Like for like subs, sideways passing and crosses direct to their goalkeeper. Did I miss anything?

not one player wants to take the game or responsibility. its pass the buck. Thought the town end cheers when richards went off were harsh. Never thought done any more wrong than another player but used as a scapegoat again. Woods would of been my first choice for the hook

I said Woods as well, Allesandra for Woods would have made more sense and go to a 433.

I enjoyed it in spells. 2 well matched teams, just lacking that bit of quality when it mattered

Boring, mundane shite served up yet again. No creativity, no-one willing to take a chance, too soft. Ran out of words to describe it.

Not sure if many others are in same thought as me but no chance coming back with another season ticket next season. We never change, just destined to be in the bottom 7/8 until eventually we run out of luck and get relegated.

Not to worry, sure the millhouse master plan will change all of this going forward

Richards lost the ball about 10 times in a row prior to being subbed. Disgraceful performance although he wasn't the only one.

I'd rather see Harrison/Amond as a front two than Paynter/Amond, at least Harrison would go for headers and occupy a defender or two.

Just hope the bottom 3 keep losing.

Cant see us being safe before game 45 Cheltenham Away.

richards was fcking garbage, waste of air and space

and whats with Bartlett passing the ball to the defenders when there is like 2 or 3 opposition close by, kick the fcking ball further outfied!

At least hignett stood for most of the game and didn't leg it down the tunnel at full time

No quality in the final third. Never put them under pressure when they had the ball and allowed their number 26 to run the game. Need a strong tackling midfielder and a strong striker... like we have for four seasons.

Need about 7/8 players.

Only ones I'd be happy with it want to do well are Donnelly, Thomas, Carson and Hawkins/amond at a push

Out of interest have we ever done a full season without back to back league wins.


Some good tunes on Beat Surrender

Virtually every game at home is the same, pass pass pass then end up losing the ball, nothing ever changes and the same God awful players keep getting games! Yes Richards tries but he's simply not league standard, Hawkins is a tidy player but he doesn't particularly offer anything going forward or defensively, woods goes missing in the game, Featherstone is tidy and keeps stuff ticking over with countless sideways passes , Harrison has improved last few games but there are too many faults to his game, paynter is lazy and just allows defenders an easy time. I like Carson, donnelly, bates is OK but very slow and injury prone, amond will get goals with the right partner, alessandra looks good on his day but low in confidence and obviously Thomas is our best player! I'd love to ship out all the crap swelling our squad and replace them with a handful of experienced players from this level with a bit of pride,character and ability , plenty teams find them but we never bloody seem to!

Pools were no worse than Grimsby and controlled the game for the first 20 minutes or so each half.

I don't have a problem with Hignett setting up with 3-5-2 but there was no goal scoring potential in that 11 beyond Amond and Paynter. Woods-Featherstone-Hawkins are lucky to score 3 or 4 goals between them in a season. Richards-Bates-Harrison-Donnelly the same. The new lad had scored 1 goal in 20-odd games professional, so he wasn't likely to chip in (though he nearly did with the shot-cum-cross).

Nobody in the starting 11 can beat a man either. Allesandra should have started the game.

Watching the game from the Millhouse side, I thought Paynter and Richards both did alright first half. Second half was dire after Billy ran out of puff. Fair play to Donnelly for trying to keep us going when the midfield ran out of ideas.

The biggest worry for me is Bartlett. His inability to deal with crosses let them into the game. Most League Two sides have a couple of big buggers up front. Pools' back three isn't the biggest and if he's going to stay glued to his line we're going to ship a load more goals. On loan keeper needed!

Sorry but all this analysis shite is doing my head in.

We lost again.

We hardly challenged their keeper.

I saw no passion - oh for a Roy Hogan tackle!

That was tedious. Shit. Woeful.

Now, all you arm chair, radio experts, come and suffer it..................

Cudov, shudov, that's the verdict after nearly every home game apart from Cambridge. The answer is simple we are just not good enough a team full of very average players.
This league is full of teams built on size and strength and we have neither.

Radio expert? Do one.

And Roy Hogan would get sent off every other game if he was playing now rather than in the 80s.

So annoyed with the linesman not flagging a blatant penalty for their defenders basketball in the box. Great save by their keeper to thwart Amond who did nothing wrong with a good first time strike on target. Yes we were unlucky but it has to be said that for all of our possession we have no penetration because we are too narrow. Grimsby scored their goal and then packed the defence. A good winger (or two) is what we need to get behind. The 5-3-2 we are playing sort of works but when the full backs go forward they are square pegs in round holes. Great move by Featherstone and strike by Billy Paynter, but yet again the ball goes over the bar. Get some shooting practice in the lot of you. Hit the target and one or two might go in.

You miss the point - then, perhaps, that is no surprise,,,,,,,,,,

We have played a lot worse than this, including last week at Accrington where we got a point. However the results speak for themselves and the excuses wore thin a long time ago.

With that midfield (i.e. No one able to beat a man and create an opening) then we could play for 5 hours without scoring. All we do is sideways passing as no one can get through, we pass to the wings and then get a cross in but it's no use when neither Amond or Podge look like getting on the end of them.

Get someone physical up there with Amond who will at least attack the ball and give us a chance.

Our midfield is a character free zone. Tidy, tippy tappy passes to nowhere and no chance of any risks being considered or taken. Not s ounce of flair or excitement...... Just Identikit technicians programmed to to do nothing in particular.
I'll swear there's been multiple Scalectrix style tracks laid under the goal mouths so when we get into the box we slide from one side of the pitch to the other, parallel to the goal line, unable to go forward. I can't think of any other reason.

100% agreed, midfield to similar, we have stopped the pressing game we had at the start of the season and now allowing very average opponents far to much time on the ball to get themselves into the game.

The no excitement and flair which we got from a couple of players this season and the taking risks, I think we as fans have killed that, when you take risks, at times things go wrong, then we scream at the player who takes the risk.

I preferred the high press game we had before, this allowing the team to have the ball, just does not work.

Our bravest player in possession yesterday was Scott Harrison, he actually tried to carry the ball a few times and even a couple of longer balls that didn't quite come off but at least he was trying to make something happen. Why didn't Hignett shot him up front at some point? Its all too obvious and easy the play against someone like him would at least make a nuisance of himself. I'd rather he do that than bring someone like Oates on who doesn't score or create.

Our midfield started the game alright but then faded and completely ran out ideas. They all want far to many touches, Hawkins for example is so one footed nearly every time he gets the ball he turns out on his right and runs in a semi circle then plays a sideways ball. I really don't get him or why he's so highly rated by some. No end product whatsoever from any of them though, no bite and no spark. Brad Walker gets slaughtered but I bet he's scored more goals than the other midfielders combined and he's not made a single league appearance all season not even from the bench. At least he shoots.

Some of the players are indeed anonymous. They're there on the pitch, they run to nowhere in particular to no effect. They don't stand out, they just perform a bland routine of expending energy, inspiring or entertaining no one. They're just there.
We're now at the stage of having very low expectations of the team, a subconscious acceptance that we may not be able to keep up footballs equivalent of coffin dodging for much longer. The past few seasons have seen us back in the old routine of celebrating oblivion like we used to celebrate making the play offs.
The tides coming in, but we're kidding ourselves the water rising round our knees is just a bit of damp.

Some valid points Snowy.
Yet some fans think the club is making progress and get upset when you tell it how it is.

This is exactly what I was saying at the match on Saturday yet fans around me were having a go at me saying "it's not that bad". We allow other teams to pass the ball freely when they're in possession and we just sit back, yet when we have the ball Grimsby were in our faces which led to a number of bad passes. Another indication that Higgy does not know his best team, the formation he wants to play and the tactics.

Personally I think that was pretty close to the best 11 Pools currently have available and 3-5-2 is the only sane way to get 2 strikers on the pitch.

For a team that have just won 4 on the belt, Grimsby were average at best and with Thomas, Carson and Magnay fit and playing we'd have beaten them comfortably. As it was it was pretty even over the 90 minutes and Pools were cheated out of a penalty at 0-0.

That's not hiding from the fact that Pools are average at best too, and have a ridiculously large squad considering there are only 14-15 players in with a shout of starting a game.

Dont think anyone knows what he looks like to be able to tell.

Is this the fella