Grimsby Town

Grimsby hand extension to Jarman
Grimsby have handed striker Nathan Jarman a contract extension to keep him at Blundell Park "into the New Year". The 21-year-old former Barnsley man has been on a month-to-month contract with the Mariners, and has made two substitute appearances so far. Boss Alan Buckley is poised to make Walsall striker Martin Butler's loan spell permanent when the transfer window reopens on 1 January. And he also hopes to extend defender Rob Atkinson's loan from Barnsley.

Walsall confirm Brittain signing
Walsall have signed former Newcastle and Ipswich midfielder Martin Brittain on a short-term contract. The 23-year-old started this season with Carlisle United before having a brief spell with Scunthorpe. "Martin fits our profile perfectly. He's young, has pedigree and has had a good upbringing," manager Richard Money told his club's website. Meanwhile, striker Martin Butler, 33, has completed a move to Grimsby Town following an initial three-month loan.

Buckley unhappy with performance
Grimsby manager Alan Buckley was angry with his players for their first half display in the goalless draw away to struggling Dagenham & Redbridge. "We were dire in the first half and I had some words at half-time," he said. "We kept punting the ball back to them. We work all week passing and moving but I didn't see any of that in evidence in the first half. "We started the second half brightly but they came back into it and we had to dig in to come away with a point."

Striker North lands January award
Grimsby Town forward Danny North has been named the League Two player of the month for January. North scored four goals in five games to help the Mariners take 11 points and reach the Northern Area final of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. The homegrown 20-year-old scored twice against Chesterfield and also netted against Wrexham and Shrewsbury. Brentford's Glenn Poole, Tommy Wright of Darlington and Leeds' ex-Stockport man Anthony Elding were also nominated.

Grimsby boosted by Wembley cash
Grimsby chairman John Fenty has revealed that reaching the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final at Wembley has netted the club around £400,000. The Mariners have been given roughly 25,000 tickets for their 30 March Wembley date against MK Dons. Fenty told SSB: "Broadly speaking this competition from start to finish is probably going to be worth around £400,000. "Wembley will bring enormous new income streams to the football club." Fenty said the money is massive for the club and the town of Grimsby. "We are all very, very proud of what the team's done and what the football club has achieved. "The town is buzzing and the football club is once again on the map and we are delighted to say that." Town have been given the East side of Wembley stadium, and will be allowed to wear their home black and white strip after the Football League ruled that it would not clash with MK Dons' home strip.

Buckley angry at Grimsby showing
Grimsby Town boss Alan Buckley says his players have harmed their chance of breaking into his side for the JP Trophy final at Wembley next Sunday. Town were beaten 2-1 by Brentford at Blundell Park and Buckley was furious at a poor second-half showing. He said: "As far as Wembley goes - who would pick a team on that performance? "They can work hard in the week and, while I might have a Wembley team in mind, I don't think many players have enhanced their chances of playing." The Mariners led through Danny North's first-half goal against the Bees but gifted Brentford the points with a woeful showing after the break. The result has dented Town's League Two play-off hopes and Buckley was in no mood to pull his punches. "I told the boys at half-time they had to raise their game 20% and within five minutes of the restart we hadn't - we'd lost 30%," he said. "My eyes haven't been on Wembley because I wanted to win this game. "In the last few weeks the door (to get into the play-offs) has come from slightly ajar to further ajar and I knew with a win against Brentford it could have opened a bit further. "But it didn't seem as though the players understood that." The Mariners next game will be at Wembley in the final of the JP Trophy against the MK Dons. Buckley added: "I think since we got through to Wembley we haven't been the force we were."

Mariners sign midfielder on loan
Grimsby Town have signed Barnsley midfielder Simon Heslop on a three-month loan deal. The 21-year-old spent most of last season at Halifax, scoring five goals in 30 appearances, but has made just one appearance for the Tykes. "He is a bit of everything, a box-to-box player," Mariners boss Alan Buckley told BBC Radio Humberside. "He's got a good chance of starting next week if he impresses in training." Heslop started out at Barnsley's football academy as a 17-year-old before being transferred to Kidderminster Harriers on a permanent basis in August 2005. He was back at Oakwell five months later however, but made just one appearance as a substitute for the Tykes. Heslop has played at non-league level with three different clubs on loan having had spells at Tamworth, Northwich and Halifax in the last two seasons. And Buckley admitted the York-born player may not be his last signing this summer. "It was important we did something and something else might pop up." he added.

Sacking no shock to Grimsby fans
The chairman of Grimsby Town's supporters trust Dave Otter says there was a certain amount of inevitability over the sacking of Alan Buckley. The Mariners dismissed the veteran manager after failing to win any of their opening six league games of the new League Two season. Otter told Look North: "I'm very saddened but hardly surprised. "We haven't won a league game for six months and sooner or later something had to give." The Mariners have gained only two points from a possible 18 since the start of the season. They are only out of the relegation places courtesy of huge points deductions to Luton Town and Bournemouth. But despite that, Otter believes finding a new manager will not be a problem. He added: "There are lots and lots of people who want to manage football clubs and there will always be a long list of potential candidates, but the difficulty is getting some quality out of that."

Grimsby try to bring in new faces
Grimsby caretaker boss Stuart Watkiss has been trying to bring in new players even though the League Two club are without a manager. Watkiss, who took charge of Town in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Morecambe, has made enquiries about some players but will not be drawn on names. Watkiss told BBC Radio Humberside: "Ideally the way I want to play the game is to play at high tempo. "In order to do that you need people that can get about." He is still one of the names in the frame to take over from the dismissed Alan Buckley as manager. He added: "If it goes my way I'll be very honoured and very proud to be Grimsby Town manager. If the chairman decides I'm to be number two, there'll be no sulking from me. I won't spit my dummy out." Commercial manager Dave Smith told the BBC that there was no announcement expected on the identity of the new manager.

Newell takes over as Grimsby boss
League Two strugglers Grimsby have named Mike Newell as their new manager. The former Luton Town and Hartlepool boss takes over from Stuart Watkiss, who has been in caretaker charge at Blundell Park. Newell said he never had any fears that he would not get another job after exposing corruption in the game. He told Radio Humberside: "I didn't have a fear. Short-term it didn't do me any favours but I always thought long-term I would get back into the game." He added: "I thought there would be plenty of football clubs and plenty of football people who would like me to work for them. "I watched them on Saturday at Rotherham and for a team in the position they're in I was pleasantly surprised." Newell arrives to find the club fourth from the bottom of the table having collected only three points so far and his first match is against Scunthorpe in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

Grimsby agree to Butler release
Grimsby Town have released striker Martin Butler from the remaining six months of his contract with the club. Butler, 34, had been concerned about the 350-mile round trip he had to make from his home several times a week. Mariners manager Mike Newell told Radio Humberside: "It was a situation I inherited and needed addressing sooner rather than later". Butler joined Grimsby on-loan from Walsall in October of last year and made the move permanent in January. It was always known the striker was making the long trip from his hometown of Worcester, but the journeys became increasingly unmanageable because he was contractually obligated to attend a minimum of two training sessions per week. Butler's last appearance for the club came in the 4-1 defeat away to Blackburn Rovers in the Carling Cup at the end of August. Newell claimed the decision to let him leave was an easy one to make. "If you've got a high opinion of yourself you'd think you could work around the situation and maybe get the best out of him. "I'm not one of those with a big ego and I don't think I'd have had any more joy than the last manager had with that situation. "Thankfully the chairman and the club have helped make it easy as I wanted to do it straight away," Newell added.

Oldham's Kalala back at Grimsby
Grimsby Town have re-signed Oldham midfielder JP Kalala on a two-month loan, with a view to a permanent move. The DR Congo international followed former Mariners manager Russell Slade to Yeovil in the summer of 2006 before moving to Oldham a year later. Grimsby fans will have fond memories of the 26-year old after he scored a sensational winner in their League Cup win over Spurs in 2006. The ex-Nice playmaker played 25 times for Town, scoring six goals. He played 42 times for Yeovil but only found the net on one occasion. Meanwhile, the last of his 26 games for Oldham took place on 15 March, a 3-0 defeat at Luton, and he has since found himself out of manager John Sheridan's plans.

Newell targets Grimsby signings
Grimsby Town manager Mike Newell hopes the addition of new players will kick-start his side's League Two campaign. The Mariners have not won for 21 games and they are the only side in the Football League yet to win a game so far this season. Newell told Radio Humberside: "If I can add another one, maybe two, then maybe we can start to get a result." Loan signings Jean Paul Kalala and Rob Atkinson made their debuts on Saturday but Grimsby went on to lose 2-1. Despite the defeat, Newell was pleased with the way his two new players performed. "I think that the two lads that have come in have had good debuts. They've made a difference and that will help us in the weeks to come. "Rob's performance was very good and Jean Paul has done everything that people know he can do, plus the goal."

Grimsby sign Quakers' Proudlock
Grimsby Town have signed Darlington striker Adam Proudlock on a two-month loan deal. The 27-year-old has played 11 times for the Quakers this season, including Tuesday's Johnstone's Paint Trophy victory over Bury. He told BBC Look North: "Hopefully I can add the goals and get the points and move up the table." The Quakers have given the Mariners permission to play him in the FA Cup against Morecambe. Proudlock, who started his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers, joined Darlington from Stockport at the end of last season. He added: "The training looked sharp. I don't think there is a lack of confidence, they just need to get a win."

Fowler holds talks with Grimsby
Grimsby chairman John Fenty says the Mariners have held provisional talks with former England star Robbie Fowler about a possible player-coach role. The 33-year-old striker is currently at Blackburn on a three-month "pay-as-you-play" contract which expires at the end of December. "There is a real chance he'll get an extension at Blackburn," said Fenty. "But if that doesn't happen there is a glimmer of a chance that he might come to Grimsby." The former Liverpool and Leeds forward spent last season with Cardiff and was in the squad that reached the FA Cup final. But Fowler, who has a long-standing friendship with Mariners boss Mike Newell, has no previous coaching experience "A couple of weeks ago the manager had some discussions with Robbie and then asked me if we could potentially take it forward for Robbie to come in in a playing/coaching capacity," added Fenty. "In truth we were trying to avoid this becoming a public issue but I think I needed to clarify the situation." Fowler is the fourth highest goalscorer in Premier League history, with 161 goals in the top flight to his name. Grimsby are 22nd in the League Two table, with only Bournemouth and Luton beneath them.

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