I reckon if Askey keeps us up that will be a bigger achievement than Challinor getting us promoted. Both superb managers only difference for me is Askey is much better at making good inpact subs and seems better at improving players.

If Askey keeps us up it'll be a bigger achievement than Ronnie Moore's great escape - because it was achieved with fewer games left.

Comparing staying up favourably with winning promotion is like saying a satisfying dump is more fun than great sex.

I would say it’s far too early to compare the two. JA has a job in hand to attend to, i.e. keeping us in the league and with a squad he has had no chance to influence himself.

Whether he achieves this immediate task or not I would say he has already earned the right to stay on as manager and build a new squad of his own. When he has done that and had a season or two to work with his own players then you might be able to make a fairer comparison.

This^^^^^^.

Agree staying up this season will be a bigger achievement given that JA has had to do a lot of turd polishing due to the last 2 imbeciles bfor him.
Plus RM was allowed to bring quality in like Mirfin Tishbola n Hugill.
We dont need to know about ya sick private life.

at the moment i think thats the hardest question i have been asked for a long time. Both improved the side from the start from what it previously was. even the season that finished early we had improved. the promotion season was a waste somewhat as we did not see much of it live till the end. as for the subs, it has helped JA in the players he has available to make an impact. All in all i cannot see much to choose between em and the big test for JA may come after we lose a game which is something unknown recently. as for improving players both have done well at that as oates and kitching were hardly fans favourites when they arrived.

Also you got to question, how much of this is down to the individual players, the likes of Ferguson, Sterry, Sylla, Jennings, Umerah & Dodds who don't want to return to the National League standard. Then likes of Cooke, McDonald, Purti, Finney, Dolan (with his move home at the end of the season) and the rest who want to retain the EFL status. The likes of Kemp & Stolarcczyk who want to put themselves in the shop window for a higher and bigger club.

Askey has given then the confidence to play footie and pass the ball, instead of kick and run.

If Singh keeps faith with him, he could be be another Challinor if given time.

[quote="ZNB12"]Also you got to question, how much of this is down to the individual players, the likes of Ferguson, Sterry, Sylla, Jennings, Umerah & Dodds who don't want to return to the National League standard. Then likes of Cooke, McDonald, Purti, Finney, Dolan (with his move home at the end of the season) and the rest who want to retain the EFL status. The likes of Kemp & Stolarcczyk who want to put themselves in the shop window for a higher and bigger club.

Askey has given then the confidence to play footie and pass the ball, instead of kick and run.

what makes it even better is that none of the players are his signings, but those who have played have bought into his philosophy no matter where they will be next season. just wonder if he has been like a ray of sunshine after months of gloomy dank weather for them. where have all the mystery injuries gone over the last few weeks.

Curle was to psychological probably bamboozled the players, West a waste of space, same fella been about probably made a few bob out of failure.

I find comparisons very hard to establish unless every thing is equal in terms of league in, matches played and against whom, players involved and results gained.

Let's just say they are both very good Managers and made/make an excellent fit with the Club.

Tend to agree with you mucker. Too many ponderables.

The current incumbent (whoever it maybe) when he has turned things around is the best, BOTH did it one has moved on so it time to forget him, You could say we might as well wait until, for whatever reason Askey has signed 40+ players as Challinor did in his tenure with us. So going on fact that Askey has signed ZERO players some would say he's better, Challinor built a team Askey has inherited one

I think Askey has landed on his feet, first half of season was rubbish, manager sacked and then 14 players brought in around the Jan transfer window.

Some of these players improved us significantly (Kemp, Dodds, Keeper, Jennings etc).

Curle seemed to lose the plot and Askey came in at a time when we started to get some of our best players back from injury (Sterry, Dodds & Cooke) - a few weeks now hes had just about a full squad available to him.

Hes kept things simple, not tinkered much, became very clear after the Walsall game who his best 11 was (he literally needed one game to figure it out) and we are reaping the rewards.

What Askey has done wasn't easy but regardless of the players not being his there is more than enough to compete in league two when all are fit - which the team is now demonstrating.

We will lose players in the summer, that will be the big test as to how successful Askey really is. There is a foundation in place to compete each week, can he step it up so that we then win each week?

Exciting times after months of misery.

What’s done is done, you are dealing with the present… a bit like longing for the lass you used to go out with who married someone with money…move on.

You can’t compare Askey and Challinor at this time. Askey only been in charge for 6 or 7 games but has done remarkably well. As someone said earlier Challinor build a team and has done it on a few occasions with other teams. To be honest Challinor is good enough to manage league 1 or possibly championship side. Good luck to the guy. He will always be a legend in Hartlepool. That conference final against Torquay was one of the best matches I ever saw at that level.

Come the end of May when the Loanies have gone n contracts are finished we roughly got about 7/8 players.
Cant see JA being a manager to accept the usual budget of replacing shit with shit n hopeing for better results.
Out of our hands whatever your opinions are
Must be some bored Arabs fancy a Poolie Revolution.
This club has potential but a few on here have zero ambition like Sing.
UTP

[quote="kevin pooles gloves"][

Come the end of May when the Loanies have gone n contracts are finished we roughly got about 7/8 players.
Cant see JA being a manager to accept the usual budget of replacing shit with shit n hopeing for better results.
Out of our hands whatever your opinions are
the beauty of JA is that he has actually done that before at macclesfield where their good gates would be regarded as a joke at pools. he must have something that appeals to players looking at our results since he arrived and might be the same in transfer negotiations where players are won over by him. think most of us have had bosses we would do anything for and others where we did the minimum just to get by.

You're way out. Pools have got at least 16 players under contract next season.

Ferguson and Crawford signed 2 year deals last summer. Joe Grey has 2 years left on his 3 year deal.
Murray, Lacey, Paterson, Cooke, Hastie, Umerah and Ndjoli all got 2 year deals off Hartley in the summer transfer window.
Dodds, Pruti, Finney, Kiernan and Jennings all signed "permanent" deals in January - guess that means 18 months.
Dolan is on loan from Newport but it's supposed to automatically turn into a permanent deal this summer.

There might be one or two more - not sure what deals Niang and McDonald are on. Knowing Pools' luck, Niang will have another year and McDonald's deal will be up this summer.

There's 4 or 5 there who will definitely be surplus to Askey's requirements - moving them on won't be easy though

Surely from a business point of view, their wages will have been accounted for, so surely negotiate a severance deal if that’s the case with those who are surplus to requirements?

I am not concerned about budgets to compete, in January Raj blasted the previous budget out of the water.

Plenty of league quality players signed in January on good money for league two - Kemp, Finney, Kiernan, Jennings & Dolan plus the other 8-9 signings.

The challenge will be moving on the likes of Hastie, Patterson Ndjoli & Niang at minimal cost.

That will free up budget to bring in more players to improve the squad, as we have a good nucleus even without Sylla & Kemp (would love he stays but cant see it).

Dunno. There's clubs in every division stuck with players they don't want on higher wages than they can get anywhere else. Some will be willing to do a deal to get the chance to play regular football somewhere else, others just sit tight.

Askey seems to have the ability to get the players playing and have a common sense man management approach

Way too early and unproven in things like recruitment, building long term team etc...

I know 6 of the games have been draws, but I was wondering if any other Pools manager has been unbeaten after his first 8 games in charge.

Hopefully it will soon be time for the ceremony...Arise Sir Askey of Hartlepool

Sorry Sir
Dident realize it was that bad.
Looks like anutha relegation battle then.
Hopefully not a Scunthorpe style one.

Some of the football leading up to that Torquay game, was up their with the best I ever saw from a Pools team. The chesterfield game, Bromley, notts county and then going toe to toe with possibly the best torquay team they ever had.

Crazy how one man let all that slip away and now we are paying for it big time. Askey has done a fantastic job, but he now needs to pull off some big wins and not draws now.

He’s gone, get over it and move on. He was going anyway, there was no chance of Raj being able to compete with Stockport’s financial backers…any successful Pools manager is quickly poached by a club with clout at the bank.

tonight might be his hardest task since his arrival at pools. getting the players motivated after saturdays no show and getting something out of the game.

The problem is the defence. Reverting to a back 5 is a no brainer after the 4-4-2 flopped at Newport, but unless Sterry is fit to play Pools might not have 5 defenders to put on the field, let alone one for the bench. Murray, Lacey and Hartley all out and a question mark over Dolan's fitness, never mind his performances since he joined Pools.

I have sympathy with Askey he has a huge task on his hands with players inherited from the previous managers, let’s hope Pools stick with him even if we get relegated, he always looks like he has the world on his shoulders.

Exactly Mr Jamie….nicely summed up.

Yes, also agree.

The main problem he will need to address is the back line, particularly in the centre. The three central defenders we had against Salford, while they do show potential, are too inexperienced and not physical enough. Their first goal last night Dodds was outmuscled - but I think we all realise that he is only playing in the middle out of necessity at the moment.

I’m sure Askey will already have players in mind to fill all the necessary roles so let’s back him and also have a proper pre-season this time. We ( I.e Raj) need to at least learn our lessons and move on.

Raj should definitely hang onto Askey and give him the full summer to prepare for next season,whatever division Pools are in.

If it's the NL, hope Notts County finally go up - with them and Wrexham out of the way and the benefit of the EFL parachute payment Pools will have a realistic chance of coming straight back up next season. There'd be no really big spenders left in the NL with those two out of the way and Rochdale have an even smaller pot to piss in than we do!

Probably Challinor is one of the few managers who have left Pools apart from Clough and has not been sacked from where they went to, Turner went to Sheff Wed and didn’t do nought.

Depends what team DC puts out on the last day,lol
If they are in the playoffs, May well rest a few.

It’s not the size of the pot, it’s how you spend what you’ve got.

That would explain 3 of the top 4 spenders on players and agents in the National League being 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the division

The exception that proves the rule are Oldham, but they seem to have got their act together now and will be promotion contenders next season.

You think these bunch of no hopers under contract for next season which will diminish the usual misery budget even more can produce a realistic chance of coming straight back up.

Only took 2 defeats for you to revert to type, eh Kev? Till the loss at Newport you were getting quite carried away with the idea that Pools might stay up - now they're back to being no hopers If Crawley beat us they'll not even be NLN standard

This is where I agree with Snowy - if we stick with the right manager (Askey) we'll be alright. Though if it is to be the NL, Pools will need a few nasty bastards that they haven't got at the minute.

Totally agree Sir regarding the Manager.
Its the budget that will be JAs problem.
Anyhow lets focus on Saturday.
Millhouse pub open 9am if anyone wants to pay there respects to Cockney Pete.
UTP.

know things are far from ideal on and off the pitch at pools but if we keep askey i feel we are in a better position than where we were last time we went down. a manager who got promoted from that league on a small budget and half the crowds pools get and not a bloke learning on the job from part time football.

Yep, Pools went through 4 failures last time (Harrison,Bates, Money, Hignett) before finding a manager (Challinor) who had similar credentials to Askey, and he put us on the path to promotion almost as soon as he took over.