The January transfer window was eventful, to say the least for new Grimsby Town boss Paul Hurst, who inherited a low on confidence and truly woeful Mariners’ side who finds themselves 23rd in League Two and firmly in the relegation zone.
Grimsby Invest Heavily in the Transfer Market
New Manager Makes Nine New Signings in Overhaul of Squad
Hurst managed to make a total of nine signings over the winter window making three of these nine signings on deadline day. Joe Bunney, Joseph Adams, and former Mariner Lennell John-Lewis the trio signed on deadline day. With all the new additions brought in over the past month, Hurst is now able to play an almost completely new side for this weekend’s clash against an out of form Newport County side, who will be looking to get their season back on track with three points against a struggling Grimsby side.
The new signings include Jake Eastwood, Sam Habergham, Rollin Menayese, Jay Matete, Idris El Mizouni and Stefan Payne.
New Signings On and Off The Pitch After Fans Make Voices Heard
If you’re not involved in the drama this season surrounding Grimsby, to cut a long story short, in the past few months former manager Ian Holloway put together a very weak side which in the first half of this season only managed to win five league matches in total between August and Holloway’s departure on the 23rd of December. Not only have the on-field performance been poor to put it lightly, but the major shareholder, John Fenty has been spotted at Blundell Park attempting to strike business with a convicted fraudster Alex May who was supposedly interested in buying shares in the North East Lincolnshire side.
Soon after this, there was a fan rebellion on social media and in the following two months John Fenty had stepped down from his role within the local council and new owners who go by the names: Tom Shutes, Jason Stockwood and Andrew Petit. The trio has agreed to purchase the club and pay off Mr Fenty’s loan payments also.
Ian Holloway Sacked
Holloway departed the club by mutual consent on the 23rd of December stating that the reason for his departure was: “as I said recently, I intend to be fully honest with you, the supporters.
“Contact was made by the new owners to me on several occasions before the takeover, which I felt was inappropriate, and told them as such.
“This is the key factor in my decision. Why? The relationship between the incoming new owners, board and manager is so so important.
“It needs to be strong for a club to succeed, and we got off on the wrong footing. Therefore, that relationship will be strained from the off, which is bad for the club.”
Whether you believe the reasoning behind Ian Holloway’s departure from the club or not, Grimsby was left without a manager and an incredibly low on confidence side struggling to stay in the Football League with a very important run of games coming up which could determine their Football Lague status.
In the following weeks, Grimsby played teams around them in Morecambe, Oldham Athletic, Cambridge United, Port Vale, Southend United and local rivals Scunthorpe United and only managed to pick up two points out of all them games, both being 0-0 draws.
Can Paul Hurst Change Their Fortunes?
The team desperately needed fresh faces as many of the players simply aren’t good enough to play in the Football League. Whether the new signings will make a meaningful impact is yet to be seen, however, the fans must get behind Hurst and his players now more than ever and hope that the players and manager can pull the club out of the dire situation that they find themselves in.
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