Mariners need to find elusive consistency
HOME FORM IS TOWN’S PRIME CONCERNN
GRIMSBY Town’s battle for consistency continues after another disappointing result on home turf at the weekend in an issue that has quickly become a real head-scratcher for Paul Hurst.
The Mariners looked a shell of what they are truly capable of in their latest league defeat against Doncaster Rovers, which is now their third on the bounce and has seen them quickly slip into midtable mediocrity in League Two.
The performances and results at Blundell Park must be a real worry for Hurst, with his side managing just one win from seven on home soil in the league.
Town’s home form last season was critical too in securing their eventual promotion to the National League and will quickly become crucial for the wrong reasons if they cannot up their performance levels.
After suffering just one defeat from their opening eight league games, the nine matches that have followed that in the league have produced five defeats.
Amongst those five defeats, the Mariners have pulled the rabbit out of the hat on the odd occasion to show supporters that they are better than the losses show.
Witnessing a brilliant counterattacking display away at Stockport County and a ruthless demolition of League One leaders Plymouth in the FA Cup ultimately have some confused as to how Grimsby can stoop as low as they did in the Doncaster defeat when it is clear they are capable of great things.
On the flip side, league football is all about runs; winning streaks happen, as do losing streaks to the best of teams.
It happened to Town last season at almost the same point in the campaign, and they eventually rallied to ensure the club regained its Football League status at the first time of asking.
It is certainly not time to panic; the start the team made still leaves them well clear of slipping into a struggle at the wrong end of the table, and with star player John McAtee back in the fray, Town have regained a key piece to their attacking puzzle.
Despite expectations typically being lower for newly-promoted teams, Hurst and his coaching staff have tried to create a winning culture and set high standards for the team through hard work on the training pitch to then apply to the matches.
However, by the manager’s own admission, the team have let those standards slip too often in this recent run, and tactically speaking, Hurst has not always got it right.
When you combine those two things, defeats are inevitable.
Faith should remain that this squad of players can dig themselves out of the small rut they find themselves experiencing in the league currently, but it is going to take more than belief to do so with more difficult games rapidly approaching.