I think I must have gone to a different game.

"Pools were a side re-born under Bates, Paynter, Parnaby and Gallagher and they battered the Robins, only to be thwarted time and again by ScottBrown in the home goal."

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I thought we were well on top on a shitty pitch again a rugby team who just kicked it for touch. I must say as well I thought Jordan Richards was our best player apart from 1 corner the best I've seen him in a pools shirt.

If I'm honest I thought they got an early goal, sat back and aside from one shot from Simpson and a little scramble that got cleared we didn't really threaten at all. They also spurned a few chances, a point blank header going wide being the main one.

Plenty of endeavour but not enough quality from us, certainly not a battering and I wouldn't even say we were the better team.

That's how I saw it. No lack of endeavour but we played like a eunuch in a brothel. No penetration.

It was an atrocious game played by two atrocious teams. We were just slightly more atrocious than them.


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Just watched the Sky lowlights and Cheltenham's goal was certainly atrocious. Walker looks like he doesn't know what town he's in, never mind where their centre forward is for the cross.

Whoever said that Saturday's back four was maybe the weakest Pools had ever put out has a point.

Probably are the weakest back four ever, but they have the weakest ever midfield in front of them offering no protection.

It must feel like the Alamo sometimes.

I said this before the game and I also questioned about Walker a couple of games back then someone said they had hardly noticed him against Orient so he must have had a good game.

He was ok Saturday. Nothing special

The performance effort wise was better than Barnet. Ability wise we looked no more dangerous in the final third.


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And about half of those 19 goals have came directly from a Harrison mistake, so I am not sure why Walkers position in the back 4 can be questioned.

And like said above, if you are punting the ball down field constantly, gifting possession to the other team, you are inevitably going to be on the back foot. More attacks from the opposition naturally means the defence is under more pressure, making any mistakes more likely.

I don't think that statement is either true or fair.

As chip said the defence has been put under a lot of pressure I think in the circumstances Walker and Harrison have performed pretty well, in the awful last few months I can even see an argument for them being our two best players. That isn't says mg much granted but apart from the young keeper who hasn't let us down I'm struggling for another candidate.

He's previously played well though with a more experienced defender like Mirfin who can talk him through the game. He's one of our braver players on the ball and you at least sense he cares. It's not his or Brad Walkers fault at times they been our only 'centre halves' and like I say in the circumstances for me they have done pretty well.

Harrison is not a great centre half but he is the only one with aggression and can compete in them air. Walker was excellent in his first few games but it seems to me it was purple patch and when he went back into midfield he was nothing short of dreadful. Where was he when Cheltenham scored, about 4yds away looking at the scorers back.

Harrison always finds himself in the wrong position at critical times. He seems to want to do everything on his own, and be the one to break down the attack. He always dives in, always tries to out-muscle the 'big guys'. If he kept his position he wouldn't make half the mistakes he does. Unfortunately, when he does make a mistake, more often than not it leads to a goal scoring opportunity, and in recent weeks, they've put the ball in the net. Don't think there's anything unfair or untrue about that

Wouldnt be such a major issue if we had a Westwood running above covering for errors etc but sadly its a slow midfielder next to him.

I know Harrison is very vulnerable all I say is that he is the only player who wins ball in the air from crosses. Every corner and long throw is heart in the mouth time. All I'm saying is this is about the poorest defence I have known. Only four teams in the whole of the leagues have let in more goals and three of them are the bottom team in their respective leagues.

I seem to have accidentally started this by commenting on the goal. I wasn't at the game, can't comment on anything else but the goal was another real howler from the Pools defence.

I'm not sure if Walker is fully committed in his own mind to converting to centre back - he needs to do that and to get a lot of coaching next pre-season if he's going to make it work. Centre backs can't afford to lose concentration or go missing in games, and being switched on for the full 90 is not something that seems to come naturally to Brad.

I see Bates has ruled himself out as a starter against Donny and I think that's a mistake. I'd still play him, Walker and Harrison in a 5-3-2. I take other people's point about the need to score but let's face it, as soon as Pools concede against Doncaster it's game over as far as even the remote chance of staying up goes. Pools won't score 2 and tightening up at the back and nicking it 1-0 might just be enough.

As long as we have 2 up front I'll be happy. Amond needs to start with Oates for me. Thomas on the wing with a licence to do as he pleases.
We're the home team, odds say we're down already, lets have a go and forget what's gone before and not worry about other results until we've done what we need to.

Why was Thomas hooked at Cheltenham?

Is part of Harrison's problem a lack of confidence in those around him?

He was utter shite but the pitch didnt suit him.

Looked like they been hacking it up tbh.

Thomas isn't at his best admittedly but is still most likely to provide a bit of quality. Hopefully he has a good week in training to help get confidence back.

Yeah I agree with the above - he never tries to read what is happening around him. He feels the need to dive into every challenge or beat his man to a header every single time. He never stands off, gives the striker a nudge so he mis-controls it etc.

I noticed the lad Raynes at centre half for Carlisle was good at doing that against Amond. Despite being a foot taller, he never felt the need to dive into/over him to win the header, he just stuck his leg around Amond, kept him facing away from goal and it worked a treat.

It's not a great example, but even the goal against Cheltenham on Saturday he dives over their strikers twice to win the ball and injures himself in the process. The one against Ibehre where he is easily brushed off to the side is so painful to watch as you can see it happen before the ball is anywhere near the two of them.

Oh, and the amount of times he focuses more on berating the linesman rather than getting the ball is quite frankly embarassing

Have to agree that sitting back and nicking it would be suicidal. Don't think the problem is the numbers we have back, it's the lack of ability to defend as a solid organised unit. Midfield is responsible for that as well.

As George Orwell nearly wrote: "If there is any hope, it lies in the goals." The if was a very big important one.