Recruitment will be strategic, not relying on luck to survive
GSTOCKWOOD SPELLS OUT GRIMSBY’S PHILOSOPHY FOR THE FUTURE
RIMSBY Town co-owner and chairman Jason Stockwood believes the data-led approach is the best way forward for the club, emphasising how it can inform their recruitment choices.
The Mariners know as a club that they have to get this summer right in terms of signings and preparation to avoid the same situation they have found themselves in. Stockwood believes a full commitment to using “data models and recruitment intelligence” is the answer.
In his latest column for the Guardian, Stockwood provided much-needed context for supporters on why this season unfolded as it did.
The main reason given was that they did not fully integrate the owner-set strategy and game model they had developed in the offseason, instead allowing the previous management team to continue recruiting players in their way.
That led to a lack of clarity among the squad in terms of what their roles were in the team and how the pieces were going to fit together in terms of the general play style, and that directly contributed to the poor performance throughout the season.
David Artell came in mid-season and soon realised that a simplified message was needed to get the team over the line in terms of merely surviving in League Two. However, he is now fully committed to incorporating the preferred game model and data-led recruitment strategy. Grimsby’s head coach has spoken recently about wanting to be a part of a collaborative effort when it comes to recruitment.
He has that now, and the club have a head coach who is committed to a plan that does not completely revolve around his decisions as it might have done previously, which Stockwood developed further in his Guardian piece.
Stockwood wrote in his column: “We lacked a defined game model [this season], leaving recruitment decisions to the management team without a clear, owner-set strategy. “Although we recruited technically superior players, their potential was undercut by a lack of clarity on their roles. “Moving forward, recruitment will be strategic, adhering to this model rather than relying on luck each year or hoping that there are two teams worse than us.
“While the previous approach might work in another context, I don’t believe it’s viable in the Football League, and it certainly won’t be the way we operate while we are at Grimsby Town FC.” Overall, there seems to be much more certainty from the off on how the club are going to approach things moving forward, at least on the surface.
We will not know if it is the right way forward until the next campaign comes around, and Artell has the squad that he and the club want to enforce a proper game plan.