Before the season started

At the beginning of the season (or towards the end of last season) if someone said you
"Grimsby will be in league 2. 11 points from relegation and 12 points from the play offs, but will have up to 3 games in hand over most clubs.. Oh and you're in the 5th round of the fa Cup.

Would you have been happy?


The point of this is, yes we have had some bad results or poor performances but it's a transitional season. Noone expected us to go up this time last year.

I wanted us to re-establish ourselves in L2 primarily. I wanted and expected us to be competitive and not be in danger of being relegated. Again. The standards we set should be high and I think they are - we have lost several games we shouldn’t have and the home performances and points return are not good enough. If they’d been even a bit better, we’d be poised to make a launch at the play offs. In that regard I’m disappointed and I think the staff, owners and players will be too. But I think that needs a sense of perspective. Our club should be competitive in the top end of this league. We have the resources and support at this level to be top 6 and that should be the bar we set. We’ll see what this season brings as it enters its final third phase but we shouldn’t settle for staying up in any regard, and I don’t think anyone does.

I’m satisfied that we’re on track to have achieved the major objective, despite some poor results and showings but we have also had some excellent results and performances. I’m fully behind the management team and think this is a cracking group of honest players who deserve and need our continuing support.

Our fans are fantastic, barring a few vocal nut jobs who unfortunately spout a load of negative, unrealistic, entitled, unhelpful tripe in audible ways. The rest are bloody brilliant. Possibly the best in the league, especially away.

UTM

Anyone thinks the last two is on glue. Whilst we always want us to win and so forth, if you see where we were, where we are and clearly where our aim is, there shouldn’t be a fan that isn’t happy.

Of course we want to win games and our home form has been questionable but again, when significant investment has had to be made elsewhere to ensure the club is able to cope with pressures of the wider footballing world etc and facilities, it’s understandable why some progress may have stalled…

I thought we had a chance of promotion again this year given the enthusiasm and never say die attitude at the end of last season. Unfortunately, as I posted previously, I have changed to a mid-table position probably outside the playoffs at best.

The consistency at the end of last season has never continued, not that I expected us to win every game. We have become a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde team, not knowing which one will turn up each match day. Recently we couldn't beat a useless Colchester side, unlock the door against Harrogate but win away at Northampton.

So to the question "Am I happy?". You bet I am, 100% happy. We're back in the EFL and more than holding our own at times. We have owners who care about the club and its longevity and are in the 5th round of the FA Cup.

We have become an English Football League club again.

UTM

I think this season has been a bit of an eye opener. When the season began in July, it had been almost 2 and a half years since any of us had witnessed League Two football at Blundell Park, and it’s fair to say I think the standard has improved beyond my expectation.

In the past, you would always seemingly get at least 4 or 5 games a season against demonstrably poor teams who would pretty much roll over and give you the three points. Other than Crawley, a game in which the 3-0 score line still flattered us, I haven’t really seen that this season. There are consistently decent teams throughout the division, with fine margins separating the wheat from the chaff.

So whilst I did predict an upper mid-table finish this season, I think some realism is needed. We are still healing from two decades of gross mismanagement; it is perhaps unfair to expect those wounds to heal in two seasons.

We won’t go down this season, and we’ve had (and are still having) a good cup run. Maybe, on reflection, we are about where we should be. I do think, however, that with the sixth largest average gate in the division and the money from our cup exploits, making the League Two playoffs for the first time in 18 years should be a realistic expectation for 23/24.

Yes  as a fan i am happy  to support Grimsby Town!
Primary 1.  they are my hometown team i as a teenager started to support town "When the pontoon was the pontoon!"
So at 56 years  old married live in Surrey  I only do away matches, and mingle with the travelling faithful its a giggle to hear blokes opinions  as they voice them across the pitch.
Some are valid some are cringeworthy , some fellahs i believe should do a Ref's Course!!

BUT town fans turn up and are loud  a few years back we played Crystal Palace "That game we've only got 10 men!" But lost 1-0 went to work Monday about half  a dozen blokes Palace fans sang our praises  team and fans.
2. We are who we are !! Last 10 years or so league 2 / vanarama national league up and down yo -yo team .
Under new leadership by blokes who support the club  i hope we can move on and stabilize.
I am no way a football expert / statistics guru or pundit or have a magic wand !!
Just enjoy my hometown  team.
UTM

I just wanted us to finish higher than 14th and hopefully top ten, but I'd settle for comfortably above the relegation zone, which is where we are at now.

The football is pretty dire, with lots of sides just happy to put out a rugby player sized team and stop the flow of the game as much as possible. We have shown against sides that want to open up and play, that we can ourselves play some good stuff when given the chance.

This season is about coming to terms with what we need to take us to the upper reaches of the league. We desperately need more creativity to turn those tight games in our favour. If you take someone like Carlisle say, they have a striker in Dennis who has a 1in 2 career scoring record and that makes all the difference between mid table and play off spots. Still surprised he didn't do that well here.

So, not ecstatic about this season, but trying to see the bigger picture overall. It's tough when you sit through games like last night and the Colchester game; failing to score in both and going home disgruntled at the lack  of excitement.

Could still get to the top ten with a fair wind, but as long as we don't spend the rest of the season looking over our shoulders, I will patiently wait for next season. Been doing that a long time now.

Quoted from DB

I thought we had a chance of promotion again this year given the enthusiasm and never say die attitude at the end of last season. Unfortunately, as I posted previously, I have changed to a mid-table position probably outside the playoffs at best.

The consistency at the end of last season has never continued, not that I expected us to win every game. We have become a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde team, not knowing which one will turn up each match day. Recently we couldn't beat a useless Colchester side, unlock the door against Harrogate but win away at Northampton.

So to the question "Am I happy?". You bet I am, 100% happy. We're back in the EFL and more than holding our own at times. We have owners who care about the club and its longevity and are in the 5th round of the FA Cup.

We have become an English Football League club again.

UTM

Jekyl & Hyde indeed so i goes to Gillingham (relegation zone team)  and we loose 2-1 Come the Saturday  go to Northampton (promotion prospect top of the league) not a good feeling on this fixture , We win 2-1 good goals , plenty of away support with plenty to shout about
Could of asked for more.
UTM

Quoted from The Caterham Mariner

Jekyl & Hyde indeed so i goes to Gillingham (relegation zone team)  and we loose 2-1 Come the Saturday  go to Northampton (promotion prospect top of the league) not a good feeling on this fixture , We win 2-1 good goals , plenty of away support with plenty to shout about
Could of asked for more.
UTM

If you look deeper though, the form of Gillingham lately is much better than that of Northampton, so it's not a massive surprise.

Northampton, 6 points from the last 6 games. Gillingham 13 from 6.

I think the end of last season spoiled us. After that magnificent play off campaign I think most of us, me included, thought we would make the play offs again. I was at Orient and thought we gave them a good game and were nearly their equal. Based on those things I should be disappointed  but then I remember, we finished sixth in the National League, sixth.

To be holding our own in the division, to be in the fifth round of the FA Cup, to have 5700 season ticket holders, to have a club that we can be proud of for the first time in twenty years, to not be a basket case, to have our fans. I'm bloody ecstatic and so should everybody else be.

UP THE MARINERS