Once Grimsby Town decide who the ideal candidate is to take the managerial hot seat next, there will be a lot for them to address within the team to try and turn things around.
With the team in the position they are in currently, it might be easy to pick out the areas that need looking into, but actually coming up with the solutions to those problems will require the right person in the job to see that things are improved.
There are questions about team selection, style of play and future transfer plans that will have to be answered quickly after the appointment of a new manager or head coach is completed, some of which we have picked out here.
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Goalkeeper selection
You simply can not be a successful team without having a goalkeeper that you are confident in, and unfortunately, after a decent start, things have unravelled for Jake Eastwood in goal, which ultimately saw him dropped for Paul Hurst’s final game in charge.
Town could easily be on the lookout for another goalkeeper in January, depending on whatever the new appointment’s assessment is of the current options, with Harvey Cartwright coming in on Saturday and doing a decent job while not being tested a huge amount.
Eastwood’s save percentage of 59.3% is one of the lowest amongst League Two goalkeepers, and he managed just three clean sheets in his 15 league games so far, which is also down to the team’s defending, but it does tell part of the goalkeeping story so far.
Defensive issues
Seamlessly transitioning from the goalkeeper debate, confidence is likely to be at an all-time low amongst the defenders in the group with the team really struggling to keep the ball out of the net recently.
Town have conceded three goals in a league game on five occasions this term and have not kept a clean sheet since their win at home to Gillingham at the start of September. It does not take a rocket scientist to decipher that conceding at such a rate makes it difficult to win or even draw games in the Mariners’ case.
Town need to try and settle on a back line that they are going to commit to, and the new manager has to try and reinstil some belief in the team from a defensive standpoint, as a good defensive record is the foundation of most successful teams.
Attacking set up
What is the best way for Town to set up at the top of the pitch? It is hard to say whether there is a clear answer to that 16 games into the league season due to a variety of reasons.
Hurst was unlucky with injuries at the start of the campaign, which prevented him from being able to blood in the full attacking complement he had recruited in the summer, some of whom have shown great promise.
Danny Rose, with proper service, looks a good striker for the level with great experience, and Donovan Wilson has scored a goal every other game in the league since returning from injury. On the wings, there are still questions, Abo Eisa made a flying start goalscoring-wise but has been inconsistent with his performances as of late, and the man on the opposite side from him has constantly changed.
Charles Vernam continues to recover from a long-term injury, with Otis Khan recently returning from one to rotate with the likes of Arthur Gnahoua and Harry Clifton at times.
Establish a clear playing identity
This is not something that can be done overnight and is something that will require patience from all involved for the person or people that the club decide to bring in over the coming weeks.
The identity of Hurst’s team off the ball has been pretty clear, he wants his team to press high up the pitch and turnover possession in dangerous areas, which the team have continued to do well this year.
However, they have not made the most of the chances they have created by doing that, and it is hard to say how Hurst wanted his team to play with the ball this season. Grimsby have controlled more possession on average this term, but have not been creative with the ball and have not been able to establish themselves as a good footballing team.
If the club can bring in a high-quality coach with fresh ideas, then hopefully this identity issue will be addressed as quickly as possible, but that might require at least one transfer window to start building the parts that will form the new system.
Assess weaker areas for the next window
All the points above feed into this last one in some way because, to begin with, the chosen candidate will have to work with what is already there to address these issues, but over time, it may become clear that improvements are needed.
January is often a difficult window to make genuine form-altering changes to a team, but it will open a window for fans to see what direction the team will go in under new leadership and will hopefully at least provide short-term solutions to this season’s current problems.
No doubt the owners will back their new appointment as much as they possibly can, as they did with Hurst, and that will be key depending on how these next two months of football go for Town.
Original story at https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/sport/