So, I am no longer able to go to games with any regularity so interested in hearing the thoughts of those who go.

Challinor was, to be fair, an excellent manager. Personally, I look at a league and think there are probably around 20 managers who are similar in terms of management ability - they'll probably put in the same amount of research etc ahead of a game and just all be of a similar standard tactically/man management....then you have a couple who are pretty dire but conversely a couple who are clearly destined for greater success. Challinor was and is one of those in the destined for greater things category (in my opinion). Featherstone said as much when we were searching for a new boss (about the standards set by Challinor and how he wants a new manager to set similar standards).

So with the above in mind I was very concerned when we appointed Lee. It seemed to me to be another gamble (to go with the many others over the years) because he has no track record - potential? yes, loyalty? hopefully yes (is this where Challinor was lacking? we'll probably never know as he said there were factors involved in his move that he couldn't divulge) but no experience at this level...

So questions....

1) How do you rate Lee as a manager (tactically)?

2) How do you rate his signings to date?

3) Would you say our style of play under Lee is as good/better/worse than under Challinor?

4) Are we going up ?

Time will tell.
I remember Featherstone,s interview after DC left saying he was “gutted” his words.

To me meaning he had discussed things with his CAPTAIN.

It’s obvious he talked players into contract extensions, then walked.

He can say it was for this or that, makes no difference to me, Players trusted him and he walked.
Nobody forced him out or made him unwelcome.

He saw Salport county and all the glitter. His decision.


Long live the King.

Hell’s bells and buckets of blood, not this again.
Can we bury the Challinor love in and move on.
He’s gone, he ain’t coming back, he is now irrelevant, this depressing raking through the ashes of what went before is absurdly morbid and frankly pathetic.
Forget Challinor. He is of no consequence now to this club.
Look to the future of Pools and stop wallowing in tedious deference to the departed past.
Lee is doing a good job, get behind him instead of unnecessarily comparing him to the ghost of Challinor, he’s history.

To be fair Mr Snowy, whilst I visit the board quite often I don't read everything so not really aware of the history of all the Challinor stuff.

More importantly though, if you read my post as a dewy eyed longing for the return of Challinor, it was not....it was most definitely a 'just how well is Lee doing?' but there was certainly a bit of 'in comparison to our previous manager [whose name shall not be spoken] who did pretty well' which is not an unusal thing to ask in my opinion.

I am completely at peace with the DC leaving thing hence why I can now look back at it and say 'yeah, quality manager who did a really good job for us. So, on to Lee, how are we doing now?'

And that's it really.

I could be wrong but your reply, Mr Snowy, appears to be written with a not insignificant amount of 'grrr' which is either aimed at the subject matter (in which case just don't bother replying and move on) or there is still some bitterness at His departure?!

Snowy Sir. if you find the subject tedious, just don't participate. Skip past. There are plenty of other discussions that you have enriched with your comments. Others obviously find this interesting. Horses for courses.

Lee is winning me over. He is different to DC and it was quite unusual circumstances in which he took over (with the outgoing manager not being sacked but being very popular) so I guess that's why it takes longer to adjust. Spike seems to be much more heart and soul than DC and I find myself really liking that. I also liked our recent transfer window

1) Too early to say. The switch to 4-3-3 is going well but we're only a couple of games into it.

2) Too early to say. Several have made promising starts.

3) I don't think Pools were pulling up any trees style-wise under Challinor. 5 at the back was efficient rather than exciting a lot of the time. I'll be happy to see Lee give 4-3-3 an extended go.

4) Not this season -maybe next.

Here's an extra one for your list:

5) Have the players bought into what Lee is asking them to do? Hell yes!

They're not living in the past - why should we?

I wasn’t sure about Lee and feared the worst, but damn it he’s won me over.
The subject is far from tedious to me, because we have to move on and some people keep looking in the rear view mirror of what was and sadly it’s gone. I liked Challinor, but the manner of his going spoiled it for me, but it’s history now and looking back in soft focus won’t change anything, let’s concentrate on today and tomorrow.
I’m actually enjoying this season now.

No grrr, just let’s get on with the job in hand, no offence intended, it’s just what I do.

Ok, good...so we're happy with what Lee's doing so far - I did manage to get to the Palace game and some of the passing in the second half was a joy to behold but we never really looked like scoring....which is hardly surprising against a Premier League side who were playing pretty much their first team (brilliant atmosphere by the way, I love away days - Palace fans were spot on for the record and some applauded us at the end)

I was a bit sceptical about Lee, but you have to give everyone a chance, I’m glad I did.
It’s easy with hindsight to play up the positives but his appointment came out of the blue, but then so did Cooper’s.
I don’t know if it’s me, but I detect a team spirit which I always welcome...Bogles celebration of his goal entailed running up to Lee and jumping on his back..... Lee said he thought his back was about go, he’s a big lad.

If you can get your players to want to play for you, that's two thirds of the job done.

He seems a decent enough fella.

think he is doing more than a decent job to be honest. there is something about him that you really hope he will succeed for his sake as well as ours. think he sees things like a lot of us do on the pitch and never comes out with a load of bullshit managers speak in interviews. its much harder for him coming in than it was for challinor who didn,t need to do too much to improve on who he replaced.

I suppose I should have realised that with an extensive coaching role at the Boro, he’d have had a good grounding as they were always known for that aspect of the game over the years. So it appears he’s applying the same mindset here and is now starting to show through on the pitch, much to my satisfaction.

Personally think he's doing a decent job so far. Got rid of some poor summer signings and brought in some quality. He's certainly tightened us up at the back as well. Was always going to be difficult for whoever took over from Challinor as he had a good rapport with the fans but I really hope Lee makes a success of it, you can tell it really means a lot to him and he really wants to make a success of it.

I was very worried the way lee started found the football dull and tedious. Recently maybe since Blackpool game where he saw a positive pools team can win games, he seems to have gone a little more attacking. 3 losses in 15 one against Palace and a loss at Bristol which we should never of lost isn't too shabby. Obviously league wins was letting us down, win Tuesday and Lee really is turning us around. Tough games coming up though so let's see how we do against the best teams in the league and Rotherham. 4 points this week against Tranmere and Sutton will be an excellent return.

my view on it:

1) How do you rate Lee as a manager (tactically)?

Like any new manager he has to see what hes working with - luckily for him he came in on a transfer window so was able to bring in better players. Think we have found a winning team and you are only as good as your last game so happy days - he has strengthened in the 2 key areas alot of us knew we needed too - up top and in the middle of the park. The new formation is a breath of fresh air especially with Morris and White playing some attractive stuff. Be interesting to see if Crawford gets dropped for when Feaths is back.

2) How do you rate his signings to date? Excellent

3) Would you say our style of play under Lee is as good/better/worse than under Challinor? different team to what DC had - this works thats all that matters

4) Are we going up ? Via the play offs next season

do not really think there looks to be much more of a difference in lees side than challinors apart from better players have come in than what left. the majority are still the same. although pools scored 3 in the last game at the vic the actual performance was not that much better than when we managed not to score. same as the crawley away win. more of a case of having the run of the ball for once more than the start of the new revolution taking place.

Specsavers visit required urgently.

Give credit where it is due he is doing a good job long may it continue.

Maybe Lee is instigating a quiet revolution. We are certainly not leaking goals like we were under Challinor and seem much harder to beat.

It looks now like a team prepared to battle and looking comfortable in their own ability..... it now looks like a team with organisation.
I don’t know what Graeme Lee has done, but keep doing it.

I was over from Belfast for the Oldham game and tactically I was worried, the system looked far too defensive and flat, however I was also at Palace and the pressing and standard of passing from Pools in the second half was really good to see. I think with the quality of players recruited and the change in formation to 4-3-3 we will hold our own against any team in this division. I am so proud to be a poolie, although from afar. This is turning into a great season, given where we have been the last number of years. Forget about Challinor now, he did the job getting us back where we belong, fair play but Lee and his team they are clearly working flat out in training and coaching. The clean sheets are evidence of that, along with not being afraid to change system, it bodes well. UTP, PTID, proud of my Club.

Comparing Challinor to Lee is interesting, Challinor came with a reputation which was high profile and cavalier almost in his approach, the promotion run in was a Charge of the Light brigade style that dodged the cannon balls and impetus to get over the line, but was powered by his personality with players and fans alike. He’s good at firing people up to perform for an intense period but I question if that style of management is sustainable, which may explain past performances at previous clubs.
Lee was the unexpected replacement for a popular but tainted departing manager and there were doubts. We missed the obvious, he was coming from a club with a training academy reputation that has always been up there at producing functional performers.
Unlike Challinor , Lee appears to prefer his methodical approach which is flexible and adaptable to whatever scenarios crop up. The team is now a busy working unit drilled to perform week in, week out, as opposed to charging to glory and hoping the wheels don’t fall off.
We live in interesting times.

for a start he has given odusina and crawford more confidence to play well in the majority of games. not too long ago we dreaded those two names on the team sheet. changing formations in games help also and not afraid to make substitutions. got to admit i,m far more confident with pools now than any time this season.

After Challinor went we were swinging at anchor going nowhere of consequence. Recriminations flew about and confusion reigned.
Looks like the anchors up and we’re under way.

He's given Joe Grey his first extended run in the side too. I'm very impressed that Lee stuck with the 4-3-3 at Crawley and home to second top. I don't think Challinor would have done that. Last night was a very open game and it puts a hell of a lot of responsibility on Byrne and Odusina. Both players seem to be thriving on it at the minute.

Odusina has been an eye opener to me, ready to battle and always there to clear things up, someone now full of confidence.

Thank you Graeme for creating a team that does not crumble under late pressure. The shedding of late goals after a decent display is most disappointing and demoralising.
We now have a squad capable of playing well with the ball but more importantly, stopping the opponents playing when they don't have the ball. That comes from wanting to play for and believing in the manager so long may it continue.

interesting to look back at some of the comments made on here by the usual clowns when spike was appointed.....was reading this this morning.....gave me a laugh.... "X-mas ruined"...oh dear.....

"Post subject: Re: Graeme lee
Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2021 9:29 am
"this has absolutely nothing to do with Raj giving a young manager a chance - he was quite easily the cheapest and only option left. Also the assistant wasnt even in work so that wasnt very hard was it. Genuinely thought with the severance package we received from the snake we would appoint an experienced decent manager. X-Mas ruined !"

Sometimes it pays to see if the car fires up before you pull the engine out and smash it up.

another classic......

"Post subject: Re: Graeme lee
Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2021 9:39 am
"Thought this was anutha wind up till i checked the Mail.
Speechless."

and another....hilarious....

"Post subject: Re: Graeme lee
Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2021 11:37 am
"This is obviously April1st, I will give it a few hours before the real manager is unveiled."

a good possibility that a good number were unwhelmed by his appointment at the time being ex boro again and bringing an assistant in who was previously sacked by the mighty spartens. just the same as when we have signed players when we think there are better around. what makes it even better when doubters have been proved wrong and i,ll include myself in that.

and of course....the view of our resident moron.....not so funny.....

"Post subject: Graeme lee
Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2021 8:56 am
"Oh fuck off Raj"

posts like that go in one eye and quickly out of the other. raj has never warrented anything like that.

[quote="Flying Hogans"][

He's given Joe Grey his first extended run in the side too.
to be fair on challinor i got the impression that he rated grey but due to his age he was loathed to start him, just giving the lad the odd minutes here and there. so far its proved lee was right but challinor did have a point at the time.

Dave who?

Is it possible Stockport might poach him?

Yeah it's a bit like the clowns that had a go at odusina isn't it? You know the ones who wrote him off. What is it 5 man of the match awards in about the last 10 games.

billyboy.....full of it.....

"Post subject: Re: Graeme lee
Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2021 11:37 am
"This is obviously April1st, I will give it a few hours before the real manager is unveiled."

"Post subject: Re: Mansfield v Pools predictions.
Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2021 4:36 pm
"We went cheap and we will pay for it, anybody that thinks we will seriously strengthen the squad in January is deluded, the money supply has been cut off."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP6U5LBqA9A

Xmas ruined... ... well at least Easter’s looking a lot more promising.

Got a habit of trying to have a go at other posters but keeping very quiet on the rubbish you spout haven't you.

billyboy...there there.....didums...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS7nqwGt4-I

I was worried about you, seemed to disappear when we had 1 win in 13. Has raj let you back out to play?

Surely not related to the one n only PJ.

gloves...your voicebox working again ?...

"Post subject: Re: Graeme lee
Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2021 9:39 am
"Thought this was anutha wind up till i checked the Mail.
Speechless."

Calm down lads, forget the past and move on.

snowy....ok....but has the "money supply been cut off" or not ??...just worried for my club thats all......

Yeah you would like to think after getting 140 k for a goalie who didn't play for us, hundreds of thousands of pounds in the cup a recent 22k crowd at a prem team, average crowds of 5k a midweek crowd of over 5k for a team 15th in league something I can't ever remember happening at pools for 40 year releasing 9 players you would like to think after all that we can pay a few grand for a couple of forwards wouldn't you?

Move on.