royally drunk off
That was awful, for 80 minutes, and im PH's biggest fan but this ones on him, that formation and lineup was odd, and we were comprehensively outplayed first half and were just as bad in the second, creating intercourse all until surprise surprise we go 1 down and bring wingers on.
To play hanson and Payne and not have a winger on the pitch baffles me, as soon as Morais came on we threatened, and possibly could have nicked a point.
Pollock Premier league!? at fault for the goal, lost his big bumbling Centre forward and fair play to the striker its a good header, but a free header.
Performance's like that take belief away from even the most positive fan, sort of game you dig in and get a point, ala Southend today, but we arent doing it. I see barrow lost late on, and it still technically in our hands but we've been beaten today by a depleted harrogate and quite frankly we were shite.

There is nothing positive I can take from that which would make me have a modicum of hope that we’ll stay up.

I said we was relegated the moment we signed Hurst, was hopeful I was wrong but Hurst has proved me correct, he’s had his time now, same old with him to much of a tinker man and will dig his eels in now showing how stubborn he really is.

That was awful! Made even worse by the commentators - at least JT actually describes what's going on!

Fenty and his cronies and Runaway are mainly to blame but Hurst also has to take some blame now.

Does anyone really think we have the quality now to stay up because I don't.

Would love to be proved wrong but can't see it.

3 points from the last two games. Things are looking up.

Nope. We have had it.

I do notice amazingly its still in our hands. But we are a poor poor side desperately lacking in confidence

I did have some deluded optimism, but it’s gone.

I thought we fluked Tuesday night, frankly, but I hoped it might spark them on to better things.

Everything about that game was dreadful. Reminded me of non league. Which is appropriate.

We’ve definitely not had it, but bloody hell we’ve got to do better to have any chance.
UTM

Quoted from Hagrid

I do notice amazingly its still in our hands. But we are a poor poor side desperately lacking in confidence

That's a positive but I don't believe we have the ability to make good on that.

Negative football, negative result

Quoted from KingstonMariner

3 points from the last two games. Things are looking up.

We need to do that for every two games between now and the end of the season

Can't see it happening to be honest but I live in hope

Quoted from Plankton

That's a positive but I don't believe we have the ability to make good on that.

Other than Fil, Mattette, Eastwood & Adams this squad has zero ability!

Hurst thinks we deserved a point after that!

Quoted from Hagrid

I do notice amazingly its still in our hands. But we are a poor poor side desperately lacking in confidence

And arguably desperately lacking in quality, ability, application etc etc

Our players seem to need about 5 touches to make a pass , they all seem nervous on the ball .
At least Ollies team could make a good pass backwards  :)this lot can’t make a pass in any direction

We will be ok when the grounds get better, we are not a mud playing team

I’m sometimes skeptical on how a manager can be wholly at fault for a team losing a football match but today is the most blatant example that I think I’ve ever seen.

An absolutely awful selection, my girlfriend has painstakingly watched every game with me this year (even says ‘we’ now despite being a Spurs fan) and even she pointed out that we’d started two slow lumps up top yet no wingers at all to cross the ball into them. Pure stupidity.

Menayese and Coke look dreadful signings & Payne is only better than what we had based on the fact we had Green & Gibson before him. LJL has proven to be exactly what people were slated for thinking he was, a (false) nostalgia signing with very little thought behind it.

We look just as bad as we did under Holloway and the form proves that.

Quoted from Hagrid

I do notice amazingly its still in our hands. But we are a poor poor side desperately lacking in confidence quality,

Amended

And to make the day even worse we're losing to Wales plus the ref in the rugby.

I would rather we go down fighting for a win from the off than playing it tight hoping to Nick a 1-0.I

Come on Hursty let's try and win the game from the start of the game not just in the last ten minutes.

Quoted from sonofmadeleymariner

Hurst thinks we deserved a point after that!

And there is part of the problem, he would have been happy with a point.

absolutely shambolic, what do the players do in training? Hurst,s choice of team weird, 2 centre forwards, no wingers, there was no attack at all, Waterfall hoofing all the time, i fear the worst now, i did expect us to press on from the Newport game where i thought we played really well, all gone out the window now, 2 home games now and they are crucial, time is ticking.

Quoted from pontoonlew

I’m sometimes skeptical on how a manager can be wholly at fault for a team losing a football match but today is the most blatant example that I think I’ve ever seen.

An absolutely awful selection, my girlfriend has painstakingly watched every game with me this year (even says ‘we’ now despite being a Spurs fan) and even she pointed out that we’d started two slow lumps up top yet no wingers at all to cross the ball into them. Pure stupidity.

Menayese and Coke look dreadful signings & Payne is only better than what we had based on the fact we had Green & Gibson before him. LJL has proven to be exactly what people were slated for thinking he was, a (false) nostalgia signing with very little thought behind it.

We look just as bad as we did under Holloway and the form proves that.

LJL has been ok in the very limited time he's been on the pitch. He's laid off as many good balls as Hanson and Payne with a fraction of the time and been in good positions in the box. I'd rather he started than Hanson, who seems to win a fair few balls but they never go near anybody else.

Thought Hurst got it wrong today and didn’t rectify it. There was point in the game that changes would be key, they made them and we didn’t. On to Tuesday.

That was as bad as we have seen all season.

Absolute dog excrement

Very very poor that's all I can say.

Quoted from chrissy

I would rather we go down fighting for a win from the off than playing it tight hoping to Nick a 1-0.I

Come on Hursty let's try and win the game from the start of the game not just in the last ten minutes.

This ⬆️ Time to put our kock on the block and treat every game like a cup final. If we can win one in two (big if) - or even one in three - and pick up the odd draw, we'll be fine.

What we can't do is set up for a goaless draw week in week out and keep losing.

I'm disappointed, frustrated and deflated by today's result but I've certainly not given up hope, nor written us off.

I appreciate being cup half empty is a coping mechanism for some but if you were a Town  player and saw some of the constant comments on here and on social saying "we're doomed", "we're down"..."the players are shite"...etc...do you think it would have a positive or negative impact on your motivation and morale? I'd guess the latter. It's a self fulfilling prophecy.

Let's get behind the players and give them our 100% encouragement and support between now and the end of the season. You never know...it might prove the difference between league football and the abyss next season.  UTM.

Quoted from promotion plaice

Fenty and his cronies and Runaway are mainly to blame but Hurst also has to take some blame now.

Does anyone really think we have the quality now to stay up because I don't.

Would love to be proved wrong but can't see it.

I agree, but the players only do what Hurst tells them. We never looked like an attacking force till they scored. The team then started to show glimpses of what they can do. I fail to see how a 10/11 man defence is going to win any games. Up to the goal Hurst's tactics were identical to the Crawley game when we got lucky.

Todays defeat is down to him. He wants to think himself very lucky that Eastwood is turning out to be a brilliant goalkeeper otherwise it would have been a heavier loss.

Quoted from Plankton

That's a positive but I don't believe we have the ability to make good on that.

The last few minutes showed some ability but Hurst failed in his tactics and to build on Tuesday's win.

Quoted from sonofmadeleymariner

Hurst thinks we deserved a point after that!

Someone pointed the way home, tail between his legs and excuse is!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quoted from marinerdazza

I did have some deluded optimism, but it’s gone.

I thought we fluked Tuesday night, frankly, but I hoped it might spark them on to better things.

Everything about that game was dreadful. Reminded me of non league. Which is appropriate.

That striker who came on reminded me of a Sunday “pub” league never mind non league, but he was still too good for us   :-/

Quoted from Garth

We will be ok when the grounds get better, we are not a mud playing team

Other teams play in all conditions and put us to shame, the excuses have run out.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

There is nothing positive I can take from that which would make me have a modicum of hope that we’ll stay up.

Agreed, and what’s worse is we changed a winning side, sat back on that pitch and relied on a young keeper to keep us in it
One goal settled it and surprise surprise they got it with a sub striker, pity ours wasn’t taken off

Quoted from pen penfras

LJL has been ok in the very limited time he's been on the pitch. He's laid off as many good balls as Hanson and Payne with a fraction of the time and been in good positions in the box. I'd rather he started than Hanson, who seems to win a fair few balls but they never go near anybody else.

Agree re Lenny, he had some nice touches in the time he was on, should be one of the starters in a 442

Quoted from DB

The last few minutes showed some ability but Hurst failed in his tactics and to build on Tuesday's win.

Should have played the same side forget Tuesday Saturday it’s all about points on the board
We sat back brought em on showed fcuk all upfront

Quoted from TAGG

That was as bad as we have seen all season.

Absolute dog excrement

You didn't watch the Tranmere game, dog excrement was compliment.

In my mind we've only had a couple of games with a team that Hurst has built (and even then he has clearly not got who he wanted - those comments about players not wanting to come to a bottom-of-the-table club were quite telling). Bumming around with IH's cast-offs was a waste of time, though unavoidable until finding people who actually wanted to sign for us.

I do get the gameplan today. Harrogate are all about launching the ball into the box at every opportunity, so he wanted a few big defenders to be able to deal with that. To be fair, we did deal with pretty much all that was thrown at us, until we switched off once and Beck took advantage.

The real issue, as ever, is how toothless up front we looked. 3-5-2/5-3-2 is fine if, in attack, the full-backs push up, which they obviously didn't. Even on the occasions when a long ball forward found Payne/Hanson, neither seemed capable of holding up the ball until support from the likes of El Mizouni (very quiet today) and Matete (looks shattered) came.

I'd quite like him to say "right, this is our system and we're sticking to it". Then at least if we're forced into some rotation (inevitable with our fixture list) the players *should* automatically know the patterns and the gameplan expected of them. And I would like that system to be his 4-4-2 because there is a better balance between defence and attack IMO.

Team selection for Orient on Tuesday :-

Eastwood

10 anothers

who must have Black and white shirts, football boots and ability to ignore managers negative instructions.

Quoted from kafunanapar140909

In my mind we've only had a couple of games with a team that Hurst has built (and even then he has clearly not got who he wanted - those comments about players not wanting to come to a bottom-of-the-table club were quite telling). Bumming around with IH's cast-offs was a waste of time, though unavoidable until finding people who actually wanted to sign for us.

I do get the gameplan today. Harrogate are all about launching the ball into the box at every opportunity, so he wanted a few big defenders to be able to deal with that. To be fair, we did deal with pretty much all that was thrown at us, until we switched off once and Beck took advantage.

The real issue, as ever, is how toothless up front we looked. 3-5-2/5-3-2 is fine if, in attack, the full-backs push up, which they obviously didn't. Even on the occasions when a long ball forward found Payne/Hanson, neither seemed capable of holding up the ball until support from the likes of El Mizouni (very quiet today) and Matete (looks shattered) came.

I'd quite like him to say "right, this is our system and we're sticking to it". Then at least if we're forced into some rotation (inevitable with our fixture list) the players *should* automatically know the patterns and the gameplan expected of them. And I would like that system to be his 4-4-2 because there is a better balance between defence and attack IMO.

Our game plan was simple don't lose. How many times was the ball kick, aimlessly, into their half for us to see Hanson running up from defence. I'm not a fan of Hanson but he can't be in two places at once. Before Christmas it hapless, hopeless holloway. At the minute you can change the last name to Hurst.

This is his team, his players and had enough time for team bonding. His words were 'it's a mess'. It still is.

Dire stuff, but we should've nicked a point.

Quoted from Withnail

This ⬆️ Time to put our kock on the block and treat every game like a cup final. If we can win one in two (big if) - or even one in three - and pick up the odd draw, we'll be fine.

What we can't do is set up for a goaless draw week in week out and keep losing.

I'm disappointed, frustrated and deflated by today's result but I've certainly not given up hope, nor written us off.

I appreciate being cup half empty is a coping mechanism for some but if you were a Town  player and saw some of the constant comments on here and on social saying "we're doomed", "we're down"..."the players are shite"...etc...do you think it would have a positive or negative impact on your motivation and morale? I'd guess the latter. It's a self fulfilling prophecy.

Let's get behind the players and give them our 100% encouragement and support between now and the end of the season. You never know...it might prove the difference between league football and the abyss next season.  UTM.

Or how about they don't even look on here or social media if their vanity can only deal with praise, man up, act professional and do the job they're paid for.

Standard fishy. We lose a game 1-0 to a team pushing for the play offs and everyone loses their sh1t. Not a good performance but we look a lot more likely to score than we did a month ago. I’ve seen the usual lazy stereotypes being branded about - players don’t care, manager is negative etc etc. Hurst was almost unanimously well received and they consensus was that if we went down it wasn’t on him and he’d be the best person to take us back up. All that changes when a bunch of snowflakes are upset after a loss. You’d think we’d be so used to this sh1t by now that responses would be more rational.

Quoted from Abdul19

Dire stuff, but we should've nicked a point.

Totally agree, the weak header by Hanson, the rebound which fell quickly to Hanson that he fired high, and the presentable chance that Adams had right at the end

I worry if we as fans can point out blatantly daft decisions from Hurst, quite what the players might be thinking right now

Quoted from Abdul19

Dire stuff, but we should've nicked a point.

No.  We lost for two reasons

1/ We weren't good enough
2/ We failed to score

Quoted from lee65

Totally agree, the weak header by Hanson, the rebound which fell quickly to Hanson that he fired high, and the presentable chance that Adams had right at the end

And the 5 clear cut chances they missed or Eastwood saved in the 1st half, ifs dont matter, what you do does.

Quoted from lee65

Totally agree, the weak header by Hanson, the rebound which fell quickly to Hanson that he fired high, and the presentable chance that Adams had right at the end

The worst for me was Payne’s chance in which he seemed to totally miss the ball from 6 yards. On the replay it looked like he almost purposely missed it to try put off the keeper, bizarre if he did

Quoted from Vance Warner

Standard fishy. We lose a game 1-0 to a team pushing for the play offs and everyone loses their sh1t. Not a good performance but we look a lot more likely to score than we did a month ago. I’ve seen the usual lazy stereotypes being branded about - players don’t care, manager is negative etc etc. Hurst was almost unanimously well received and they consensus was that if we went down it wasn’t on him and he’d be the best person to take us back up. All that changes when a bunch of snowflakes are upset after a loss. You’d think we’d be so used to this sh1t by now that responses would be more rational.

Dont agree with that, i like Hurst and believed he was the right for the job-  still do-  and i did say for me he has a free pass. But he’s got to be rightfully questioned on today. I felt we set up incorrectly. And when we had a go at Harrogate in the tinal ten, we looked threatening

Quoted from DB

No.  We lost for two reasons

1/ We weren't good enough
2/ We failed to score

Obvs  ;D

Quoted from GYinScuntland

Or how about they don't even look on here or social media if their vanity can only deal with praise, man up, act professional and do the job they're paid for.

I agree, in an ideal world they wouldn't and I'm certainly no fan of "soo shall" but I'd bet the majority of players are on there.

Quoted from pontoonlew

The worst for me was Payne’s chance in which he seemed to totally miss the ball from 6 yards. On the replay it looked like he almost purposely missed it to try put off the keeper, bizarre if he did

Yeah, looked to me like pretty much any contact and it would've gone in.

Christ we were garbage today. Harrogate should have had a penalty, possibly 2 and missed a hatful of chances. Hurst needs to make it simple for our limited squad. Play 442 - we’ve got big centre forwards and sone half decent wingers. It’s pretty obvious what we should be doing.

From short BBC report we really are shocking.
Beck had not found the target in his previous 27 league outings but came off the bench to head in after 77 minutes and condemn League Two's bottom club to a seventh straight away defeat, equalling the Mariners' worst sequence since 1976.

Quoted from Hagrid

Dont agree with that, i like Hurst and believed he was the right for the job-  still do-  and i did say for me he has a free pass. But he’s got to be rightfully questioned on today. I felt we set up incorrectly. And when we had a go at Harrogate in the tinal ten, we looked threatening

I trust him which means if he thinks Morais coming back from injury can’t manage 90 mins on a heavy pitch then that’s good enough for me. We must be one of the last remaining groups of fans that haven’t seen any success with anything other than 442 so I understand the fear of anything different but very few teams keep the same formation every game. 532 isn’t necessarily a negative set up. It became one today but I wouldn’t have changed it when it was 0-0 either.

what do we expect with mr negative in charge and picking the team. How the hell can you play Hanson . and co   and no wingers that are going to put crosses in,, all bunched up like lovers at a orgie down the middle or to one side , instead of getting some width and space to move.. Trust hurst  no way  mr dour couldnt pick soft cakes for grannies tea party Hollowbrain was bad but hurst has taken it to another level. Managers dont seem bothered if things go wrong, all they do is get sacked ,walk away with a nice big payoff take a holiday and go again .. Am not drunk off  i am freeking furious

Team made no sense. Can’t believe we have had 2 different teams this season and both have been shite.

Eastwood is a massive upgrade on McKeown though, and to me has made it clear McKeowns time here is up

Quoted from Madeleymariner

And the 5 clear cut chances they missed or Eastwood saved in the 1st half, ifs dont matter, what you do does.

plus the 2 penalties they should've had. i would've been seething if the roles were reversed .
the depressing thing is that we have now played 5 consecutive 45 minutes of dross.
the improvement under Hurst is marginal at best. The keeper has definitely improved things and we look a bit stronger all round.The front 2 are obviously an upgrade to gree/jackson/gibson, but that's hardly a vote of confidence - they still don't look like scoring
We still can't pass, create chances, defend or score.
He's had 4 weeks working with the new team and there's still no cohesion or chinks of light. It's a side that's bottom of the table for a reason and their co commentator didn't take long to realise it and point out our inadequacies

I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter who manages Grimsby, the rot has gone far deeper than we realise.
Our club is a shadow of its former self, all the hard work that Buckley put in has gone up in smoke, we are a bottom feeder now, can't hide or shy away from it, we are a NL club and saying that breaks my heart
My only hope is this takeover brings a new dawn, a new optimism and a club that is back in its rightful place in 3-4 seasons for the fans and the Great Grimsby community.
This malaise and demise lays at one person's feet, Mr JSF..

Quoted from forza ivano

plus the 2 penalties they should've had. i would've been seething if the roles were reversed .
the depressing thing is that we have now played 5 consecutive 45 minutes of dross.
the improvement under Hurst is marginal at best. The keeper has definitely improved things and we look a bit stronger all round.The front 2 are obviously an upgrade to gree/jackson/gibson, but that's hardly a vote of confidence - they still don't look like scoring
We still can't pass, create chances, defend or score.
He's had 4 weeks working with the new team and there's still no cohesion or chinks of light. It's a side that's bottom of the table for a reason and their co commentator didn't take long to realise it and point out our inadequacies

A very good summing up of our situation. I can only say that we don't look like scoring because Hursty plays a 10 man defence. The best defence is ATTACK.

Quoted from forza ivano

plus the 2 penalties they should've had. i would've been seething if the roles were reversed .
the depressing thing is that we have now played 5 consecutive 45 minutes of dross.
the improvement under Hurst is marginal at best. The keeper has definitely improved things and we look a bit stronger all round.The front 2 are obviously an upgrade to gree/jackson/gibson, but that's hardly a vote of confidence - they still don't look like scoring
We still can't pass, create chances, defend or score.
He's had 4 weeks working with the new team and there's still no cohesion or chinks of light. It's a side that's bottom of the table for a reason and their co commentator didn't take long to realise it and point out our inadequacies

Nail on the head, very disappointed at the fact we are really no better now then when Hurst took over. Was never his biggest fan but thought he would get us organised and a few 1-0 wins would follow and whilst I appreciate that playing Morais may have been a risk could Scannell have not played that role? Seems he’s been totally discarded but he can play and not having him on the bench is IMO, a mistake.

Anybody know where Bennett is with his recovery?

Utter bilge!

“We can’t pass, create chances, defend or score”.

A very damming indictment there in just 9 words.  We are c rap at other things as well.

Another I read said that the team is totally lacking in confidence.  This is interesting.  It is not the same players consistently failing since the season started.  We have a new team.  Starting afresh.  Not tainted by a string of poor results.

Why should they be totally lacking in confidence?  They have a new manager who should be energised as well.  

If Man City had a completely new team I would not expect them to win every game.  Why are we still very dire with a new team?

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

“We can’t pass, create chances, defend or score”.

A very damming indictment there in just 9 words.  We are c rap at other things as well.

Another I read said that the team is totally lacking in confidence.  This is interesting.  It is not the same players consistently failing since the season started.  We have a new team.  Starting afresh.  Not tainted by a string of poor results.

Why should they be totally lacking in confidence?  They have a new manager who should be energised as well.  

If Man City had a completely new team I would not expect them to win every game.  Why are we still very dire with a new team?

Being at/near the bottom of the league will create additional pressure.

However possible amassing 1.5 ppg is, that will still create additional pressure.

Not trying to make excuses but pointing out that confidence will naturally be relatively low because of our position and the points requirement.

Quoted from Knut Anders Fosters Voles

Being at/near the bottom of the league will create additional pressure.

However possible amassing 1.5 ppg is, that will still create additional pressure.

Not trying to make excuses but pointing out that confidence will naturally be relatively low because of our position and the points requirement.

I understand where you are coming from. This is new team with a new manager and no garbage to bring with it. The points on the board when they arrived was not a reflection on their ability. Confidence should be reasonably high as should comradery as they have had a few weeks together now. The other thing is that when they came they knew the position of the club, it wasn't a surprise to them.

I can no longer think of a justifiable reason for an excuse.  

Looking at the table it’s surprising that we are still in touch but after another terrible performance and strange team selection I’m finding it hard to think we’ll avoid the drop. So depressing.......

In my personal opinion the injuries to Wright and Clifton have come at a bad time. We know both will give 150% every game which we need right now, it means so much to them. They are what we need in a relegation battle. And before the Clifton bashers start, remember he played a hugh role in our escape under Jolley. He has done it all before. Question is does Hurst rate them? Well I hope he does. The team needs an identify, I don't want it full of loan players that benefits the parent club and not us.
It has long been discussed about the quality of youth coming through the ranks. Now I completely understand the argument that playing some of them now could knock confidence etc. but is there any harm in looking at one or two? Can they be worse than the first team? You never know we may just find a star.

We could have gone 4-4-2, lost 2-0 and folk would be saying Hurst got it wrong, their wingers were causing havoc, should have gone 5-3-2.

You just have to trust that Hurst goes with the line up and formation he thinks will be best on the day. We could have nicked a point with some composure, but the truth is, and this is hard to swallow, that Harrogate are better than us and have won 4 out of 6.

Didn't think we would win today personally. Just hoped that others down the wrong end didn't pick up any wins and they didnt.

Hard to imagine I know, but there are 3 teams below us in the form table.

Didn't watch today, but it was a hard listen.  

I kind of get the starting line-up.  Harrogate's threat came from long-throws and set pieces and in general the 3 centre-backs seemed to protect against that from what I can gather.  We just didn't seem to have any midfield whatsoever.  I didn't hear El Mizouni or Coke's name once all game.  

Going into today I would have taken a draw.  Harrogate are in decent form and are a well coached side, I remember them playing us off BP earlier in the season.  A point here and a win on Tuesday against a well out-of-form Orient would have given us 7 out of 9, 3 unbeaten - a real booster - and I felt that Hurst might have been ensuring we didn't get well beaten and destroy any confidence gained from Crawley.  Still, a win on Tuesday still gives us 2 wins from 3 which I would be ecstatic about.  Two big games next week.

Hopefully we can play to our strengths against Orient and our creative players can affect the game far more than today.

Posted a tweet earlier saying i felt Pollock was culpable for the goal. He’s responded by liking it on twitter. Bottom of the EFL mattie and yes your young but time and a place. Be getting a lot worse said ( the lot of them) were we in the ground

I thought the biggest fault for the goal was the amount of time we gave the lad to put the cross in. Was it Hendrie who singularly failed to close him down in any way? From there it's a good cross and a good header but the lack of desire to stop the cross was woeful.

Quoted from MarinerDevil

Didn't watch today, but it was a hard listen.  

I kind of get the starting line-up.  Harrogate's threat came from long-throws and set pieces and in general the 3 centre-backs seemed to protect against that from what I can gather.  We just didn't seem to have any midfield whatsoever.  I didn't hear El Mizouni or Coke's name once all game.  

Going into today I would have taken a draw.  Harrogate are in decent form and are a well coached side, I remember them playing us off BP earlier in the season.  A point here and a win on Tuesday against a well out-of-form Orient would have given us 7 out of 9, 3 unbeaten - a real booster - and I felt that Hurst might have been ensuring we didn't get well beaten and destroy any confidence gained from Crawley.  Still, a win on Tuesday still gives us 2 wins from 3 which I would be ecstatic about.  Two big games next week.

Hopefully we can play to our strengths against Orient and our creative players can affect the game far more than today.

This has been very apparent for a long time. We're sinking because their is no engine room.

Quoted from Hagrid

Posted a tweet earlier saying i felt Pollock was culpable for the goal. He’s responded by liking it on twitter. Bottom of the EFL mattie and yes your young but time and a place. Be getting a lot worse said ( the lot of them) were we in the ground

Is he only allowed to respond if we're top?

Perhaps he was agreeing with you.

Quoted from ginnywings

Is he only allowed to respond if we're top?

Perhaps he was agreeing with you.

Perhaps Ginny

But i doubt it, you know as well as i do the players have had an easy ride this season. Fenty and Holloway have deserved every bit of flak gone their way but players have escaped the gauntlet somewhat with no fans in grounds

Quoted from Hagrid

Perhaps Ginny

But i doubt it, you know as well as i do the players have had an easy ride this season. Fenty and Holloway have deserved every bit of flak gone their way but players have escaped the gauntlet somewhat with no fans in grounds

Can't agree with you more. If fans were in the ground players would get their backsides kicked, and rightly so on some occasions. Since covid players have had an easy ride from fan criticism.  

Quoted from DB

Can't agree with you more. If fans were in the ground players would get their backsides kicked, and rightly so on some occasions. Since covid players have had an easy ride from fan criticism.  

Does having your home fans on your back help though?

It might do when you’re 3-0 down and you start to give up. In general though we have been losing by the odd goal (particular since Paul Hurst was appointed).

Personally, I don’t see a lack of effort. A lack of ability and confidence possibly.

Shouting at players for misplaced passes, missed chances, misjudging through balls in the wind is unlikely to yield improved results.

Quoted from Hagrid

Perhaps Ginny

But i doubt it, you know as well as i do the players have had an easy ride this season. Fenty and Holloway have deserved every bit of flak gone their way but players have escaped the gauntlet somewhat with no fans in grounds

Whatever, I feel about the quality of the side I haven’t doubted the commitment of the vast majority including Pollock. Do we think the players don’t care about being bottom of the league and possibly going into non-league football? Of course they care and losing matches isn’t an easy ride. Of course with fans present they would have had more grief but equally they would have had a lot of support and fans driving that extra 5% out of them that could have made the difference.

You should probably direct your tweets at Hurst and question why we appear to be getting no better despite a significant influx of players of his choice. Hope he turns it round but things not looking good at the moment and a minimum of 4 points needed next week from the two home games.

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter who manages Grimsby, the rot has gone far deeper than we realise.
Our club is a shadow of its former self, all the hard work that Buckley put in has gone up in smoke, we are a bottom feeder now, can't hide or shy away from it, we are a NL club and saying that breaks my heart
My only hope is this takeover brings a new dawn, a new optimism and a club that is back in its rightful place in 3-4 seasons for the fans and the Great Grimsby community.
This malaise and demise lays at one person's feet, Mr JSF..

As i have said previously this club has reached terminal entropy,it is no longer a problem with the players but rot has permeated all aspects of the club. This has been allowed to occur under the stewardship of one person. I would say that the position is irretrievable and requires a total reformation of the club and its infrastructure
For instance the pastoral care of the players is risible,and rather than being seen as assets to the club,they are regarded as outputs.

Quoted from Knut Anders Fosters Voles

Does having your home fans on your back help though?

It might do when you’re 3-0 down and you start to give up. In general though we have been losing by the odd goal (particular since Paul Hurst was appointed).

Personally, I don’t see a lack of effort. A lack of ability and confidence possibly.

Shouting at players for misplaced passes, missed chances, misjudging through balls in the wind is unlikely to yield improved results.

It's not just what you have said, but the electric atmosphere that goes with it in the ground. It gets to the players and improves them on the day.

Quoted from Northbank Mariner

I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't matter who manages Grimsby, the rot has gone far deeper than we realise.
Our club is a shadow of its former self, all the hard work that Buckley put in has gone up in smoke, we are a bottom feeder now, can't hide or shy away from it, we are a NL club and saying that breaks my heart
My only hope is this takeover brings a new dawn, a new optimism and a club that is back in its rightful place in 3-4 seasons for the fans and the Great Grimsby community.
This malaise and demise lays at one person's feet, Mr JSF..

This time because so many of us older fans have seen the good times and the 20 years of bad its going to hurt 10 times worse than last time we went out the league.
It`s shameful and Fenty is to blame totally. He could possibly have killed the Club because relegation will see many fans drift off this time especially given Covid has broken the ties that bind for 18 months or so come the end of the season.We are in a mess and we don`t look to have the players or management to turn us around? When Hollowhead came in he brought massive energy and the fans went for it and it gave the players a gee up. PH is a pragmatic type so no obvious energy and certainly no fans to feed off either. I still cling to his experience in or around this level and his ability previously to grind out results but he needs to be braver with his selection we need to play to win and score goals.I hate to say but with his available players it needs to be route one from now til the end of the season with a lot of focus on exploiting set pieces.

We have had most of the new players for a month now. That is almost the equivalent of a full pre-season. So the excuse that there hasn't been enough  time to expect them to play together doesn't wash with me.

Hurst has been in charge for 8 games, 6 of which we have lost, with one win and one draw.
Holloway's last 8 games included 2 wins, 1 draw, and 5 defeats.

So results have not improved. In terms of performance, I haven't seen any games recently, but from those that have it appears that we played well for 45 minutes against Newport, but it's been pretty dire apart from that. We have failed to score in five of the last eight games and kept just one clean sheet.

So no evidence to suggest anything other than relegation.

  

we deserve to go down.

Quoted from HarrogateMariner

In my personal opinion the injuries to Wright and Clifton have come at a bad time. We know both will give 150% every game which we need right now, it means so much to them. They are what we need in a relegation battle. And before the Clifton bashers start, remember he played a hugh role in our escape under Jolley. He has done it all before. Question is does Hurst rate them? Well I hope he does. The team needs an identify, I don't want it full of loan players that benefits the parent club and not us.
It has long been discussed about the quality of youth coming through the ranks. Now I completely understand the argument that playing some of them now could knock confidence etc. but is there any harm in looking at one or two? Can they be worse than the first team? You never know we may just find a star.

If my memory of Hurst serves me correct then any of our youth team might as well forget about ever getting a first team game.
I can’t ever remember him bringing one player through in all the time he was here before .

up there with one of the worst performances I've ever seen town play in me life, there has been numerous this season but christ that set up was pure mental. Seen more clued up football on the ploggers, clueless passes, oofs, tackles, the lot just utter shitte, straight away lining up for defeat. I honestly cannot see us getting out of this regardless of how many games are left we have a bad curse on the club and a defeatist one. Go out there and win, play your best available 11 and put them on their toes not sit back be second to every ball and hope for a point. Am I worried, 100%

Quoted from grimps

If my memory of Hurst serves me correct then any of our youth team might as well forget about ever getting a first team game.
I can’t ever remember him bringing one player through in all the time he was here before .

We don’t produce players we haven’t since the drinkell Moore Ford days.

Quoted from HarrogateMariner

In my personal opinion the injuries to Wright and Clifton have come at a bad time. We know both will give 150% every game which we need right now, it means so much to them. They are what we need in a relegation battle. And before the Clifton bashers start, remember he played a hugh role in our escape under Jolley. He has done it all before. Question is does Hurst rate them? Well I hope he does. The team needs an identify, I don't want it full of loan players that benefits the parent club and not us.
It has long been discussed about the quality of youth coming through the ranks. Now I completely understand the argument that playing some of them now could knock confidence etc. but is there any harm in looking at one or two? Can they be worse than the first team? You never know we may just find a star.

Both players you reference are no worse than the ones currently playing, this season neither of them have been any better.

I feel for both of them as Max’s development has been held back by injury, his pace and energy should frighten defenders to death but he needs a good run of games.

Though I remember it was Mitch Roses penalties and great form from Macca that helped most when we stayed up under Jolley for sure Clifton CDAJATL quite easily, but has been so mucked about in terms of where he’s been picked to play and what he’s been asked to do I doubt the lad knows his @rse from his elbow.

In a more stable forward thinking set up both would have flourished.

I think we’ll get relegated, there will then be “another” clear out which is a good thing as looking at us yesterday and at many times this season under both managers we’d struggle to stay in the National League at this rate.

“When” we go down it will be a while before we come back as this club has been driven to such a place by Fenty and his cronies that a bottom up rebuild in all departments will need to take place.

Quoted from grimps

If my memory of Hurst serves me correct then any of our youth team might as well forget about ever getting a first team game.
I can’t ever remember him bringing one player through in all the time he was here before .

Unfortunately I agree with you, it's my biggest criticism of Hurst. The work Neil Woods and his team have done  is the only good thing I can think of for past few years and my worry is Hurst will remove all that in a single moment.

Quoted from HertsGTFC

Both players you reference are no worse than the ones currently playing, this season neither of them have been any better.

I feel for both of them as Max’s development has been held back by injury, his pace and energy should frighten defenders to death but he needs a good run of games.

Though I remember it was Mitch Roses penalties and great form from Macca that helped most when we stayed up under Jolley for sure Clifton CDAJATL quite easily, but has been so mucked about in terms of where he’s been picked to play and what he’s been asked to do I doubt the lad knows his @rse from his elbow.

In a more stable forward thinking set up both would have flourished.

I think we’ll get relegated, there will then be “another” clear out which is a good thing as looking at us yesterday and at many times this season under both managers we’d struggle to stay in the National League at this rate.

“When” we go down it will be a while before we come back as this club has been driven to such a place by Fenty and his cronies that a bottom up rebuild in all departments will need to take place.

I think your assessment is spot on, the lack of stability and any sort of plan to develop and help our young players like Wright and Clifton has been criminal. Hopefully the new owners will see the importance of developing our own and this will be a big part of their plans and put additional layers of coaching and development in place.

Quoted from HarrogateMariner

Unfortunately I agree with you, it's my biggest criticism of Hurst. The work Neil Woods and his team have done  is the only good thing I can think of for past few years and my worry is Hurst will remove all that in a single moment.

What is this good work that Neil Woods and his team do ? . Grimsby never produce any decent players that go on to have a successful career in the FL .

Yesterday epitomised Hurst. Set up a team to combat another team's strengths rather than play to ours. That said, I'm not sure we have any.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Yesterday epitomised Hurst. Set up a team to combat another team's strengths rather than play to ours. That said, I'm not sure we have any.

I’m amazed he didn’t start the goal scorers from the win (the first in ages) in the previous game.

If you score in a win you go on to the next game with some confidence which rubs off on others plus looking at the selection of 2 lumps up front surely we needed better supply than the shape & selection provided for us. Add to that the state of the pitch and they are well organised & solid we where never going to play through them.

Quoted from DB

Team selection for Orient on Tuesday :-

Eastwood

10 anothers
(No Hewitt)

who must have Black and white shirts, football boots and ability to ignore managers negative instructions.

Astonishingly a large proportion rate Hewitt more than Hendrie.

Then again, our fans do have a proud history of rating poor players.

Quoted from 1mickylyons

This time because so many of us older fans have seen the good times and the 20 years of bad its going to hurt 10 times worse than last time we went out the league.
It`s shameful and Fenty is to blame totally. He could possibly have killed the Club because relegation will see many fans drift off this time especially given Covid has broken the ties that bind for 18 months or so come the end of the season.We are in a mess and we don`t look to have the players or management to turn us around? When Hollowhead came in he brought massive energy and the fans went for it and it gave the players a gee up. PH is a pragmatic type so no obvious energy and certainly no fans to feed off either. I still cling to his experience in or around this level and his ability previously to grind out results but he needs to be braver with his selection we need to play to win and score goals.I hate to say but with his available players it needs to be route one from now til the end of the season with a lot of focus on exploiting set pieces.

That is a sobering post and one that a lot of us will be nodding in agreement with.

What makes it more galling is just at the time we finally free ourselves from Fenty we are in this mess, which will make the new owners jobs that much more difficult if we go down.

On the playing side Hurst needs to have a long think about things before Tuesday and decide what exactly it is he is trying to do. I know that sounds patronising but lets be honest he has made a Horlicks of it so far. What exactly are we trying to do, playing style-wise? We obviously need goals but we are not creating many if any chances.

All we seem to have done is swap Holloways signings for Hurst signings but not addressed the obvious point that we needed quality not quantity.

Like someone else said, if we suddenly improve and escape Hurst is a hero, but this week gives him an opportunity to start that process.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

That is a sobering post and one that a lot of us will be nodding in agreement with.

What makes it more galling is just at the time we finally free ourselves from Fenty we are in this mess, which will make the new owners jobs that much more difficult if we go down.

On the playing side Hurst needs to have a long think about things before Tuesday and decide what exactly it is he is trying to do. I know that sounds patronising but lets be honest he has made a Horlicks of it so far. What exactly are we trying to do, playing style-wise? We obviously need goals but we are not creating many if any chances.

All we seem to have done is swap Holloways signings for Hurst signings but not addressed the obvious point that we needed quality not quantity.

Like someone else said, if we suddenly improve and escape Hurst is a hero, but this week gives him an opportunity to start that process.

I’m rather sick of the ‘this is the week we kick start’ posts though, it’s ignoring the fact that we’re as bad under Hurst as we have been all season. We didn’t have high expectations when he came in but most of us hoped it was going to be damn sight better than what he’s served up.

When it’s said Hurst has had 8 games though let’s be fair as half of those games were with the last team of no hopers. I’m not defending yesterday’s showing as it was appalling but stating a fact that actually he hasn’t had half that many games with his choices. Still rubbish all round which ever way you look at it mind.......

Quoted from pontoonlew

Astonishingly a large proportion rate Hewitt more than Hendrie.

Then again, our fans do have a proud history of rating poor players.

Strange comment. Can think of more good players that haven’t been rated than poor ones who have. I rate Hewitt more than Hendrie who I think has really regressed this season. More pace and better going forward especially with his long throw. Sign of the times that he was signed as a squad player 18 months ago and has become increasingly important as we’ve got worse.

Quoted from It Bites

What is this good work that Neil Woods and his team do ? . Grimsby never produce any decent players that go on to have a successful career in the FL .

Totally agree seems to be able to produce a winning under 18 team but getting them to full time pros seems a step to far. Woods job is to produce players for our first team he’s not delivering

Quoted from Vance Warner

Strange comment. Can think of more good players that haven’t been rated than poor ones who have. I rate Hewitt more than Hendrie who I think has really regressed this season. More pace and better going forward especially with his long throw. Sign of the times that he was signed as a squad player 18 months ago and has become increasingly important as we’ve got worse.

I would agree, Hewitt (while not great) always gives 100%, encourages those around him, has a bit of pace, can put his foot in, and his long throw is one of our only dangerous attacking options (cant believe I'm having to write that   :()

I know the debate about square pegs and round holes, but with the personnel currently available, particularly against Teams with nippy forwards but less aerial threat I think (in a 442) I would play Hewitt CB and Hendrie RB

Quoted from pontoonlew

Astonishingly a large proportion rate Hewitt more than Hendrie.

Then again, our fans do have a proud history of rating poor players.

Perhaps you should apply for the manager job next time it's available.

Quoted from DB

Team selection for Orient on Tuesday :-

Eastwood

10 anothers

who must have Black and white shirts, football boots and ability to ignore managers negative instructions.

Somebody suggested Hewitt?

The way I saw the match was Eastwood oused composure, ability, control and looks to be a first class goalkeeper in the making. He wasn't perfect but he's still learning.

I didn't see any outstanding class players in the other 10. They are paid to do a professional and failed miserably. No composure on the ball couldn't make a decent pass and played like a Sunday league side. I didn't see one bit of passion motivation or leadership. If they were paid on results they'd in the dole queue for hand outs.

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

Totally agree seems to be able to produce a winning under 18 team but getting them to full time pros seems a step to far. Woods job is to produce players for our first team he’s not delivering

I would argue it is not Woods role to develop them once they leave the youth team and sign professional terms. This is were things seem to go wrong, players don't progress. The youth team have good results, this can't be a fluke, it's because the players are good. The problem is there is no one to develop them once they join the first team. To be fair to Holloway he highlighted this and I think would have eventually done something about it. We need a manager/ coaching team capable and more importantly wanting to develop them at this stage. Hopefully this will happen with the new owners. I think Woods does all he can and gets good players to a certain stage. It's what's after that needs looking at.

Quoted from Vance Warner

Strange comment. Can think of more good players that haven’t been rated than poor ones who have. I rate Hewitt more than Hendrie who I think has really regressed this season. More pace and better going forward especially with his long throw. Sign of the times that he was signed as a squad player 18 months ago and has become increasingly important as we’ve got worse.

Fair comment, I think it’s a bit of a split personally but I see your point. Especially given the sheer number of players who have gone onto better things after fans not rating them but in the same breath they’ve happily seen some managers flog dead horses who’ve then disappeared into the abyss.

I guess when you’ve been served up shite for long enough you stop recognising it.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Fair comment, I think it’s a bit of a split personally but I see your point. Especially given the sheer number of players who have gone onto better things after fans not rating them but in the same breath they’ve happily seen some managers flog dead horses who’ve then disappeared into the abyss.

I guess when you’ve been served up shite for long enough you stop recognising it.

Totally agree with you. Eastwood has shown us what a professional player should do

Quoted from HarrogateMariner

I would argue it is not Woods role to develop them once they leave the youth team and sign professional terms. This is were things seem to go wrong, players don't progress. The youth team have good results, this can't be a fluke, it's because the players are good. The problem is there is no one to develop them once they join the first team. To be fair to Holloway he highlighted this and I think would have eventually done something about it. We need a manager/ coaching team capable and more importantly wanting to develop them at this stage. Hopefully this will happen with the new owners. I think Woods does all he can and gets good players to a certain stage. It's what's after that needs looking at.

It’s a point I grant you that theirs no one to transition them to the next stages but even without that nobody as come through surely not everyone misses the net.  

Quoted from pontoonlew

Astonishingly a large proportion rate Hewitt more than Hendrie.

Then again, our fans do have a proud history of rating poor players.

I rate them both equal, both are way below the standard we need.

Even nearly 48 hours on my eyes are still bleeding from one of the worst games of football anyone is ever likely to have witnessed.  Absolutely dreadful.

Sadly our performance matched the quality of the game.

First off, I kinda get what Hurst was doing in his team selection.  Harrogate are a big unit of a side who relied very heavily on the long throw of Jones.  Hurst simply tried to combat this by putting out his most physical side.  Sacrified his two slight wingers for bigger players, Coke in for his extra height over Rose.    On paper and just in terms of nullifying their threat from set-pieces, I've no issue with this at all.  The only player we had who wasn't a big lad was Matete.

The problem is that it totally limited any threat we had, Hanson and Payne up front with absolutely no support was painful to watch.  Neither is much of a mover and whilst Hanson won the odd flick-on, it never came to anything at all.  Really could have done with LJL on earlier, maybe even starting, to offer more movement up top and a press on their defence.  Was frustrating watching either their centre-back or full-backs carry the ball out 40/50 yards.  

In an ideal world we wouldn't worry about other teams but unfortunately we're absolutely pants so we have to.  Had we started with Adams and Morais, that's two bigger guys out the eleven and puts us under a lot more pressure from their long throws.

I think Hurst got it wrong but I'm not gonna hang him out to dry as I can see what he was thinking.  We're crap and grinding out points away is probably the best we can hope for.

We've got to find that right balance.  I don't trust us defensively and I don't have confidence in our attack and/or midfield to create chances.   From my mind we've got 3 players who look capable of creating something.  Morais, Adams and Matete.  I want to include El Mizouni in there but he feels a bit of a luxury player, probably a proper No 10 type who you have to accommodate into the side.  Few occasions when he went running at their defence he caused problems, but he didn't do it often enough.  

If we go 5 at the back we're completely penned in, 3 at the back with attacking wingbacks is far too open.  So it has to be a back 4 for me.  In midfield we need at least one to protect the defence and then up top I've been disappointed by Payne after his debut goal (crap service acknowledged) and Hanson isn't mobile enough to play up top alone.  That leaves LJL to either do the thankless task up front on his own or partnered with one of the other two.

The three creative players I've mentioned (Adams, Morais and Matete) are, in my opinion, our best hope of survival.  We have to get them on the pitch and involved in play further forward.  With Matete it creates the issue of who plays deeper.  You can have Coke holding and then (if going with one up top), Rose.  But that's incredibly defensive minded.  I'd be tempted to gamble with Matete alongside Coke, accepting that you're losing his attacking ability but at least you've got him on the pitch, bringing El Mizouni in with a remit to be out there to attack and hurt teams, playing completely off the striker.  Adams and Morais high and wide to support.

I suppose it's 5 guys out there to defend (back four and Coke), one guy just doing what he can (Matete) and four (as our attacking threat (Morais, El Mizouni and Adams + striker).   Basics but it's the only way I can imagine we start to have a hope of picking enough points up.

After the Crawley game I was genuinely convinced of survival.  I thought we had enough heart to battle our way out.  After Saturday I've never felt quite so flat, well a long time since anyway.  Really disappointing that we didn't seem to have any real leaders out there.

that's an excellent post/summing up diehard.
ps think it'll be coke and morais doing the leading and i think they're both capable of doing so

Quoted from DB

Somebody suggested Hewitt?

The way I saw the match was Eastwood oused composure, ability, control and looks to be a first class goalkeeper in the making. He wasn't perfect but he's still learning.

I didn't see any outstanding class players in the other 10. They are paid to do a professional and failed miserably. No composure on the ball couldn't make a decent pass and played like a Sunday league side. I didn't see one bit of passion motivation or leadership. If they were paid on results they'd in the dole queue for hand outs.

Easy tiger! I played in a brilliant Sunday League side and we had some players who were very composed on the ball!!! It was only carthorses like me who let the side down.  ;)

Quoted from forza ivano

that's an excellent post/summing up diehard.
ps think it'll be coke and morais doing the leading and i think they're both capable of doing so

That is the problem. Nobody is leading, nobody taking authority and no leadership on the pitch. We're badly in need of leadership and I don't know who to suggest. I haven't seen anybody stand out and stand up to be counted, nobody to look up to and be an example.

At the minute you could say a load of sheep and no ram!

Quoted from DB

That is the problem. Nobody is leading, nobody taking authority and no leadership on the pitch. We're badly in need of leadership and I don't know who to suggest. I haven't seen anybody stand out and stand up to be counted, nobody to look up to and be an example.

At the minute you could say a load of sheep and no ram!

if you watch morais you will often see him pointing and cajoling, whilst i think one of the main reasons Hurst has signed Coke is for his leadership

Quoted from forza ivano

if you watch morais you will often see him pointing and cajoling, whilst i think one of the main reasons Hurst has signed Coke is for his leadership

Morais probably ok but he doesn't seem to be a full time player every match. What we need is a player in the Roy Keene type mould, At the moment based on Saturdays crap I wouldn't put Coke on my fire, he might go out.

The leadership thing baffles me the most.

When we signed Waterfall that was his thing.  I think we could all see his limitations as a footballer but he was a leader amongst men.  A proper warrior type who looked like he would head the ball through a brick wall, get up and then drag someone into place to make sure the corner was defended properly.  He barked, he organised, he cajoled.  He did my head in because he turns like a bus and he looks so uncomfortable with the ball at his feet, but he was there to be that Spartan figure at the back.

This year I've lost count of the number of times where there's been a mix up at the back and I've wanted him to practically throttle someone in anger. Instead his head has gone down, shoulders have dropped and he's skulked back into position.  What the hell has happened to him?

intercourse this for a game of soldiers, I'm off to get drunk up.