The King is Dead! Long Live the King!

By: Dave Boylen
Date: 09/11/2006

I am not going to comment too much on the departure of loyal servant Graham Rodger from the managerial role at Blundell Park except to say that the players badly let him down in the second half against MK Dons.

It was obvious that Town Chairman John Fenty and his board had to act to put the Football Club back on the right line just to even stay in the league.

In my mind Graham had got some good players together at the club, had been unlucky with injuries, did not get the breaks at the right time, and let in far too many goals without being able to reply at the opposite end - mainly because of injuries to his three main strikers: Reddy, Cohen and Rankin. The signs were on the wall and as much has I wanted Graham to succeed, we were too inconsistent.

So what do I think about the new manager Alan Buckley?

Once I accepted that Graham had been dismissed to me there was only one person who could do the job, and he only resides in Waltham. Step forward Alan Buckley. The guy can be awkward at times, but he also has got a great passion for Grimsby Town. Alan is the most successful manager Grimsby Town have ever had, players did not dare cross him. Although small in stature he stood up to some of the biggest footballers ever seen at Blundell Park. Talk about hairdryer, Alan comes from the school of Brian Clough and Sir Alex Ferguson - full of passion and motivation: just watch him on the touchline next home game against Accrington.

The players have certainly got a surprise in store for them when Alan finally settles in at Blundell Park. If Town get a bad result on a Saturday there is no such thing as Sunday being a rest day, not with Alan. Sunday is the time to sort out what went wrong out on the football pitch, and he does not care whether you live Sheffield or Grimsby, you have got to report at 9 o'clock in the morning.

I know for a fact that while Alan has not been in the game he has been scouting for different friends all over the country, scouring for players in nearly every division, so he has already got a good portfolio of players to go at. Hopefully players that might fit the bill for Town.

It sure is in my opinion the right decision to appoint Alan Buckley to be the new Town boss. We need to move up that league very quickly and Alan Buckley is the man to take us in the right direction.

See Dave's other articles

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