During their first season back in the Football League, The Imps managed to pick up four points against Grimsby Town, with a 0-0 draw at Blundell Park and a 4-1 win at Sincil Bank. Two games into this season, The Mariners have 3 points, having lost 4-1 at home to Forest Green Rovers and won 2-0 away at Macclesfield Town.
Thank you to Grimsby Town supporter Paul for answering these questions.
How long have you supported Grimsby Town?
12 years.
Where did you finish last season?
18th. Remarkable when you consider we didn’t win for 20 games.
What do you think of your Manager?
A lot of potential. Performed a near miracle to keep us up, considering Barnet’s form. He’s got some naivety, as does every young manager but the early signs are good. So far, he’s one of the most level-headed managers I’ve ever seen.
What are your hopes and expectations for this season?
I’d be happy with midtable with a playoff push. I expect to finish 10th-15th.
One(s) to watch?
Charles Vernam, who we signed from Derby, has all the tools to play higher. Decent pace, work ethic and fine feet. Local lad too. John Welsh has been brought in from Preston and it shows; he isn’t quick but he’s positionally aware and a really excellent tackler. Jake Hessenthaler is a very hard worker and good on the ball so I expect him to start a lot of games for us. Finally, there’s Akheem Rose, who won’t get much game time because he’s young and raw but he’s probably the fastest player I’ve seen at the club since Michael Reddy and that’s saying something.
Who do you think will finish in the top 7?
In no particular order:
Notts Co
Lincoln
Mansfield
MK Dons
Exeter
FGR
Newport
Who do you think will finish in the bottom 2?
Morecambe
Macclesfield
What are your thoughts on Lincoln City?
A good summer transfer window and strong contenders for the automatics. Very impressed by the signings of Wharton, Akinde and Shackell but I’m not so sure about Smith and O’Connor. Your success will depend on whether you can consistently change your football brand (please don’t try and deny that you were direct season) – your early signs look good though (only 3 games)!
As a club, you’ve capitalised on a massive increase in support (where did they come from) in a way we could only dream. Your chairman, similar to ours in a few ways, decided to let someone else take control and you’ve not flourished. We have had no such luck and I expect it to carry on the same way. I’d say calls for a new stadium are slightly premature; see where you are in 2 years and reassess imo. It’s not as if Sincil Bank is old.
What do you think the score will be?
0-3
What will your likely default formation and style of play be for this season?
No one knows. We spent the whole pre-season playing 3-5-2 and looked OK but after self-destructing against FGR playing the same way, we played a 4-1-4-1 that served Jolley well last season. I’m hoping we stick to that, though we are lacking in wingers.
In terms of a style of play, we were just bad and direct against FGR. We played good football against Macc and Rochdale so we hope to continue that. We pummelled Macc before the red card but struggled to create against Rochdale. We’ll have to wait and see how it goes on Saturday.
Random fact about your Club?
As many Imps know (through their various visits), the BP has a huge swell down the centre of the pitch, which is very visible from behind the goals.
If you could steal one Lincoln City player for your own team, who would it be and why?
Either Bostwick or Akinde. I love Bostwick’s versatility and general ability, he’s good all over the pitch. Akinde would be the goal scorer and hold up striker (not targetman) we’ve been lacking.
What are your proudest and most embarrassing moments as a Grimsby Town Supporter?
Proudest: promotion at Wembley and beating Eastleigh in the semis in the previous season were wonderful memories. There hasn’t been much to get excited about since the Millennium and I’m too young to remember beating Liverpool.
Embarrassing: losing to Halifax 4-0 at the Shay was hard to take, especially leaving at 60 minutes. Me and my dad left the Burton match at HT because he knew what was coming. Last season, we lost 3-0 away at Yeovil on a Tuesday night and finished with 9 men in the winless run.
Who would you say is your most underrated player?
It’s difficult to say because this is a fairly new team. I think Jordan Cook is quite underrated because he doesn’t always see enough of the ball but he’s technically very good. Before this season, Reece Hall-Johnson was a consistent RB who did all the basics well but he hasn’t started yet this season. Special mentions to Mitch Rose and Harry Cardwell.
Do you have a Supporters Trust and what role do they play at the Club?
We do. However, they don’t really do a lot because they’re under the thumb of one John Shelton Fenty. The less said about it the better.
Which was your favourite match involving Grimsby Town?
As I’ve mentioned, the 3-0 win against Eastleigh to reach Wembley in 2015. We’ve had much higher scoring games but that game had the weather, some good goals, a great atmosphere, a very full BP and a trip to Wembley waiting afterwards. A perfect day really!
Which was your least favourite match involving Grimsby Town?
The Gateshead PO semi in 2014 was hard to take as we were wrongly done by. There was also a game in the relegation season where we’d built up a head of steam to nearly save ourselves and Torquay just squashed us 3-0 and it was a mountain to conquer from that point on.
Who is the biggest club in Lincolnshire; Lincoln with their excellent attendances or Scunthorpe because they are League 1?
Was waiting for this type of question. You’ve certainly shown that you have the potential for greater support than us and currently have the financial and on-field advantage over us now. Historically, we have usually been the bigger club and this is the first time in 7 seasons you’ve finished above us. There’s plenty of arguments to be had for both sides; can’t we all just agree that Scunny are the hole of Lincolnshire and be done with it?
What did Jolley do to turn the tide so rapidly at the business end of last season?
He did as much as he could to change the attitude of the club: he changed players diet plans, certain players fitness’ quickly improved and he instilled a PMA within the squad. The turnaround was slow and there was element of luck with several results but we definitely deserved to beat Chesterfield and Notts County. The last 5 games (bar FGR) were not good for nerves!
Has do feel about Hurst, Nolan and Nsiala rocking up in the Championship?
I was always a big fan of Hurst and thought that he would go far as a manager. I never expected him to be at a Championship club so quickly. It’s highly likely that he’ll manage one of the Sheffield clubs soon and be challenging for promotion to the Prem.
Nolan showed what he could do when he arrived here but obviously Hurst was the man who got the best out of him. He is an excellent player. As for Toto, he had potential but I always felt L1 would be his ceiling. I’d love him to prove me wrong.
If you could add one former player as they were when they played for Grimsby to your squad, who would you pick?
Very hard question, seeing as I never saw our ‘glory years’. In recent years, the best 3 retrospectively I’ve seen were Nathan Pond, Conor Townsend. All 3 far too good for Conf/L2 though Pond is old now. Jon Nolan gets a special shout too.
Is Fenty holding the Club back?
Lol, yes. He nearly sent us down with his decisions last season and he also did some terrible things off the pitch. The last serious investment was in 2015 to buy Christian Jolley and those investors are long gone. He’s gone from the saviour of the club, to well-intentioned idiot, to arrogant dictator. If people don’t comply with him, they’re out. A new stadium won’t happen while he’s here and he won’t leave until he gets his benign loan back of £2million. He probably only sacked Slade because he knew getting relegated would mean he’d never get his money back. And he will never admit he is wrong.
Is there a realistic prospect you will build a new ground soon?
As previously mentioned, no. Fenty is too arrogant, the council are stuck in the 80s and the non-football are idiots who despise progress. We’d also be paying it off for years to come.
Best and worst player who has appeared for both teams?
Ooh. In terms of impact for both teams, you’d have to say Graham Taylor or Big Keith or quite possibly Nathan Arnold in recent times. Worst would surely have to be Junior Mendes? Marcus Marshall wasn’t great either.
How much did you pay for Pen, your leading scorer last season?
We did indeed win a lot of penalties and we scored most of them too. Think the record was something stupid like 9/12. Out of them, maybe 3 could be contested and 1 was absolutely not a penalty. Thankfully, we got lucky against Swindon and we stayed up. We’re glad that Mitch Rose has Akinde-like nerves from the penalty spot.
Who Are Ya? – Grimsby Town:https://t.co/h5DUh2SV0y#GTFC #ImpsAsOne #EFL
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) August 18, 2018
https://www.facebook.com/VitalLincolnCity/posts/1819127068123530
