Cod Almighty | Article

by Various

1 August 2003

With the start of the season looming ever-closer, Cod Almighty asked a variety of Grimsby fans for their views on how the season will go. Over the next couple of pages you can read what they had to say.

Ian Vickers

Relegation – a blow for the club or a chance to look forward?
A blow, certainly, but a chance to re-group and get rid of some dead wood. I think we’d become too dependent on loan players in a desperate bid to stay up, which was detrimental to the long-term progress of the club. Hopefully we can bring some of the younger players through in a less pressured, less money-driven division, and get back to Div 1 with a younger, more settled team.

How do you think the Mariners will do next season? 
Top six. (Fourth or fifth)

What will you consider to be a successful season?
See above.

How will you be supporting the Mariners this season?
With the same cheery mixture of blind optimism and dark foreboding as every year and, given my London location - mostly away from the Park and mostly in the South.

 

(Lord) Bill Brewster

Relegation – a blow for the club or a chance to look forward?
A bit of both, though personally I was sick of watching a constantly struggling team in Division One. 

How do you think the Mariners will do next season?
Hopefully well, but we have failed to stay in this division for more than one season for the last 26 years or so. Which means… promotion or relegation.

What will you consider to be a successful season?

Play-offs.

How will you be supporting the Mariners this season?
By swearing a lot at Simon Ford.

 

Paul Ketchley

Relegation – a blow for the club or a chance to look forward?
Disaster of course – look at the loss of money – losing Coyne, failing to attract Oster and making Wilko redundant. Relegation is always bad news and sadly it happened to us – although we’d played it close before hadn’t we?

How do you think the Mariners will do next season?
We’d do well to make a play-off place – somehow I don’t see us doing that well though. I suspect we’ll end up in mid table.

What will you consider to be a successful season?
A play-off place will be a miracle. Can you see us doing better than QPR, Bristol City or Sheffield Wednesday, or even Brighton? So 5th or 6th would be a real achievement.

It would also be good to see some of the younger players showing some real talent – Ward looks the best of the bunch at the moment. As a rule we do well when we develop good young players and play football as it was meant to be played. Can Woods develop the young players like I think Wilkinson could?

How will you be supporting the Mariners this season?
I’m moving from Kent to St Albans in August – so I’ll be going to away games.

 

Mr Peter Kennedy

Relegation – a blow for the club or a chance to look forward?
A chance to look forward. Every confidence in Paul Groves as manager.

How do you think the Mariners will do next season? 
Promotion, maybe via play-offs.

What will you consider to be a successful season?
Promotion.

How will you be supporting the Mariners this season?
Going to occasional home games and away games in the North West area.

 

Pat Bell

Relegation – a blow for the club or a chance to look forward?
A blow - I think the odds are increasingly stacking up against smaller clubs, and it is going to get harder and harder for them to gain and sustain a place in a higher division. We are far from being giants in the second division - infact, midtable in the second division is probably about our natural station, based on attendances.

On the other hand, it has made it easier to get rid of one or two carthorses with nothing going for them but experience (not naming names...but Gallimore and Livingstone would be the ones I named if I was).

How do you think the Mariners will do next season?
No idea, but I certainly can't see us gaining an automatic promotion place. Somewhere between midtable and scraping into the play-offs - a rare boring season, infact.

What will you consider to be a successful season?
Obviously if we do get promoted, that would be great, and a place in the play-offs would be fine. I'd actually settle for us keeping well clear of relegation and perhaps putting a decent run together in one of the cups, as long as we play (or try to play) some good football and see a few younger players establish themselves as genuine first team players, capable of better things next season.

That Tony Gallimore won't be left back and that whatever happens, we won't begin to look upon Livvo as a potential saviour is a step in the right direction (unless of course we re-sign Fostervold to take Gally's place).

I'd hate us to buy in to the philosophy that we need to hoof our way back to division one - and given we still only have midgets for strikers, it wouldn't work anyway.

How will you be supporting the Mariners this season?
Pretty passively, I'm afraid - public sector wages, a three year old son and not living that close to Grimsby takes care of that. Expect obsessive attention to the radio, Ceefax and various web sites, visits to most second division grounds in the North West and perhaps two or three trips across the Pennines from this corner of Urmston - Man Utd supporters for both my neighbours- this ain't no place to bring up kids.

 

David Burns
Sports Editor, Radio Humberside

Relegation – a blow for the club or a chance to look forward?
Definitely a blow, though I’d concede it might also be a chance to look forward. Much depends on whether the club are geared financially to take that chance.

I see it as a big blow for us a radio station, going to big First Division grounds every second week, meant big crowds and a big atmosphere and sound for our programmes, the Second Division will not provide the same.

How do you think the Mariners will do next season?
That’s the 64,000 dollar question, or in Town’s case the 64 dollar question!

As I write this I’m not sure, they still lack a keeper, a big experienced decent striker and enough quality in the squad. I also think they may regret letting Paul Wilkinson go, because I can only see the burden increasing on Paul Groves and Graham Rodger.

Much depends on the directors (essentially John Fenty, I think) giving them the resources to do the job properly.

It’ll also be interesting to see how the mind-set changes, from playing for survival every week to playing for promotion.

What will you consider to be a successful season?
Getting more fans back to Blundell Park; seeing the team play good entertaining football and being involved at the other end of the table... and finally having somebody convince me that the club will get a new stadium!

How will you be supporting the Mariners this season?
We’ve already paid a substantial sum to the club for commentary rights this season. We shall also continue to publicise the club and give them a chance to keep in touch with their fans by featuring them in our bulletins, on our programmes, by doing commentary on the radio and on the club’s official website. We also take them to a wider BBC audience, by feeding our stories to Look North, Ceefax and our own BBCi website.

Myself and John Tondeur will also support them by buying the odd pint and a sausage roll at Blundell Park and my son wants a season ticket for his 18th birthday. Guess who's buying it!

 

Emma Gillingham
It’s A Grim Exile and Grimsby Town Supporters Trust

Relegation – a blow for the club or a chance to look forward?
A good chance to get rid of some dead wood, some new faces, consolidate and give the youngsters a chance.

How do you think the Mariners will do next season?
Looking at how Crewe performed following relegation to the second, it seems that pace is key in this division. Cas and Anderson both seem to have pace, whilst we know that Boulding is a bit quick. If we can maintain a pacy front line and give them decent service, we should be OK, although the game against Sunderland will be a good test of the new lads abilities. An experienced goalie would be nice as well.

What will you consider to be a successful season?
Nothing less than winning the division title! Seriously – personally I would like to see more of the promising young players like Graham Hockless breaking through to the first team and the continuation of the excellent youth progress to ensure a rich stream of talent over the next few years.

Also – Macca getting an MBE for services to football – that would be nice to see.

How will you be supporting the Mariners this season?
Very vocally.

 

Master Elvenador
The Land of Norath, Everquest

Relegation – a blow for the club or a chance to look forward?
A chance to look forward. If we had stayed up, we would have been battling against relegation again. Hopefully this season we can win a few more matches and see more goals.

How do you think the Mariners will do next season? 
I hope that they can challenge for promotion either through automatic promotion or via the play-offs. Keep people interested and score a few goals.

What will you consider to be a successful season?
To start building the foundation of a younger team. Last season's squad was too old. Need to bring youth in and promote it through our youth system.

How will you be supporting the Mariners this season?
The same was as usual - at the matches.

 

Jostein Jensen (that’s Norwegian and I’m a mister)
Jailhouse Rock – Norwegian Grimsby website. Half Norwegian supporter club / half news service in a bid to promote the words about the Mighty Mariners

Relegation – a blow for the club or a chance to look forward?
I’m always optimistic and take the positive out of this. Now we can look forward to see the youngsters blossom at a lower level, before we next season can come back stronger than we were the last season. Just as in 1998/99 when we continued on a high after the promotion.

How do you think the Mariners will do next season?
Can’t see us win the division. That is just not us, I’m afraid. But should be around 2.nd to 5.th. I think we will see more entertaining football with the squad we got this season. I also hope that the we get the local support behind the club and bigger gates.

What will you consider to be a successful season?
Promotion and economical balance is a successful season. I have the full trust in manager Paul Groves and hopes he soon buy a Norwegian as well...

How will you be supporting the Mariners this season?
Living in Norway I will follow the games on Mariners World. (Radio comments is very underrated.) Will also hope that I can support in my way through Club Shop and different subscribtions. I highly recommend other foreign fans that read this to do the same!

 

Phil Ball

Relegation – a blow for the club or a chance to look forward?
Both. It was a blow, of course, but it seems to have galvanised the club in some way. It often does. Town are always at their best when they appear to be down and out. It’s the bits in-between that they’re not so good at. They needed a kick up the arse, and they’ve got it. I think Groves is basically sound, and that the tactical stuff was a result of desperation and Hobson’s Choice. I think Mansaram – for example, will benefit from Groves’ faith in him last season, and will look good in Div 2. We’ve just got to make sure that we don’t do a post-Lyons, and keep on sinking. If that happened, I’d fear for the club’s future in a big way.

How do you think the Mariners will do next season?
A few weeks ago I was in the slough, but now the despond’s fading, as it were. Some of the signings look interesting, but they’ve basically got rid of the dead wood, or at least most of it. In that sense, I think they could do ok. Play-offs. But Town are capable of anything – in both senses.

What will you consider to be a successful season?
Not quite making the play-offs.

How will you be supporting the Mariners this season?
From afar, as in the last 20 years. From Spain – via Digibox, Internet and videos sent from home. 

 

Richard Dawson

Relegation – a blow for the club or a chance to look forward?
Ultimately, a good thing. The inevitable had been postponed indefinitely. But even indefinitely does not last for ever, and it was time to move on to the next phase for the Mariners.

How do you think the Mavriners will do next season?
The whole league is a Blue Mink at the moment – it is almost impossible to predict for any club in any league. I do know that Hull will finish 13th again though.

What will you consider to be a successful season?
Beating a few decent teams, home and away. Playing some good football. Staying solvent.

How will you be supporting the Mariners this season?
Going to matches, saying prayers, hoping against hope – all the usual stuff.

 

Stu Morton

Relegation – a blow for the club or a chance to look forward?
Both.

How do you think the Mariners will do next season?
Top half mid-table.

What will you consider to be a successful season?
Play offs.

How will you be supporting the Mariners this season?
Distant purchasing & occasional games.

 

Sam Metcalf

Relegation – a blow for the club or a chance to look forward?
Both I guess. As far as making money is concerned, it’s never seemed to matter whether Town have been doing well in the First Division or the Third Division (or their pre-92 versions) – they’ve always attracted the same gate. And Town’ll never make it into the Premiership – least I can’t see it. So what’s best? An annual fight against relegation in the First Division in front of 4,500, or a shot at promotion/the play-offs in Divs 2 or 3 in front of 6-7,000? I’d prefer the latter.

How do you think the Mariners will do next season?
Struggle, initially. But I reckon as far as Town are concerned, that’s a good thing. Recent history shows us (last season excepted) that a slow start has meant a good finish. I remember Buckley’s first few months being particularly stressful after two sucesssive relegations, but he turned it around eventually. Groves needs time. That said, if Town are struggling by Christmas, I reckon he’ll be on his way, if the Board feel they can afford to get rid of him. I’m looking at mid-table, which’ll be something of a comfort.

What will you consider to be a successful season?
The play-offs would be amazing, but if Groves is looking at building a team instead of messing about with loan players, then I reckon us going straight back up might be a bit too soon. Unless we piss the league, but I can’t see that either.

How will you be supporting the Mariners this season?
Getting to double figures in home games is always a personal target, and there’s not as many midlands sides in Div Two, so away games might be a bit scarce. So, for three-quarters of the season I’ll be sat in the pub on a Saturday afternoon watching that really nervy Sky programme.