Northampton v Grimsby: View from the London Eye

By: Ben Bowers
Date: 15/11/2009

THE moral of this game was if you don’t take shots, you’re not going to score. There were times when Sweeney and Leary had openings to shoot.

We didn't get the ball out wide enough which was disappointing because a) Shahin looks very impressive and I would have liked to have seen him run at the Northampton defence more and b) Adrian Forbes is good in the air and his physical presence is no harm to the Grimsby side.

The game was no classic. Disappointing attendance, little quality, overweight strikers (not you Forbes!) poor weather-although Grimsby fans are used to all this it was still not very enjoyable and not worth the journey. There were a few positives, however to take away from the game. This was definitely Colgan’s best game yet and he produced some very fine saves and he is now starting to show us that he can replace Henderson and Barnes. I was also impressed with Danny North. He is starting to reproduce the form of two years ago and he nearly won it for us in the last minute but Woods made the right decision in starting with him. I would like to see him partner Akpa Akpro up front as it reminds me of the Forlan (Akpa) and Aguero (North) which scored so many goals for Atheltico Madrid last year. Here you have a physical presence as well as a pacy striker and I think it could work. Yesterday was the first game I started to have doubts over Conlon. I am still sure he is our best striker but he came on and, despite a rousing cheer from the Grimsby end, was very ineffectual-reminds me a bit of Tony Blair. However he will always be a Grimsby legend for the way he kept us up last year.

We also didn't lose and after the Bath City game it couldn't get any worse. I thought Clarke played well and it was the right decision to play Bore at right back as he always seems to screw things up when we attack. That was probably the only thing Woods got spot on all game and that brings me on to the subject of manager. I would be very happy yet cautious to see Russell Slade return to Grimsby. Happy because he would get instant respect and he is the most successful Grimsby manager in the last few years. Cautious as his record since hasn't been that good and if he hadn’t had such a successful stint before he would not be in the running. Also Buckley’s stints as manager got less successful as time went on. What we need is somebody who will get us playing as a team again-a Harry Redknapp type of manager.

The new manager will also have to address our disciplinary record. Even though it was not a sending off we have had too many yellow cards and red cards. If we had had 11 men on the pitch by the end of the game, the outcome of the game could have been so much different and their sending off inspired us to start playing. But I can't be too disappointed. Two years ago Northampton were a safe league one team so to go there and get a point is not too bad and it did us no harm

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