there may have been truth in that factor as following the departure of his father from his managerial role in september 2000, buckley junior failed to be included in any of new manager's lennie lawrence's teams. with this he would not even make the grimsby substitute bench during the 2000–01, and to add to this he also struggled to hold down a place in the club's reserve team and in july 2001, his contract with grimsby was cancelled by mutual consent.