Today since Turner was placed in "caretaker" charge.

He took over with Pools having played 20 games we had 26 pts a GD of -1 sat 13th in the table

Now at the same point this season

We have played 20 games we have 26 pts a GD of +1 and sit 11th in the table.

So compared to Wilson's 1st 20 games in charge last season WE ARE slightly better off place wise and GD wise.

The question is though ARE WE ????????

Between Dec 19th (Turner's 1st game in charge) funnily enough a 3-0 win at home to Southend (funny as we lost to them on Saturday) and Mar 3rd we won 4 games out of the next 15. Or to be more exact 6 of the last 26

Meaning we need to win the same or more from now and as soon as possible to ensure we're not dragged into a relegation battle. So if I was manager what would be my targets it would be 7 wins in as quick a time as possible from the remaining fixtures ( 1 more than we would from this point last season). And targeting the games we had to win. Points elsewhere would be a bonus, so looking at the fixtures my 7 games that 3 points a must from would be

Sat 19 H Yeovil Town WIN
Sat 26 A Leeds United
Mon 28 H Oldham
January
Sat 9 A Charlton
Sat 16 H MK Dons
Sat 23 A Bristol Rovers
Tue 26 H Gillingham WIN
Sat 30 A Norwich City
February
Sat 6 H Leeds United
Sat 13 A Southampton
Sat 20 H Huddersfield
Tue 23 H Carlisle WIN
Sat 27 A Millwall
March
Sat 6 H Southend WIN
Sat 13 A Yeovil Town
Fri 19 A Tranmere
Sat 27 H Swindon Town
April
Sat 3 A Leyton Orient
Mon 5 H Brighton WIN
Sat 10 A Wycombe
Tue 13 H Stockport WIN
Sat 17 H Colchester
Sat 24A Walsall
May
Sat 1 H Exeter City WIN
Sat 8 A Brentford

Those 7 wins put us on 47 points, we still need another 4-6 to be sure we're safe. So games to be targeted but not for 3 points but as a not lose game would be

Oldham H
Yeovil A
Tranmere A
Swindon H or Colchester H
Orient A
Wycombe A

That gives us the extra 6/7 points and on 52/53 but as I've got us winning at Home to Exeter 2nd last match of the season, this could be a MASSIVE game, yes we may win other home games to get points , we may even pick some up away that I not mentioned but I'm trying to be as unbiased as possible.

We may be in for a roller coaster finish to the season, if we finish it as we did the last one.

So the fact is we're not really better off than we were when Wilson left. I had hopes at the start of season we wouldn't be in a relegation battle all season, I still hold out hopes that we won't be but it's a bit to close to call and my hopes aren't as high as they were at the start of the season.

are we better off points wise ....No
Are we better off manager wise.... in SOME ways yes and SOME ways no.

Wilson was probably the overall better tactician etc, however his signings and general squad balance was ridiculously baffling, it was also the reason we were nearly relegated. I mean 3 defenders, all centre backs, was absurd.

Turner has his faults, they are pretty obvious faults too. However the squad he has put together is a decent one. If we can get Gamble and maybe even Healy on loan, then our squad will look pretty awesome.

I am positive that we wont get relegated, i'm willing to state that right now.

If he can get us more consistent at home then i think the boo boys will back off too.

Our recent home league form is pretty damn good looking at it.


Oh and IOR love Turner and open their cheque book regularly for him, that can't be a bad thing!

It must be the longest reign by a "caretaker" manager ever.

we will win on saturday as I will be there