The proper relegation thread.

[BlackHaddock]

OK, half way through the season for most of us.

Who honestly thinking their team is worse than Grimsby, Southend, Scunny, Stevenage or Barrow?

The aforementioned teams are all poor, in fact 'very poor'.

Unless another side implodes it's between those five.

No players wants to join my beloved Grimsby Town in the transfer window (who can blame them) and I assume it's the same at the other four clubs; so who is falling through the trap door to Shitsville Arizona to play Dover etc, etc?

Stake your claim!

 

[Bottega Don]

I think we'll finish bottom with Barrow coming with us. Today's game was like a sunday league game, just zero quality whatsoever. If Van Veen ever gets fit it might give us a slight bit of optimism considering the only games we've looked good this season are the 3 or 4 he played.

Grimsby will string a few wins together under Hurst and be safe and I think Southend have a good enough manager to get out of it.

 

[Monkey Tennis]

We've been mostly dreadful lately, but somehow have 10 points from 15. I can see us scabbing a few 1-0s here and there, and looks like the new manager is mostly focused on improving our leaky defence. Also our goal difference is pretty good for a bottom five team.

Port Vale, Bradford and Scunthorpe (at home) have been the worst sides we've faced, and only other team I can see being pulled into it might be Harrogate.

For us, I think we'll just and so stay up - might depend on if we can get a decent midfielder and forward through the door in the next couple of weeks.

 

[GTFCfish]

If squads were kept as they are now with no transfer movement then it would be Grimsby and Scunny 100% for me so I just hope we can get some much better players in this month or else we’re totally fucked.

 

[BarraMatt]

Today had me feeling a little more confident than this time last week, the defeat at Southend makes you forget that we're actually 6th in the form table over the last five. Today's game sounded like the worst all season yet we came away with the win. Jolley's strategy seems to aim to make us difficult to beat, as MT says by sorting out back to front - our GD shows we have enough goals in us to stay clear as long as we tighten up, although I think we should still be looking at a right winger, attacking midfielder and striker during this window.

 

[Kauto Star]

We would have been prime candidates for relegation if we had have kept Stuart McCall.

Unbeaten since he was sacked under our interim management duo Trueman and Sellars and a busy and promising transfer window so far., has given me much optimism that we will pull well clear.

My gut feeling is Scunny and Stevenage will go down.

 

[Conker]

Hurst being at Grimsby give them a advantage over Scunny, Southend, and Stevenage for me, although it could likely still be miserable for them. Think Barrow got enough about them.

 

[Railway Blue]

OK, half way through the season for most of us.

Who honestly thinking their team is worse than Grimsby, Southend, Scunny, Stevenage or Barrow?

The aforementioned teams are all poor, in fact 'very poor'.

Unless another side implodes it's between those five.

No players wants to join my beloved Grimsby Town in the transfer window (who can blame them) and I assume it's the same at the other four clubs; so who is falling through the trap door to Shitsville Arizona to play Dover etc, etc?

Stake your claim!

Hope it's Stevenage and Bolton.

 

[E10rifle]

Stevenage and Horrorgate would be ideal. Get rid of some tinpotters.

 

[Vanni]

I still think Boro will stay up and that Barrow are the strongest side out of the bottom five, and should be fine come May. I'm sticking with what I said back in late Nov/early Dec - Grimsby and Scunthorpe for the drop.

E10rifle - there's absolutely zero chance of Harrogate making a swift return to the NL.

 

[valefan16]

Southend in October were probably the worst EFL side I’ve ever seen us play, men against boys and the looked doomed but their the joker in the pack with the signings now allowed improving form. If it’s short term form or long term we will have to see but they’ve a good chance now.

Grimsby were very very poor last week, it was the ideal game for us out of form but with injuries starting to return and cruised to three points, not the worst on the eye and knocked it about ok but just didn’t have much about them at either end of the field at all.

Scunny we’ve played twice, poor both times but parked the bus and scored a worldie at VP. In fairness they’ve had injury problems similar to ours all season so maybe a way out for them.

Barrow were very poor at our place but beat us which shows how bad we were (all be it pretty much a second string Vale side such were the injuries/covid)

Stevenage made some good signings they will probably be ok. Improved on last season.

Hard to call but would say Grimsby and Scunthorpe as it stands. We are in a transfer window though so you time for change.

 

[E10rifle]

E10rifle - there's absolutely zero chance of Harrogate making a swift return to the NL.

I wouldn’t say it’s as low as all that. They were as bad as anyone else I’ve seen this season, they don’t score many goals, their squad lacks depth and League experience and there’s usually a side that drops like a stone from relative safety into the dogfight. They’re not even who I think will get relegated. But with Salford, Crawley and FGR all in the promotion hunt, Harrogant and Stevenage are the tinpotters on my hit list.

 

[GTFCfish]

I’d be happy if Harrogate fucked off too as when they played us they were at Newport levels of shithousery and I can’t stand teams like that.
Daft thing was they were so much better than us that they really didn’t need to do it but still spent the whole game being complete wankers.

 

[Soz]

yeah can't blame harrogate were horrible, it seemed that their primary tactic in both attacking and defending was to win a set piece. i'll give them the benefit as its their first season up but they'd better cut that shit out next year.



i think we're going to be fine - the greatest risk to our survival was making the askey decision too late. whether Pugh is the man remains to be seen but the 4 points so far is a very good return.

Southend, Scunny, Grimsby and Barrow were the worst teams we've faced this season, although we did lose to Scunny and Barrow so take from that what you will. I think Grimsby were the closest to being an ok team - just terrible defensive mistakes and a bit toothless up front before their subs came on, if they started that game how they finished it, it may have been a different result.

I'd go for Scunthorpe and Stevenage as it stands - despite us making stevenage look like title challengers for 70 minutes, everyone else seems to agree that they're terrible.

 

[Son of Cod]

Hurst being at Grimsby give them a advantage over Scunny, Southend, and Stevenage for me, although it could likely still be miserable for them. Think Barrow got enough about them.

While Hurst is indeed a solid appointment for us, it's a massive shame for him that our run of Southend, Scunny, Stevenage and Barrow fixtures comes before he's brought his players in and made his mark on our squad. That could well be a factor. Our Feb, when you'd have expected him to stamp his authority a bit more, is decidedly tougher (Newport away, Tranmere at home, Exeter away, Crawley at home, Harrogate away).

If we go down I hope Scunny come with us, purely because it'll make it more interesting.

Worth pointing out the survival job that Jolley pulled with us too, if he can save that shower of shite we had in 2017/18 from relegation without a window, then I think he's capable of keeping Barrow up.

 

[chipmunx]

While Hurst is indeed a solid appointment for us, it's a massive shame for him that our run of Southend, Scunny, Stevenage and Barrow fixtures comes before he's brought his players in and made his mark on our squad. That could well be a factor. Our Feb, when you'd have expected him to stamp his authority a bit more, is decidedly tougher (Newport away, Tranmere at home, Exeter away, Crawley at home, Harrogate away).

If we go down I hope Scunny come with us, purely because it'll make it more interesting.

Worth pointing out the survival job that Jolley pulled with us too, if he can save that shower of shite we had in 2017/18 from relegation without a window, then I think he's capable of keeping Barrow up.

Jolley has already tweeked our formation (did it saturday) and we look a lot more solid at the back - particularly with Neil Eardley coming in. Our next 2 games will show us where we are heading;- Grimsby (H) and Bradford (A). 4 points or more from that would be a good sign.

 

[BarraMatt]

We've just added a winger so it looks like we are changing system from the one Evatt and Dunn favoured (Evatt did it remarkably better than Dunn did, for us at least). Sounds like he just wants us to be more solid before trying anything more pleasing on the eye. I'd quite happily take awful Paul Cox football until the end of the season if it keeps us up.

 

[chipmunx]

yeah can't blame harrogate were horrible, it seemed that their primary tactic in both attacking and defending was to win a set piece. i'll give them the benefit as its their first season up but they'd better cut that shit out next year.

when we played them at home at the start of last season in the National League we hammered them all game - but lost 3-0... all the goals were from set pieces...

 

[chipmunx]

We would have been prime candidates for relegation if we had have kept Stuart McCall.

Unbeaten since he was sacked under our interim management duo Trueman and Sellars and a busy and promising transfer window so far., has given me much optimism that we will pull well clear.

My gut feeling is Scunny and Stevenage will go down.

Scunthorpe were awful on Saturday. Scunthorpe v Grimsby on Saturday is a huge match for Scunthorpe,

 

[Son of Cod]

Jolley has already tweeked our formation (did it saturday) and we look a lot more solid at the back - particularly with Neil Eardley coming in. Our next 2 games will show us where we are heading;- Grimsby (H) and Bradford (A). 4 points or more from that would be a good sign.

Sounds like Jolley vs Hurst is gonna be a bit of a dour one I reckon!

 

[Soz]

We've just added a winger so it looks like we are changing system from the one Evatt and Dunn favoured (Evatt did it remarkably better than Dunn did, for us at least). Sounds like he just wants us to be more solid before trying anything more pleasing on the eye. I'd quite happily take awful Paul Cox football until the end of the season if it keeps us up.

Yeah fair enough, the manager change will do a lot of good for you guys i think

i'm basing it off absolutely nothing quantifiable but from my gut instinct from watching on ifollow is that Scunny/Southend both had terrible squads, Grimbsy had slightly better but are in their mental rut (which is what i think vale have been in, rather that it being the actual squad being shit, there's no way we are 6 points from 36 available levels of shit).


i think there's way more pressure on the basket case clubs at the bottom that there is on barrow, so s long as you keep plugging away as you've done recently, staying in games defensively, you are always in with a shout of picking up the points.

I'd always back a recently promoted team to stay up over one of them 'established' clubs at the bottom, having been there ourselves for a few seasons recently. its almost as if those teams are trying to be relegated at times. The time chesterfield went down being a good example - we were absolutely atrocious then but there were two teams who somehow managed to be worse.

 

[pontoonlew]

We need to get our act together and quick, I think others are underestimating just how shit we are.

Hurst very rarely had good January windows with us, he needs the January of his life now.

I put £5 on Harrogate to go down at 14/1 last week, I think the backlog of fixtures coupled with bad form and not the greatest squad depth could see them being dragged into the party.

 

[Monkey Tennis]

I actually thought Grimsby were one of the better teams we played! Certainly had some busy players and a solid pair at the back. I thought they were in a false position back then, but they only seem to have gone backwards since.
I'd still imagine they have enough to stay up.

 

[Son of Cod]

I actually thought Grimsby were one of the better teams we played! Certainly had some busy players and a solid pair at the back. I thought they were in a false position back then, but they only seem to have gone backwards since.
I'd still imagine they have enough to stay up.

The shitshow circus that has ensued off the pitch hasn't helped, but we've been poor all season. However like Leyton, Cheltenham and Crawley you got unlucky coming up against us when we actually played alright. Holloway put together such an unbalanced squad off crap that we're gonna be reeling from that for the whole season. Hurst has got a tough job getting it back on track with hardly any time. I'd snap your hand off at 22nd place right now.

 

[Railway Blue]

We've just added a winger so it looks like we are changing system from the one Evatt and Dunn favoured (Evatt did it remarkably better than Dunn did, for us at least). Sounds like he just wants us to be more solid before trying anything more pleasing on the eye. I'd quite happily take awful Paul Cox football until the end of the season if it keeps us up.

While Hurst is indeed a solid appointment for us, it's a massive shame for him that our run of Southend, Scunny, Stevenage and Barrow fixtures comes before he's brought his players in and made his mark on our squad. That could well be a factor. Our Feb, when you'd have expected him to stamp his authority a bit more, is decidedly tougher (Newport away, Tranmere at home, Exeter away, Crawley at home, Harrogate away).

If we go down I hope Scunny come with us, purely because it'll make it more interesting.

Worth pointing out the survival job that Jolley pulled with us too, if he can save that shower of shite we had in 2017/18 from relegation without a window, then I think he's capable of keeping Barrow up.

I hope Barrow stay up. I've got a soft spot for them, if only because they survived Vaughan, whereas we didn't.

 

[valefan16]

I personally have a feeling no one will get relegated as the National League is a state, postponements all over the place and teams playing 12 games so far.

No sign of letting up, add in the weather and FA Trophy, less testing and looks like they are not happy now it’s confirmed the government money is a loan rather than grant.

 

[BarraMatt]

Yeovil have postponed their games for about the 15th time this season.

 

[Gladders]

Government also apparently told national League funding will be loans not grants, so can see clubs cancelling season rather than taking on loans. Probably wouldn't have even started if they knew that was the case.

 

[BlackHaddock]

I really thought we'd be up at the top end of the league this season, completely taken in by Holloway and his Bullshit. Our out going major share holder being another chap I thought had my club at his heart, he isn't leaving with my best wishes either!

Those guys have left us with an atrocious squad, I think it's too late to save us on the pitch, but just maybe we'll survive by Covid and the National League having to cancel their season. Sad for the top teams down there but a blessing for GTFC and our supporters.

 

[chipmunx]

I really thought we'd be up at the top end of the league this season, completely taken in by Holloway and his Bullshit. Our out going major share holder being another chap I thought had my club at his heart, he isn't leaving with my best wishes either!

Those guys have left us with an atrocious squad, I think it's too late to save us on the pitch, but just maybe we'll survive by Covid and the National League having to cancel their season. Sad for the top teams down there but a blessing for GTFC and our supporters.

our game with you next Tuesday is now a 7pm kick off - so your non-travelling masses can get home...... i mean stay home