Grimsby (Cod Army)

[Timmy58]

I did enjoy the game folks as its been a while since I have been to one and when they scored after about 6 mins, I thought they were going to slaughter us but I must admit, I was surprised how good we were when its been pretty negative reporting recently, even by me and I thought our players were excellent in how they responded. In fact I thought we were on top for loads of time in the game and we showed tenacity and passion in going after them. I was also surprised how good some of our football skills were by the forwards and midfield and the defence were pretty solid too. Just looking at the highlights, you can see how professional the goal scorer was as he knew exactly where to strike the ball and the third goal was sublime by the pass onto his head but he was as cool as a cucumber heading it into the goal.

I will also say seeing that performance live tells me that we have a pretty decent team and we need not be as negative as some of us has been. This win should inspire us to start winning games again and listening to Dave Artell after the geme, he said that his team did not perform very well. I have news for him as that was because we were better than his team full stop and he would not have expected to lose that game given the start they had. I would be a little concerned about the left sided full/back/midefield as two of their goals came in from that side. But we'll let that go with the geat win we had.

I met DA at HT to say hello but he said he was working and interesting to see that he and his coaches stayed behind on the bench for a few minutes at HT to examine in detail the reasons they let in two goals.

He must try and learn,sometimes its because of gritty determination to get back into the game and push on and that's what we did..

Well done team. It was very cold second half but I did enjoy the game and would like to go again even at my age ie 81 and my 70th year watching the Alex..

Good to hear your positive comments after our performance today. My thoughts are that we just about deserved to be level at half time and what was surprising is that it was 40 minutes into the second half before there was another goal. As you say Mike, both defences were a little suspect but it was nice to see our young players contributing so well in an entertaining game that was, in the main, well refereed. Finney and Connolly improved in the second half after poor performances in the first period. My glasses of wine slipped down nicely tonight after that!

[MikeSB]

My further thoughts on the game yesterday.

I was expecting a heavy loss due to Grimsby being an inform team and us having a crazy time of defeats which could be that our players were up to it on the day and play better against good opposition.

Perhaps they need lifting up against weaker opposition? I'm not sure that LB is up to doing that but what do I know? Dave Artell was like a mad man running back and too to his coaches bench and speaking to the fourth official, while LB just stood there on his own looking belated! Fact is though we won that game based on playing better football and showing skills that I thought we never had and why you really have to attend games to see the overall picture. Some of our players tied them in knots with their ball control and that guy with the throw ins to the goal mouth...Whew!

I also asked who was going to score our goals now without knowing we had a boy genius striker in the team and thought before hand that he was never going to score against such sturdy opposition. I could not tell who scored our goals as there a lots of players around the goal but when you watch the highlights after the game, you can clearly see the talent that boy has as he knew exactly where to place the ball without hesitation. ie he knew where the goal was and proved it by scoring three goals.

I suspect that Stoke know he has a special talent and may want him back sooner rather than later. He has a great future in the game. I saw Ryan Dicker and Kenny Lunt just sitting across from me and they really did not get invloved in the technical area. I'm not sure what the rules area there.

I hope our players can lift themselves up against worse opposition but look at the results yesterday and seems nobody is running away in L2 and a few good results will get us back up there. Had Grimsby won, they would have been top of the league and we proved we can do the business when needed.

I did enjoy the day but got terrible cramp in my legs during the night....LOL.

[MikeSB]

Extended highlights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErgcBGGlbSI

[lukcour]

At last we may have overcome our recent problems , and the answer was so simple. Have MikeSB attend all our home matches.

It is essential our Chairman gives Mike a free season ticket for the remainde of the season, Sorry Mike but you will just have to put up with the cramp for the sake of our team

[gazan]

So glad you enjoyed it and I agree, being there at the game gives you greater insight. Of course, should you be able to make it another time, there's no guarantee it will be as satisfying! The test will be in a fortnight when we play 'struggling' Shrewsbury at home.

[gazan]

Just want to add that Finney is not a full back and shouldn't be played there. At best he's a WB or a winger but he cannot defend. He's a throwback to the days when all our players were usually lightweight and easily knocked of the ball.

[ShropshireAlex]

I did enjoy the game folks as its been a while since I have been to one and when they scored after about 6 mins, I thought they were going to slaughter us but I must admit, I was surprised how good we were when its been pretty negative reporting recently, even by me and I thought our players were excellent in how they responded. In fact I thought we were on top for loads of time in the game and we showed tenacity and passion in going after them. I was also surprised how good some of our football skills were by the forwards and midfield and the defence were pretty solid too. Just looking at the highlights, you can see how professional the goal scorer was as he knew exactly where to strike the ball and the third goal was sublime by the pass onto his head but he was as cool as a cucumber heading it into the goal.

I will also say seeing that performance live tells me that we have a pretty decent team and we need not be as negative as some of us has been. This win should inspire us to start winning games again and listening to Dave Artell after the geme, he said that his team did not perform very well. I have news for him as that was because we were better than his team full stop and he would not have expected to lose that game given the start they had. I would be a little concerned about the left sided full/back/midefield as two of their goals came in from that side. But we'll let that go with the geat win we had.

I met DA at HT to say hello but he said he was working and interesting to see that he and his coaches stayed behind on the bench for a few minutes at HT to examine in detail the reasons they let in two goals.

He must try and learn,sometimes its because of gritty determination to get back into the game and push on and that's what we did..

Well done team. It was very cold second half but I did enjoy the game and would like to go again even at my age ie 81 and my 70th year watching the Alex..

Decent interview by Dave Artell after the game, as outspokenly honest as the ones he did for us. He said they deserved to lose, because they didn't play as well as us (or take on board what he told them at half time, when he'd said to them they didn't deserve to be level and had to do better). Yes, he was as frantic on the sidelines as ever, ranting at his coaches (and he had a lot) and the 4th official as ever.

In answer to your question Mike, in theory you're only allowed one coach in the technical area, apart from when someone's doing paperwork for subs, preparing the board, quickly conferring, etc, but some refs don't enforce it while others do. Who knows what Coy enforces - certainly not yellow cards for fouls! Ryan Dicker was down at times (normally he and Kenny sit where Dario used to, observing the play from above) but in other games spends more thime there. Fred Barber always sets the subs board, but otherwise is on the bench.

[Timmy58]

Decent interview by Dave Artell after the game, as outspokenly honest as the ones he did for us. He said they deserved to lose, because they didn't play as well as us (or take on board what he told them at half time, when he'd said to them they didn't deserve to be level and had to do better). Yes, he was as frantic on the sidelines as ever, ranting at his coaches (and he had a lot) and the 4th official as ever.

In answer to your question Mike, in theory you're only allowed one coach in the technical area, apart from when someone's doing paperwork for subs, preparing the board, quickly conferring, etc, but some refs don't enforce it while others do. Who knows what Coy enforces - certainly not yellow cards for fouls! Ryan Dicker was down at times (normally he and Kenny sit where Dario used to, observing the play from above) but in other games spends more thime there. Fred Barber always sets the subs board, but otherwise is on the bench.

A word about the ref, he was consistent throughout the game. And I liked that he waved play on most of the time when someone was on the floor. Doesn't happen often enough for me.

[MikeSB]

At last we may have overcome our recent problems , and the answer was so simple. Have MikeSB attend all our home matches.

It is essential our Chairman gives Mike a free season ticket for the remainde of the season, Sorry Mike but you will just have to put up with the cramp for the sake of our team

You naughty boy but you speak with a lot of truth.

It was a good game and really enjoyed it myself. The win was a great result actually.