From the telly.

We were cr@p but we won, it's a funny old game.

Yeah we wernt good were we, crawley reminded me of our performance at colchester where we came
Away with nothing despite being pretty dominant.
Hanson was a big difference, matete and El mizouni inproved as game went on, we still give away daft free kicks too much and the red card for Bunney may be a blessing as he looked really poor tonight.

But a win. Had too as well with them illegitimates barrow winning

A lot to work on but it’s what we asked for, a nasty 3 points.

The back 4 were an absolute circus mind you

An ugly win but it feels good.
Got to build on that now.

i could hardly watch it. we were awful, really awful and every time they got the ball up front they were causing us problems. Far too clever and tricky for our defenders to deal with.
there are far too many bad points to go through - i'd be here half the night, so positives:

we won for the first time in 2.5 months
well taken goal by adams
we held on to a lead for 10 minutes
they worked hard
good substitutions with coke and hendrie who both improved us.
Thought Hewitt actually did pretty well at right back, and his throws were our main attacking threat
rose was much improved, but at the expense of matete
morais is quality and needs to play every game
generally the new players look to have a bit more about them than the previous bunch.Whether its enough is debateable

Just back....from the bog. Bloody desperate come the end.

Just back to the Boardroom.
Chelsea contingency are a bit quiet.
Could cut the atmosphere with a knife in here.
Gonna have a quick brew and a bit of carrot cake then I’m off home.

Love to all and sleep peacefully with smiles on your faces tonight

XX

Voi vittu Phil.

Oh and can people stop tagging players in on Twitter who haven’t had a good game. Some numpty has hammered Joe Bunney, fair enough he didn’t have a good game but it’s only his second and how does that help.

Huge springboard! I feel like a corner has been turned. Luck finally going our way! They hit the crossbar, miss chances, penalty denied, how many of these things have been going against us this season?

Win ugly and breed the confidence, exactly what we needed.

Sounds like we were pretty shite defensively and very lucky to beat what is a lousy Crawley side.

So I am not jumping for joy yet. Good to get three points, but we need to do far better if we want to add to them.

Still, a win is a win and, as they say in golf, there are no pictures on the score card.

On to the next game. If we can win that then the oil tanker might really be turning round.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

Oh and can people stop tagging players in on Twitter who haven’t had a good game. Some numpty has hammered Joe Bunney, fair enough he didn’t have a good game but it’s only his second and how does that help.

That's putting it politely. We all have bad days but it's not deliberate.

Small steps, Performance poor TBH but  3 points and win so important It shows we can do it Think we can all say we would of taken it UTM

Absolutely buzzing, season has begun don't give a f%$k how we got 3 points all I know is that's a big result.. utm

Quoted from headingly_mariner

Oh and can people stop tagging players in on Twitter who haven’t had a good game. Some numpty has hammered Joe Bunney, fair enough he didn’t have a good game but it’s only his second and how does that help.

Yeah thats not good.

Quoted from RonMariner

Sounds like we were pretty shite defensively and very lucky to beat what is a lousy Crawley side.

So I am not jumping for joy yet. Good to get three points, but we need to do far better if we want to add to them.

Still, a win is a win and, as they say in golf, there are no pictures on the score card.

On to the next game. If we can win that then the oil tanker might really be turning round.

They were pretty decent to be fair. One of the better teams I’ve seen this season.

Couple of quality challenges in there from Coke & Matete, best I’ve seen in a few years at town. Exactly what we need, the type of challenge Taylor, Morton & co would have nightmares about. Desire, commitment, bravery - perfect traits for our current situation.

Sometimes there are teams who forge a result against the odds and it turns out to be a turning point in the season. I really hope this is ours!

Not good to tag players in. But that's 2 games for bunney and he has been worse than awful in both. What Hurst sees in him I don't know. Why he never pulled him is a mystery. Another foot for that reckless tackle and we might have only taken 1 point. Wouldn't have been bunney fault. He just isn't good enough to be a professional footballer

The longest walk starts with the first step.  That was us tonight.

I blame Barrow’s win on Jolley.  He was too crap too soon.  He should have regressed gradually over the season.

Massively important win.  I don't care how we played, it was vital for our confidence that we put a whole game together, especially with Barrow winning as well tonight.  Colchester are definitely getting sucked in and if Southend lose tomorrow we'll have the chance to build some distance to them with our games in hand.  Positives!

First game I've not watched on iFollow since I began paying to watch them (when the club announced the takeover was happening).

Naturally, I missed the win!

Sounds like I didn't miss a performance... although to not play well and still score two goals, given how goal-shy we've been since, well, 2016, I'm with everyone else in that we'll take three points however they come.

Onwards and upwards. Devastating night for Southend, really. Wonder how they'll react this weekend.

Eastwood was good. I think he plays very well.

We have to start with either Hanson or the Shop with Payne, most teams in this league are worse than last season - Cambridge and Morcambe are top 4 FFS - winning second ball in the final third and good set pieces will win games...

Just back , , , from the shop , , ,
Needed something stronger than beer after that - did we really win!?!? Get the flip in - yeh it was awful and painful but my goodness did we need that - Come On Town kick on now - who’s off to ‘arrow gate??? 😞

Quoted from RichMariner

Onwards and upwards. Devastating night for Southend, really. Wonder how they'll react this weekend.

They play at VGR tomorrow.

Quoted from Norseman

Not good to tag players in. But that's 2 games for bunney and he has been worse than awful in both. What Hurst sees in him I don't know. Why he never pulled him is a mystery. Another foot for that reckless tackle and we might have only taken 1 point. Wouldn't have been bunney fault. He just isn't good enough to be a professional footballer

Despite playing many seasons in League 1.

Some of the comments about him tonight are terrible. Give him time to settle FFS.

Rob Jones was awful when we first signed him and got similar comments.

Quoted from promotion plaice

They play at VGR tomorrow.

That's two good match days in a row. Well done tonight; however the team played they won and that's what matters.

Build on this Town
To Survive

Quoted from ginnywings

Despite playing many seasons in League 1.

Some of the comments about him tonight are terrible. Give him time to settle FFS.

Rob Jones was awful when we first signed him and got similar comments.

Rob Jones being awful was a myth.  And still is. Who ever said he was awful didn't have a clue what they were talking about. And probably still don't.  Besides, he got injured fairly early on
Don't think bunney played much in League 1, a season at best

Quoted from ginnywings

Despite playing many seasons in League 1.

Some of the comments about him tonight are terrible. Give him time to settle FFS.

Rob Jones was awful when we first signed him and got similar comments.

Why is every Grimsby fans defense of a poor player always start with the words ‘Paul Futcher’ or ‘Rob Jones’?

Bunney shouldn’t be getting any abuse and might ‘come good’ but let’s call it what it is, one of the worst home debuts I’ve ever seen.

Shout out to Danny Rose tonight, had some stick but looked miles better with more capable midfielders alongside him

Quoted from nightrider

Rob Jones being awful was a myth.  And still is. Who ever said he was awful didn't have a clue what they were talking about. And probably still don't.  Besides, he got injured fairly early on
Don't think bunney played much in League 1, a season at best

He was flipping shite and way off for quite a while, then he found his form in league football.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Shout out to Danny Rose tonight, had some stick but looked miles better with more capable midfielders alongside him

agreed, but unfortunately that created a problem as matete was a shadow of his former self, and as Croft said, he onll really came into the game once rose had gone off.very frustrating, although i suspect it might be solved by the arrival of Coke who impressed on debut.Could see him and matete being the first choice central midfielders

Quoted from nightrider

Rob Jones being awful was a myth.  And still is. Who ever said he was awful didn't have a clue what they were talking about. And probably still don't.  Besides, he got injured fairly early on
Don't think bunney played much in League 1, a season at best

Sorry Mr football pundit. Rob Jones was known as bambi on ice when he first signed.

Bunney played for Rochdale for 6 seasons, four of which were in League 1, after he helped them get promotion from League 2. Played for one or two others in League 1 also, and plenty of games at League 2.

He's played less than 10 games outside of the football league.

Quoted from ginnywings

Sorry Mr football pundit. Rob Jones was known as bambi on ice when he first signed.

Bunney played for Rochdale for 6 seasons, four of which were in League 1, after he helped them get promotion from League 2. Played for one or two others in League 1 also, and plenty of games at League 2.

He's played less than 10 games outside of the football league.

You didn't watch him though!

Quoted from pontoonlew

Why is every Grimsby fans defense of a poor player always start with the words ‘Paul Futcher’ or ‘Rob Jones’?

Bunney shouldn’t be getting any abuse and might ‘come good’ but let’s call it what it is, one of the worst home debuts I’ve ever seen.

That's rich coming from you.

Having one of the worst home debuts you have ever seen doesn't make him a poor player, it makes him someone who had a shocking match.

The reference to Jones and Futcher are just two of the better examples of players that took a while to settle. There are plenty of others.

Despite us winning tonight, there are still those whose first instinct is to shout loud and clear how sh1te we are, when truth be told, most teams in this league, especially this season, are not much to write home about.

First win in two months and the first time we’ve scored more than one goal at home all league season (!) so naturally this thread has ended up in a discussion about whether Rob Jones was shít or not. Classic.

Quoted from chipsandgravy

You didn't watch him though!

Watch who?

Wins a win
Let the good times role  ;)

Good win tonight in terrible conditions. Yes it's the same for both sides. But the conditions were more to blame for a poor performance as much as the team. Anyone who has ever played footy in a gale will tell you its a great leveller. 3 points was what mattered let's judge our quality in better conditions

Good win tonight in terrible conditions. Yes it's the same for both sides. But the conditions were more to blame for a poor performance as much as the team. Anyone who has ever played footy in a gale will tell you its a great leveller. 3 points was what mattered let's judge our quality in better conditions

Quoted from Norseman

Good win tonight in terrible conditions. Yes it's the same for both sides. But the conditions were more to blame for a poor performance as much as the team. Anyone who has ever played footy in a gale will tell you its a great leveller. 3 points was what mattered let's judge our quality in better conditions

Amen to that.

The guy who abused bunney directly has got a mouthful off town fans on twitter and deleted his tweet. What a tool

There’s constructively criticising players on here, in group chats and indirectly on Twitter but tagging the players directly and unconstructively telling them they’re shite is not helpful. Bunney’s having one of the most exciting yet anxiety inducing weeks of his life and I’m happy to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

Quoted from forza ivano

agreed, but unfortunately that created a problem as matete was a shadow of his former self, and as Croft said, he onll really came into the game once rose had gone off.very frustrating, although i suspect it might be solved by the arrival of Coke who impressed on debut.Could see him and matete being the first choice central midfielders

It really was a good cameo from Coke. He absolutely flipping clattered one of the Crawley players, it was the sort of tackle that would’ve been cheered like a goal.
Hendrie did really well when he came in as well.

Nothing wrong of being critical of an individual player’s performance in any particular game but the guy has played twice and by all accounts became a father yesterday so he shouldn’t be written off at this stage of his town career.

I’ve said previously that Hurst has an excellent record when signing full backs and let’s hope Bunney will prove an astute choice even if that takes a bit longer to see his true worth. Got a feeling he will score a coupe vital goals for us before the season ends.

Anyway be interesting who gets the left back spot on Saturday, will he go for the natural left footed Habergham or play Hendrie on the left and thus lose some balance but have a player who is probably more capable of getting up and down the pitch.

You don't go through a bad run like we have and all of a sudden play brilliant football.

A couple of scrappy wins gives the players confidence and they will start to believe in themselves.

Bring on Harrogate let's have another scrappy win and take it from there.

Onwards and upwards think positive. 8)

Remember that 2 matches ago in his pre-match interview, that was EXACTLY what Hursty wanted from his team. A win, as ugly as it might be, above a good performance.

Job done

Quoted from headingly_mariner

Oh and can people stop tagging players in on Twitter who haven’t had a good game. Some numpty has hammered Joe Bunney, fair enough he didn’t have a good game but it’s only his second and how does that help.

Didn’t have any cover left mid all game no wonder he got sent off, if I could see it surely others could?

Listening to JT's commentary tonight and his criticism of Town's players seemingly expecting a certain standard of still conditions football on a billiard table of a pitch rather than in a gale force wind on a shitheap along with making Crawley sound like Barcelona,, it's easy to think this was a poor performance. It wasn't. Crawley edged the game and deserved to win on chances created, they definitely had more guile in the final third, but thanks to Morais, we put as many dangerous crosses into the box as they did, but you wouldn't think that if you took JT at his word. He has to be given some leeway though, he sounds as beaten down as the rest of us and always fears the worst every second of the game. Who wouldn't the past few seasons. Trying to look at the game objectively, lots of positives to build on. Eastwood is definitely an upgrade on Macca. We've got two decent right backs. Waterfall wins everything in the air, as does Menayese who has also got pace (my MOM tonight), we've suddenly got a lot of decent options in midfield, Matete, Rose, El Mizouni and Coke, Morais is one of the best crossers of the ball we've had in years, Adams is a handful on the ball, we've got a few lumps up front that aren't going to get bullied by League Two defenders and with Hewitt's throw ins and Morais's corners, we're now dangerous from set pieces at last. Was a little worried before half time and bricking it a bit in injury time but don't think we were under that much pressure second half if you turned the commentary down and forgot about the dire need for a victory. Not a classic, but a classic battling performance and we've got huge scope for improvement . Great to see the whole team celebrate together as a group on the final whistle too. They look up for the challenge and every one of them put a shift in tonight in extremely difficult conditions against a side that has played together for much longer than just a game or two.

Thought Bunney did have a bad night, but to say he’s not good enough to be a professional footballer is nonsense. The rest of the team did ok. Impressed by Payne. A real handful. Adams had flashes of promising play. Moráis and Matete useful. Thought Hewitt was alright. The Shop did a job when he came on. The worst moments were when Waterfall was outpaced when they had the wind at their back. Eastman gave me fewer palpitations than Macca.

Thought Crawley were more creative than us but wasteful.

Up the fcuking Mariners!

Quoted from ginnywings

Watch who?

The game firstly and Bunney!

Its a fact that he had a shocking  home debut and I would go as far to say that Hurst was at fault for not bringing him off. Maybe his head was all over the place but if anyone was going to lose us the points it was going to be him.
At least he will have a free weekend to get use to his new arrival and go again.

Quoted from chipsandgravy

The game firstly and Bunney!

Its a fact that he had a shocking  home debut and I would go as far to say that Hurst was at fault for not bringing him off. Maybe his head was all over the place but if anyone was going to lose us the points it was going to be him.
At least he will have a free weekend to get use to his new arrival and go again.

We fooking won for the first time in donkeys and you'd think that everyone would be so happy that they'd have the good grace not to dig out a single player tonight. We lose as a team, and we win as a team.. just for one night..

All in all, a win is a win

Not pretty tonight but we've done pretty in the past and lost plenty of times when we shouldn't have done

Just glad that we scraped it in the end.... maybe/probably undeservedly

I'm happier tonight though than I've been for a long while and all because Town did it for me/us, on my birthday too!

We've all had a crappy time lately but we won, we got the three points and we finally have something positive to build on

Onwards and upwards

UTM / ATAW / GTID

Quoted from Bigdog

We fooking won for the first time in donkeys and you'd think that everyone would be so happy that they'd have the good grace not to dig out a single player tonight. We lose as a team, and we win as a team.. just for one night..

Oh come on. Sanctimonious or what!! Course I am happy but its a forum to debate the good and not so good which if my poor memory serves me right your not usually slow to do so when it suits.

Quoted from headingly_mariner

Oh and can people stop tagging players in on Twitter who haven’t had a good game. Some numpty has hammered Joe Bunney, fair enough he didn’t have a good game but it’s only his second and how does that help.

Agreed.  I havent seen it yet as I can't get into ifollow videos for some reasons but if he got a red for being over zealous, I'd prefer that to some backing out of challenges.

Quoted from chipsandgravy

Oh come on. Sanctimonious or what!! Course I am happy but its a forum to debate the good and not so good which if my poor memory serves me right your not usually slow to do so when it suits.

I can't disagree with you at all tbh, fair play.. I'm now just trying to be as positive as I can be until we're safe..

Quoted from FishOutOfWater

All in all, a win is a win

Not pretty tonight but we've done pretty in the past and lost plenty of times when we shouldn't have done

Just glad that we scraped it in the end.... maybe/probably undeservedly

I'm happier tonight though than I've been for a long while and all because Town did it for me/us, on my birthday too!

We've all had a crappy time lately but we won, we got the three points and we finally have something positive to build on

Onwards and upwards

UTM / ATAW / GTID

Happy Birthday old fruit.

I’m getting happier and happier about that win. Maybe the weight’s been lifted or the Old Speckled Hen is kicking in.

Quoted from Bigdog

I can't disagree with you at all tbh, fair play.. I'm just trying to be as positive as I can be until we're safe..

And on reflection I should just shut up and enjoy the ruddy moment - god only knows there has been so few of them!!

Hay, steady on Bigdog and chipsandgravy. Resolving a disagreement amicably like that you’ll be getting banned for bringing the Fishy into good repute. 😆

Fair play to you both. 👍

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Hay, steady on Bigdog and chipsandgravy. Resolving a disagreement amicably like that you’ll be getting banned for bringing the Fishy into good repute. 😆

Fair play to you both. 👍

Ha ha. Its the future you know!!

Quoted from Mayaman

Agreed.  I havent seen it yet as I can't get into ifollow videos for some reasons but if he got a red for being over zealous, I'd prefer that to some backing out of challenges.

The tackle for the sending off was innocuous I thought. It's at the end of the brief highlights I posted.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Happy Birthday old fruit.

I’m getting happier and happier about that win. Maybe the weight’s been lifted or the Old Speckled Hen is kicking in.

Cheers KM

I'm still waiting for the jab to be offered to me though at my age it won't be too much longer

But in the interim, that win tonight is a real shot in the arm

Maybe it's because those endorphins have been absent for so long, but I've got to say, I'm just happy after a Town game for once

UTM

Quoted from Norseman

Good win tonight in terrible conditions. Yes it's the same for both sides. But the conditions were more to blame for a poor performance as much as the team. Anyone who has ever played footy in a gale will tell you its a great leveller. 3 points was what mattered let's judge our quality in better conditions

I agree with those saying we didn't play well ( I think PH agrees as well) and the conditions were bad but I thought that Crawley looked much better than us for a good part of the game and caused us quite a few problems in the first half but thankfully they didn't capitalise on that in the second half.

Thankfully we scored and a good job too as Barrow won. Still a long way to go but on that showing I still think it will be an almighty struggle to stay up.

A win was imperative and we got it. Bunney wasn’t brilliant but only his second game and congratulations to him and his missus on the birth of the little one. Waterfall has escaped criticism for some reason, he got skinned 3 times in the first half where he had the turning circle of a Super Tanker. 2nd half he escaped a Red for DOGSO as he missed the player but got a yellow and was close to conceding a penalty, Yes his second half performance was better with the wind at his back, other players were not much better and all need to improve. We go again on Saturday.  8)
UTMM

Was the performance any good? Arguably worse than Newport. Was a win imperative? Yes and we got it. We needed it and it may just give us the boost we’ve been looking for.

Bunney wasn’t great and the second yellow for a nothing challenge summer his night up. Waterfall was awful, his highlight was that header in injury time which went right in the crawley corner.

I appreciate they hit the bar and did cause us problems but neither keeper was overly busy and the wind probably ruined what could’ve been a decent game with two teams trying to play some football. The pitch doesn’t help either. The amount of short and simple passes which are made tentatively says a lot.

We won, that’s the main thing and I’m sure they’ll keep working on the key areas.

One highlight for me was the huge crunching tackle from Coke late on. We’ve lacked that so it was good to see.

Would rathere see Pollock at centre half than Meyanese. I think he got caught out positionally on a few occasions and he seems to be always sorting his feet out and in awkward body positions.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Just back....from the bog. Bloody desperate come the end.

Yes, but what about the football?!

Think people need to have a bit more perspective. This is our second game with this team which has replaced an appallingly bad side put together by Runaway. It will take time and we won’t play like Barcelona. Taking our chances is the important thing alongside stopping goals conceded. I don’t give a excrement how we play, just that we stay in the league.

Quoted from davmariner

Think people need to have a bit more perspective. This is our second game with this team which has replaced an appallingly bad side put together by Runaway. It will take time and we won’t play like Barcelona. Taking our chances is the important thing alongside stopping goals conceded. I don’t give a excrement how we play, just that we stay in the league.

I don’t think anybody is complaining that we played badly and won though are they? They’re merely analysing the game and anybody with eyes would come to the same conclusions most on here have. Play like that against a decent side and they’ll comfortably stick 4-5 past us, it’s great that we got away with it (we probably deserve a lucky one) but we can’t be naive and say that performance is what we’ll accept for the rest of the season.

Feels fantastic waking up with 3 points.

Quoted from ginnywings

That's rich coming from you.

Having one of the worst home debuts you have ever seen doesn't make him a poor player, it makes him someone who had a shocking match.

The reference to Jones and Futcher are just two of the better examples of players that took a while to settle. There are plenty of others.

Despite us winning tonight, there are still those whose first instinct is to shout loud and clear how sh1te we are, when truth be told, most teams in this league, especially this season, are not much to write home about.

Rich coming from me? There’s a huge difference between saying a player had a bad game on a forum and tagging them on Twitter to tell them about it.

Quoted from gobby

A win was imperative and we got it. Bunney wasn’t brilliant but only his second game and congratulations to him and his missus on the birth of the little one.
UTMM

Warren?  :)

I think we set up all wrong to be honest. The single striker up front on his own left Payne isolated and lacking service. We didnt get the ball wide enough all game and our defending was panicky and full of mistakes.
Lucky not to concede more or at least give 1 maybe 2 penalties away. I think we need Pollock back in there and back to form.
Think it will end up being a good thing that Bunney is suspended as not been impressed in either appearance and hope Habergham or Hendrie takes their opportunity in the next game.
Theres obviously no lack of effort though which shows they are up for the fight. Really like Matete, Hewitt at right back, Morais whipping the balls in from the right and we looked better with 2 up top.
In the next game, maybe playing with 3 CBs to accomodate Pollock with wing backs and 2 strikers may be a better option to sharpen us at both ends.
Utm

Reading this thread and the match thread reminds me why I wasn’t particularly bothered about not attending matches at the start of the pandemic, and why I’d only been to a slack handful of games for the previous couple of seasons. You’re just surrounded by the most miserable, enjoyment-sapping set of cnts you could imagine, not a drop of joy or optimism in them and always quick to spout off and drag everyone down with them.

They pay their money same as me, so nothing to stop them, just means you come away from the game negged out 99% of the time. Win at a canter? Other team are shíte. Scrape a win? We’re shíte and someone else would beat us. Play well? Should play like that every week.

Bore off.

Quoted from ska face

Reading this thread and the match thread reminds me why I wasn’t particularly bothered about not attending matches at the start of the pandemic, and why I’d only been to a slack handful of games for the previous couple of seasons. You’re just surrounded by the most miserable, enjoyment-sapping set of cnts you could imagine, not a drop of joy or optimism in them and always quick to spout off and drag everyone down with them.

They pay their money same as me, so nothing to stop them, just means you come away from the game negged out 99% of the time. Win at a canter? Other team are shíte. Scrape a win? We’re shíte and someone else would beat us. Play well? Should play like that every week.

Bore off.

Don’t come onto a forum then, if you just want to hear your own opinion on a football match just have a chat with yourself after the game.

Quoted from Stew0_0

I think we need Pollock back in there and back to form.  Wrong way round.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Don’t come onto a forum then, if you just want to hear your own opinion on a football match just have a chat with yourself after the game.

I appreciate your try-hard routine, but have another go at reading the post. It’s about attending matches, not what people say on here.

IMHO I thought the Ref had a good game last night, I have just seen the highlights and realised it was Bobby Madley the old Premiership Ref. 8)
UTMM

Quoted from Teesknees

Yes, but what about the football?!

Lots of straining and groaning, but finally managed to squeeze out a couple when it counted. Number one seemed to come out of nowhere. Number two looked like it wouldn’t come but we got a little cheeky one in the box. Hanging on at the end. Performance stank a bit but it’s the result that counts.

We showed grit and determination which will be needed if we are going to get out of this mess.
Think we'll be ok.

Wouldn’t give a dam if we performed like that every game this season as long as we got the points, not out of the woods but at least we can see a path to safety

Quoted from gobby

IMHO I thought the Ref had a good game last night, I have just seen the highlights and realised it was Bobby Madley the old Premiership Ref. 8)
UTMM

Aside from booking Adams for a dive which was almost comical

If it was his second yellow I think it was the Assistant that gave the foul and the Ref backed him up. 😎
UTMM

A night when the result was far more important than the performance. It's bound to feel like a monkey off the back for all concerned and let's hope that we now kick on.

That said, we were appalling defensively with only Elliott Hewitt and Eastwood coming out with any credit. Hard to criticise anyone in the front 6 as they all worked hard - Rose having one of his better games. Not exactly sure how we're trying to play but Morais returning was an obvious benefit and Coke's tackle was awesome (so to speak!).

Quoted from MuddyWaters

A night when the result was far more important than the performance. It's bound to feel like a monkey off the back for all concerned and let's hope that we now kick on.

That said, we were appalling defensively with only Elliott Hewitt and Eastwood coming out with any credit. Hard to criticise anyone in the front 6 as they all worked hard - Rose having one of his better games. Not exactly sure how we're trying to play but Morais returning was an obvious benefit and Coke's tackle was awesome (so to speak!).

For balance, I'd say that the two centre halves won virtually everything in the air last night. It shouldn't be taken for granted and especially in those conditions. Crawley are one of the best teams going forward in the division, and yes they hit the bar and should have scored early on, but I can't really remember them going that close on many occasions at all. Maybe the fans' desperation for a win overemphasised their threat? The left back position is up for grabs, and one of our centre halves will always struggle against pacy forwards whoever plays, unless Hewitt plays with Menayese, but after our first win in yonks, I'm not going to advocate that at this stage..

Quoted from Stew0_0

I think we set up all wrong to be honest. The single striker up front on his own left Payne isolated and lacking service. We didnt get the ball wide enough all game and our defending was panicky and full of mistakes.
Lucky not to concede more or at least give 1 maybe 2 penalties away. I think we need Pollock back in there and back to form.
Think it will end up being a good thing that Bunney is suspended as not been impressed in either appearance and hope Habergham or Hendrie takes their opportunity in the next game.
Theres obviously no lack of effort though which shows they are up for the fight. Really like Matete, Hewitt at right back, Morais whipping the balls in from the right and we looked better with 2 up top.
In the next game, maybe playing with 3 CBs to accomodate Pollock with wing backs and 2 strikers may be a better option to sharpen us at both ends.
Utm

So you'd only play three out of Adams, Morais, Coke, El Mizouni, Matete and Rose then? And the only width coming from full backs pushed forward unless you want to expose three centre halves more than a back four? No Morais crosses or Adams carrying the ball? At least five out of six of those players have to play every game imho, maybe until the last half hour when game situations may dictate throwing on ageing forwards to nick a goal or help to hold the ball up better. I'm quite happy with a midfield five starting for now with Payne up top on his own..

Quoted from FishOutOfWater

Cheers KM

I'm still waiting for the jab to be offered to me though at my age it won't be too much longer

But in the interim,  that win tonight is a real shot in the arm

Maybe it's because those endorphins have been absent for so long, but I've got to say, I'm just happy after a Town game for once

UTM

Getting my jab this afternoon and with Town winning, things look a little rosier today.

Had Mine couple weeks back. No issues. Just a dead arm

In terms of the performance it wasn't great but bloody hell that win could be so important.  It's the type of win you know Hurst loves, absolutely dogged to the end.  Forget the goals, forget the red card, even forget the wind.  That win was summed up by Elliott Hewitt's block where he literally jumped backwards to dive into the shot with his legs.  

First half I thought we left Payne too isolated, despite what looked like a midfield that could support him on paper.  Morais Adams and El Mizouni are all what I would class at attack minded midfielders whilst Matete isn't afraid to push forward either.  Sadly it didn't really feel like any of them consistently got close to Payne.   Conditions definitely didn't help but we reacted to Crawley's formation more than taking the game to them, at least in my eyes anyway.  Their front three mean our fullbacks were drawn inside and didn't offer too many outlets.  Despite having 5 in midfield we were often out numbered in there, probably due to Rose sitting very deep.  I like the role that Rose plays and I thought he had a decent enough game, but I'm not sure it's enough.  He wasn't deep enough to be a 3rd centre back, but neither far forward enough to help the other midfielders.  When conditions are better you can maybe argue that his role is more effective as we look for someone to take the ball off the defence and give to the likes of Adams, Morais.  But last night it felt like he was marking space a lot of the time.  Completely different coming on to defend a lead for ten minutes, but Coke sorta imposed himself on the game how you want someone in that role to do.
  
For all the criticism of Bunney, I actually thought he did ok.  Yeah, few moments where he completely misplaced his pass and he definitely got away with one when it looked like he gave a penno away.  But the hammering he's taking is really unfair in my eyes.  Maybe he shouldn't have played because of his personal circumstances but he offers balance to the side and I just thought he did ok.  Nothing great but nothing dreadful.

Morais' deliveries from wide are one of the things I'm certain will see us survive.   Last night loads of balls went into the box but no-one other than Payne was there.  Another striker on the pitch and/or the midfield pushing forward and those chances will be taken.   Thought Adams was fairly quiet and maybe a little lightweight for the type of game when it's hustle and bustle, but he took his goal excellently.   El Mizouni showed in flashes what he can do and definitely want to see more of him running with the ball and taking it to teams.  Lot of comments about Matete not having his best game, yet he was still far more effective than Morton, Taylor etc. were at any point this season.  That shows the improvements we've made in terms of actual bodies.  

As others have said the tackles from Coke and Matete were stuff that would be cheered like a goal.  

At the back I thought we looked shambolic at times.  Menayse is quicker than Waterfall but I still don't think he's exactly lightning, was a few times where he just looked completely lost with what's going on around him.  Waterfall seems to think he's quicker than he is and wants to play an offside trap that is never going to work.

Hanson coming on was key as he made things stick up there.  Understand the five man midfield to keep things tight but that's no good if it just comes back straight away either.  

Positive comes from the result and the confidence it'll bring.  But still a lot of work to do.  Baby steps.

Quoted from Bigdog

So you'd only play three out of Adams, Morais, Coke, El Mizouni, Matete and Rose then? And the only width coming from full backs pushed forward unless you want to expose three centre halves more than a back four? No Morais crosses or Adams carrying the ball? At least five out of six of those players have to play every game imho, maybe until the last half hour when game situations may dictate throwing on ageing forwards to nick a goal or help to hold the ball up better. I'm quite happy with a midfield five starting for now with Payne up top on his own..

I think the midfield five only works if they support Payne (or whoever plays up top on their own).  Largely this didn't happen last night.  

I don't understand why Rose gets so much grief. His reading of the game has been fantastic all season and the amount of interceptions are incredible. He's given away some daft penalties, usually when we were already losing, but I feel he's more a victim of expectation than actually playing badly. For me he's been our best player this season.

The question for me regards Rose is what else does he offer and how does it fit into the team?  Yeah, I'd agree he makes a lot of interceptions, but they're all in a very defined area of the pitch.  So I'm not sure if that's down to his reading of the game or the fact he doesn't move much from that 10 yard square.  

If he isn't moving from that position he needs to offer more to the side in my eyes.  Hessenthaler did that role last season but was more mobile and moved the play quicker, which is a big frustration of mine with Rose.  

We've only 11 players on the pitch and I don't think we can afford someone out there who's only really making interceptions when the ball comes within a whisker of him.

I think you're probably right in terms of expectation.  I think we all thought and hoped at the time that Rose would be an upgrade on Hessenthaler but that's not the case.  

For what it's worth I don't think he's awful, just like I don't think any of our players are awful.  If anything it's a case of a lack of balance in the squad that has seen such a poor first return from the first 28 games rather than lack of individual attributes.

Their managers thoughts on the game ;D

https://www.crawleytownfc.com/news/2021/february/grimsby-town-reaction--john-yems/

Quoted from pen penfras

I don't understand why Rose gets so much grief. His reading of the game has been fantastic all season and the amount of interceptions are incredible. He's given away some daft penalties, usually when we were already losing, but I feel he's more a victim of expectation than actually playing badly. For me he's been our best player this season.

I think Rose suffered from having to do 2-3 players jobs at the start of the season with the likes of Morton and Taylor alongside him. It also didn't help that we passed out from the back, it felt at times like none of the defenders trusted anybody but Rose and the ball constantly went to him, if you're being close down 10 yards from your own box every single time you're going to cost us a goal at some point.

He's a classy player for me and showed that last night, I can't remember one missed pass from him.

Quoted from diehardmariner

The question for me regards Rose is what else does he offer and how does it fit into the team?  Yeah, I'd agree he makes a lot of interceptions, but they're all in a very defined area of the pitch.  So I'm not sure if that's down to his reading of the game or the fact he doesn't move much from that 10 yard square.  

If he isn't moving from that position he needs to offer more to the side in my eyes.  Hessenthaler did that role last season but was more mobile and moved the play quicker, which is a big frustration of mine with Rose.  

We've only 11 players on the pitch and I don't think we can afford someone out there who's only really making interceptions when the ball comes within a whisker of him.

I think you're probably right in terms of expectation.  I think we all thought and hoped at the time that Rose would be an upgrade on Hessenthaler but that's not the case.  

For what it's worth I don't think he's awful, just like I don't think any of our players are awful.  If anything it's a case of a lack of balance in the squad that has seen such a poor first return from the first 28 games rather than lack of individual attributes.

Are you serious about Hessenthaler? I don't think he passed the ball forwards once all season. He was a massive factor in our laboured play, although that may have been partly down to Jolley's instructions. Hessenthaler was busier, but Rose's passing and vision is much better.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Their managers thoughts on the game ;D

https://www.crawleytownfc.com/news/2021/february/grimsby-town-reaction--john-yems/

Talk about sour grapes!..the man's a pr!CK, the way he went at the 4th official at full time was nothing short of embarrassing..

Quoted from arryarryarry

Their managers thoughts on the game ;D

https://www.crawleytownfc.com/news/2021/february/grimsby-town-reaction--john-yems/

I like him! No excuses, no cobblers. It's our fault and we weren't good enough.

He didn't slag us and basically said, Grimsby play like they play and it's our job to deal with it.

Quoted from BobbyCummingsTackle

I like him! No excuses, no cobblers. It's our fault and we weren't good enough.

He didn't slag us and basically said, Grimsby play like they play and it's our job to deal with it.

I'd question the sanity of anyone who plays Tilley as a wing back.