Just back.

Quoted from lew chaterleys lover

If it wasn't for the cup run Hurst would be facing some difficult questions, let's be honest about it.

The style of play, the transfer policy,  the terrible home results and performances and the inability of the team to get on the front foot and give the crowd something to get behind.

The cup run has kept interest going and it has been great, but I think a lot of fans would be completely fed up by now otherwise.

Regardless of whatever happens at Brighton a big re think is needed in the summer.

From my point, it's not just one player that will kickstart our season, not just one player pulling the team down, although I have to say O'Neill plays like the opposition has Ebola and just will not get close to them. Gets dis possessed too easily. Has some nice touches.
When it all comes together (Luton) then they are good, but mostly they are not. Their passing, heading, throw-ins and dead ball situations are one league down. We are not going down, but for the Cup Run, our season would be best forgotten.
Onto Rochdale then, HH still got air in him.

Quoted from fishcake63

Not sure the pitch helps & not making too many excuses for that last night but please get hunt in our midfield he's the only that plays with his head up & can actually pass a ball

Did you watch Saturdays game?

I think it is glaringly obvious that we need an upgrade in quality on the playing side. We know it and PH knows it. I think he's been frustrated in his attempts to bring in better players because of various reasons.

We got promoted with a side that was just about good enough for the top end of non league, and didn't have the time or the structure in place to make much of an impact in terms of upgrading. January didn't improve the situation much, but then Jan is a tough window, especially given the problems we have with location and image.

This season has turned into what feels like a long drawn out play off campaign with the cup exploits and winning games none of us thought we would. This team has massive amounts of energy and fight, but not a lot of skill or guile.

It's become a slog to the end of the season, which PH touched on in his interview last night. We need to get to the end, having stayed in this league and re-group after what would have been 2 extraordinary seasons. We are inching ever closer, like a wounded snail, toward the safety zone of mid to high 40's points wise.

We have the means, the time, and the structure now in place to have a much better transfer window this summer, and bloody hell do we need it.

Think the frustration on here from everyone is spot on and nothing being said out of turn. We've got away with being poor in the league with a good cup run which has lifted us all and give us a good cash injection. In the summer we have to be ruthless and not sentimental to the players which simply aren't good enough. Hurst has a big job on for the summer to try and get the right names through the door. We sometimes make look like playing simple football and passing a 5 yard ball look difficult.

We’re not going up . We’re not going down .
We’ve got a cup 1/4 final to look forward to.
How about we just enjoy the rest of the season and get off the players and managers back ffs ?!!

Quoted from louth_in_the_south

We’re not going up . We’re not going down .
We’ve got a cup 1/4 final to look forward to.
How about we just enjoy the rest of the season and get off the players and managers back ffs ?!!

Are we getting on their backs, or just using a forum to discuss why we are having problems breaking teams down at BP?

We can play well, as we did against Northampton and Orient recently, but too many times we put in displays like last night and Harrogate and Colchester.

Quoted from ginnywings

Are we getting on their backs, or just using a forum to discuss why we are having problems breaking teams down at BP?

We can play well, as we did against Northampton and Orient recently, but too many times we put in displays like last night and Harrogate and Colchester.

last night was turgid.

Pleased to See Mcatee put in a performance, and thought Smith actually looked decent as a marauding Centre half

For the first 20-25 minutes against Carlisle I thought we played our best football of the season. A few more chances would have really put some icing on the cake but our general movement of the ball was really slick, calm, composed and I felt a little bit of Premiership football had rubbed off on us from Wednesday. That game then turned badly and didn't recover.

Last night was just a continuation of Carlisle, with no meaningful play, very few clear chances (if any) and the ball spent considerably more time in the air then usual. Their goal was well deserved and pretty much on it's way at the time they scored, they came out for the second half all guns blazing and showed what some sustained pressure can do.

For me, albeit only a short game but Smith was my MOTM. Thought he made all the difference going forward from his lofty position of CB. Scoring the chance he had at the end would have been fitting given his impression on the game.

Quoted from ginnywings

I think it is glaringly obvious that we need an upgrade in quality on the playing side. We know it and PH knows it. I think he's been frustrated in his attempts to bring in better players because of various reasons.

We got promoted with a side that was just about good enough for the top end of non league, and didn't have the time or the structure in place to make much of an impact in terms of upgrading. January didn't improve the situation much, but then Jan is a tough window, especially given the problems we have with location and image.

This season has turned into what feels like a long drawn out play off campaign with the cup exploits and winning games none of us thought we would. This team has massive amounts of energy and fight, but not a lot of skill or guile.

It's become a slog to the end of the season, which PH touched on in his interview last night. We need to get to the end, having stayed in this league and re-group after what would have been 2 extraordinary seasons. We are inching ever closer, like a wounded snail, toward the safety zone of mid to high 40's points wise.

We have the means, the time, and the structure now in place to have a much better transfer window this summer, and bloody hell do we need it.

Good post. Some have mentioned we should have more money to splash around after the amazing cup run. But I don’t believe money has been, or is the main issue with Stockwood/Pettit at the helm. I just don’t think enough good players want to come to Grimsby, giving Hurst a minimal choice of candidates to choose from. I really hope we can push further up the league with our remaining games, which will hopefully demonstrate intent and that we can be a good option to potential future players. Every little helps.

I do believe this isn't the team Hurst would want to have in an ideal world for L2- the incredibly short pre-season compared to our competition, compounded by location/chequebook size/known playing style (delete as appropriate for your favourite hindrance) meant that El General had to scrabble around in the bargain bin to just put together a team in time for game 1 and obviously January was never going to really change much for us BUT I'll judge us on next season because after this summer, with the FA Cup dollars in the bank, league safety secured and a years exposure to what it requires in League 2 to contend for success I do expect a lot of changes and...dare I say it...more expensive players coming in who can facilitate a better brand of football consistently.
If we're still a group of unimaginative clodhoppers who have heart and will run around lots with little end product then it'll be tough to take.   I'm actually starting to think we need 2 decent Taylor-types bringing in rather than a 20+ a season chap as all our midfielders can score goals we just need more composure, time and pressure in the final third.