The Crisis Debate

By: David Peasgood
Date: 04/10/2000

The Crisis Debate

Fred has gone into hospital to have a wisdom tooth put in so with the help of his old mate Stu Morton, BERT has asked you to consider the following:

The Crisis Debate

Grimsby town face a crisis, and yet not for the first time, nor will it be the last. We have managed to survive on finances that would sink many clubs, and our teams have been successful playing the same system week in week out from the juniors upwards. This system, coupled with AB's "guile and craft" did get us to where we are, and was probably the only way we could have reached this division and stayed there.

However, you must admit that the system seemed to be losing its efficiency in recent times, as our results since Christmas prove. You must also admit that this system also eventually resulted in a significant drop in attendances and a general atmosphere of despondency concerning the club. The system seemed to have been overtaken by the big bad world of today's 1st Division football. To continue with that system would have meant, in my opinion, continued demise and finally relegation with a disastrous level of interest in the club from around the region. And we all know that AB, despite his many qualities, was not one to make changes to his system.

So a change was made, a radical change (what other type could have worked ?) and the man who came in has a mammoth task to modify such an in-grained system, to try to keep us up this year then to shape us into contenders, not just survivors. He has the task to regenerate interest in the team by changing what the supporters see week-in week-out, but has very few resources at his disposal to do so. The man has to perform a minor miracle, and there are few managers out there today that would envy his task. Let's hope he is the man for the job. If not.......

Perhaps he will fail, and we will go down. Perhaps you are right, and clubs with our resources cannot go any further than the Buckley system took us. Perhaps we are now in for two or three years of failure, and that we will end up back where Alan Buckley found us. We all know that this is possible. We have all seen it happen to clubs we were playing only recently. It was the gamble that the board took, and the price of being wrong would be very high.

However, perhaps the gamble will pay off, that Grimsby is capable of more, and after surviving this year we may re-build a squad with a different system, a more exciting style, and we may be looking at a top half finish in a brand new stadium with 8000 gates every week. Is this really so out of reach ? Is the potential really not there ?

Whatever has happened, I remain convinced of two things. Firstly that the Buckley system at Grimsby had run its course, that we would struggle and struggle until inevitable happened, sooner or later. Secondly, that with attractive more adventurous football, some success, and good planning from within the club, then the supporters of Grimsby would come back. That this club has the potential to "do a Barnsley" and more, to be at least where Barnsley are today within the next three years. I especially believe that the whole NE Lincs region badly needs a successful football club, and that if Grimsby get it right, many people would adhere to the cause.

Stick with the club and do not despair. Sometimes the ladder to path has to come down from one peak and through a low valley before rising out onto a bigger and better summit.

I thank you. Another of them doubles please barman, and plenty of ice. Hic!..

Now for the vote...

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