'Fans are entitled to their opinions. I’m not the judge or jury for fans’ reactions. I’m sure they are frustrated because I’m frustrated'

David Artell does not begrudge the reaction of some Grimsby Town fans following their latest defeat as he focuses on putting things right.

The Mariners boss was asked how he felt about pockets of the Blundell Park crowd booing his team at half-time and full-time of their 2-0 defeat to Northampton Town at the weekend.

It was a fourth straight league defeat for Town, the first time that has happened in Artell’s tenure at the club, which will be a three-year stint come the start of next month.

Artell, in a way, is a victim of his own success in this scenario, because while fans would never enjoy four straight defeats under any circumstances, the expectations have undoubtedly been raised by the team's progress during his time.

It is acceptable for the supporters to expect more of the team at this stage, though, and Artell is experienced enough as a head coach to know that challenging that perspective will not do his position or the team’s any good.

In reaction to the boos, he professed: “Fans are entitled to their opinions. I’m not the judge or jury for fans’ reactions. I’m sure they are frustrated because I’m frustrated.

“We all are. If that comes out in booing, I accept that. I thought the lads showed unbelievable character and experience to stick at it after what happened to their team-mate.

“The really disappointing thing is that we haven’t scored a goal, because we deserved at least one, if not two, but things at the moment are not really going for us.

“Maybe one or two are feeling a bit sorry for themselves, and I understand that, considering what happened to a teammate in the game [Edon Pruti’s injury]. Goals change games, and we gave away two soft ones and didn’t take our chances.”

Life goes on, and Town have another game to play this evening at Rochdale, where all can be forgiven, but first they would have addressed the issues from the weekend as succinctly as they could in a short time frame.

They were hustled by Northampton for a large part of the first half and could have been out of the game before they even got going. What happened after, in terms of missed chances, is what frustrated Artell the most, but the team also need to rediscover their confidence in playing through a press.

Artell analysed: “When the opposition play a box, and it’s four against three in the middle of the pitch, it’s difficult. You’re a man down, so you have to try and control the game in other areas, but we didn’t do that well enough.

“They kept getting us so it looks like what the fans have seen, but it’s not an individual thing, it’s a team thing, and we have to make sure we aren’t overloaded in the middle of the pitch, and that comes from tactical nuance and understanding.

“We were getting overrun in the first 20 minutes, and we turned the ball over too easily, sometimes in really dangerous areas, and that’s on us.

“We have to be more tactically aware and not as naive. Once we corrected it, we were the better team. Is the dye already set? The mentality of the players, the fans, to say this is already done or a load of rubbish? Possibly, but what I saw was great grit and resilience, certainly in the last half hour in trying circumstances.”

The only thing that can truly change the mentality of the majority of supporters are results, as Artell is long past the point of being able to use the ‘I just got here’ card. This is his team in every sense, and he now has to find a way to lift them.