Grimsby Town will be reflecting on themselves a lot more this week as they attempt to break free from the negative cycle that has led them to their lowest point of the season.
At this point, the manager, the players, and even the owners are being questioned about their fairness, and the only way to stop this is to win football games.
Regarding the recent shows, one of the primary criticisms is the style David Artell is attempting to impose on his group. Upon his announcement as the new head coach, it was evident that he intended to drastically alter Town’s playing style, emphasizing control and possession more than ever.
While Paul Hurst’s teams continue to have a significant impact on season averages, goals conceded is currently the only statistic that supporters are genuinely interested in. More than any other team in the fourth division, Town has shipped 37 goals at home this season, with 21 of those coming from five games in 2024.
It’s partly a style issue, but Grimsby are unable to capitalize on the risks they take in possession, which leaves them exposed and disorganized at the back and gives the opponent easy opportunities and goals. The head coach, nevertheless, disagrees with that point of view only partially.
“I don’t think the issue is solely with the style,” Artell declared. We would have handled it five games ago if it was just that one issue, but I believe that is the simple response to give.
“There are different things that aren’t working at different stages of the game, and the problems vary depending on the type of opponent. It’s simpler to blame style since, in the match against Doncaster, we asked the players to be a little more realistic, which meant that some passes would be longer.
“I don’t think it is the main issue; it doesn’t imply we wanted them to hammer the ball up the pitch. The first half’s action after the first seven minutes demonstrated our style of play.
“It’s not so much related to that or the style of play we are working on; we changed formation after we fell behind 3-1, and it made it worse since we hadn’t worked as much on that as we had other formations.
“You have to persevere through all game situations, but sadly, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot far too often, which hurts us too much to the point where we give up.” That is something we must immediately address.
There is a lot of work for Artell to do to get things working consistently since the vicious loop of giving up goals and then going against the game plan is hurting performances and not yielding positive results.
