rubbish and was lucky to have one of the best budgets to eventually get us back in the league. I like to think he was also lucky at Shrewsbury.
His luck ran out at Ipswich which just leaves the rubbish.
A bitter little man.
Good night Vienna

I am not a hurst lover or loather. He did a few things wrong while with us and the football was pragmatic, but to say he is rubbish is very harsh imho. He got us promoted back to the league with a budget that was probably never in the top 3 of the league he was in. Yes it took longer than we all wanted, yes he got lucky (imo) with the monkhouse injury and thankfully we had a good ref for the second leg against Braintree, but let’s not forget if was not for one of the most incompetent refs in history we would probably have been promoted the year before.

As for getting lucky with Shrewsbury - really? To take a team from bottom of league one to the play offs the following season takes a lot more than luck.

As I say, not a lover of the man, but not sure he is the bitter one here.

UTFM

Quoted from Cod Cheeks

If, in his eyes, the vast majority of fans were brilliant with only a handful of bad ones then why did he celebrate our best day for a long time in the manner he did?
The guy is rubbish and was lucky to have one of the best budgets to eventually get us back in the league. I like to think he was also lucky at Shrewsbury.
His luck ran out at Ipswich which just leaves the rubbish.
A bitter little man.
Good night Vienna

I don’t like him but he isn’t rubbish. It’s just that he could be a much better manager if he threw away the chip on his shoulder and became more positive in the job. His ambitions are limited. He did well at Shrews in the first season to save them from the drop and created his usual defensive side for year 2 that got to the top spot in the league by January with a lot of 1-0 wins. Then for some reason, just as he did at BP he settled for the play offs much too soon. Games he could and should have won were drawn and the side lost points and momentum. Some Shrews fans said the same as some Town fans about his negative tactics against poorer sides and his aim being not to lose.

Ipswich? He let good players go too soon probably because he has no experience of managing “stars” who are paid more than him and tried to do a Shrews again but his signings were not good enough. The football was even more defensive than McCarthy and not what Ipswich fans wanted to see. Lambert will take them down but he is on a hiding to nothing with the players Hurst left.

I feel sorry for Hurst in a way. There is a decent manager in there but he is scared to let him out. In the end it was his fear of failure that caused him to fail.

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

I don’t like him but he isn’t rubbish. It’s just that he could be a much better manager if he threw away the chip on his shoulder and became more positive in the job. His ambitions are limited. He did well at Shrews in the first season to save them from the drop and created his usual defensive side for year 2 that got to the top spot in the league by January with a lot of 1-0 wins. Then for some reason, just as he did at BP he settled for the play offs much too soon. Games he could and should have won were drawn and the side lost points and momentum. Some Shrews fans said the same as some Town fans about his negative tactics against poorer sides and his aim being not to lose.

Ipswich? He let good players go too soon probably because he has no experience of managing “stars” who are paid more than him and tried to do a Shrews again but his signings were not good enough. The football was even more defensive than McCarthy and not what Ipswich fans wanted to see. Lambert will take them down but he is on a hiding to nothing with the players Hurst left.

I feel sorry for Hurst in a way. There is a decent manager in there but he is scared to let him out. In the end it was his fear of failure that caused him to fail.

Looking at the Ipswich situation I would imagine he was forced to let good players go to keep their costs down.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Looking at the Ipswich situation I would imagine he was forced to let good players go to keep their costs down.

No doubt. But he was not able to make the best of the ones he had. Fair enough he tried to make silk purses out of Nolan and Toto and the like and that worked at Shrews but it was a step up too far for them to play against quality every game. From the bits I’ve read from Ipswich fans he seemed reluctant to use some of their good young players as well which is another of his safety first foibles isn’t it? Bryan Klug has run a good academy down there for years.

Quoted from promotion plaice

I wonder what Slade and Wilko are doing now ?

The same as when they were in charge here probably...… absolutely nothing! ;)

Thought Hurst interview was 100% fair and balanced
He has no time for the bile spouted by a significant minority - why would he?
But for at least 95% of fans he has huge respect and admiration

PH will never have a love in with the fans of any club - like AB - he's not built that way...dour Yorkie and all that

And he deep down probably regrets the 'cup-ear' gesture - but it was a split-second choice releasing lots of pressure I guess...unlike some who post on here after GTFC lose and they offer very well thought out and considered opinions such as 'Jolley out' 'worse team ever' etc

We move on...

Like him or loathe him, he was the one who got us back into the Football League and gave us an incredible moment at Wembley (made all the sweeter due to the fine margins that denied us in previous years).

He gave it his all. He brought the likes of McKeown, Pearson, Disley, Bogle and Amond to the club. Let's not forget - we were a club in total decline. We could have gone the way of Stockport. Look at Hartlepool and Chesterfield... we had no divine right to be challenging near the top every season. The fact we did was down to him.

Budget? Yes, probably healthy. But so was Notts County's for this season. Budgets help, but they mean nothing if you haven't got the right person in charge.

I think the way he left the club has tainted people's memories of him. Added to his reaction after winning at Wembley, I think it's skewed things somewhat.

Look at the facts. A high win percentage. Top 4 finishes in most of his seasons as a manager at every level. The only manager to deliver promotion apart from AB in the last 30-odd years. If there's a League 1 club looking for some stability then they'd do worse than to appoint Paul Hurst.

Quoted from RichMariner

Like him or loathe him, he was the one who got us back into the Football League and gave us an incredible moment at Wembley (made all the sweeter due to the fine margins that denied us in previous years).

He gave it his all. He brought the likes of McKeown, Pearson, Disley, Bogle and Amond to the club. Let's not forget - we were a club in total decline. We could have gone the way of Stockport. Look at Hartlepool and Chesterfield... we had no divine right to be challenging near the top every season. The fact we did was down to him.

Budget? Yes, probably healthy. But so was Notts County's for this season. Budgets help, but they mean nothing if you haven't got the right person in charge.

I think the way he left the club has tainted people's memories of him. Added to his reaction after winning at Wembley, I think it's skewed things somewhat.

Look at the facts. A high win percentage. Top 4 finishes in most of his seasons as a manager at every level. The only manager to deliver promotion apart from AB in the last 30-odd years. If there's a League 1 club looking for some stability then they'd do worse than to appoint Paul Hurst.

Excellent post Rich, bang on the money for me.

Quoted from RichMariner

Let's not forget - we were a club in total decline..

People are entitled to their opinion, if you think Hurst was good that is your prerogative.

One thing though. The club was not in total decline pre-Hurst. Neil Woods had been given a very good budget with the parachute money, probably second only to Crawley, but he had still not got the team into a playoff position in fact we were 9th after drawing with Fleetwood and still in with a shout. On 23rd February 2011 Neil was sacked. One month later Scott and Hurst were appointed but we could only finish 11th.

*drawing with Forest Green

(Pedant mode)

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

People are entitled to their opinion, if you think Hurst was good that is your prerogative.

One thing though. The club was not in total decline pre-Hurst. Neil Woods had been given a very good budget with the parachute money, probably second only to Crawley, but he had still not got the team into a playoff position in fact we were 9th after drawing with Fleetwood and still in with a shout. On 23rd February 2011 Neil was sacked. One month later Scott and Hurst were appointed but we could only finish 11th.

Ah but look what happened the following season. Scott n Hurst completely turned things around and we finished .....11th. But with a few more points.

We had no facking money though

Quoted from Abdul19

We had no facking money though

"If you don't facking like it don't facking come."

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

People are entitled to their opinion, if you think Hurst was good that is your prerogative.

One thing though. The club was not in total decline pre-Hurst. Neil Woods had been given a very good budget with the parachute money, probably second only to Crawley, but he had still not got the team into a playoff position in fact we were 9th after drawing with Fleetwood and still in with a shout. On 23rd February 2011 Neil was sacked. One month later Scott and Hurst were appointed but we could only finish 11th.

The club blew the parachute money by not sacking Woods the moment he took us down. The only thing that stopped a relegation scrap that first season was Connell's goals, take him out of that team and it was unbelievably poor. Out of that entire squad, Connell was the only one in the 8 years since who has moved up a level in football, all the rest went down the pyramid because they were generally pretty awful.

Some of the players who played for us that season are scarily bad. Here's a list of players who made more than 20 appearances for us that year: Connell, Wood, Hudson, Eagle, Bore, Cummins, Peacock, Kempson, Ridley, Coulson, Arthur, Atkinson, Samuels, Watt, Leary, Garner. Out of that lot, only Connell, Wood and Coulson would have been anywhere near the starting eleven of a team going for promotion. Your prejudice against Hurst is clouding your judgement of just what a state we were in when he took over.

Quoted from TheRonRaffertyFanClub

Ipswich? He let good players go too soon probably because he has no experience of managing “stars” who are paid more than him and tried to do a Shrews again but his signings were not good enough. The football was even more defensive than McCarthy and not what Ipswich fans wanted to see. Lambert will take them down but he is on a hiding to nothing with the players Hurst left.

Lambert is very lucky that he can hide behind the disaster that was Hurst and blame him for relegation, a position a lot of Ipswich ST holders I know have already adopted

In fact Lambert's record is no better than Hurst's and he has now had a transfer window during which he brought in a number of players

It does appear however that Nolan (and occasionally as a sub Nsiala) is now pushing for a regular start under Lambert and is showing the promise Hurst (and I) thought he had. That said he'll be playing in Div 1 next season so he might look even better!

Ipswich Town relegated! Loving it! (just hope somehow we can get into the playoffs and go up, would love to play them again)

Quoted from mariner91

The club blew the parachute money by not sacking Woods the moment he took us down. The only thing that stopped a relegation scrap that first season was Connell's goals, take him out of that team and it was unbelievably poor. Out of that entire squad, Connell was the only one in the 8 years since who has moved up a level in football, all the rest went down the pyramid because they were generally pretty awful.

Some of the players who played for us that season are scarily bad. Here's a list of players who made more than 20 appearances for us that year: Connell, Wood, Hudson, Eagle, Bore, Cummins, Peacock, Kempson, Ridley, Coulson, Arthur, Atkinson, Samuels, Watt, Leary, Garner. Out of that lot, only Connell, Wood and Coulson would have been anywhere near the starting eleven of a team going for promotion. Your prejudice against Hurst is clouding your judgement of just what a state we were in when he took over.

I think you're being a bit one-eyed about Woods. You can't criticise him for something that didn't happen. We were in no danger of relegation. And if he is criticised for signing excrement players he should be praised for signing ones that were successful like Connell. You can't criticse Woods by saying 'but for Connell's goals we'd have been in danger of relegation', for the fact that Woods signed Connell.

Can we blame him for 26 games without a win, relegation to the conference and spunking the parachute payment?

Quoted from KingstonMariner

I think you're being a bit one-eyed about Woods. You can't criticise him for something that didn't happen. We were in no danger of relegation. And if he is criticised for signing excrement players he should be praised for signing ones that were successful like Connell. You can't criticse Woods by saying 'but for Connell's goals we'd have been in danger of relegation', for the fact that Woods signed Connell.

Regardless of what Woods did or didn't do when Hurst took over we where really poor on and off the,pitch and had been for years.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

Can we blame him for 26 games without a win, relegation to the conference and spunking the parachute payment?

Apparently not.

To be fair, his run was only 20 games (plus 2 in the cup, including a loss to a team 2 divisions below)

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

Can we blame him for 26 games without a win, relegation to the conference and spunking the parachute payment?

Of course. It's just people making stupid comments I don't like. How can you moan someone signed a team that would have ended up in the bottom of the Conference, but for one player he signed.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Regardless of what Woods did or didn't do when Hurst took over we where really poor on and off the,pitch and had been for years.

No disputing that.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Of course. It's just people making stupid comments I don't like. How can you moan someone signed a team that would have ended up in the bottom of the Conference, but for one player he signed.

Agree. Just as stupid as claiming someone only got a team promoted because one of his players got injured.

Hurst did a job for us in the end so well done to him and he kept us pretty much in contention during our time in the tinpot....just look at York, Hartlepool, Chesterfield etc and Wrexham although they could finally return this season.

I don't really care if I don't like a manager or even if he gets lucky as long as he delivers and Hurst did.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

I think you're being a bit one-eyed about Woods. You can't criticise him for something that didn't happen. We were in no danger of relegation. And if he is criticised for signing excrement players he should be praised for signing ones that were successful like Connell. You can't criticse Woods by saying 'but for Connell's goals we'd have been in danger of relegation', for the fact that Woods signed Connell.

The criticism wasn't about relegation, I never said he got us relegated or had us in danger of it but that was purely because one player he signed had an unbelievable season where he was conjuring goals out of nothing regularly. So yeah kudos for that signing. Kudos for signing Coulson on a permanent too. But he also signed Lewis Gobern, Darran Kempson, Micky Cummins, Lee Ridley, Charles Ademeno, Steven Watt, Rob Eagle, Dwayne Samuels, Dean Sinclair, Serge Makofo, Rob Duffy and Bryan Hughes. The context of my original criticism is that bar two signings, our squad was awful.

Somebody had said that the club wasn't in total decline before Hurst arrived and that's just categorically wrong in my opinion. The club had lost to Chasetown which is our worst ever result, had failed to make the FA cup first round for the first time in it's history and had just been relegated to non-league. Things were dire. Couple that with the fact that the parachute money which gives clubs a bit of an advantage had been spunked away by Woods on a squad which was complete shite and things looked pretty bleak. It was only Hurst (and Scott to be fair) signing a half decent spine in McKeown, Disley, Pearson, Hearn and Elding (they also got Townsend on loan and signed Miller in January) which finally stopped the decline and gave us some sort of platform to build on.

So after all this time let’s be brave enough to name it shall we? If Hurst was from Southampton, Swansea, Sunderland or Stevenage he’d be forgiven for not playing great football at a level where football isn’t great and being a miserable sod.

BUT..🙈

Because he’s from Sheffield the myopic minority who despise Yorkshire & think football died when we pulled down the Barret Stand and the miners stopped coming to Meggies will always look back in anger.

In my 52 years Laurie Mc, John Newman, King George, Sir Alan and Paul Hurst are the only managers to achieve promotion.They all deserve credit!

Hurst didn’t cuddle up to us but he delivered what we craved, what more did you seriously want?

BTW...

I can live with the ear cupping especially after the stick he took especially at Halifax but personally I’m disappointed he’s talking about us in the press 2 and a 1/2 years after leaving.

And I'm disappointed that we are still talking about HIM two and a half years after he left !

He's gone, it's over, he left, why cant we stop talking about him ?

I was glad he left but whats more important is the here and now.

Let's just drop it, its boring !

For Christ's sake he is history. Finished. Kaput. End of. Let us forget and move on.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

So after all this time let’s be brave enough to name it shall we? If Hurst was from Southampton, Swansea, Sunderland or Stevenage he’d be forgiven for not playing great football at a level where football isn’t great and being a miserable sod.

BUT..🙈

Because he’s from Sheffield the myopic minority who despise Yorkshire & think football died when we pulled down the Barret Stand and the miners stopped coming to Meggies will always look back in anger.

In my 52 years Laurie Mc, John Newman, King George, Sir Alan and Paul Hurst are the only managers to achieve promotion.They all deserve credit!

Hurst didn’t cuddle up to us but he delivered what we craved, what more did you seriously want?

BTW...

I can live with the ear cupping especially after the stick he took especially at Halifax but personally I’m disappointed he’s talking about us in the press 2 and a 1/2 years after leaving.

The interview is marvellous. He talk about us, so much he was asked questions about his time here. Paul’s responses were balanced and fair.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

Agree. Just as stupid as claiming someone only got a team promoted because one of his players got injured.

Yes. It would be equally unbalanced to say that.

We also got lucky with the pen at Braintree ;) [For the avoidance of doubt, I think we'd been extremely unlucky not to have the Rovers goalie sent off the year before]

Quoted from mariner91

The criticism wasn't about relegation, I never said he got us relegated or had us in danger of it but that was purely because one player he signed had an unbelievable season where he was conjuring goals out of nothing regularly. So yeah kudos for that signing. Kudos for signing Coulson on a permanent too. But he also signed Lewis Gobern, Darran Kempson, Micky Cummins, Lee Ridley, Charles Ademeno, Steven Watt, Rob Eagle, Dwayne Samuels, Dean Sinclair, Serge Makofo, Rob Duffy and Bryan Hughes. The context of my original criticism is that bar two signings, our squad was awful.

Somebody had said that the club wasn't in total decline before Hurst arrived and that's just categorically wrong in my opinion. The club had lost to Chasetown which is our worst ever result, had failed to make the FA cup first round for the first time in it's history and had just been relegated to non-league. Things were dire. Couple that with the fact that the parachute money which gives clubs a bit of an advantage had been spunked away by Woods on a squad which was complete shite and things looked pretty bleak. It was only Hurst (and Scott to be fair) signing a half decent spine in McKeown, Disley, Pearson, Hearn and Elding (they also got Townsend on loan and signed Miller in January) which finally stopped the decline and gave us some sort of platform to build on.

Some players perform better than you could expect and some play worse.

I agree. The club was in decline when we went down to the Conference. I'm not sure Woods got as much patience as Scott and Hurst got, as frustrating as it was to be only mid-table at the time. The widespread expectation when we went down was that it would be a short-term thing - those of us who had seen non-League football weren't as optimistic and probably weren't as surprised to find it more of a struggle. I think Woods was partly a victim of that frustration.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Some players perform better than you could expect and some play worse.

I agree. The club was in decline when we went down to the Conference. I'm not sure Woods got as much patience as Scott and Hurst got, as frustrating as it was to be only mid-table at the time. The widespread expectation when we went down was that it would be a short-term thing - those of us who had seen non-League football weren't as optimistic and probably weren't as surprised to find it more of a struggle. I think Woods was partly a victim of that frustration.

Woods was given far too much patience and should have been long gone before we got relegated, he should certainly have been sacked at ten to five after the Burton game why the hell JF and the board gave him another season is beyond me and one reason why I could never forgive them.

Looking at that list of players my God did Woods sign some right shite, Lee frigging Ridley one of the worst players ever to turn out for Town.

As for Hurst and Scott they couldn't improve on Woods first season in non league as we finished in the same position, 11th.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Woods was given far too much patience and should have been long gone before we got relegated, he should certainly have been sacked at ten to five after the Burton game why the hell JF and the board gave him another season is beyond me and one reason why I could never forgive them.

Looking at that list of players my God did Woods sign some right shite, Lee frigging Ridley one of the worst players ever to turn out for Town.

As for Hurst and Scott they couldn't improve on Woods first season in non league as we finished in the same position, 11th.

Not disputing that. But once we were relegated and Woods was given the budget and opportunity to re-build he should have been given the chance to see it through. I think we've all learned how long it can take to make a team work to its potential.

Getting back to the original subject, Scott and Hurst came in exhibiting a lack of class (first thing they did is slag off what they found - regardless of what you think when joining any new organisation you don't do that in public - it's not just bad form but it's counter-productive). Scott to be fair was probably the worst offender as things transpired later, but Hurst was not innocent in that and showed that at Wembley.