Manager of Grimsby Town David Artell has urged his team to start playing after suffering yet another heartbreaking loss yesterday afternoon.
At Blundell Park, the Mariners welcomed fellow struggling team Doncaster Rovers, but Grant McCann’s team emerged victorious 5-1, sending the Mariners home with yet another crushing defeat. As a result, they dropped to 22nd place in the League Two standings, six points ahead of 23rd-place Forest Green Rovers.
Although the gap is far from comfortable, it does give Grimsby some breathing space and they have also played less games than the two teams below them. However, that will count for nothing unless they can start picking up some points.
Artell is yet to celebrate a win this year, with their last victory coming against Salford City on December 29th. It’s their home form which is particularly worrying though, with five goals or more having been conceded in three of their last five outings in front of their own supporter
Yesterday, Doncaster scored twice in the first ten minutes of play, but the hosts equalised through a penalty kick from Danny Rose. However, the manager thought that his team lost the opportunity to build on their momentum. The 43-year-old, in an interview with Grimsby Live following the game, stated:
“(Doncaster) scored a very good first goal and that happens. We then conceded a quick goal which knocked us. Then for the rest of that first half, we were comfortably the better side. Even their staff said the same thing
“We got a goal and should have been 3-2 in front. You got in 2-1 and we are still in the game. Really in it. And that’s the first half. We go out and concede again after six minutes and that knocked the stuffing out of us. It’s not the first time that’s happened.
“We have to understand that teams are trying to knock the stuffing out of us. It doesn’t have to be fatal. That’s football and that’s life. People will try and knock you down. The question is, do you get back up? Some of our lads found that difficult after the third goal.”
Artell continued, warning his side that they need to think of those within the club when they step foot on the pitch:
“I can fully understand (the fans’) frustrations. I feel like I can just repeat what I said last week (after Stockport). We don’t work in training to perform like that and it is as simple as that.
“I’ve got to get more out of them and the players have got to get more out of themselves. I told them that if they don’t want to do it for themselves, which I’m sure they do, or they don’t want to do it for each other, or me, then do it for the kid in the academy who dreamt of being where they are.
“Do it for the staff, that if the oblivion happens, lose their jobs, because that is what is looming over the hill. We’ve got 15 games to go, a third of the season, and we’ve got to make sure we don’t perform like that ever again because it has become the norm at home.”
Next weekend, Grimsby will visit the highly competitive Morecambe team, followed by a possible six-point match against Forest Green early in the following month.
Writer’s View
Following their 2022 promotion from the National League, Grimsby concluded the previous season in a creditable 11th place in League Two. Though the exact opposite has happened, there would have been hope to continue from there and contend for a spot in the top seven.
A lot could depend on the Mariners’ encounter with Forest Green in two weeks. They will be hoping that their six-point deficit will be sufficient to keep them in the league. But Steve Cotterill is a results-driven man, and he has the ability to cause David Artell even more suffering.
