We can't play but Sutton and Village Green still have games...

Quoted from GrimRob

We can't play but Sutton and Village Green still have games...

I hope one of them wins. I want Colchester relegated for WHAT THEY HAVE DONE.

I feel dirty about it but I’ll be cheering Wrexham on tonight.

May have to take in the Donny game though.

Just looked at the Wrexham team and both Mullins and palmer on the bench have they been injured or are they become a bit part

Hopefully Doncaster will have a gruelling game and pick up a couple of reds

Donny Salford 1:1

Off topic but Sam Bell looks a real prospect now on Sky

Forest Green winning

VGR 1-0 up. Sutton on top. Squeaky bum.

Yikes. I fully expect Forest Green to improve under Cotterill. We’re going to have to pull ourselves out of this mess.

Quoted from GrimRob

VGR 1-0 up. Sutton on top. Squeaky bum.

intercourse sake.

FGR 1-1 now

Barrow scored. We’re staying up . I had a dream we were heading for relegation again

Quoted from Meza

FGR 1-1 now

I’ve always liked Barrow.

Interesting to see Hurst and McAtee against each other tonight. Hurst seems to have started pretty well.

Mansfield heading for double figures

Mansfield 5 Harrogate 0 after 40 mins😱

Yurrrrssss up the Wrexham, Sutton 0 - 1 Wrexham

Over in the Champions League Ederson felicitations up "playing it out from the back"...

That’s the best 45 minutes we have had for a long time.

No problem bringing the ball out of defence. Possession equal. All chances created scored.

Much better than normally. How many postponements constitutes a season?

Quoted from pizzzza

Over in the Champions League Ederson felicitations up "playing it out from the back"...

So wether your an 18 year old rookie or one of Europe's best goal keepers it can happen to anyone!

Flicking between Mansfield, fgr and Sutton... nothing exciting really except Mansfield are heading for a rugby score

Quoted from lukeo

Flicking between Mansfield, fgr and Sutton... nothing exciting really except Mansfield are heading for a rugby score

That really could have been us on Saturday had Challinor not gone all Chris Eubank and told his players to stop punching the face.

Gy not usually 5-0 down at HT

How about a shout out for the lads?

The ref in the Sutton match is incredibly shite (in our favour). He's just missed a shirt pull on Sutton's striker and a blatant Wrexham handball, both in the penalty area in the space of 5 minutes. Wonderful stuff

First 5 mins of second half how have sutton not scored, jesus? 100 percent should've had a penalty to. Hopefully they're jinxed.

FGR leading at Barrow again.

FGR leading again. Fúck me we’re in the shít.

It feels like it is the stars once again. We are just cursed.

If we hadn’t been through this twice I reckon we’d all be thinking we’re going to be ok . ….

Mansfield 7-2 up against Harrogate.

Quoted from Poojah

FGR leading at Barrow again.

“Do I not like that”.

Barrow have only lost once at home all season…. Why wouldn’t they lose to FGR… unluckiest team ever grimsby not looking good with our luck

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

It feels like it is the stars once again. We are just cursed.

Have to agree.

If we can’t beat FGR at home we deserve to go down
More worryingly Sutton

Donny now in front.  :B

FGR 5 shots on target to Barrow’s 1.

He’s got them going. Wonder what that feels like.

FFS.

Quoted from ginnywings

Donny now in front.  :B

“Do I not like that” as well.

No pressure on Saturday then . Let’s hope we don’t give Donny a 3 goal start .

I'd 8-2 be an Harrogate supporter this evening...

Quoted from Wrights35

Barrow have only lost once at home all season…. Why wouldn’t they lose to FGR… unluckiest team ever grimsby not looking good with our luck

By all accounts the stats suggest the veggies are good value for their lead. 5 shots on target to Barrow’s 1. They’re gonna pick up; our fate is in our own hands and that makes me deeply uncomfortable.

Sutton Equalise

Could Mansfield get to double figures???

Turning into a bad night. Hope it changes

Sutton deserved equaliser. Wouldn't be surprised to see them go on and win, Wrexham have been absolutely male masturbation all evening.

Quoted from Hagrid

Sutton Equalise

Deserve it

Not a good night so far. The other two teams will improve in form. I’m not so sure we will.

Er Dave said we won’t be relegated remember?!

Quoted from pizzzza

I'd 8-2 be an Harrogate supporter this evening...

It’s now 9-2, but I’d still happily swap places with them tonight.

We really could have done with a good night of other results as I had no real belief we could have got a positive result had we played. We’re done for aren’t we? Again. 😔

Forest Green stats generally good.  I expected a lot more from Barrow and at home,

What are Stockport doing? Why could they not have been poor last Sat?

In passing, Chaos was sure Colchester would beat us tonight.  😌😉

Man City have given a goal away passing out from the keeper.  

Pretty awful this - Saturday is a must win

The only thing tonight has done is make Saturday even bigger , it's looking a much more important game for us than Donny if things stand as they are tonight .

Hope Big D has them ready

Wrexham score

Looks bad for us tonight. Getting concerned that we need to do this without help and not sure we can

Let’s be honest Mansfield could of easily done that too us

Wrexham finally turned up and go back in front

Quoted from It Bites

Let’s be honest Mansfield could of easily done that too us

If my Grandmother had wheels she'd of been a bike..

Adelakun (winger) scored for Doncaster brought in on loan from Lincoln in January.
Lakin (midfielder) scored for Sutton brought in on loan from Burton in January.
Osadebe (midfielder) scored for FGR signed on a permanent from Bradford in January.

Wish we had some flipping magic like that with signings.

Thankyou Wrexham

Quoted from Nelly GTFC

Adelakun (winger) scored for Doncaster brought in on loan in January.
Lakin (midfielder) scored for Sutton brought in on loan in January.
Osadebe (midfielder) scored for FGR brought in on loan in January.

Wish we had some flipping magic like that with signings.

You mean like Harry Wood ( brought in on loan in January ) scoring to equalise against Notts County or Doug Tharme ( signed permanently in January ) scoring to equalise against Tranmere?  ;D

We are still 6 points above the bottom two with a better goal difference and a game in hand.

Still all to play for.

Salford equalised

Salford equalise against Donny.

Quoted from ginnywings

Still all to play for.

Yeah, that’s the problem.

Come on Barrow ffs

We’re getting a bit desperate on here and it’s only mid February

Quoted from LocalLadGTFC

You mean like Harry Wood ( brought in on loan in January ) scoring to equalise against Notts County or Doug Tharme ( signed permanently in January ) scoring to equalise against Tranmere?  ;D

Well with Sutton now losing and Doncaster drawing doesn't feel so bad now, FGR still winning, come on Barrow!  ;D  ??)

Adelakun did score the match winner on Saturday against Tranmere though.

Conteh sent off in injury time for Bristol Rovers (harsh it was too).

Thanks Barrow male masturbators tin pot club tossers

Quoted from Nelly GTFC

Well with Sutton now losing and Doncaster drawing doesn't feel so bad now, FGR still winning, come on Barrow!  ;D  ??)

Adelakun did score the match winner on Saturday against Tranmere though.

Forest Green are the worry for me. They’ve got a half-decent squad but have had some basket case managers this season. Cotterill will sort them out.

Full-time at Sutton. Wrexham win 1-2.

Quoted from Son of Cod

I hope one of them wins. I want Colchester relegated for WHAT THEY HAVE DONE.

Be careful what you wish for SOC.

Quoted from Poojah

Forest Green are the worry for me. They’ve got a half-decent squad but have had some basket case managers this season. Cotterill will sort them out.

When you say sort them out do you mean stop a relegation squad shipping goals - what is this madness you speak of?

Yep, on that basis FGR will be above us soon. This piles on the pressure for Saturday. BP needs to be a cauldron,

It's still 6 points for now, but we need to get ourselves in gear.

Saturday is a must win . Simple as that .

Quoted from AndyGTFC

It's still 6 points for now, but we need to get ourselves in gear.

It’s essentially 7 points with GD, which is still quite a gap, especially at the bottom.

Quoted from pontoonlew

It’s essentially 7 points with GD, which is still quite a gap, especially at the bottom.

I’d still be nervous with 17 at the moment.

FGR had 6 shots on target tonight.  Barrow only 1.

FGR have got a CB aged 37 or 38. Maybe he is making a difference?

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

FGR had 6 shots on target tonight.  Barrow only 1.

FGR have got a CB aged 37 or 38. Maybe he is making a difference?

Keogh is decent, think Waterfall but a couple of levels up.

Quoted from pontoonlew

It’s essentially 7 points with GD, which is still quite a gap, especially at the bottom.

And we have to play them at home.

Really fear FGR at the moment. They’re having that new manager bounce that we didn’t have. Shrewd appointment in Cotterill after cutting their losses with Deeney…

I hope they start selling diazepam in the kiosks at BP. Be doing a roaring trade with the way some of the bods on here are carrying on.

Quoted from davmariner

Really fear FGR at the moment. They’re having that new manager bounce that we didn’t have. Shrewd appointment in Cotterill after cutting their losses with Deeney…

Wtf. This is their first win since October after losing 4-0 on Saturday, a draw at Colchester where they were 2/0 up and a loss at Accrington.

Pretty much the same as what Artell did when joining us but lets not let facts get in the way

But yeah lets all get in a tiz about it. Despite us being 6 points clear, a game in hand, and a superior goal difference

Despite at the start of the night FGR being below Sutton I have always feared FGR more than Sutton especially with Cotterill in charge and having on paper a half decent squad and a half decent manager finally to go with it, it puts pressure on us on Saturday now and the game against FGR only around the corner, we have to start winning more games simple as that

Quoted from ska face

I hope they start selling diazepam in the kiosks at BP. Be doing a roaring trade with the way some of the bods on here are carrying on.

Uppers rather than downers surely?

What’s your take on it all? Are we all being fannies or is there some justification for the malaise on here? Genuinely interested.

Obviously we have to start winning but the way some posters react you would think we are going to be playing the likes of Real Madrid & Barcelona every week until the end of the season.

In reality the vast majority of the teams in this league are decent, well organised and in general much bigger than us, however, I have not really seen anything from other teams that should make us fear playing them. FGR’s victory demonstrates that the sides at the top can be beaten by sides at the bottom and I’m pretty sure we will win certain games non of us expect.

I can’t say I’m totally relaxed about our current position but I won’t start panicking until we have around ten games left and we have still failed to make any significant progress to get away from the relegation zone.

Quoted from pontoonlew

It’s essentially 7 points with GD, which is still quite a gap, especially at the bottom.

Although it just shows how quick it can change with Salford.
We need to concentrate on our own game though. We win games, we are safe.

FGR beating the team in 5th place away from home is a little disturbing,

The fact is though, that safety is in our hands. We have a small cushion, a reasonable run in and the opportunity to beat FGR, Colchester and Doncaster.  If we do we will be in good shape. If not we will be in trouble.

The point is that we will get what we deserve. It's up to us.

Quoted from bawarmy

Although it just shows how quick it can change with Salford.
We need to concentrate on our own game though. We win games, we are safe.

Yeah but we've only won 6 out of 30 in the league and some of those were not exactly convincing. How we beat Barrow for example I'll never know because they played us off the park. We've beaten none of the teams at the bottom with us. I think we've got every right to be worried.

In other news tonight; Philogene is not my lover, but this is some goal by the Hull lad.

Quoted from Poojah

In other news tonight; Philogene is not my lover, but this is some goal by the Hull lad.

Tweet 1757514574067052942 will appear here...

He didn’t think twice there.

Quoted from 140381

Uppers rather than downers surely?

What’s your take on it all? Are we all being fannies or is there some justification for the malaise on here? Genuinely interested.

No malaise in my household....we can't drop out the league ...we will never let that happen again ..no way.... three times....no not possible ????

Well it clearly fking is possible and we all need to wake up to it....starting Saturday.....encourage encourage encourage...no shrieking when we play short,  no fking booing...just support in a local Derby.  Believe it can happen and act or deny it and sleepwalk into it....AGAIN.

Quoted from Badger57

Yeah but we've only won 6 out of 30 in the league and some of those were not exactly convincing. How we beat Barrow for example I'll never know because they played us off the park. We've beaten none of the teams at the bottom with us. I think we've got every right to be worried.

Believe me, I am !

FGR practically playing it out from the back with their emergency goalkeeper Vicente Reyes for their first goal, good build up play.

Second vid - FGR with a excrement pass, good goal though from Barrow.

Quoted from Posh Harry

Be careful what you wish for SOC.

I'm only just getting into bed after a wasted evening so I reiterate, Colchester must be relegated as a matter of urgency.

Getting all a bit Nip and Tuck. Did I not like that, and need 3 points at the weekend.
Must win game?

Quoted from 140381

Uppers rather than downers surely?

What’s your take on it all? Are we all being fannies or is there some justification for the malaise on here? Genuinely interested.

Think we all know we’re in a bit of trouble, but don’t get the histrionics. I can’t quite fully recall the attitude the last few times we’ve been in this position but I can’t remember it being this maudlin, end-of-days type stuff.

Hoping the players have a bit more fight in them than some of the fans. Never mind looking down, we should be looking up at who we can drag below us. Donny and Colchester seem to be equally as bad as ourselves, so it’s 1 from 4 (with Sutton pretty much gone).

Quoted from ska face

Think we all know we’re in a bit of trouble, but don’t get the histrionics. I can’t quite fully recall the attitude the last few times we’ve been in this position but I can’t remember it being this maudlin, end-of-days type stuff.

Hoping the players have a bit more fight in them than some of the fans. Never mind looking down, we should be looking up at who we can drag below us. Donny and Colchester seem to be equally as bad as ourselves, so it’s 1 from 4 (with Sutton pretty much gone).

I think people are a mix of worries and just plain p1ssed off to be honest. I get what you mean about when we've been here before but the club was "the ministry of can't do then" and though there's still work to do it's a different place now, people want to follow Town.  

Personally I think it was unrealistic to expect us to be right up there challenging for promotion I suspected we'd finish around mid/lower mid table. Yeah we had a bit more money though it was nothing like what it was bigged up to be by some, nobody outside of the club truly knows.

In regards to players showing fight I'd also add application to that question mark, lets see.

SO much will unravel in the next few weeks I guess.

  

Quoted from ska face

Think we all know we’re in a bit of trouble, but don’t get the histrionics. I can’t quite fully recall the attitude the last few times we’ve been in this position but I can’t remember it being this maudlin, end-of-days type stuff.

Hoping the players have a bit more fight in them than some of the fans. Never mind looking down, we should be looking up at who we can drag below us. Donny and Colchester seem to be equally as bad as ourselves, so it’s 1 from 4 (with Sutton pretty much gone).

That's because the last two times vast swathes of the forum buried there head in the sand and suggested we were to good to go down.Now however we all know or should do you've got to battle and claw your way to safety.Rodgers and Maher are key to survival that should send shivers down any Town fans spine.

Quoted from ska face

Think we all know we’re in a bit of trouble, but don’t get the histrionics. I can’t quite fully recall the attitude the last few times we’ve been in this position but I can’t remember it being this maudlin, end-of-days type stuff.

Hoping the players have a bit more fight in them than some of the fans. Never mind looking down, we should be looking up at who we can drag below us. Donny and Colchester seem to be equally as bad as ourselves, so it’s 1 from 4 (with Sutton pretty much gone).

The first time people could get over it eventually. The second time there was a light at the end of the tunnel in that Fenty was finally leaving and it appeared we had better owners coming in so although it was galling to be non-league again, everyone thought long term we'd be better off and this was reflected in the immediate increase in attendances despite being in the NL. If we go down this time, with all the recent things in our favour such as high season ticket sales and an unprecedented FA cup run then I think a very large number of the fanbase will have had enough. Because if we still can't compete even at the bottom end of the FL then what's the point? So my major concern this time is a third relegation in 14 years could be terminal and see the club become an established non-league side. Which you could argue that we would be if we go down again, no better than the likes of Barnet.

This is how I see it unfortunately.  

Hmmmmm...

There's no doubt that this is an incredibly tough league this season. I also suspect Hurst missed out on a few targets over summer as we just can't compete. There's also the issue, being played out right now, that we're seen as perenial strugglers and a bit of a yo-yo club. It's a tough sell.

Artell is right that a team which can score 5 against Notts County isn't rubbish. But you can just sense the believe draining out of the fans and sadly, the team. This [if it happens] will be the relegation hat trick, and there's almost an air of resignation - here we go again.

Saturday is absolutely massive. Everyone needs to be up for it.

We’re playing catch up in a game where everybody is doing better than they were before and I actually think we’re already at that point of being a Barnet type good NL/crap L2 club. Chronic underinvestment over a 20yr period caused this and in that period football has become popular again and therefore awash with cash, even at our level.

Stockport, Mansfield, Wrexham, Notts, Salford and FGR have owners willing to pump huge amounts of cash in to their wage budget. It works, to varying degrees, more often than not. The remainder of the rest of the league have been in the EFL longer than we have over the last 10 years so have the TV money etc that we’ve missed out on.  We’ve got a lot of season ticket holders now but post pandemic attendances at football have risen so we’ve not seen the benefit we might have done previously.

I’m just sick to death of being as excrement as this every season. The break in play on Saturday which saw most of our players looking down at the ground or looking in puzzlement at each other didn’t feel me with any confidence that we can save ourselves. Feels as though we’re reliant on others ballsing up their games. I’m sick of the game in general though too (Town’s responsibility more than anything). Relegation this year would be terminal.

I've told the wife if we go down again that's it I'm not going again. She thinks I'm bluffing, but I just can't stomach non league again. We would still get decent support no doubt but I think for some loyal, long standing fans it would be the end of the road.

What worries me is it doesn't seem to matter what we do we cannot free ourselves of the tag of perennial league strugglers.

Despite what some might worry about racking up unsustainable debt, money whether we like it or not is imperative in modern day football.

All the ideas, the ethos and the drive to be sustainable is all pie in the sky if you can't even get past first base.

I thought these 2 owners would be able to attract like minded people to bring some investment in but everything seems to be theoretical.

On the plus side we aren't down yet and it's in our hands but it's all depressingly familiar.

I don’t think I’ve seen much maudlin or self-pity. I’ve seen, and felt, exasperation that we’re here again. We’re here again, ffs. And we are. Make no mistake.

Despite everything that we’ve achieved in the past couple of years. Despite everything we had going for us at the beginning of the summer. Despite the backing that the club gets home and away. Despite all of this, we are in danger of being relegated into non-league for a third time. And that makes me sad and angry in equal measure.

Yes, we have a 6 point cushion and a game in hand, but our form is dismal and our performances, for the most part, not much better. So far in 2024, we’ve registered 3 defeats, 2 draws and 0 wins. We’ve won one game in over 2 months. The only reason we’re not in deeper shít than we already are, is that the two teams at the bottom have been so abject. Forest Green, incidentally, picked up their first win since the end of October last night, and convincingly so by the sounds of things. They now have what they’ve lacked all season; an experienced manager and a bit of confidence. Relying on them, and Sutton, to keep dropping points isn’t gonna cut it.

I just think the past few days have been a real wake up call. We concede goals for fun, and the players seem bereft of confidence. That’s not a formula for winning games, and we need to win games. Especially forthcoming ones against Donny and Forest Green.

Do I have confidence in the manager and players to turn things around? Honestly, as of right now, I don’t. I think we’re genuinely in trouble. I’m contemplating what until very recently has been absolutely unthinkable. That we might go down again.

And going down now would be an absolute disaster. The first time was the first time. The second time, came at a fortuitous time, if there is such a time to be relegated into non-league. Fenty was fresh out the door, there was the optimism of new and progressive ownership, Covid lockdown had only just been fully lifted and people, by and large, had a bit of disposable income in their pockets.

If it happened again, a third time for crying out loud, there would be no such optimism. And economically, life in the summer of 2024 is going to be drastically different to summer 2021. Going down, in the best case scenario, sets the club back years, already on the back of two and a half decades of failure and stagnation. In the worst case, it is a terminal death knell for GTFC. It would kill the spirit of the club and the town.

Is all this maudlin? Is it melodramatic? I don’t think it is. I think the threat of relegation is real, and the consequences grave. Ultimately, there’s little the fan base can do directly to affect change on the pitch, but they can, to some extent, influence what happens in the boardroom. I have no agenda against Dave Artell, and I’d be absolutely delighted if he were to win 2 out of the next 3 or 4 games, but I think the notion that he simply needs time to make things work is a dangerous one. We don’t have time, and if it’s not working now, we may need to look to someone else to bring about a change in fortune.

I totally get where LH and LCL are coming from. After seeing Town competing in the second tier for almost two decades to endure this seemingly endless battle to survive at the bottom of L2 is just soul destroying.

To misquote Lady Bracknell, to get relegated to the NL once is unfortunate, to do so twice is careless, but to do so three times would be disastrous. It would I think define us as an EFL/NL yo yo club.

Long gone are the days when our rivals were Sheffield Wednesday, Wolves, Newcastle and others. Instead we would have to dread visits to Dagenham, Eastleigh and Boreham Wood. And yes, Scunthorpe.

The next dozen games or so could constitute an era defining change in status.

Quoted from Badger57

Yeah but we've only won 6 out of 30 in the league and some of those were not exactly convincing. How we beat Barrow for example I'll never know because they played us off the park. We've beaten none of the teams at the bottom with us. I think we've got every right to be worried.

Barrow were far superior , I thought Sutton should have beaten us aswell .

But we should certainly have beaten MK Dons as we were as superior as Barrow there . Notts County we should have been out of sight by halftime .

You could  make an argument for Bradford & Accrington away aswell off the top of my head . So we are probably around where we deserve to be on balance imo.

Quoted from mariner91

The first time people could get over it eventually. The second time there was a light at the end of the tunnel in that Fenty was finally leaving and it appeared we had better owners coming in so although it was galling to be non-league again, everyone thought long term we'd be better off and this was reflected in the immediate increase in attendances despite being in the NL. If we go down this time, with all the recent things in our favour such as high season ticket sales and an unprecedented FA cup run then I think a very large number of the fanbase will have had enough. Because if we still can't compete even at the bottom end of the FL then what's the point? So my major concern this time is a third relegation in 14 years could be terminal and see the club become an established non-league side. Which you could argue that we would be if we go down again, no better than the likes of Barnet.

Think it is the contradiction between expectation and reality ,with Fenty we expected not much from him.However when the new owners came in they were full of fine words,with increasing ticket sales,cup run and promotion people were lulled by their management speak/rhetoric.However once the buzz of success waned it appears they lost interest.It is as I have repeatedly said ''fine words butter, no parsnips''

Quoted from RonMariner

I totally get where LH and LCL are coming from. After seeing Town competing in the second tier for almost two decades to endure this seemingly endless battle to survive at the bottom of L2 is just soul destroying.

To misquote Lady Bracknell, to get relegated to the NL once is unfortunate, to do so twice is careless, but to do so three times would be disastrous. It would I think define us as an EFL/NL yo yo club.

Long gone are the days when our rivals were Sheffield Wednesday, Wolves, Newcastle and others. Instead we would have to dread visits to Dagenham, Eastleigh and Boreham Wood. And yes, Scunthorpe.

The next dozen games or so could constitute an era defining change in status.

My old man stopped going after the Tranmere away season Ron , he had enough .

A season ticket holder for 30 years .

He had a dislike of Fenty & Fernaux for various reasons , but he thought either/both would take us out of the league .

I found it laughable at the time , thinking we had bottomed out getting relegated from league 1 .

He lost the emotional attachment and found other things to do and just looks out for our results and goes odd times .

My fear is if the worst happened many more would do the same this time round.

I don't think I could ever stop following Town, what on earth am I meant to do on Saturdays? Speak to the wife? No thanks. I think you have to roll with the punches. We've seen a lot of excrement over the past 20 years, well around 17 years of the 20 have been mediocre. I drew a line under it all when the new owners come in and gave them a clean slate, we've had two very good years and still find ourselves back where we were to start with and we've all experienced this feeling before. I believe they've done so much good for the club due to the old regime just outright abusing the club. We've all seen and heard the figures required to be spent on the ground just to keep it up to a ' okay ' standard. A million pounds this year and that's without the 750 thousand going into the main stand in the summer. As much as they want to say it wont, it will catch up with you. Even a quarter of that money on the squad would make a massive difference. We'll always be playing catch up due to the mismanagement of the previous tenure and it flipping sucks.

I said to a friend the other day .. what’s the point of pouring money down the drain on the main stand ? … surely it would be better to close it and invest the money on the team for a couple of years at least and rehome the main stand fans in other parts of the ground.
Presumably the Osmond will be able to stay open so put them in there and use the reduced capacity to put the away fans in the corner.

Probably a discussion for another day maybe though.

Our manager says that we are good enough to stay up.  This view is not supported by results and performances.   It was supported by a safety net of points,  This net is reducing,  There is potential for this to disappear as there are plenty of games to play.

The players are not playing well enough to get results consistently.  Also too many errors being made (eg Stockport first half).  The manager said that we all make mistakes,  True - but it is the high number of mistakes made that stops us winning.  And the inability to learn from mistakes or avoid making basic errors.

The fight element in a relegation battle is the key part that the team have rarely shown.

The fans’ collective views of extreme risk comes after all the above.  To me, this is a realistic conclusion of what they have seen week in and week out.  We can have nightmares about falling into NL for a third time,  Surviving and next season is a fresh start.

Quoted from LocalLadGTFC

I don't think I could ever stop following Town, what on earth am I meant to do on Saturdays? Speak to the wife? No thanks. I think you have to roll with the punches. We've seen a lot of excrement over the past 20 years, well around 17 years of the 20 have been mediocre. I drew a line under it all when the new owners come in and gave them a clean slate, we've had two very good years and still find ourselves back where we were to start with and we've all experienced this feeling before. I believe they've done so much good for the club due to the old regime just outright abusing the club. We've all seen and heard the figures required to be spent on the ground just to keep it up to a ' okay ' standard. A million pounds this year and that's without the 750 thousand going into the main stand in the summer. As much as they want to say it wont, it will catch up with you. Even a quarter of that money on the squad would make a massive difference. We'll always be playing catch up due to the mismanagement of the previous tenure and it flipping sucks.

I agree

They must be 5 or 6 million quid in with what they have put in + buying the club . Just to  maintain , right wrongs and bring the ground upto a reasonable standard .

Tough gig

Quoted from Poojah

I don’t think I’ve seen much maudlin or self-pity. I’ve seen, and felt, exasperation that we’re here again. We’re here again, ffs. And we are. Make no mistake.

Despite everything that we’ve achieved in the past couple of years. Despite everything we had going for us at the beginning of the summer. Despite the backing that the club gets home and away. Despite all of this, we are in danger of being relegated into non-league for a third time. And that makes me sad and angry in equal measure.

Yes, we have a 6 point cushion and a game in hand, but our form is dismal and our performances, for the most part, not much better. So far in 2024, we’ve registered 3 defeats, 2 draws and 0 wins. We’ve won one game in over 2 months. The only reason we’re not in deeper shít than we already are, is that the two teams at the bottom have been so abject. Forest Green, incidentally, picked up their first win since the end of October last night, and convincingly so by the sounds of things. They now have what they’ve lacked all season; an experienced manager and a bit of confidence. Relying on them, and Sutton, to keep dropping points isn’t gonna cut it.

I just think the past few days have been a real wake up call. We concede goals for fun, and the players seem bereft of confidence. That’s not a formula for winning games, and we need to win games. Especially forthcoming ones against Donny and Forest Green.

Do I have confidence in the manager and players to turn things around? Honestly, as of right now, I don’t. I think we’re genuinely in trouble. I’m contemplating what until very recently has been absolutely unthinkable. That we might go down again.

And going down now would be an absolute disaster. The first time was the first time. The second time, came at a fortuitous time, if there is such a time to be relegated into non-league. Fenty was fresh out the door, there was the optimism of new and progressive ownership, Covid lockdown had only just been fully lifted and people, by and large, had a bit of disposable income in their pockets.

If it happened again, a third time for crying out loud, there would be no such optimism. And economically, life in the summer of 2024 is going to be drastically different to summer 2021. Going down, in the best case scenario, sets the club back years, already on the back of two and a half decades of failure and stagnation. In the worst case, it is a terminal death knell for GTFC. It would kill the spirit of the club and the town.

Is all this maudlin? Is it melodramatic. I don’t think it is? I think the threat of relegation is real, and the consequences grave. Ultimately, there’s little the fan base can do directly to affect change on the pitch, but they can, to some extent, influence what happens in the boardroom. I have no agenda against Dave Artell, and I’d be absolutely delighted if he were to win 2 out of the next 3 or 4 games, but I think the notion that he simply needs time to make things work is a dangerous one. We don’t have time, and if it’s not working now, we may need to look to someone else to bring about a change in fortune.

And if the worst happens no doubt Artell and the players will just end up getting their agents to get them moves to another club, some may get a shock.

Quoted from Mappers

I agree

They must be 5 or 6 million quid in with what they have put in + buying the club . Just to  maintain , right wrongs and bring the ground upto a reasonable standard .

Tough gig

Yes you're right, but it was a tough gig they have chosen. Nobody held a gun to their head.

(and that isn't implied criticism, I am 100% behind S+P)

Quoted from BobbyCummingsTackle

Yes you're right, but it was a tough gig they have chosen. Nobody held a gun to their head.

(and that isn't implied criticism, I am 100% behind S+P)

I think they took it on because no one else would  , they were worried for the club and then Tom Shutes bailed on them at the last minute when originally he was the one at the forefront of the takeover .

They said when they were appointed that they had 'had a look previously ' about buying the club but didn't want to do it alone or 'it wasn't the right time ' . I read that as things hadn't yet got too bad and Fenty although a clown at least was giving it a go and running a steady ship  in his usual eccentric sloppy way ; Alex May & Holloway probably made them hit the button of 'we need to do something now '

They are now accountable in my mind, but my god picking up someone's previous mistakes can't half be sole destroying even if 'you know what you are letting yourself in for ' .

Quoted from Nelly GTFC

FGR practically playing it out from the back with their emergency goalkeeper Vicente Reyes for their first goal, good build up play.

Second vid - FGR with a excrement pass, good goal though from Barrow.

Tweet 1757499873924907189 will appear here...

First goal shocking from Barrow really, no urgency and hardly  a challenge anywhere......Barrows goal looked very similar to the type of goals and chances we have served up to opponents ...sloppy sideways pass in the middle seized upon.

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

Our manager says that we are good enough to stay up.  This view is not supported by results and performances.   It was supported by a safety net of points,  This net is reducing,  There is potential for this to disappear as there are plenty of games to play.

The players are not playing well enough to get results consistently.  Also too many errors being made (eg Stockport first half).  The manager said that we all make mistakes,  True - but it is the high number of mistakes made that stops us winning.  And the inability to learn from mistakes or avoid making basic errors.

The fight element in a relegation battle is the key part that the team have rarely shown.

The fans’ collective views of extreme risk comes after all the above.  To me, this is a realistic conclusion of what they have seen week in and week out.  We can have nightmares about falling into NL for a third time,  Surviving and next season is a fresh start.

I know it feels that way, but on the day PH was sacked, we were 1 point above FGR having played a game more, and are now 6 points above them having played a game less. We have also increased our goal difference over them in that time.

On the same day we were 4 points above Tranmere and Sutton, who were the bottom two at the time, and we are now 7 points above Sutton, with FGR being the other team in the bottom 2, six points behind us as stated.

Also on that day, Colchester were 2 points above us having played a game less. They are now equal on points, having played a game more. Donny were 6 points ahead with the same number of games played, but are now 4 points ahead having played a game more. We also have the best GD of the bottom sides.

That was after one third of the season. Another third of the season has passed since then, and almost all the teams around us have done worse than we have, apart from Tranmere, who have had a good run.

We are not the only ones struggling, but it does feel that way, and surely we will have a bit of run at some point. Here's hoping.

Barrow never put any pressure on the ball whatsoever

Quoted from chaos33

Barrow never put any pressure on the ball whatsoever

I bet they will when they play us 🤦‍♂️

I was saying weeks ago, before the January Window that the likes of Salford and FGR would buy their way our of trouble. Salford have now shot well away from us, and FGR got an ominously good result this week.

Just relying on FGR and Sutton to self destruct will not save us.

We need to start winning home games. Especially the next two.

The thing is that we are supporters right?  When we go a goal or two down do you think that booing and shouting abuse at them is going to help, no it isn't.  We need to 'support' the team by being more vociferous, encouraging them to get us back in the game.  

Quoted from 123614

The thing is that we are supporters right?  When we go a goal or two down do you think that booing and shouting abuse at them is going to help, no it isn't.  We need to 'support' the team by being more vociferous, encouraging them to get us back in the game.  

That's all well and good in a eutopian world, but football is emotive, and if players are making obvious mistakes, and we keep letting in soft goals the default emotion is frustration and annoyance, so of course the majority will show their disapproval with their voices.

Quoted from 123614

The thing is that we are supporters right?  When we go a goal or two down do you think that booing and shouting abuse at them is going to help, no it isn't.  We need to 'support' the team by being more vociferous, encouraging them to get us back in the game.  

Think Shaun called it right in his interview the players actions on the pitch reflect the mood of the crowd.

Though toxicity isn’t good when you look at some of the goals we concede ineptitude is equally unnecessary.  

Quoted from 123614

The thing is that we are supporters right?  When we go a goal or two down do you think that booing and shouting abuse at them is going to help, no it isn't.  We need to 'support' the team by being more vociferous, encouraging them to get us back in the game.  

If your posting on here is a yardstick I'd love to have you wired up during a game bear.I bet your claws were well and truly bared after 25 mins last home game? We all want to support and encourage but 0-3 and playing shite is a hard ask.

Like it or not, whether it’s right or not, football supporters use matches to let out emotions/frustrations etc they can’t at work or home. Always been the case and always will be. Football has never been the case when everyone sings and dances off the same page.

Regarding atmosphere..works both ways..team have to give crowd something to go off to get a reaction. If it’s nervy, that spreads to the fan base..as we’ve seen regularly. And vice versa.

Isn’t/Won’t be the fans fault why we’re struggling. In fact you could argue the numbers still attending are very, very good- bearing in mind what they’re paying to watch and in comparison to last two or three decades.

Quoted from marinerjase

Like it or not, whether it’s right or not, football supporters use matches to let out emotions/frustrations etc they can’t at work or home. Always been the case and always will be. Football has never been the case when everyone sings and dances off the same page.

Regarding atmosphere..works both ways..team have to give crowd something to go off to get a reaction. If it’s nervy, that spreads to the fan base..as we’ve seen regularly. And vice versa.

Isn’t/Won’t be the fans fault why we’re struggling. In fact you could argue the numbers still attending are very, very good- bearing in mind what they’re paying to watch and in comparison to last two or three decades.

You're not wrong - there's going to be around 7000 of us hardy souls at BP watching two of the worst sides in the league - some going is that.

Last week as soon as we started to create a couple of chances straight after half time the crowd was behind them it only needs a bit of attacking momentum

Quoted from 1mickylyons

If your posting on here is a yardstick I'd love to have you wired up during a game bear.I bet your claws were well and truly bared after 25 mins last home game? We all want to support and encourage but 0-3 and playing shite is a hard ask.

You don't know me mate.

We certainly seem to have sorted out Stockport!  :)

Quoted from 123614

You don't know me mate.

I don't. FYI  the crowd largely stuck with the team again today Personally I along with half the Town fans left at 1-4 I'm sorry you don't agree with that but if I stayed I'd probably have said or done something unlawful. Artell Out