The Fishy - Grimsby Town FC



League Two Table

  PGDPts
1MK Dons45+4085
2Bromley45+2384
3Salford45+1080

4Cambridge Utd44+3078
5Grimsby45+2377
6Notts County44+2176
7Swindon45+1375

8Chesterfield44+1273
9Barnet44+1270
10Crewe44+866
11Oldham44+1465
12Walsall44+465
13Colchester44+1163
14Fleetwood Town44-159
15Bristol Rovers44-1358
16Accrington Stanley44-852
17Cheltenham44-1952
18Gillingham44-1650
19Shrewsbury44-2648
20Tranmere45-2440
21Crawley Town44-2438
22Newport County44-3137

23Barrow44-2936
24Harrogate Town44-3036

Full League Two Table
Prem|Champ|L1|L2|NL|NLN|NLS
SPL|SC|S1|S2

Follow the Fishy on Twitter
NewsNow logo

Question of the Week

Where will Grimsby finish?






Keep one handy!
Keep one handy!

Ch-ch-ch-ch, changes…

By: Chris Laishley
Date: 27/11/2009

I REALLY have no opinion on whether Woods is better than Newell. As far as I can see, they're both achieving the same result. I was, admittedly, flabbergasted that Woods was deemed to be deserving of the job, what with the manner of our 2-0 loss to Bath City.

However, I decided that I might be judging the man too harshly, and as such decided to rectify this by comparing our former boss with the new one.

How? Statistics, of course! You can prove anything with them. Not that I'm trying to prove anything, we're just having a bit of West Wing-style geekery here. Still, if that's not fun, I don't know WHAT is. So, Newell vs. Woods - statistically, who is better? Let's judge over the last seven results of each man. Here are the figures, with the averages at the end:

Newell - 7 games

Possession: 54 44 50 50 45 51 48 48.857% (average)
On goal: 6 15 11 3 5 12 14 63 (9 per game)
On target: 5 7 9 1 3 2 6 33 (4.714 per game)
Goals s: 2 1 2 0 2 1 0 8 (1.143 per game)
Goals c: 0 1 3 3 0 2 2 11 (1.571 per game)
Points: 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 (out of 18)
Wins: 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Draws: 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
Losses: 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 4
Cup wins: 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1

Neil Woods - 7 games

Possession: 55 48 57 40 63 50 52 52.142%
On goal: 8 9 8 13 2 4 10 54 (7.714)
On target: 5 6 5 6 1 1 2 26 (3.714)
Goals s: 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 4 (0.571)
Goals c: 3 2 2 3 0 0 3 13 (1.857)
Points: 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 3 (out of 15)
Wins: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Draws: 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 3
Losses: 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 4
Cup wins: 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

So, on this basis, Woods has done better on the possession front. Pretty much every other statistic, however, is worse than Newell's. This is where we REALLY have fun though. We take Newell's results and add an EIGHTH game to them, giving us the following:

Newell - 8 games

Possession: 49 54 44 50 50 45 51 48 48.875%
On goal: 8 6 15 11 3 5 12 14 74 (9.25)
On target: 5 5 7 9 1 3 2 6 38 (4.75)
Goals s: 1 2 1 2 0 2 1 0 9 (1.125)
Goals c: 0 0 1 3 3 0 2 2 11 (1.375)
Points: 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 (out of 21)
Wins: 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Draws: 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
Losses: 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 4
Cup wins: 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1

So, for Woods to statistically equal Newell's record as much as possible over this period (excluding goals conceded, obviously, which is impossible for Woods to rectify as it's already in excess of Newell's figure), the following must happen: Grimsby must beat Macclesfield by five goals, with 20 shots on goal (12 of which must be on target). Our possession must not dip below 26%, which I'm sure will be fairly easy.

But... hang on. There's an anomaly. Newell had one cup game in that period, Woods had two. So perhaps this is an unfair reflection? Okay, well, let's look at it again. Woods has had five league games in charge... let's see how that compares with Newell's record.

Newell - 5 league games

Possession: 44 50 50 51 48 48.6%
On goal: 15 11 3 12 14 55(11)
On target: 7 9 1 2 6 25(5)
Goals s: 1 2 0 1 0 4(0.8)
Goals c: 1 3 3 2 2 11(2.2)
Points: 1 0 0 0 0 1
Wins: 0 0 0 0 0 0
Draws: 1 0 0 0 0 1
Losses: 0 1 1 1 1 4
Cup wins: 0 0 0 0 0 0

Neil Woods - 5 league games

Possession: 55 48 63 50 52 53.6%
On goal: 8 9 2 4 10 33 (6.6)
On target: 5 6 1 1 2 15 (3)
Goals s: 1 2 0 0 0 3 (0.6)
Goals c: 3 2 0 0 3 8 (1.6)
Points: 0 1 1 1 0 3
Wins: 0 0 0 0 0 0
Draws: 0 1 1 1 0 3
Losses: 1 0 0 0 1 2

And now for that part we've all been waiting for: add Newell's SIXTH league game...

Newell - 6 league games

Possession: 54 44 50 50 51 48 49.5%
On goal: 6 15 11 3 12 14 61 (10.167)
On target: 5 7 9 1 2 6 30 (5)
Goals s: 2 1 2 0 1 0 6 (1)
Goals c: 0 1 3 3 2 2 11 (1.833)
Points: 3 1 0 0 0 0 4
Wins: 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
Draws: 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Losses: 0 0 1 1 1 1 4

...and there we have it. Judging purely on league performance, to statistically equal Newell's record, we have to secure a 3-3 draw, with 28 shots on goal, 15 of which must be on target. Our possession must not dip below 29%.

Of course, we don't WANT Neil to equal Newell, we want him to be better than his predecessor. However, purely on the basis of statistics, this is what Newell must do to at least be better than his predecessor over the same period in terms of number of matches played.

It's up to you which you choose: we either need to win 5-0 (for those of you choosing the 8-match comparison), or draw 3-3, for a statistical match.

To finish, some of you may be questioning why possession, goals scored and goals conceded were included. To answer this, it's to compare style of management. A lot has been said about how Town are more exciting to watch. Passing-wise this is certainly true, as can be seen in the increased possession rates under Woods. But under Newell, Grimsby had far more chances to score, and so naturally scored more. So which is better - increased possession, or number of chances?

Roll on Saturday when we find out, statistically, which boss is better!

Add To Facebook


This site is by the fans, for the fans, and we will consider articles on any subject relating to the Mariners whether it be related to current news, a nostalgic look back in the past, a story about a player, a game or games in the past, something about Blundell Park or football in general. Click here to submit your article!


Related Stories


Forum Latest
Thread TitlePostsLatest Post
Swindon Match Thread H 25.2666DB25/04 13:19
Promotion Place10chaos3325/04 12:47
It's in our own hands116chiangmaimariner25/04 11:54
Is BP the closest ground to the sea in the league?24Ganpati Goonerz25/04 11:40
Prediction Thread Swindon H 25.2641DB25/04 10:51
Holloway65MuddyWaters25/04 10:17
Today7BeijingMariner25/04 09:59
Ex-GTFC players thread5,023forza ivano25/04 07:54
TV Games/Upcoming Fixtures4SiteBot25/04 04:30
Summer Transfer Rumour thread182HerveJosse24/04 19:33

This Season and previous Seasons