Hold your nerve everyone...

Just when you think there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, we manage to dominate possession and lose 3-0, but we are still in touch, we have been promised an active transfer window and we do seem to have players on their way back.

Hope beyond hope that the consortium get hold of the club quickly now and that Fenty and his cronies never set foot in Blundell Park and wherever we end up in the future ever again. Fenty copulated our club and should take what he deserves, intercourse all.

I’m not going to make this a usual Fillipe lengthy post.

Just to say though, stop this quitter syndrome and stop this throwing the towel in mentality

Half a season left and get your heads up and only do positives

I know you blighters don’t like me, but come on lads and lasses. Get positive and hold your heads up high ffs as we are in this together, even though we aren’t allowed in Blundell Park to make tie difference

Make the difference in other ways

You know how inventive you were when you was out there making Fenty Out videos and banners to put all over Grimsby and Cleethorpes? Well there you go, there’s your starting point. Let’s see somebody organise some videos for those players in black and white telling them “GTFC Players, We Can’t Be There For You, But We Are Fully Behind You”. Come banner artists, let’s get some of these hung up near Blundell Park, near Cheapside and around Town.

I know just how fabulous GTFC fans are. I don’t have to remind you, with your outstanding support home and away, and your fund raising brilliance. Well come on you marvellous people, find ways to overcome the absence of attending games and find ways to inspire the players, because they need it. Be inventive

I’m not a bloody board member. I’m not a board members stooge. I’m a fan and I care. And I know that like me, you don’t want that sickening taste again that occurred behind that goal at Burton, or those years of struggling in the National League again, with players off defeats.

YOU CAN DO THIS AND YOU CAN STILL BE THE DIFFERENCE EVEN WHILST YOU CANNOT BE AT BP

SHOW AS MUCH PASSION IN THIS NEED FOR INVENTIVENESS AS YOU DID WHEN YOU WENT ALL “FENTY OUT”

You can do this

Dominate possession isn’t a phrase I’d use. ‘Be allowed to keep possession in non-dangerous areas’ is the phrase I’d use.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Dominate possession isn’t a phrase I’d use. ‘Be allowed to keep possession in non-dangerous areas’ is the phrase I’d use.

Didn’t say we did a lot with it but it’s better than we have been. What’s the greatest concern is the fact that our ‘experienced rocks’ have been so poor.

Old Codger is about the only person being positive

Get positive and get inventive as there’s so much to play for here

Well done codger (not trying to patronise you here)

You don’t get points for possession

We struggle to score and can't defend. It's not a promising combination.

Hurst at least has more time on the training ground to try and sort things out but he needs to get the right signings and hit the ground running with them. If only we had the fans to spur the players on. A lot of them have never seen or heard us!

Quoted from Fillipe Noche

Old Codger is about the only person being positive

Get positive and get inventive as there’s so much to play for here

Well done codger (not trying to patronise you here)

How can you be positive when week after week we are crap and hardly ever look like scoring never mind winning a game even against the poorest sides in the League.

Quoted from arryarryarry

How can you be positive when week after week we are crap and hardly ever look like scoring never mind winning a game even against the poorest sides in the League.

I’m not sure I was being particularly positive. Merely wanted PH to be given the opportunity of the window to make a difference.

Quoted from GrimRob

We struggle to score and can't defend. It's not a promising combination.

Hurst at least has more time on the training ground to try and sort things out but he needs to get the right signings and hit the ground running with them. If only we had the fans to spur the players on. A lot of them have never seen or heard us!

Which training ground did Hurst go to , as it didnt look like it was the same one as the players on today's performance.

I generally try to be positive, and I agree there is plenty of time left, but;

- today was the worst yet, poor goals conceded and no threat
- the body language today, even after the first goal was so bad, no rallying from the experienced pro’s and no fight
- the squad know we are hopefully going to get new players in, but how many look like they are bothered about keeping the shirt?
- I do wonder if the old arguments about location (when added to current league position) are more relevant during these Covid times, as very difficult to be miles from “home” and locked down, so will we struggle to attract decent signings?
- bearing in mind the above point, I think the high number of quality signings we hope for may not be feasible, so I’d go for quality (if you CAN attract them) over quantity.  We need a new “spine”, a mobile fast CB, a true box to box CM, and an experienced goal scoring mobile lump CF.  Difficult to find I know, but could be a few pro’s out there in these weird times who are from the north and looking to get back closer to family etc. (I appreciate I’m contradicting myself a bit here re location, but perhaps it can work for us rather than against us if we look hard enough)

Quoted from GrimRob

We struggle to score and can't defend. It's not a promising combination.

Hurst at least has more time on the training ground to try and sort things out but he needs to get the right signings and hit the ground running with them. If only we had the fans to spur the players on. A lot of them have never seen or heard us!

Hursts first signing doesnt inspire much confidence as far as hitting the ground running goes, he may be a decent sub at this stage but that is not what we want.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

I’m not sure I was being particularly positive. Merely wanted PH to be given the opportunity of the window to make a difference.

I was replying to Noche

Quoted from Azimuth

Hursts first signing doesnt inspire much confidence as far as hitting the ground running goes, he may be a decent sub at this stage but that is not what we want.

It was a shame about the 3rd goal, as he lost the man or was too deep and played him on, but he looked comfortable on the ball, got a couple of crosses in, wanted the ball, and can at least take a throw in

Quoted from arryarryarry

I was replying to Noche

I know. He was saying that I was being positive. I would say realistic.

We’re absolute dog shite and anyone who signs for us in January is either dog shite or desperate.

Happy to hear facts to the contrary.

Quoted from psgmariner

We’re absolute dog shite and anyone who signs for us in January is either dog shite or desperate.

Happy to hear facts to the contrary.

Chicken and egg for Hurst with signings. One look at the squad and anyone decent will not want to risk relegation to non-league on their CV. If he can get a few lined up together then they might think they can make a difference.

I think Morais has already proven that there are some decent free agents out there who will come to us. The new lad Habergham, another free agent  also sounds promising,  so all hope is not lost, but one is 35 and the other is returning from a serious injury so we are shopping in the risky area of the market.  

If the money is right though then we will sign players and I do trust Hurst to bring in better than what we have.

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

I think Morais has already proven that there are some decent free agents out there who will come to us. The new lad Habergham, another free agent  also sounds promising,  so all hope is not lost, but one is 35 and the other is returning from a serious injury so we are shopping in the risky area of the market.  

If the money is right though then we will sign players and I do trust Hurst to bring in better than what we have.

Day said money is not a problem, but if he still wants a covid clause, then nobody worth his salt will be coming.

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

I think Morais has already proven that there are some decent free agents out there who will come to us. The new lad Habergham, another free agent  also sounds promising,  so all hope is not lost, but one is 35 and the other is returning from a serious injury so we are shopping in the risky area of the market.  

If the money is right though then we will sign players and I do trust Hurst to bring in better than what we have.

I don't think either player had played a full game for months.

We need players who can play full games from the off.

We have now played more games than any other side near the bottom, we cannot wait for players to get up to speed.

Quoted from arryarryarry

I don't think either player had played a full game for months.

We need players who can play full games from the off.

We have now played more games than any other side near the bottom, we cannot wait for players to get up to speed.

"Speed" our lot have just got out of the starting gate and that was using a whip.

I listened to Hurst's post match interview. By his tone - I think he realises he can't save us!

Morais looked up to speed straight away to be fair to him, he's possibly our best player at the moment.

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

Morais looked up to speed straight away to be fair to him, he's possibly our best player at the moment.

Has he played a full game for us yet?

Quoted from chipsandgravy

I listened to Hurst's post match interview. By his tone - I think he realises he can't save us!

I heard him too and he seemed very deflated to me. It didn't seem to be just the match but he was not that optimistic about players wanting to come. He did not give the impression that agents and players were ringing him up wanting to come.

I can’t believe the new consortium want GTFC in the conference again as they need the club to be a focal point of the regeneration project. A league place is imperative for that . They must be prepared to back Hurst on the pitch or he wouldn’t have come I’d imagine as it would be an impossible task with the squad The Clown put together.
As for the current players, I’d think most of them know their days are numbered and seem completely devoid of confidence and fight .
I’m looking forward to see who exactly hurst can convince to come but am surprisingly confident we’ll get out of this as we must have a pretty much new team to go at the second half of the season.

Quoted from arryarryarry

Has he played a full game for us yet?

I don't think he has, but he doesn't look leggy in games to my eyes, players getting subbed off occurs for several  reasons.

Quoted from psgmariner

We’re absolute dog shite and anyone who signs for us in January is either dog shite or desperate.

Happy to hear facts to the contrary.

Brainless or mercenary or both too?

Quoted from psgmariner

We’re absolute dog shite and anyone who signs for us in January is either dog shite or desperate.

Happy to hear facts to the contrary.

Why don't we give up now then?

Are we 10 points adrift? No

Do we have an experienced management pairing who know the lower leagues? Yes

Are we in the process of a takeover which should provide finance for the short, medium and long term? Yes

Do we have 69 points to play for? Yes

Do we have 3/4 decent players approaching return from injury? Yes

Give them a f***ing chance. We might be facing the iceberg of the National League but Hurst and Doig WILL turn the ship before we hit it.

Quoted from smokey111

Why don't we give up now then?

Are we 10 points adrift? No

Do we have an experienced management pairing who know the lower leagues? Yes

Are we in the process of a takeover which should provide finance for the short, medium and long term? Yes

Do we have 69 points to play for? Yes

Do we have 3/4 decent players approaching return from injury? Yes

Give them a f***ing chance. We might be facing the iceberg of the National League but Hurst and Doig WILL turn the ship before we hit it.

I'm an optimist like you and want the best for town but I can see very little to grasp at from your comments at the moment. The only positive is Hurst & Doig and going by PH demure on Humberside I think that they have now realised what the true situation with the players is. 1 point out of 15, 20 points out of 69 and unfortunately should, could, would etc is not cash. It is well meant but that is all those words mean.

Today was the chance the "players" had to show there worth and it is nothing. I didn't know we had any decent players in the squad.
I'm not knocking you and share your enthusiasm, I want to be wrong but somewhere reality has to kick in and today's match was it. Hurst sounded totally deflated on Humberside and reminded me of "What the hell have I taken on. O excrement"

UTM

Wright, Hanson, Scannell

I wouldn't want to be in the trenches with some of the posters on here. We have 23 games to play and are zero points behind the 2 teams above us, both of whom have won a game less than we have- and 3 points behind Scunny, who we play soon and have already beaten.

1 goal between 3 of them in 23 matches. They may have been injured for some of that time but there not that impressive. Subs if there lucky

Quoted from ginnywings

I wouldn't want to be in the trenches with some of the posters on here. We have 23 games to play and are zero points behind the 2 teams above us, both of whom have won a game less than we have- and 3 points behind Scunny, who we play soon and have already beaten.

Exactly what I said last week. I am not calling for blind optimism just back the judgement of Hurst and see where we are at the end of the transfer window.

Nows the time for the real support to get behind the club ffs !!

The problem with taking comfort from how close we are to the clubs above us is that the direction of travel is shocking.

Not so long ago some were saying that Southend were as good as down, so one relegation place was already filled.

A few matches ago people were saying, it's ok, we have a six point gap top the drop zone.

In December it was ok because we have games against the bottom feeders and had the opportunity to pick up plenty of points and move well away from the danger zone.

Today we are in the drop zone. The team one point below us are near the top of the form table with games in hand. In recent weeks we have played teams mostly in the bottom six and have beaten only one of them.

Our top scorer is our centre half.  We have a keeper who has given away daft goals, as has his replacement. Our defense is awful.We have the worst goal difference in the division. We have no strikers worthy of the name. We lack strength and creativity in midfield. Most of our players seem unable to master the basics of the game.

It's not a question of holding nerve. It's a question of waking up and smelling the coffee. We basically need a new team.

It is going to be tough to persuade enough quality players to join us. Hurst has a huge task. We need to face the fact that despite the new manager, new owners, and an injection of cash, the rot might simply be to deep to fix this season, especially it it is terminated early and we have to go to PPG.  

Quoted from RonMariner

The problem with taking comfort from how close we are to the clubs above us is that the direction of travel is shocking.

Not so long ago some were saying that Southend were as good as down, so one relegation place was already filled.

A few matches ago people were saying, it's ok, we have a six point gap top the drop zone.

In December it was ok because we have games against the bottom feeders and had the opportunity to pick up plenty of points and move well away from the danger zone.

Today we are in the drop zone. The team one point below us are near the top of the form table with games in hand. In recent weeks we have played teams mostly in the bottom six and have beaten only one of them.

Our top scorer is our centre half.  We have a keeper who has given away daft goals, as has his replacement. Our defense is awful.We have the worst goal difference in the division. We have no strikers worthy of the name. We lack strength and creativity in midfield. Most of our players seem unable to master the basics of the game.

It's not a question of holding nerve. It's a question of waking up and smelling the coffee. We basically need a new team.

It is going to be tough to persuade enough quality players to join us. Hurst has a huge task. We need to face the fact that despite the new manager, new owners, and an injection of cash, the rot might simply be to deep to fix this season, especially it it is terminated early and we have to go to PPG.  

Yes, you are correct, no one is disputing how bad we have been, but I bet Southend fans were saying the same thing 6 weeks ago. You are assuming that what has gone before will be what is to come for the second half of the season, and we simply don't know that for sure. We don't even have to improve to the same level as Southend to move away from the bottom. They have had to have a massive upturn in form just to get caught up. We need to improve, no doubt about that, but we don't need to improve by a massive amount to get clear of the bottom two.

Port Vale were in even worse form than us, and one win took them up the table 5 places.

The defence you say is awful was operating quite well at the end of last season and the beginning of this one. There is nothing to say that with a bit of time and coaching, a bit more confidence in the rest of the side with some new signings, that they can't get back to being a tight unit again.

It's not that I am being blindly optimistic either, It's simply that I've seen enough football over many seasons to know that things can change very quickly. Not saying it will, but it most definitely can, given the amount of games we have left in the season.

There are better players out there that we can attract, of that I am sure, and PH is as good as we could have right now to know where to find them.

Quoted from Swansea_Mariner

I don't think he has, but he doesn't look leggy in games to my eyes, players getting subbed off occurs for several  reasons.

He has either come on as a sub or been taken off like against Port Vale where he started well but faded out of the game.

If he was that fit and good you would think he would be playing a full game.

Quoted from louth_in_the_south

Nows the time for the real support to get behind the club ffs !!

Not easy in current circumstances.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Not easy in current circumstances.

Absolutely, but this is what sorts out the plastics and the real fans

I’m still right behind them, as difficult as it is. UTM!!!

I’m still right behind them, as difficult as it is. UTM!!!

the trouble is that there were no, nil, non, nada, zero, positives to take from that match yesterday.
and that is despite the fact that Hurst has had a week on the training pitch with them, and you'd imagine they'd be extra keen to show that they deserved their place, and they'd be busting agut to impress the new boss.
There was nothing. port vale were in aworse situation - their coach had only had 2-3 days with them, but they went out and did what we should've been doing. they were keen, hardworking, vocal and wanted it more than we did. their commentators were constantly going on about the transformation
that's probably why hurst was so down

We are on a mess and i cannot see a way out of the situation

Quoted from RonMariner

The problem with taking comfort from how close we are to the clubs above us is that the direction of travel is shocking.

Not so long ago some were saying that Southend were as good as down, so one relegation place was already filled.

A few matches ago people were saying, it's ok, we have a six point gap top the drop zone.

In December it was ok because we have games against the bottom feeders and had the opportunity to pick up plenty of points and move well away from the danger zone.

Today we are in the drop zone. The team one point below us are near the top of the form table with games in hand. In recent weeks we have played teams mostly in the bottom six and have beaten only one of them.

Our top scorer is our centre half.  We have a keeper who has given away daft goals, as has his replacement. Our defense is awful.We have the worst goal difference in the division. We have no strikers worthy of the name. We lack strength and creativity in midfield. Most of our players seem unable to master the basics of the game.

It's not a question of holding nerve. It's a question of waking up and smelling the coffee. We basically need a new team.

It is going to be tough to persuade enough quality players to join us. Hurst has a huge task. We need to face the fact that despite the new manager, new owners, and an injection of cash, the rot might simply be to deep to fix this season, especially it it is terminated early and we have to go to PPG.  

But we do have a healthy bank balance 🤣, such negativity

Biggest positive for me is everyone who cares about the club can see exactly how bad we are and what we need to survive.

We’re desperately lacking in quality throughout the spine of the team and we need to pull out all of the stops to bring the right players in.

It’s quite impressive that Holloway managed to assemble such a huge squad and still only have 2 cb’s and only two experienced   strikers, both 34 and one crocked.

Now we have a week off so if it was not for the lockdown we could send the 1st team on a 2 weeks break in the sun.

As it is they will still be here next week so let's hope Paul can come up with 4 or 5 good signings to turn this horrible run round.

Well we can hope.

I’m not giving up, but it’s not realistic to think we’ll get a result in the next few games though. We need to be patient and hope Hurst will turn it around but it will take a little time.

I think it might get worse before it gets better
My only fear with that is we may be 6-8pts off safety by then
Hanson - is going to be very ring rusty...so don't expect a glut of goals from him

PH is having to turn the ship around mid season  - not easy to do for a whole number of reasons

At one point yesterday we had 67% possession - but it is meaningless in non threatening areas
As PH said - they were way better where it counted
"We need to be more lethal in both boxes"

One point... PH made it very clear that he's bringing in several new faces; the current squad know this
Could that make them care even less?
Another reason why it might get worse before getting better?

I also felt our best defensive effort in weeks was when Hewitt partnered Pollock v Scunny (I think that is right?)
Someone with a bit of pace at the back is vital

Check - someone to show some fecking leadership at the back is vital

I simply cannot pick anyone from yesterday who came out of the game with any credit

Very very worrying

I just don't see the current squad being able to beat an in form Southend. if we don't sign a few new players this week I think we will be bottom of the table on Saturday night.  

Bump.

Thought I would revisit this. Just to say I didn't expect a blank week where the 'best' bit of new was Tilley leaving and Waterfall extending his contract.

Yes, disappointing to say the least.

We now have to rely on the current squad to really give it a go tomorrow/

At least it sounds like Scannell might be back.

Yep disappointing but its not through lack of trying on PH part
Just hope our current crop of shite can someone get 3 points tomorrow

Quoted from RonMariner

Yes, disappointing to say the least.

We now have to rely on the current squad to really give it a go tomorrow/

At least it sounds like Scannell might be back.

Scannell is a big positive if correct. And I’m one of the few who thought Bennett was easily our best player last week. I’m really hoping Wright will be back as well, and you never know.

I’d definitely give Jackson and Gibson a start too.