NEW manager, new formation, same old problems. If anyone expected Lennie Lawrence to generate instant success at Blundell Park they were sorely mistaken.

The new Mariners' regime, who took control of the club last December, decided after just two games - a home defeat by Preston and a draw at Portsmouth - that Alan Buckley was not the man for the job!

Lawrence's first match in charge ended in a 2-0 defeat at Crewe!

Not that anyone expected the former Luton boss to wave a magic wand and make everything right. He doesn't have the resources to make wholesale changes - hence the need to look for loan deals on the home market, Bosman 'rejects' from abroad and trialists from far and wide.

He has been trying desperately in recent days to find a young striker to borrow from a Premiership club and is planning to run the rule this week over a Spanish centre-back, a goalkeeper from New Zealand and a German striker.

All pretty routine stuff for cash-strapped managers.

But Lawrence has at least shown a variety in his tactical approach, which suggests that the Mariners might become more of an attacking force than they were - even after the sale of last season's top scorer Lee Ashcroft.

Buckley had been a dyed in the wool 4-4-2 man but Lawrence has introduced a 3-5-2 system, switching Steve Livingstone from back to front to play alongside Bradley Allen and using either Kingsley Black or Michael Jeffrey in 'the hole' as a support striker.

There has been talk of 'new money' at Grimsby but no evidence as yet of that cash making an impact on the team.

Many of the familiar names - players with long associations with Buckley - are still around: the ubiquitous Paul Groves, David Smith, Stacy Coldicott and John McDermott being joined in the summer by Paul Raven from West Brom and rejoined by Peter Handyside who is back in harness with his fingers crossed after spending 16 months out of the first team picture with an ankle problem.

The Buckley style certainly suited Wanderers last season when they did the 'treble' over Grimsby. They won both league games (1-0 at the Reebok, 2-0 at Blundell Park) and a fourth round FA Cup tie (2-0 away).

Mariners fans will be hoping Lawrence's tactical approach will stop that particular rot.