Is it the players or is it the manager…?
I won’t elaborate further because there’s obviously something wrong in the dressing room.

Just watched the managers reaction during post match interview. It’s ground hog day every week. The same mistakes and you can see Askey becoming more disillusioned. I hope he stays but why are the players not playing for him. In my opinion there either plane stupid or just won’t play for the manager. He needs to read the riot act it’s just becoming a joke this not being able to defend

Askey was fuming during the interview, he kept taking deep intakes of breath, I don’t think he is the type to give the players the hair dryer treatment either, maybe the players aren’t interested or intelligent enough to understand how he wants them to play ? Possibly the players are trying to drive him out, wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened to a manager.

No plan B, when things are not working we keep doing the same things. We don't have subs who can change a game. The fault imo lies as much with the manager, surely he can see that we need a player or 2 with a bit of pace and flair to beat a man and create openings.
Surely we have a couple of fringe players or kids who are worth 15 mins when we're chasing a game.

The trouble in these situations is if the dressing room is against you, it’s easier to change the manager than the team, even if the manager’s In the right.
Cloughie and Leeds come to mind, players taking him literally and getting their way…ego’s that eventually ruined the team….but this can’t go on turning it on and off as they fancy.

Players I reckon. Not good enough. We could not bring in better because of the budget being taken up by players still on the books. It made the squad ok-ish without injuries and poor once a few injuries kicked in.

I think the players are good enough to compete at this level, most are ex league 2/1 experience players here. Eastleigh just shows what they can do.
I personally think and said long time ago, Askey has lost the dressing room and players (for whatever reason) funny how he signed a three year contract and we fall apart.

Or Askey is looking for a quick payout from Raj and doing everything in his position and power to be sacked by Raj.

This is going to have to come to a head somehow as this can’t continue much longer, the trouble is deciding the right steps to take.
If I owned the club I ‘d kick the dressing room door in post match (it’s my door) and have it out with them while they’re all together…. then break my not swearing rule for the sheer hell of it

said after the chester game these next 3 games to the end of the month may decide where the club will be in november. one defeat already and the clock still ticking. think we all know what the easy way out will be, another manager down the road. really what can he do more unless his training methods are a farce. the goals against says it all. the team and players just cannot defend with similar and not totally different goals conceeded every bloody game. the only different thing now is that teams above us in the league are beating us and not the ones below us.

might be wrong but i get the impression a defeat gets to the players less than it does to JA. more likely the dressing room has lost the manager. well it would have if i was him or raj.

The curse of the 3 years contract reappears its ugly head again.
These pesky advisors are killing our club. mint excuse.
Be careful what you wish for Stability Lovers its not a forgone conclusion of better times n success are coming.
Obviously an ongoing debate.
See were we are February / March.
UTP

I’m with pooly imp on this, some weak on basic skills, some weak between the ears, and some lacking in both departments. It’s all we can afford or are willing to pay for.

actually expected us to be where we are now. its just how the defeats are happening that bothers me more than our actual league position is.

It happens in the work place that eventually the good grafters get sick of carrying the lazy fuckas who aint bothered.
Footballers will be no different.
Looks like a seriously divided dressing room lately.

Very difficult situation to sort out.

Proper Eyes n Pickled Onion Eyes.
Least Ronnie had a sense of humour

League table false sense of security masked by the 1st 5 games. Nobody wins promotion in August.
Form guide since September is major bad and we more or less stuck with these players now. Because its nigh on impossible to find out of contract better replacements at this stage of the season.
We are were we are but lets keep our divided opinions civilised.
Its only Football.
UTP

I’m not looking forward to watching it on Tuesday…do I watch it or carry on installing my cable ducting….. mind you the cable ducting is hardly charismatic but then neither is the team.

Same here, what boils my piss is all the crap at the start of the season, Playoffs, Automatic promotion and budgets.

I know that the club need to sell season tickets and give fans hope. However, why not for once be honest and tell us something that we all ready know. We are not going to fight for playoffs, we want a season to start rebuilding, we be looking for mid table finish.

I personally will still go and not expect much. Rather than as said it's the way we are losing games after a good start to the season.
Also fans moaning about injuries, paper thin squad, but then sending out two players on loan and sed fan (not on here) happy that Burton and Pruti are gone.

Same here, what boils my piss is all the crap at the start of the season, Playoffs, Automatic promotion and budgets.

I know that the club need to sell season tickets and give fans hope. However, why not for once be honest and tell us something that we all ready know. We are not going to fight for playoffs, we want a season to start rebuilding, we be looking for mid table finish.

lots of clubs do this but fans in different areas of the country i feel are taken in more by bullshit than poolies are. its either the water or the upbringing by families who have lived in the town for numerous generations. tell us how it is and we,ll stand by you. take us for mugs then beware as we all have your number. will never bother me if we get beat by a better side with better players as long as our lads put a real shift in. i,d have packed in over 60 years ago if i was. really deep down we love the town and its football club and none of us expect miracles. its just we want to get the basics right and watching players who care nearly as much as we do.

Yes its the lies every season telling us we have a competitive budget and we are expecting to be up there. Just tell us what most of us know, we havent a pot to piss and were going to survive on what we have. This is another manager getting hung out to dry. A manager thats won this league, shows you what little he has to work with when this is what were producing. This team is bottom 6 at best the first 5 games might end up saving us. Though i cant see it.

I was thinking about going on Tuesday night but have decided not to. At this moment I don't even want to buy the stream. My last away game was Oxford City and I'm still wincing from that experience. Askey's post match interview gave me the impression that his heart isn't in it. I'm beginning to wonder whether mine is. It's just so depressing. There doesn't seem to be any light at all, never mind at the end of the tunnel.

I really don't think Askey is the weak link here. And I know others will think differently and who could blame them when they see what they see week after week. I know we've got players who have played at a higher level but how many times have we had players like this whose ability has clearly dropped lower than what we need? Loads. I think we have some of those now. We beat Dagenham yes but even a relegation side wins occasionally.... and we are winning very occasionally.

just wonder if askeys great time as a manager is over. its a few years now since he worked to get macclesfield promoted on a shoestring and everything since might have took a toil on him. there is a limit to how much we can take in all forms of life and work. once you might have loved your job and cannot wait to get stuck in. shit happens till you eventually find it near impossible to just get out of bed and when you do you just go through the motions. many managers have success in their early managerial days but in the end they keep getting sacked from different clubs till they pack it in themselves. just thinking of dicky dosh and curle now.

Also the likes of Ferguson, Clough, N.Cooper, Bobby Robson, Kevin Keegan, Mark Hughes, John Still and the list goes on, yes including Askey in this too.

With the younger arseholes attitude of so called football players, the kicking boots, throwing hair dryers and pinning them up against the walls of the changing room doesn't work, the mad management doesn't cut it in the modern world. Youth need to be told how to wipe their arses, how to open the doors, how to lace their boots and how to breathe. This isn't just football, this is in all workplaces, I answered stupid question everyday to staff under 28, that basically common sense.

Football in all honesty isn't the same as most of us have watched over the years. Young kids these days have massive chips on the shoulders and think the world owes them a free pass...

And I wonder if there is ANYONE out there who can do owt with the club, the way it is right now. It may change next season when certain contracts expire. Isn't that the time to judge?

There are Managers out there who could vastly improve both the players attitude and team work but the big question is - would they want that job?

There are Non League Managers who have/are successful with their Clubs and would have the ability to turn these players around but would Raj employ them?

I think we know the answer to that one.

we have no answers as we never know how good or bad new players and managers are going to be once we sign em. every thing is a big gamble its just gambling aint for pools.

These out of contract players supposedly holding us back aint starting in these defeats.
Does anyone serious think next season the Recruitment is seriously going to go up a major level.
I don't for sure but most of u rose tinters would expect that.
The proof will be in the pudding.

Askey got York City promoted out of the NLN only 2 seasons ago so suggestions that he's past it are a bit odd. There's a big question now though - whether he can do any more with this team? What he thinks of the players he's got is obvious from the fact that he's brought 3 in on short-term deals in the last few weeks and they've all gone straight into the first 11. There's probably quite a few in the squad he'd like to see the back of, but he - or someone else - is stuck with them till the end of the season.

Haven't seen any highlights yet but listening to it on the radio it sounded like another two examples of piss poor defending to add to the collection. 3 points chucked away with 10 minutes left on the clock!

I don't see why we wouldn't sign such a manager, we signed Challinor and gave him a three year contract. Everybody thought Askey was a good catch with a good track record and we gave him a three year contract. Our problem is that the managers since Challinor have not been able to get to a situation were we are hard to beat and can keep the back door shut. The dilemma we currently have is a bunch of players who have proved they can perform at this level but apparently only when they can be arsed. We keep getting told that we are only interested in players that will make us better and improve the squad. So players come in and initially impress and then start blowing hot and cold. Solve the reason for that and we might get somewhere. Is that why we have suddenly started this one month trial contract basis. It's baffling me.

After Macclesfield, where he spent a long time, his other appointments weren’t that long.

Get the petty cash open and buy them dummies.

DC did not seem to have a problem, Not the type to talk players round.
They all knew who was the gaffa.

The players do not have the technical ability to play how the manager wants them to play. First goal should have been prevented if the ball was cleared rather that trying to tip tap our way out

Think we should

I think the players don't know what"'kick it into row Z" means. Also make "yourself look big on crosses" puff out the chest and stand your ground, rather than back track and inviting them on then hope someone comes and covers you.

Have a listen to Askey's post-match interview on the OS. On the first goal he says " The ball should be cleared. Someone is trying to play out, when it should be cleared."

It was Grey who was trying to tip tap his way out and he got hooked for his mistake soon after.

We also lost a lot of possession due to being unable to control the ball first time

This is with money for dropping out of the league if anyone thinks next season is going to be any better are deluded its been getting gradually worse since we won against torquay and its not going to get any better with the people behind the scenes. Barring 2 or 3 players we buy rubbish and sell anything good, its a recipe for disaster.

I think Askey was and still is the right man. I was chuffed when he got his proper contract. It was a good move. I think even with a very average budget he could get us challenging at the top. The problem is, if you are running that tight a ship then everyone has to provide value for money and we still have some that are not and will be here until June 24. Even though they are perhaps not in the first team, they are taking up a wage and preventing a signing. For Askey to be judged fairly we either have to wait until next season or Raj has to stop telling him to make do budget wise.

Askey had a very good budget for the level and was at one of the few full time clubs so had a very good advantage over the rest. Plus they were getting good crowds in their new ground so had a buzz about the place anyway.

Fair point.

Not particularly relevant though. The Macclesfield episode was quite the opposite.

Seems to be a Memphis goung around that this season is over and next season will be a major improvement.

Surely these JA defeats cant be pinned on previous managers recruitments.
Every manager suffers the odd injuries n has to revert to plan B.
Just think hes overated n thats a results opinion not just mine.
Really is asking a lot for our fans to stay patient. I can see the fans at York exploding into rage mode.
Could be 17th by then.
But thats ok because its all about next season..
Some strange analysis going around lately and not just from me.

I still think Askey is the right man- he's clearly bothered about the situation.
Don't see how sacking him would improve the situation- and would just increase the feeling of chaos around the club.

I blame the players for such indifference between matches.

I think we need to consolidate this season and then get rid of all the Deadwood and allow Askey to build his own team without the freeloaders signed by previous managers. That way he can then be properly judged on his own ability to build a successful squad next season.

As I stated earlier in the season - I'd take a top half finish and a trip to Wembley in the FAT.

However I do think the club need to employ a Shaman to take a piss at each corner flag as it does feel like the club is cursed!

I'm sure the odious Barry Fry did something similar at Peterborough when he was chairman/ manager before that documentary they made when Steve Bleasdale was manager and they brought in Fat Ron as a consultant!

Now that would be fascinating if that happened at Pools- a video nasty!

Remember how many years Man. U persisted with Fergy, I think 3 seasons before he won a trophy.

One fact is indisputable, even despite injuries they showed quite clearly the can produce the goods…unfortunately they’re not firing on all cylinders ..in fact they’re not firing on most cylinders and that’s the problem.
Even last season we had the same problem when Askey nearly saved our bacon.
The answer is in their hands.

But he continues with the same group of losers every game.

Over to you Raj. Let him bring in some quality.

He wont though yet fans blindly then believe its down to managers. What next tony sweeney takes over does well for 5 games, then 1 or 2 injuries and then we all want him out?