The Fishy - Grimsby Town FC



League Two Table

  PGDPts
1Mansfield39+4273
2Stockport38+3571
3Wrexham39+2270

4MK Dons40+967
5Crewe39+1265
6Barrow38+1364
7Crawley Town38+359

8Gillingham40-859
9AFC Wimbledon40+1158
10Walsall38+556
11Newport County39-155
12Morecambe39-954
13Harrogate Town39-954
14Notts County39+251
15Tranmere40+250
16Accrington Stanley39-550
17Bradford39-750
18Doncaster38-1149
19Salford40-1347
20Swindon39-544
21Grimsby38-1639
22Colchester37-1934

23Sutton Utd40-2633
24Forest Green39-2733

Full League Two Table
Prem|Champ|L1|L2|NL|NLN|NLS
SPL|SC|S1|S2

Follow the Fishy on Twitter
NewsNow logo

Question of the Week

Who will go down?







 

A Buyers Market!

By: Bill Osborne
Date: 07/05/2002

Paul Groves, Grimsby Town's manager has some hard decisions to make in the coming week. Football clubs have a week to announce their retained list and with the ITV Digital fiasco many clubs are still unsure of their final listing.

In Grimsby Town's case there are three players in particular whom Groves is awaiting decisions from. Michael Boulding, Simon Ford and Terry Cooke, are all reported to have been made offers that they are thinking about.

According to the statement by club chairman, Peter Furneaux, Boulding and Ford have been offered substantially better terms to stay with the club but both have decided to think over the offers made to them.

The loss of Boulding and Ford would be a blow to the club and supporters alike, but Town can no longer rely on TV income to help shore up the wages bill and they still have to find ways to pay off the previous season's losses. They should not therefore increase the current offer to keep them at the club. If they are not prepared to sign, then the club should let them go without offering another penny.

With almost 25% of all footballers in England and Scotland expected to be released, due to the lack of TV money, clubs like Grimsby cannot allow players to name their own price. Some clubs are releasing key players simply to cut their wages bill and those players will have to accept massive wage cuts if they wish to remain in the game.

For clubs like Grimsby, this can be to their advantage. There will be a very wide selection of players available at cut-price wages and Paul Groves will be aware of that. Clubs who have a small budget will be able to obtain players that they previously could not afford and players who are not prepared to give their full, will find there are other players eager to take their place and might find themselves in the dole queue.

It is a buyers market and Paul Groves has already demonstrated his astuteness in the market place and, if Boulding and Ford do not make a decision soon, they might finish up being touted around the clubs in the hope of getting a job. Despite rumours, no firm offers have been made for either of them and although one can say that it is early days yet, if any club really wanted them, one would have expected them to have made a move before now.

This is a good opportunity for the club to lower its wages bill and improve the quality of the players in the squad and they should take full advantage of that. They still have to find a way to dispose of contracted players from the Lennie Lawrence era who are on high wages but did not figure greatly in the past season. Menno Willems, Paul Raven and Jonathan Rowan are three in particular.

Maybe Paul Groves should announce his retained list and wait a little longer to see who will become available and at what price before he commits himself to any new signings.

If there is some good coming out of the TV failure we should take full advantage of it.


If you have a rant or two and you would like the opportunity to air your views and opinions, Click here to submit them!



Add To Facebook


This site is by the fans, for the fans, and we will consider articles on any subject relating to the Mariners whether it be related to current news, a nostalgic look back in the past, a story about a player, a game or games in the past, something about Blundell Park or football in general. Click here to submit your article!


Related Stories


Forum Latest
Thread TitlePostsLatest Post
Youth players out on loan24Lincoln Mariner 5629/03 13:22
No Docks Stadium24Maringer29/03 13:21
Prediction Thread Barrow A42promotion plaice29/03 13:00
"Beat the Clock"  Barrow26WOZOFGRIMSBY29/03 11:34
David Artell Interview Dn35 Podcast22GrimPol29/03 10:36
Dn35 podcast drinking game7Yarborough Vaults29/03 07:44
TV Games/Upcoming Fixtures4SiteBot29/03 03:30
Just Back 170diehardmariner28/03 20:03
New Training Ground.!!57Sigone28/03 19:38
Bradford KO time?4JK4728/03 13:13