Following the dismissal of Mike Newell, Youth Team Coach and former player Neil Woods was given the role of caretaker manager, chosen ahead of assistant manager Brian Stein. After six games in charge (including a defeat at home to Bath City in the FA Cup), none of which were won, Neil Woods was controversially made permanent manager on 23 November 2009. The other main candidate for the job was former boss Russell Slade, but the board decided upon Woods ahead of Slade. Almost immediately Woods was dealt a blow when the club decided to do a U-turn and sell captain Ryan Bennett to Peterborough United for £500,000 despite rejecting this offer in the summer and the player only recently signing a new four-year deal. Next to leave was Brian Stein, who was brought to the club by previous manager Newell. His replacement as assistant manager would be former Bury manager Chris Casper. Grimsby continued to show no signs of improvement under Woods and Casper and Town would find themselves being dragged into a second successive relegation battle. By the end of 2009, Grimsby had won 3, drawn 8 and lost 12 in the league.