Scunthorpe United have had a dreadful start to the season, picking up just one point from their opening five League Two fixtures and currently sit bottom of the entire EFL.
Despite making eleven signings over the summer, the terrible form that relegated the Iron out of League One is continuing in League Two, and Scunthorpe fans are rightly worried at the club’s plight.
Central to their concerns is the ability of manager Paul Hurst to turn things around. Appointed at the end of last season, Hurst came to Scunthorpe with a mixed record of eye-catching success at Shrewsbury and neighbours Grimsby Town but recent failure in the Championship at Ipswich.
Initial enthusiasm at his appointment has quickly subsided with his uninspiring press interviews, and failure to stop the rot not endearing him to Iron supporters who are desperate for some success and stability in the manager’s office after seeing Nick Daws, Stuart McCall and Andy Dawson all have unsuccessful cracks at the job last season.
If this wasn’t concern enough, then a very public spat with one of the better players in the squad is far from ideal. Adam Hammill hasn’t featured for the Iron since his substitution after half an hour during the defeat by Cambridge United in Scunthorpe’s third game of the current campaign. A show of petulance at the decision did not impress Hurst, who publicly called out the midfielder after the match, hinting he could well have played his last game for the club. The under-fire boss then went on to explain to the Grimsby Telegraph the reasons for Hammill’s omission from the squad for the next match against Macclesfield. In a comment that suggests broader issues, he said: ‘I have just been disappointed with a few things since he has been here and, in the end, things have come to a head, and that is why I left him at home.’
Many fans expected the imminent departure of Hammill but Deadline Day came and went and to the surprise of many he’s still at Glanford Park.
While the experienced former Barnsley man may have his critics, there is little doubt that a fit, firing and motivated Hammill has the talent and ability to unlock League Two defences. For this reason, Hurst needs to swallow his pride and bury the hatchet. Man management skills of the highest order are needed to get him back on the pitch, or Hurst’s own days at Glanford Park might be numbered, and a career that once offered so much promise might well be irreparably damaged.
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