Paul Groves To Stay At Grimsby In A New Role!

By: Bill Osborne
Date: 02/07/2001

IN an announcement today Paul Groves has stated his intention to stay at Blundell Park. With his future in doubt after an offer from former manager Alan Buckley to join him at Lincoln, Groves has been offered a new deal at Grimsby and has accepted it.

This is the sort of deal that Groves will relish as the new Grimsby Town player/coach. He has all his coaching certificates, which he obtained in order to fulfil his ambition when his playing days are over.

Mariners boss Lennie Lawrence was delighted to hear the news from his captain, and told Mariners Net, "Grovesie had been approached by Lincoln and he has always made clear his desire to move into management. I talked to him at length over the last week, on two or three occasions, and have persuaded him that he is better off playing at the highest level possible for as long as possible. Also the club will be officially appointing him as player-coach on his return to training on Wednesday."

".… Paul Groves is without doubt one of the best professionals I have ever worked with! …."

"His appointment will augment our current coaching staff and he will take an active coaching role, although he is primarily a player at this stage. He is certainly management material and I will give him the best grounding possible for the day when he eventually becomes a manager. We must make sure, however, that we balance his coaching role with the demands of playing in such a competitive league. Paul Groves is without doubt one of the best professionals I have ever worked with.

Groves speaking exclusively to Mariners Net said, "I am very pleased to have the opportunity to move into the other side of the game, although for now it has to be said that my playing role comes first. However, the experience I can gain at this stage will be a bonus. I've made no secret of my desire to move into coaching and that's the reason why I had that clause built into my contract. It's great that the opportunity has come at the club that I'm playing for. I'm very happy to be staying at Grimsby and I am still enjoying playing the game, which is important. I want to carry on playing at the highest level I can, for as long as I can. Every year I play on is a bonus as well."

Lennie Lawrence confirmed today that he is talking to a number of players regarding their future at the club. Peter Handyside, Wayne Burnett, Danny Coyne and Alan Pouton are the main subjects of his attention. Full Story Here!

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