We don't seem to have a settled midfield or a settled defence and I think that's been our problem this season.

All of the best sides, and even the best hufc sides in my supporting lifetime have a strong core that is virtually the same most weeks.

Our core is constantly chopped and changed, out of hignetts hands most weeks with injuries, but no one forced him to give contracts to bates, jones and woods. Those 3 miss more than they play and rarely play 4/5 games off the bounce.

And as for playing toto at right back ffs hignett man.


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I know it's tempting fate as both have had really bad injuries in the past, but Woods played in 37 League and FA Cup games last season, and Bates played in 35. That's two thirds of the season for both of them.

You can argue that they weren't good enough to be kept on (I'd say there's a lot worse players than either of them in the squad, unfortunately) but to dismiss them as hopeless crocks isn't fair. Woods is fit but hasn't been getting his game.

They both might play on for the rest of the season, or both be knackered before Christmas. Magnay and Thomas are missing plenty of games at the minute.

It's certainly a consolation that we've only missed out on Huddersfield away. Would have destroyed us with Klopp's former right hand man in charge and wouldn't have got us much of a payday unless it was on the telly.

He's been left out but so have all the others apart from Featherstone who seems to be Hignetts favourite (his performances this season have nowhere near justified that) I don't see him being made a scapegoat to honest. For all of this drive forward and his great shot he's scored in one game in over sixty career appearances for Pools. 44 starts and 22 sub appearances to be exact. That simply isn't good enough. He's like the rest of our midfield, decent enough footballer and certainly has ability but doesn't actually consistently do enough of the things that a good midfielder does. They all fall short in certain aspects that players who do well at this level don't.

Indeed, that is one CRAP 3rd round draw for them....

You have sang with glen tilbrook.

A mere relegation for pools will never be able to rain on your parade.

My Daughter has been at Hudds Uni the last two years, we both sent each other "Aaarrrrgh!!" texts when the draw came out. Would have loved Hudds V Pools.

Trouble is he seems to be turning it around 360 degrees.

And if we lose on Saturday we could be just 1 point off the bottom two. To keep mentioning the possibility of the playoffs is beyond belief!

It's hardly 'beyond belief' is it? Just have a look a where Yeovil are now in the League compared to where they where a few weeks ago.

You are definitely of the mindset that the sun is always shining and you like dancing n the garden with the fairies..... !You're so optimistic you probably think Shergars just popped out for a quick trot.
It's getting to stage , like it or not, that if we don't see some improvement soon, the gulls at the Vic will be displaced by the vultures.

Trouble is, it's 5 consecutive away defeats, each one a bit more emphatic than the last. If Pools had gone down fighting at Port Vale (the least any underdog should do in the FA Cup) the mood wouldn't be as black as it is now, but when Hignett himself sums up his team's performance as “Embarrassing. Men against boys. Spineless.” any fan who is paying attention knows things are getting desperate.

Has Hignett lost the dressing room? It's starting to feel that way. Public tongue lashings rarely pay dividends. Neither does a complete lack of encouragement or engagement from the touchline (effin' and blindin' out of the side of your mouth doesn't count).

Saturday's game is massive, not for the 3 points at stake but for what says about where the season is heading. Getting beat is seriously not an option for Hignett.

I'd hope getting beat was not an option at every game. Earlier in the season the away form was getting us the points.Fair enough we got smashed at Port Vale..Let's hope "lessons are learned" and we kick on ..

Sensible as always Chip.

Seems to have sorted the home form a little but lost the away form (probably due to missing Thomas, his pace etc was much more useful away from home to counter teams etc who were pushing rather than sitting back)

Always liked Hughes, I see he been out of work since leaving Inverness, thought he would walk into another job to be honest.

Nobody thinks changing managers every 12 months is a strategy for success- it's nearly always a sign of an interfering chairman.

Coxall isn't the type - he didn't want to part with Ronnie Moore but in the end was left with no choice. He's been very vocal in support of Hignett until recently, and if this does just turn out to be a bad patch, he will be again.

But sorry, something is wrong at the minute. Pools didn't turn up against Port Vale. Hignett never seems to want to accept any responsibility for poor results. "They don't make these mistakes in training" - that might be true, but it's pretty much what Steve McLaren was saying before he got the boot at Newcastle.

I think this board has been pretty fair to Hignett this season - he's been getting dogs abuse for weeks from the miserable gits who post comments on the Mail, and plenty on the other board as well.

I'm not usually one to take much notice of that shit, but in the last few weeks I've started to feel that there's a rabbit away somewhere. Hignett's whole demeanour has changed from what it was a few months ago. Is his heart still in the job?

A few years back I got the same feeling with Neale Cooper and said so, a couple of months before he finally walked. Great if I'm wrong this time, fantastic not to be in another relegation battle.

It's odd how Hignett had such a positive effect on the team when he first arrived. It seemed more than just the so called honeymoon period and I think most fans thought Pools were onto something special.
One thing's for sure, management has visibly taken its toll on Hignett.

That's what most people on here have been saying.
I'd appreciate it if he just got on with it.
I have no wish as yet to discard him, but applying his mind to the problem in hand would be greatly appreciated.

I'd love to know how many changes we've made defensively from game to game this season. They have all either spent the early part of the season getting sent off or injured.

This can't help at all.

We must be paying shit wages for old crocks and erratic defenders or summat.

Be interesting to compare moores record with hignett now. Hignett has had way more scope to change the team, yet people seem to want to give hignett more of a chance than they ever did with moore. Someone who pulled of the almost impossible. Yes we kick the ball around at the back like barcelona sometimes and the football is slightly better in patches are the games any better to watch? Atmosphere in the ground is non existent this year. Normally a sign of how good the footy is.People keep mentioning the play offs are in cukoo land. No way on earth this defence or midfield will get anywhere near it. I think were already 16 points behind 3rd after 19 games and 6 now to 7th.

I cant think of two many games that have been good to watch this year. At least under moore in the first 5 months there was a backs to the wall have a go approach. Were factually closer to relegation than play offs and with 3 wins from 12 or 13 league games, people are rightly getting a bit worried about hignett

You really dont like giving opinions that follow yours do you.

That made no sense you dont like opinions that are different to yours which is what a message board is all about.

Chips is a well constructed post.

Why not answer his points if you dont agree by giving an alternative view.

Mainly because im at work mate but i will have a go,firstly please drag up any posts i have posted against hignett. Think you will find pretty much been behind him until a couple of weeks ago. In my opinion his decisions are poor. Signed a 35 goal season man and has basically played him up front either on his own or without a target man. He has kept players on like jones, bates, harrison, richards who simply arent good enough or injury prone.He doesnt seem capable of stringing a couple of wins together. Chops and changes the team every week. Has the football been enjoyable at home? In my opinion no only a few times have i left home games thinking yeah that was decent. Like i say my opinion. Other people might think its been decent. I have already stated the football is slightly better to watch under hignett. I believe he has been negative at home, though recently he has obviously got it right at home. Will it continue.? My personal opinion i dont think it will. You say im a negative poster over 7 years i think most will agree we have been pretty rubbish. So unfortunately i will and most others sound negative. I wont be bullied into saying its great when it isnt, because im negative at the moment it doesnt mean to say i wouldnt be positive, if we actually did well. Lets face facts we havent done exactly well. You say i only post mainly after defeats, maybe becuase im less happy and stay in rather than out celebrating. People generally post after defeats. Im afraid thats normally the case. If we win i tend to be out on the lash. Finally you question if im a pools supporter. Well im one of the nwc that sings virtually every week. Been going for 30 years home and away and watched us in meaningless friendlys in a field in holland. Dont question my support for the club. I will still be on the terraces in 30 years time. With a bit of luck. You say fans are only happy when we lose? Do you honestly think that? As a group of fans at pools we constantly settle for second best. I dont expect us to be world beaters but with amond, allesandra, paynter , thomas and carson i thought we would be much better than recent seasons? Are we?

I love paragraphs me.

A good post by Billingham though....and Chips!!!!

I for one will be interested in the improved catering tomorrow, soup and a roll, how can you not be optimistic

I think your probobly refering to the stevenage game. Which was a pretty dreadful result. Id not written the season of at all then and havent even yet. I believe with a decent manager in charge we can have a reasonable season still. To be fair to hignett he did turn things around after that game and still can now if he gets someone to aid amond and somehow sorts the mess out in defence he has put together.Has he improved as a manager? Personally i think he is getting worse. I can totally understand people sticking with him thats their choice. Id rather see someone else now before we get dragged into a mess with little or no money to spend. Whether we can afford someone else who knows? I believe we can win every home game in this league on our day, thing is we rarely do. We should with some of the players we have.

I can honestly see where you are coming from Mr Billingham a few of my mates I go to the game with feel the same but at some point we have to stick with a manager for more than five minutes. Managing Pools clearly isn't an easy job and we need to give someone the opportunity to become a decent manager unless we have the money to bring someone who already is, which I don't think we do. Which 'decent' manager are you bringing in? We have had a succession of people with a good pedigree in the game who have delivered similar or worse results. We've spent about 8 years blaming the manager.

I agree you cant keep sacking managers. Should we have kept martin scott? No should we have kept moore? No. Cooper? Well we know where we would be now if we did. Thing is you cant blindly stick with someone just for the sake of it. Hignett is making some glaring errors and doesnt seem to be able to rectify them. He has had opportunities, coxall has given him plenty of chances. Still no target man for amond. A midfield which is still pretty poor and a defence which appears to be getting worse, not better.

No he hasn't been given 'plenty of chances' he a has been a manager for less than a year.

We need to start doing better granted but the whole club needs long term plans and foundations. It's obviously not always (yeah sometimes it is like Martin Scott!!) the manager that's the problem at Pools is it? They're always the fall guy though.

This is basically a squad he has picked. He even brought two lads in on loan who he didnt play, he even resigned harrison who he let go. Compared to the last few years of ior he has had it lucky bringing players in. Yes he hasnt been in the job that long. You would think he would improve as time past. To me he is getting worse. I can understand you wanting to give him time but personally i think he has lost the players lately, possibly lost the plot a bit too. Hopefully a good win against cambridge will help and at least he can turn around and say 4 wins on bounce at home to me and the rest who have concerns over him, albeit one against poorer opposition.

How many bad players has he signed?

I think they're all decent footballers personally. The mistakes and bad luck all point to the back four for me and the Thomas injury has impacted on our threat away from home. Jones and Harrison look bad retentions, one better centre half for the combined wage maybe? But other than that I reckon the squad of players is alright in terms of ability. A combative central midfielder would be nice as well.

Couldnt read it. It wss fetish bob esque in its construction. Sorry mr billingham.

Can we bury the historical references and simplify it.
Mr Hignett, can you work with the tools you have.
Players, show some character.
Together, you are the only people who can change things.

ALL fans are fickle, the only people who can pacify them are the ones on the field. There'll be a minority who are never pleased, but that's life.

Will you be trying the soup?

You wanna try and construct paragraphs etc on this phone lol. Its like a military operation that would possibly take a month. Hignett would of won 5 more games by the time it came out.

Depends on what you have on offer.

Never mind the result, we need a report on the soup Mr Butt

It was alphabet soup, the letters I found were, SAKC HET MANGARE