first batch of answers on the official site.

He is a brave man i will give him that. He also states our ambitions.

Views?

I concur, he is a brave man.

It's good to see that they have put some decent questions on the website too.

Good to see him tackling the tough questions head on. I couldn't imagine too many managers doing that.

Concurring.

Even Tree?

can i just say fair play to chris turner, he is answering the difficult questions other managers wouldnt from the fans. He clearly cares for the club and is Hartlepool through and through trying his best in the conditions he has. I have been a big knocker of his disicions and tatics as they are sometime baffelling, but still think he should have a role at the club even if he isnt the manager. IOR clearly trust him and are giving him the support other managers havent had. Maybe the introduction to the midfield gamble has brought and when Brown returns we could have a play-off finishing team.

It just shows what an easy game football management seems to be from the stands.

he didnt say they didnt matter though? He said they havent changed much. I read it to mean that some people over rely on them (a la Scotty waving bits of paper around) when the main tactic should be to score more than the opposition.

Personally i think your being a bit overly critical there and probably looking for negatives where there isnt any.

I wouldnt expect turner to go into tactics on an ask chris questions and answers thingy.

He comes across well there, and states he wants to get us into the championship, that is summit you haven't mentioned.

He not just puts his neck on the block but he answers the questions well too, fair play.

p.s. turner out

i would say he is getting the best out of flinders, austin, collins, liddle possibly even monkey considering he has scored 8 goals already. How many managers can get the best out of every single player?

Playing people out of position, sometimes yes but not to the point where its a major problem.

I an relivately pleased with his answers personally, particularly the statement of intent about aiming for the championship.

He comes across as Hartlepool through and through, like a stick of blue and white striped rock, which is what you'd expect to hear from a man in his position, yet don't Sheff Wed and Stockport play in the same colours. I suppose having only 3k on yer' back is better than 30k.

Looking at the cynicism of the last post it would seem that in 'paulus the woodgnome and a side salad ' Tree and Grave have a new playpal.

Fairplay to CT.
Whether you agree or disagree with his answers, you can't fault his guts in making them.
I would love him to succeed simply because he is committed to the club.
I also think he is a genuinely honest man, sometimes too honest for his own good.

He usually does 'talk a good game' until some of his bizarre comments of late.

im taking it that as you havent slagged him off, you are quietly impressed with his answers grave?

Chris Turner is a good honest bloke who I'm glad has role at our club because he cares about it, but I feel it's very easy to be as honest when you're not under any real pressure from above. I think this is how many perceive the situation at the moment and why many think the club is drifting.

he may not be under much pressure from above, but our fans more than make up for that.

I havent read them to be honest. I dont care how well he answers questions, im bothered about how the team plays

He has a safe job and is pretty well paid for it.

A few people having a go at you about football isn't really pressure when you compare it to other things in life.

Fair play to his for answering them. It'd be a lot easier to hide.

There's plenty in there that you could rip to shreds while there's also some stuff in there which is good.

I'm no further excited or disillusioned. It all means very little if the stuff on the pitch fails to excite but if he can deliver half the things he is promising then it'all be good. He is confident that we can return to being the top scorers in League football by playing exciting football, that's a hell of a transformation from the current football being dished out. How long will we have to wait for this though? People are leaving in their droves and may not have the patience if noticeable improvements aren't made soon.

Like chips says, I was a bit concerned that someone who has been criticised for his tactics retorts by saying 'People go on about tactics and strategies but it's a simple game really'.

My opinion hasn't changed regarding his tactical nous, that will be changed on the pitch during games....if ever.
I also think he is comfy in his current position but so is everyone else at the club who keep their noses clean...............and we don't get relegated. ( IOR rules and regs ).
I fancy a clear out in the summer though.

Burnley was the best football I've seen us play this season!!

Agreed, that may of come across as being a cynical statement, but I would'nt have expected to hear anything else from our DOS. I think we all know he's a nice, committed bloke, but so was Michael Foot, but that did'nt make him a good leader.

At the end of the day he's hardly going to say anything that IOR and the fan's dont want to here. It's not what you say that matters it's what you do, and I really hope for all of us he goes on to achieve his and our goals.

As most on here know I didn't think Turner was the right man for the job long term. Having said that I do respect him for what he achieved in his first spell here and will never knock him personally , though our opinions on what is happening on the pitch often differ.

As other's have said he is brave to take on the questions, and give forthcoming answers, but once more I have to disagree with him in some aspects. He states, "it's not a matter of tactics" ?????????. If a team is on top, for 90 minutes of the game you could agree with that, on the other hand when they not something needs to be done, then tactics do matter, and the man who makes them matter, is the one in charge in the dug out, the man who can change a game by making a substitution or TACTICAL change on the pitch with those already on it. I just find that statement a little naive to say the least, but that's just my opinion.

the 2nd part is up on the official site now.....

He is giving as good as he is getting

Apparently the standard of this division 'much better' than the two years we made the play offs.

Anyone else think that is total bollocks??

I don't see a QPR or a Plymouth coming to the Vic and wiping the floor with a much better side than we have now. It's almost playing down what we achieved in those two seasons because he wasn't at the club.

and making things up.

'people are saying they aren't coming anymore because we aren't in the play-offs'

not me. there were 2 really good teams in the division that were a million miles ahead of us (size wise and financially) last time, this time round there are at least 4.

Sounds like he's talking perfect sense to me. Especially the line "humphreys isn't a left back". I've been saying that for three years!

So Sheffield Wedensday, Hull City, Bristol City, Barnsley ect ect are similar sized clubs to us?

My views on Chris Turner as a manager are widely known but fair play to the man for doing this Q@A session and i've liked what i have read in a positive way.

Anyone who criticises Chris Turner after this wants their head looking. He is talking perfect sense and for most people has taken the sting out of recent comments. I for one am more inclined to attend.

My question and CT answer

When Hartley was sent-off against Oldham it appeared that only one tactical change was needed - simply drop Humphreys to left-back (a position he has played for the last few seasons). Why did you feel it necessary to make the number of changes you did to accommodate one position?


CT: We simply moved Neil Austin over to the left against Oldham. Their winger Chris Taylor was giving Peter Hartley a torrid time - he fouled him once, he fouled him twice and was then red-carded. Ritchie Humphreys isn't a left-back, Neil Austin is - he played there for Darlington last season. Antony Sweeney has played right-back in the last couple of games so it was an easy switch for us. There were only three minutes of normal time remaining - if there had been forty minutes maybe we'd have re-assessed but to quickly re-organise for a free-kick coming in to your penalty area then it was easy to put a player to left-back who can play there and a player to right-back who can play there.


I agree Humphreys is not a left back, but in the same way Sweeney's not a right back. But to say Sweeney is an easy switch, surely as Humphreys played left back more than Sweeney has played right back is the EASIER switch for us(IMHO) And if he's actually saying Humphreys can't play left back (most would agree) WHY O WHY did he persevere with him in that position LAST SEASON?????????? Fair do's to him for answering it, but I still think to many changes to accomodate one position.

At least this means we won't be seeing Humphreys at left back whilst Hartley is suspended. That was slightly worrying me.

they are bigger but werent THAT much better than us (if at all) previous time round. Sheff Wed were struggling financially as were Hull, Bristol were the perennial underachievers (Wilsons fault probably)

This time round i believe there are 5 clubs much much bigger than us, who have significantly better squads than us and much better finances.

Leeds
Charlton
Southampton
Norwich
Huddersfield


Then another 2 or 3 clubs who we would struggle to keep up with at present.

MK Dons
Millwall
Colchester

That doesn't mean we can't beat any of these teams, i just think it would be hard to keep up with them over 46 games

sweeney isn't a right back by trade, but he does a bloody decent job there when asked to. Whereas Humphreys can't, not in any way, shape or form.

Yeah Hull were struggling like fook, didn't have a pot to piss in. They only just crawled into the Premiership a couple of years later.

The likes of Barnsley, Doncaster, Plymouth, QPR, and Blackpool are all pretty well set Championship clubs now. Don't forget the very strong actually the superb Luton team who got 98 points and the Brentford side that included the likes of Micheal Turner, Sam Sodje, Jay Tabb, and Deon Burton. League One was still the third tier of English football we were just a better side with a better feeling about the place. We have signed 13 players, non of these players are kids don't be kidded into thinking we can't compete with these clubs because we are backed to the hilt by our owners.

i do think we will be able to compete, just not yet. Theres still plenty of building to be done. We could also do with sorting out the youth system a bit if possible.

Aren't you massively missing the point? The criticism aimed at Turner was because he made sweeping changes throughout the whole team when one simple move would have been suffice.

I'm quite saddened that despite CT having the bottle to come out and answer his critics directly, one or two still feel the need to pick holes in it.

FFS take it for what it is and give him some respect for having the balls to stand up and be counted.

He said Humphreys wasn't a left back.

This is all you could read the rest was blurred out. He was actually advocating the drowning of kittens in one of this replies.

No im not missing the point at all, Turner made the changes necessary to give the team its strongest defence available.

Which defence is stronger?

Austin Clark Cherel Humphreys

or

Sweeney Clark Cherel Austin



He chose what i would consider to be the strongest defence of the 2 which makes perfect sense to me!!!

For the record I do respect Chris Turner and the work he has done for Pools, and I also respect the that he is an open and honest man with the balls to come out and respond to criticism. Give me that over someone like Danny Wilson any day.

It's doesn't mean I have to agree with everything he says!

indeed.

As he said himself, its a game of opinions, which is why it is the greatest (and most frustrating) game on earth

Most people have complimented him so far on having the balls to come out and answering the questions. I applaud him for that, I also don't have a problem with him as a bloke- I'm not sure why anyone would.

Did you really think people would ever come on here and agree with everything he said and not criticise bits they had problems with though?

FFS, There's no hope.

care to expand?

I wont disagree with that in any way shape or form, but the number of changes made totally disrupted almost all of the 10 player's left on the pitch. I just believe the least number of changes made in that particular game would have been more beneficial to the team. it's all about opinions.

stop bigging the opposition up, thats Turners job!