Notts Co 3 v 1 Pools

Shelton

go 2 nil notts. it worked against halifax.

2-0 nutts cnty

We sting them on the break to sneak it, 1-2 Pools. Holohan and Armstrong, Oates and magloire with the assists. Disappointing home and away attendance. Ravas in goal?

We will lose.

Crawford in for Shelton, otherwise unchanged team. Has to be either injured or severely fatigued , surely.

KILLIP STERRY BUNNEY ODUSINE JOHNSON MAGLOIRE CRAWFORD FEATHERSTON HOLOHAN OATES ARMSTRONG

SUBS DONALDSON BLOOMFIELD GREY WILLIAMS MOLYNEUX

Broke his hand apparently v Halifax

2/2 draw that will go down as one of the most exciting games in the history of the National League.
Featherstone brace.

Donaldson on.That's us fucked then.

We should win this league playing 10 or 9 every week.

Yawwwnnn. Guess you were wrong then.

Splendid result.
Hope restored.
Only hope we don't enter tier 4 which will slowdown the return of fans to the Vic.
UTP.

Brilliant result and some good defending. Nine out of nine over Christmas is a very good return so far. Three points at the shay would be absolutely fantastic.
I just wish the club had listened to us and got a striker in earlier but better late than never.
Killip still frightens me to death but he was decent today.
Surely Donaldson has outlived his usefulness and why oh why was he allowed to take that free kick at the end. Maybe it was because if he didn't take it, his time on the pitch would consist of not touching the ball.
Keep it going boys.

Can someone please explain why Donaldson was in the squad and why he then got on the pitch??

Asking for friends - lots of them.

Enjoyed that match though. We got the rub of the green for once - but we deserved the points (although I think their goal was 'good')

100% Guaranteed Hartlepool will be in Tier 4 in January.

Sure you're right there. Speaking of which, there can't be many squads left in the NL that haven't had a Covid outbreak yet. Good work by everyone connected with the club and especially the players, but it's likely only a matter of time till our luck runs out.

Whilst I wouldn't dispute the manager's selections, especially given results over the last week or so, what I found particularly strange ( listening to the commentary on Tees) was the need for Donaldson to wrestle the captain's armband off Featherstone when he came on. What possible difference can it make whether he wears the armband or not ? Weird.

It’s tradition the armband thing. Donaldson not playing well at the moment and hasn’t quite realised that himself. The goal they scored looked offside but they deserved nothing after their centre half planted his studs in Bloomfields face and then showed no concern other than complaining to the ref when it was an obvious red irrespective of the intent. I wish Oates just hit the target when their defence played him in but great assist from him.

Onside I mean

Great result Pools. Lovely to be proved wrong yet again. Keep it up. When I saw their captain smiling with the referee before the kick off I thought here we go. Not sure what would have happened with a 7,000 plus crowd at Meadow Lane but there wasn't and we did it. If only Torquay United hadn't made such a start but you can't have everything. Is this going to be the season when Pools go up without anybody at home seeing them play?

Well ! I never saw that one coming. An excellent result, making it a very good Christmas for those of us who never doubted that Challinor was always eventually going to find the right formula in the end LOL ! Seriously though a really good result, especially given the circumstances, 3rd game in 6 days and 2 key players missing in Ferguson and Shelton, as well as Notts going into the game refreshed having had plenty of time off to rest. I thought Pools would look tired but if anything they looked in better shape and fitter than the opposition.

Good to see Armstrong bag another goal, though that unfortunately puts another nail in the coffin of our chances of signing him permanently when his loan period expires, that's assuming he would want to play in the NL or dare I say it FL2 which he probably doesn't and whether we can afford him, which we probably can't.

My abiding memory of yesterdays game though , was just how bad is this division? Its worse than I first thought. I talked up Notts Co before the game, and they really disappointed me , though their manager seems to think otherwise and that they played well, it was the ref to blame for them getting beat.

If they are one of the best teams in this division , then we need to raise the bar a little. We are 2nd top, yet I have yet to see us put in a really good complete display yet, likewise I have yet to see a really good display from any of the teams we have played. We handed the game to Torquay, though their finishing was impressive, Boreham Wood were canny enough and Woking on the day gave us an old skool bullying, but other than that..... Torquay by virtue of the points they have so far amassed have to be taken seriously and given some credit, it seems every season this division throws up a team who runs away with it, that seems to be the only way out of this league, by storming it. Torquay remind me of Macclesfield a couple of seasons back, solid if unspectacular in a sea of mediocrity.

In view of this Pools need to now concentrate on a mini league of 7 clubs at the top , with the aim to either chase Torquay down and go up automatically or finish in that elusive first play off spot, that gives you a massive advantage going into the play offs.

Now on to Halifax, where I feel the pressure is off a bit, now we have picked up maximum points at Notts Co where nearly everyone thought we would get beat. The pressure is not so much to win as to not get beat at Halifax, a draw would keep the pot boiling nicely , though obviously a win would be nice. Strangely this fixture seems to be between the two form teams in the division , and probably not the fixture we would have chosen at this moment in time. Both clubs as well seem to be the only ones regularly fulfilling their fixtures lately , with Halifax scoring lots of goals in the process, anyone for a 0-0 draw?.

To early to get carried away especially after what has happened in between our first 3 n last 3 games.
Still b ova the moon if we finish 7th.
But in this crazy division which is piss poor maybe home advantage in the play offs is not out of the question.
Get these vaccines ramped up and the dream of 20000 poolies invading Trafalgar's Square in Sunny June then promotion at Wembley might just come true.
Happy New Year to everyone connected to HUFC.
UTP.

Still not deviating from my initial 7th to 10th prediction, though at the moment we look good for 7th , maybe even higher. I do think though all teams have peaks and troughs over a season, and this is a peak, I expect a trough to follow at some point , plus all the usual bad luck we seem to get as a club. The ball has dropped for us in the last 3 games and we have rode our luck and had some help from the officials, but over a season I believe it balances itself out, won't be long before we have a player harshly dismissed.

For now though, we should just enjoy the moment,

a big NO. anyone else in the ABD club. anyone but donaldson.

do not think their bloke was harshly dismissed yesterday. as for bounce of the ball and other things that do seem lucky lets just take it. teams do not do up if they are unlucky and relagated ones are never lucky teams either. if we do get a player harshly dismissed lets hope its our hard working skillful captain ryan.

I would like to think all these players are getting dismissed , because teams are now showing us respect, word is getting around about our new fast paced , more direct style, and that teams are having to resort to breaking the rules in order to stop us.

that means donaldson will be safe from injury.

Why oh why was Donaldson allowed to take that free kick when he can't even hit the target from the penalty spot? I'm hoping Challinor is beginning to see what we have been saying for the past three seasons.

If DC is allowing him to take free kicks, then he is clearly isn't. No real problems with Donaldson myself, though he is having a poor season so far. Seems to be this seasons fall guy, we have to have one at Pools. Rhys Oates has done him no favours LOL !

Donaldson is a good sub to have. Can cover a lot of positions so ideal if someone gets injured. Just got to hope the injury is late in the second half so he doesn’t have to play for too long.

Donaldson is a box to box type of player. He was the logical choice as first sub given it was the second game in 48 hours for 9 of Pools outfield players and Notts County had had a 2 week break. Look at the rest of the bench - 3 forwards and Luke Williams. Stupid of Donaldson to take the free kick but otherwise he didn't let anyone down.

Box to box, Donaldson? Milk tray to quality street you mean? You talk a lot of sense most of the time but I’m struggling here.

Nice gag. Maybe I should just have said he's got good stamina. Not the type who ever looks like he's knackered towards the end of a game. Some will say that's because he does bugger all...

Ta. I should go on to talk about the very recent discovery of the in Egypt in the valley of the kings where they have unearthed a tomb and found a sarcophacos preserved in a combination of oils, nuts, cacao and a biscuit crumb. The Discovery Channel reckon it might be the burial chamber of the Pharoah Rocher......I wish Dinaldson would have more than three consecutive decent games in a row to be honest. He strikes me as a decent player at this level and L2 but just not for pools as he doesn’t want to do it here. Not happy for whatever reason. Every manager we’ve had recently thinks he should be good enough but he can’t get in the side now so it’s down to him. I think he’ll leave and probably do better elsewhere which is frustrating.

I have to say though I’m more of a toffifee man myself. It’s the caramel and chocolate. The nut is bearable really, but I’d miss it if it wasn’t there you know?

Exact same position as his free kick against Notts...

https://youtu.be/GLSHyochF4w

If the rest of the squad say Oates has the hardest shot then why shouldn't he take a free kick or two?, Donaldsons efforts frequently go over the bar, which is criminal as everyone and his dog knows you should always at least make the keeper have to save them.

And there like a cheap praline which surrounds the nut. Quid a box. Magic.

Ferguson should be taking the free kicks. Strange how left backs often tend to be the best strikers of a ball.

The odds were against most players scoring from that free kick, & as team captain I couldn't understand why it wasn't taken short & run into the corner of the pitch to let the clock run down. There were no Pools players following up the shot, in the unlikely event it had landed on target & was spilt by Slocombe.

following up a donaldson free kick is as pointless as running for a bus on christmas day.

Over the past weeks tv has been saturated with games and the number of free kicks from what is described as goal scoring positions and apart from the lad at Southampton I can’t recall anyone scoring from them. The majority go into the wall or over the bar. Let’s remember that most of these are premier league players. I have no idea but I would love to know the figures of goals scored against the number taken of kicks direct at goal.

"Research carried out in 2018 suggests that free-kicks are a more important way of scoring a goal for less skillful teams than more able ones. Or, to be more accurate, a specialist set-piece taker is more important to lesser teams than better ones.

According to the research, a specialist set-piece taker will be worth around 1.9 points compared to 0.9 points for an average set-piece taker. That's important because it is worth around 8% of the total points that a bottom six team will win over the course of a season compared to around 3.5% of the points that a top six team will win"

There's around a 4% chance of your team scoring from a free-kick on average, which will be worth more to a bottom-placed team than a top one. The chance of scoring is increased if you shoot directly at goal, but only particularly brilliant free-kick takers will increase your goal chance beyond the average.

If your side wins a direct free-kick then they would be better placed going for goal than trying to do something clever. The defensive side need their wall and 'keeper to be up to scratch to avoid conceding a goal.