The Fishy - Grimsby Town FC



Upcoming Fixtures

Thu 28/03
Brazil Serie A Women
Botafogo W v Real Brasilia W
Gremio W v Palmeiras W
Italian Serie C, Group B
Carrarese v Perugia
Cymru North
Denbigh Town v Bangor 1876
Southern Div 1 Central
Barton Rovers v AFC Dunstable
Italian Serie C, Group A
Padova v Pergolettese
Italian Serie C, Group B
Fermana v Rimini
Gubbio v Torres
Vis Pesaro v Lucchese
Italian Serie C, Group C
Catania v Giugliano
Southern Premier South
Walton & Hersham v Harrow Borough
Chilean Primera
Audax Italiano v Coquimbo Unido
Argentine Copa de la Liga Profesional
Rosario Central v Barracas Central
USL League One
Charlotte Independence v Spokane Velocity
Chilean Primera
O'Higgins v Deportes Iquique

Full Fixture List

Follow the Fishy on Twitter
NewsNow logo

Question of the Week

Who will go down?







 

The 2000-2001 Review

By: Tony Butcher
Date: 09/07/2001

IT STARTED with a whimper and ended with a bang. In the middle we had a Zhang. 2000/2001 - the weirdest season for, ooooooh, at least four years. Well, since the last time Alan Buckley stopped being our manager. And we ended up in almost exactly the same position as the previous season.

The unsackable Buckley was sacked after 2 games, a loss and a draw - the best start to a season for over a decade! Pandemonium broke out in the not so massed ranks. The players seemed to spend a month wandering the green fields of the first division in a state of shock. Who would be the new manager? Lennie Lawrence, tired old, mad old Lennie. It certainly wasn't dull after his appointment. Perhaps the most inconsistent man in football he was known to contradict himself three times in the same sentence.

His mission, which he chose to accept, was to go boldy where no Town manager had gone before - the foreign transfer market. Out of obscurity he plucked a bonkers Dane - David Nielsen aka the Golden Dude; a Chinese centre half - Zhang Enhua aka the waving flan; a statuesque Dutchman who hates fish and chips and 1001 Argentinians, Germans, Belgians and every other "uns" under the sun as the reserves became a revolving door for jobbing pros in search of a contract.

If it's Tuesday we must have signed an Egyptian wing back with one leg.

"...Confusion reigned, as did the opposition goals....."

The team changed tactics, formations, personnel, perhaps even their hairstyles at least three times in every game. Confusion reigned, as did the opposition goals (or at least they would have done if it wasn't for Danny Coyne). Slowly, slowly the team drifted towards the bottom. Some of the performances were good, but the tactics were at times pathetic, designed to maximise the threat from the opposition. Got a good right winger? We'll play without a left sided midfielder and tell the full back to go on a bender the night before..

Around January something finally clicked in Lennie the Lion's head and he decided to go back to 4-4-2 and play some of the players he'd inherited. Cue the following quote after every game "I never realised how good x was until now". Oddly the supporters did and had been shouting it at him for months. Then the team started to drift again (which coincided with some more tactical tinkering).

"...On came Steve Livingstone, out came the elbows....."

The crunch came on a grey day at the end of March. A flukey win 2 weeks earlier at QPR had given some relief from the boredom and pain (oh Danny, you were wonderful that day). Tranmere at home. Halftime losing 1-0. The crowd despondent, relegation seemingly 45 minutes away. The team rotten and rotting. On came Steve Livingstone, out came the elbows.

45 minutes later Tranmere had been bullied into defeat, the 'keeper literally laid out by a Livvo "challenge" and the whole Town energised. One week later exactly the same thing happened. Losing at half time to a disinterested Watford, an all-or-nothing bravura performance in the second half which relied on anything but skill and 3 more points. Then an away win at West Brom, a solid, stoic and staunch Rorke's Drift. Safety was but a point away with 4 games left. Easy. No. Three defeats.

"...We got there in the end, but no-one knows how...."

Last game, down to the last game. Fulham at home. Another rousing, rabid performance where every tackle was a life saver and a fortunate goal from Golden Groves (if only his first name had been Gordon, eh). Safety at last. Done in a circular route with many diversions, like a Sunday outing as navigated by a batty old granny. We got there in the end, but no-one knows how.

Tony Butcher

This article and the 2001-2002 Preview were written for the Watford Fanzine Blind, Stupid and Desperate

Tomorrow Tony Butcher looks at the prospects for the Mariners for this season.



Add To Facebook


This site is by the fans, for the fans, and we will consider articles on any subject relating to the Mariners whether it be related to current news, a nostalgic look back in the past, a story about a player, a game or games in the past, something about Blundell Park or football in general. Click here to submit your article!


Related Stories


Forum Latest
Thread TitlePostsLatest Post
Dn35 podcast drinking game4moosey_club28/03 15:59
Youth players out on loan17Lincoln Mariner 5628/03 15:19
"Beat the Clock"  Barrow22Grantham_Mariner28/03 15:18
Prediction Thread Barrow A26Grantham_Mariner28/03 15:17
David Artell Interview Dn35 Podcast7StacyColdicotts_hairline28/03 15:00
Just Back 161diehardmariner28/03 14:01
Bradford KO time?4JK4728/03 13:13
New Training Ground.!!51rancido28/03 12:33
Twenty First Group / Overseas Market31jimgtfc28/03 11:16
TV Games/Upcoming Fixtures4SiteBot28/03 03:30