Grimsby Town appointed Russell Slade and Paul Wilkinson on April 12th, 2017. it came on the back of a disappointing start to their life as a Football League club after six years in the National League.

Paul Hurst left them following promotion and they turned to Marcus Bignot who struggled to impress his ethos on the club. That led them back to Slade, a previous manager of the Mariners who had also had extensive experience further up the divisions.

 

Fans seemed to be divided at the time. Some were delighted to see an experience manager back at the helm following the Bignot experiment. Others felt that he might be driven from the club after Paul Hurst left as an unpopular figure with some.

As when any new face comes in, the positivity seemed to take precedent though. One poster hoped that the picture would have a trophy in it the following year, another called it a good solid appointment. Both were wrong.

Another person, rather tongue-in-cheek, commented that Slade would be sacked within six months. That was closer to the truth as the former Orient manager struggled for a second spell.

His side flirted with relegation in 2017/18, failing to win a game from December 9th until Slade was sacked on February 11th. The threat of another stay in the National league seemed very real, but Michael Jolley came in and won four of his last five matches to secure their league status.

Many of these fans were delighted that a proven manager had parked his car at Blundell Park, but history has proven them to be wrong.