Manager : Graham Rodger

Key Player : Gary Jones

Tipped by many for : Playoff push

Last Season : Grimsby had their first good season in ages and were just 30 seconds from automatic promotion before eventually failing in the playoffs. They got off to a great start, winning 7 of their opening 11 league fixtures and beating a club record for consecutive away wins in the process and throughout the season, their away form was great but it was their home form that cost them promotion. From the top half of the table, only Bristol Rovers lost more games at home but ironically, they were the only side who won their home leg of the playoffs…..against the Imps. They lost to Cheltenham in the final with a fluke goal from Steve Guinan.

This season : Grimsby have lost some of their best players including Mildenhall and Rob Jones and the loss of talent like that, as well as Russell Slade’s departure, could prove to be the reason why Grimsby don’t make the playoffs again. Although they still have some good players in the squad such as Michael Reddy or Gary Jones, many Grimsby fans are far from optimistic about their chances this season and many are criticising the club’s decision to promote Graham Rodger to manager and seemingly make no effort to find an alternative manager. Grimsby will never be in danger of relegation during the season but whether they can maintain a promotion push seems highly unlikely.

They’ll do better if: They don’t sell their proven goalscorers (Reddy and Jones)

Prediction : 12^th, I get the feeling that Grimsby will struggle to separate themselves from the also-rans this season and the loss of players such as Jones may ultimately be decisive.

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