So let's get this right Turner has scoured the Country for left backs and found only one Michael Rose who didn't sign, therefore there are no left backs out there so he goes and signs five strikers.................... gawd help us, how gullible can you get. My point is that Turner has not done his job properly because he has failed to sign a left back. If you were running an engineering factory and you needed a vertical borer but you failed to recruit one and so you signed up five milling machine operators instead would that be good management? before you make a fool of yourself the question is rhetorical!!

this has to be the most god awful post i have ever read. Ever

No, I have done worse

Grave's posts are amazing in any context.

this has to be the most god awful post i have ever read. Ever

Ok, I will be in touch when im ready

The only way Grabec will be 'ready' is if she eats a poisonous berry or a nut which makes her temporarily deaf, dumb, stupid, forgetful and desperate for sex

Last night Collins tried to take on a player at the edge of his own box instead of finding row Z. This was a move that was taking him even wider which would, at best, have left him stranded. For their second goal he was dragged out wide, leaving their CF a goal chance.
I don't see where this current " gelling" excuse is going to solve daft decision-making like that.
I too hope you are right.

I can't say I remember the first goal but I suggest because of this again it was something that happened followed by a pattern of play leading to the ball flashing across goal to be drilled in by the left back.

The second goal and this "dragged wide" issue. We had just cleared a free kick and Collins was marking the centre half I think, the ball came straight back so Collins followed the man he was with, Behan was in the centre back position because he had been marking the centre forward etc. There was no time for everyone to take position again FFS so actually sticking with the man you were marking in this context makes sense. The fact Kuffour got the ball jinked past a couple of challenges and jinked home is also Collins fault according to you and others?!?! Yes have your own opinions on the lad but for goodness sake whatever goal we concede he seems to be getting the blame even if four or 5 players have been involved or touched the ball after him.

I happen to think he had a good game yesterday apart from him launching the ball straight down the throats of the centre halfs all second half (although in my opinion this is as much to do with the fact we have an anonymous midfield who do not come and take the ball and build our play). Anyone remember the last ditch block he made 1st half after Haslam was skinned?

The only way Grabec will be 'ready' is if she eats a poisonous berry or a nut which makes her temporarily deaf, dumb, stupid, forgetful and desperate for sex

So are you saying we didnt need any strikers this season then?
What do you think of Behan and Freddy who Turner brought in?

i think a lot of people have made their minds up about collins and nothing he does in a handful of games is going to alter their opinions.

bristol played with one man up front for almost the entire second half so it would be a bad job if he couldnt cope in those circumstances , especially as we still persisted in playing 4 at the back ( poor management imho, failed to react to their change in formation and unbelievably slow to use substitutes, but thats another story ).

the big problem as i see it is that whenever we do go in front we seem incapable of holding onto a lead, and if the opposition get one goal another seems to follow shortly afterwards. the team goes into mass panic mode, and suddenly we are making basic errors, failing to clear our lines, going to ground too soon, and humping aimless long balls forward when in acres of space.

it happened a lot last season. brighton away was a classic example. we were one up and totally in command, they bring one fast guy on and suddenly its like the fooking alamo, the whole team loses the plot and we get beat.

collins im afriad is a prime example of a player who despite his experience does just that i.e. lose the plot and has a daft 20 minutes. he loses the ball in daft positions ( leeds away ) he dives in when theres no need ( northampton away ) or he fluffs clearances.

when the ball is in the air he looks okay, when its on the deck he isnt.

in 2 home games we have conceeded 4 goals ( about on a par with last season ) and yet most would say the keeper has played well. attention is bound to focus on the defenders im afraid.

im not singling him out, because last season nelson and humps were just as bad if not worse. its just he is the only one that has survived the cull and for some reason he has the captains armband despite having no obvious leadership qualities.

away from home you can put 5 men im midfield and give extra protection to your defenders and play for a 0-0 draw but thats never an option at home im afraid.

we dont have major problems in defence for him to be, or not to be 'the answer' though. They just need time to gel.

I agree.

I dont see the same defensive problems as last season.

Last season teams just ran past our defenders and scored. Infact we barely had a defence.

This season we have conceded goals from elementary mistakes. Once they cut those out we will be fine.

Just on another note. Collins was not entirely to blame for the first goal, as he wasnt for saturdays either.

Yes he should have launched it clear, but the ball then went into the box, and we should have cleared again, before they scored.

On saturday Haslam was to blame for the first. If Collins had done that some of you would have had him hung, drawn and quartered.

Funny owld game innit?

[x] post of the day.

I didnt say that at all, I said that he will be still looking to resolve the problem, did you have your head up you backside during pre-season when we were trialling people at left back. When people who support this club realise we arnt as an attractive propersition to a lot of teams in this division a lot of the moaning will stop.

So are you saying we didnt need any strikers this season then?
What do you think of Behan and Freddy who Turner brought in?

We can be attractive to players, you know.

Aren't clubs in the North East supposed to be stereotypically known for their passionate supporters?

For some people that's a big plus - that and to get any sniff of a chance to play in England where the supporters are at their most passionate, like when Fredriksen and most other foreign players join ?

Most other foreign players I can think of one who has been a success and really should have been playing at a higher level. Other include:

Stig Olaf Larrsen
Gus De Lella
Tim Sperevik
Martin Hollund

cant remember any others

If you think pools are on a equal par with teams like charlton, colchester and southern teams you are very wrong

Well, Charlton and Colchester because they were Championship sides and bigger with big stadiums, then, maybe, yes it is always going to be very hard to compete against that at the moment, but not all places in the South are glamourous you know.

Well, they should go there before deciding what they think about it. That last fact is simply not the fact if you look at places like Leeds (unfortunately!), Harrogate, Newcastle, etc.

But the clubs located in Hartlepool

What difference does that make?

because hartlepool is cold, dark and boring! And full of smackheads and those damned bounders who steal cable tv

because hartlepool is cold, dark and boring! And full of smackheads and those damned bounders who steal cable tv

Not entirely. Hartlepool has become and continuing to be a vibrant modern town with new shopping developments such as the Marina etc, a beautiful seaside town, in summer esecially and it has a great, growing, developing football Club with real history and real characters.

Not entirely. Hartlepool has become and continuing to be a vibrant modern town with new shopping developments such as the Marina etc, a beautiful seaside town, in summer esecially and it has a great, growing, developing football Club with real history and real characters.

Not entirely. Hartlepool has become and continuing to be a vibrant modern town with new shopping developments such as the Marina etc, a beautiful seaside town, in summer esecially and it has a great, growing, developing football Club with real history and real characters.

Not entirely. Hartlepool has become and continuing to be a vibrant modern town with new shopping developments such as the Marina etc, a beautiful seaside town, in summer esecially and it has a great, growing, developing football Club with real history and real characters.

what a load of bollocks. I have lived here for fast approaching 30 years and its a shiit hole!

Just been on our local council website, it says this when describing our town...

Hartlepool has become and continuing to be a vibrant modern town with new shopping developments such as the Marina. It's now a beautiful seaside town, in summer especially and it has a great, growing, developing football Club with real history

STOP PINCHING FROM WEBSITES!!

If you want to improve the environment around you, then I'm a great believer that you can.

And if you want to improve, you have to be aspirational and optimistic about doing something like that.

If you want to improve the environment around you, then I'm a great believer that you can.

And if you want to improve, you have to be aspirational and optimistic about doing something like that.

It's about being proud of the town's advantages, as well as wanting to improve the town's faults.

I just simply don't believe in being needlessly pessimistic - it doesn't help the situation at all.

People are proud of the towns advantages but your missing the point why people dont want to come here is because of the disadvantages. Hartlepool will always be viewed in an Andy Capp-esk style by anyone who hasnt been to the town, mine, ships, flat caps, whippets, pigeon racing, lots of drinking etc.

Like when you say Yeovil or Norwich you instantly think Yokel

Yes, but often when we say that now, I think we're just trying to be funny.

But I believe that there is a point where we must put that comedy aside and not let affect our views about other places, especially in today's technology-fulled age.

The days of Andy Capp going home and knocking the wife about are over. Those cartoons had to stop a long time ago because times have changed.

This is 2009. An African-American is in the White House. Change is in the air.

'The days of Andy Capp going home and knocking the wife about are over. Those cartoons had to stop a long time ago because times have changed.'

Pessimistic or realist, take you baseball cap off its to tight and is restricting the blood flow to your brain.