I had grave doubts that he’d make any difference, but so far I’ve been proved completely wrong. He’s taken a group of players in absolute free fall and turned them into something resembling a team, who at least seem to be playing with some spirit.

We’ll start losing again now I’ve said that...

It pisses me right off that attitudes can be turned around so quickly but just goes to prove that without doubt, Harrison was the problem all along.

I disagree to some extent. It's amazing what people will do when they know they're going to get paid. Between November and now that's not always been certain.

Agree with yubep that knowing they will be paid is a big help but that team/squad that Bates has to work with is so small and lacking depth that it’s hard to even compare it to what Harrison had at his disposal.

Could I see Harrison getting wins out of that team? Probably not to be honest.

Am not sure how Bates gets the best out of them as he is hardly Mr Charisma but whatever it is it works well. Could maybe be as straight forward as keeping things simple. Always got impression Harrison overcomplicated everything tbh.

You're probably right but I just think that's an easy excuse. Would Harrison have got the reaction that Bates has got if he was still around, I just can't see it but it's hypothetical of course.

You've clearly got yubep on your mind Tree

Totally agree with your last comment btw.

who?

Pity that fat fucker Dave Jones wasn't sacked a couple of weeks earlier than he was. We'd still be in the football league if Bates had had a month as caretaker boss last season. FACT.

Thanks


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Bates has done a good job. He's the only manager out of the last 3 (Harrison, Bates, Jones) who has had them playing like a team and fighting for the cause.

As i pointed out above, getting paid and knowing your getting paid on time certainly makes a big difference.

I like how bates has changed the formation to a midfield diamond.

We have no wingers, so instead of playing people out of position he plays to our strengths.

He's not afraid to play a few younguns too, which harrison seemed dead against.

The frustrating part is that it's so obvious that this needed to happen, but Harrison was reluctant to even try it.

I agree with yloop, the formation change is a welcome one.

Players all look like they know what they are doing etc.

you could be right there and even better if jones had not been employed in the first place same with harrison.

Got to agree with joe mac, the players look way more organised under bates.

Hawkes was superb and showed a lot of composure on the ball.

Hawkins played well at fullback and Magnay was superb in the centre.

All in all it was about 300% better than the negative shyte Harrison set out to play

They look different players

I agree with Kirsty that it was so obvious it needed to happen.

Do you mean Kirsty or her Dad?

I always get them mixed up.

FWIW, I'm not her dad, to my knowledge

Goes back to that famous old philosophical quote doesn't it?... 'Cogito ergo, no sum Kirsty's dad'.

Not much to add to what's already been said. If Bates can not only keep us up but finish the season strongly rather than go on the beach once safety is more or less assured, then he deserves credit and to be considered for the job.

It could be just a case of him getting a bit of luck, or maybe there is a manager in there somewhere. To be fair, all any manager had to do, and they wouldn't go far wrong, was do everything Harrison didn't do. Bates is doing this, picking right players , playing in their preferred positions in a formation more suited to this league. The recent turnaround only serves to prove what a clueless manager Harrison was. Of course there is always the possibility of the players going the extra mile for one of the lads, if so that wont last, only time will tell.

Nice one horden.

It’s all right appointing Craig Hignett as director of football, Pam stopping on as CEO. I think the three people who arguably have initiated and are responsible for the improvement in performances and results are still in the dark, two of whom are reportedly unpaid. Are the other members of the back room staff who Bates was looking to for support when he needed it at the start before he asked for favours from Ged Mcnamee and ross Turnbull, are they still getting paid and if so what are they doing for it?

Are you related to Grassy Knollington.....?

On a specific team related point that someone mentioned above, long term if I was Hawkins I would concentrate on becoming a top class full back. He's got the energy and the legs to do the job and for me is a better fit for him in that he lacks just a bit of quality on the ball to be a high quality centre mid, but enough to make a pretty competent footballing full back. Will just need coaching on the defensive positional play aspect of the job but if he has enough reading the game brains he should be ok

I agree with Chips comments.

All makes you wonder how’d this season would have gone with a manager who had even half a clue.

Pick the right players, play them in their correct positions in a formation that suits the occasion. Put the workrate in, then win your tackles, headers, second balls. Don't do the former and you probably wont do the latter. Its not rocket science, but it was way beyond Harrison.

FFS! Hawkes should of been making his 50th start for the club today not his 2nd, I understand those that protect players who are supposedly too young and to wrap them up in cotton wool, but I believe you can ruin a players development by leaving it too late. Bates might just have saved Hawkes career. Harrison wouldn't of played him and he could of ended up god knows where next season.

Statistically Bates is performing superbly compared with every other Pools manager since 2000*. Given also that both times he has stepped in we've been in an absolute state, I'd like to see what he could do with a pre-season under his belt.

Name P W D L Win Ratio %
Matthew Bates 8 5 2 3 62.5%
Mike Newell 35 16 8 11 45.7%
Neale Cooper 110 48 26 36 43.6%
Danny Wilson 133 58 29 46 43.6%
Chris Turner 276 105 68 103 38.0%
Mick Wadsworth 74 26 17 31 35.1%
Ronnie Moore 59 19 11 29 32.2%
John Hughes 16 5 4 7 31.3%
Colin Cooper 65 19 14 32 29.2%
Craig Hignett 52 15 12 25 28.8%
Sam Collins 7 2 0 5 28.6%
Martin Scott 39 11 11 18 28.2%
Craig Harrison 36 10 10 16 27.8%
Paul Stephenson 15 3 7 5 20.0%
Dave Jones 17 3 4 10 17.6%
Neale Cooper 40 7 14 19 17.5%
Mickey Barron 7 1 1 5 14.3%
Paul Murray 7 1 1 5 14.3%

*The stats are from Wikipedia so possibly not 100% correct.

Bates deserves a shot at the job permanently. The spirit alone that he's put into the team makes him worth the gamble.

I agree Stomper109, the NL is a poor league and almost any team can get a result against any other if they are prepared to run and harass the opposition. Bates has increased the workrate of the players and that has seen us win games that we would have lost under Harrison.

Can I be the first to say Bates out?

Bates deserves a shot at the job permanently. The spirit alone that he's put into the team makes him worth the gamble.[/quote

Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics. Bates my arse ! Whoever took over was bound to see spirits rise, after the Harrison debacle.

5 + 2 + 3 doesn't quite add up to 8, but even still, it gives him a 50% win record (rather than 62.5). And two of his defeats he was placed in charge with about 2 days notice.

But, I wouldn't want to jump straight in and give him the job based on this little spell. It's one thing being a good motivator (ala Ronnie Moore) and getting players fired up for short spells, it's another thing being a good manager over a full season.

So are you saying give him the job only when he's proven himself for a full season?

He's proven he has the players on his side without bringing anyone in himself. As far as I've seen he's not done a thing wrong and even ignoring results he's had the team playing better than most recent managers albeit for a short spell.

Any new manager would be a bigger gamble than sticking with Bates and I'd be confident going into next season with him in charge, baring any major feckups before then end of this season.

Its Pardew to replace Bates, nailed on FACT!

We'd need to put another £1.8 million aside to pay him off when he failed.

@PoolieTom - can't fault your faulting of my maths.

Point taken about being a motivator vs a good manager, but for every Paul Murray there's a Darryl Clarke, surely?

@horden - "Whoever took over was bound to see spirits rise, after the Harrison debacle." - if you look at the records of the other Caretakers on that list (Sam, Stevo, Mickey Barron, et al) there isn't any guarantee a new face will deliver a bump in results, although I'll agree this was more of a debacle than normal, even for us.

If my memory serves me right, and it usually does, Sam and Stevo did okay, initially at least, but get your point.

I just think if this takeover is a new beginning, we need to think big and think long term. I would be looking at a manager in the mould of a young Nigel Clough at Burton and Martin O'Neill at Wycombe. Of course they would have to be sold a dream to come. Not sure if our current ramshackle situation could attract anyone of a decent pedigree with potential, so as usual we will have to settle for second best , or third or fourth.

With all respect you can fuck off with your Nigel Cloughs and Martin O'Neills and all the other managers du jour. Dave Jones: great manager. Craig Harrison: great manager. Yeah sure.

Just put someone in charge who gets us even average results, then we'll see about tweaking.

Ideally I'd like to give him a bit more time, see how he handles injuries, suspensions, different opposition styles, a few defeats etc. etc. We are still in a honeymoon period (in the strangest sense). Unfortunately for Bates he doesn't have the time. I'm not totally against his appointment and appreciate that amongst other factors, money reasons may force his appointment, but I think with a seemingly more stable future we could attract an already proven manager for next season.

I don't want to give the job as manager or as a coach. His lack of match fitness and other business interest says a man who is ambivalent at best about Pools succeeding.

So anyone with their own business shouldn't be in football? I may be wrong but I thought that bar went tits up anyway.

Some comedy gold on this thread since the Guiseley game, but this takes the biscuit.

See how he handles injuries? Seriously??? Pools have had 12-13 fit players at best during a run which has produced 3 wins and 2 draws. They would have had another point on Monday till Laing gifted Guiseley a goal at the death.

Nelly's comment Bates being "ambivalent at best about Pools succeeding" is another corker considering Bates has motivated the players to put in some really gutsy performances of late and, by the by, is fighting for his own future in football as well as to keep Pools up.

Some people on here don't like Bates and will never want him as manager. Fine, just recognise that it's a gut instinct and not remotely based on anything he's done as caretaker manager.

He has scraped 3 wins against the part timers of Bromley Barrow and Maidstone from 8 games so we wait and see how the rest of the season works out before decisions are made about wether he should be given the job full time because I think we will struggle to sell season tickets anyway but if the likes of Bates and Duxbury stay on along with most of the players then it will become impossible to shift them because a lot of fans are fed up and want to see proper changes being made.

Had we lost on Friday and won on Monday I doubt people would be having the same doubts. He's done well with what he's got to work with and he can't be held accountable for an individual mistake. We never really got going and struggled to break Guiseley down so you can give the opposition some credit for making it difficult.
I don't think bates will get the job permanently but I think that decision will be made in the summer. We are on the brink of safety now and that didn't look likely 4 games ago and bates must take a lot of credit for that. Yes Monday was poor but if we win on Saturday I'm sure that will be quickly forgotten!.

If Hignett is director of football Bates would only be his bitch anyway.

Also if a club like Pools only appoints managers with a proven track record of success at a decent level we won't appoint anybody. Why would anybody like that come to Pools when they could get better money for an easier job at a higher level? Only hope would be somebody with ties to the area who has been dominating somewhere like the League of Wales, they'd be well worth luring with a lengthy contract.

Are you Matthew Bates? Or his boyfriend?

You've completely ignored most of what has been written which isn't a good start to disagreeing with someone.

HTH