Paul Hurst - progress as a manager

Paul Hurst's first solo match in charge was the 4-0 thrashing away to Halifax.  The club was in turmoil with Scott suspended. We were dreadful that day.

Look at the quiet, steady and sustained progress since.  His judgement on players has been excellent.  Even perservering with Shop, when many fans disagreed.  Lettting Neilson and Thomas go.  This improved team spirit and results.  No individuals who are erratic in their performances (or at least as erratic as they could be at times).

Palmer, Gowling, Robertson (Magnay of course) have been the right type of players.  Parslow is there for experienced back up.

We have got to Wembley after 2 years of failure in the play-offs.  This is a big step forward.  

A team often reflects the managers values, beliefs and standards.  No Richard Hill style ranting,  no diving, cheating and poor sportmanship.  Just a good, honest team who give everything.  And are used to winning away from home.

I think he's doing really well. He's been steadily improving since he went solo and even in his interviews you can sense he knows what he's doing more and more.

Any job takes a few years to master.

The Board may have a new headache to sort out though. If we succeed at Wembley then obviously PH must be allowed to manage us in League 2. But if we fail then do the Board persist with PH or do they decide he has had his chances and maybe somebody else is required. The thing is that if we were looking for a new manage at this level then PH has all the credentials we would be looking for. He has got a team into the play-offs 3 seasons on the trot and made the play-off final once. I hope it doesn't come to it but it could be a very hard decision to make.

Hurst has grown on me to be honest.I like his quiet, understated and rational approach, the spirited team he has built. Unlike some managers he doesn't stand there after we haven't won blaming referees a la Pulis, Phil Brown and that Hill idiot. And win or lose he doesn't go over the top in his critique of the players. GTFC is quite a positive, stable place these days

The main point for me following a Town team is following a team who will give their all and PH has built that.  If he had this team at the start of the season it could be argued we would have won the league outright.

I was told by someone that PH would make a great manager in a couple of seasons but felt he was too defensive at home and that's why our home form has been as good as it should have been for a team in our position.

PH's progression is there for everyone to see, we've got back that Grimsby grit and the players are playing for each other.

PH should when he gets us promoted, will be more than ok in league 2.

Quoted from rancido

The Board may have a new headache to sort out though. If we succeed at Wembley then obviously PH must be allowed to manage us in League 2. But if we fail then do the Board persist with PH or do they decide he has had his chances and maybe somebody else is required. The thing is that if we were looking for a new manage at this level then PH has all the credentials we would be looking for. He has got a team into the play-offs 3 seasons on the trot and made the play-off final once. I hope it doesn't come to it but it could be a very hard decision to make.

What? Some people just go looking for it. I like the bloke and know that others would kill to have him as their manager. What headache?

Definitely all the above! qualities in abundance If we don't keep PH it will be our loss and another club gain  

Good progress as posted above.

However his team has fallen short when it mattered - eg previous play off games, Wrexham Cup final.  Eastleigh was a lot easier than Gateshead or Newport so difficult to judge against those.

The final is Hurst's / the team's chance to prove that we are up to it.  Looking at first 3 of our 5 goals in the play off games suggests we now have matchwinners / players that can score out of nothing.

Marcus Marshall v Nathan Arnold - that shows how we have improved but need to prove that on May 17.  A tough tough final but then Bristol should be saying the same!

I think the last 2 months have shown that he is still improving, I will admit that I was worried that his progress had stagnated but I was wrong. His substitutions are getting better with both personnel and timing. He seems to have a bit more tactical nous than he did and even his interviews are getting better. Personally I like the guy a lot and I'm proud to say we have a manager that is a thoroughly decent bloke. He's always had an eye for a player and doesn't just sign anybody, he waits to get the right player. The players clearly love playing for him and the rapport among the team as well as with the fans is the best it has been in a decade at least. If we don't go up, we stick with him in my opinion. No he isn't perfect but we're a fifth tier team (currently) and we could do a lot, lot worse than PH. As somebody else said, our loss would be someone else's gain.