Some terrible finishing there from both sides, thank god for Armstrong.

Pools for the first time IMO , looked like a decent side, organised and each player knowing what their job was. The transformation of Oates is unbelievable. He even looks like a footballer now , whereas before he had a strange un football like running style , its as though someone has been working on his posture. Think he has probably been doing the right things for several months , but for some reason hasn't come off , then all of a sudden Whoosh !. I suppose the addition of goals to his game gives a different perspective. Still don't believe he can miraculously turn from a piss poor striker into a good one overnight , but looking at those highlights I reckon there could be a decent future left winger in there somewhere.

Brilliant cross for the goal! Feed more of those to Armstrong and we will be flying.

think a lot of players go through this for the main reason is that they have gained confidence. same as ones that go the other way. once their head is in the right place the rest seams to follow when they have it in the first place. oates always showed glimpses in the past but never did much for the majority of his time on the pitch.

Agree. I suppose if Oates was anything but a striker, he wouldn't have had such a bad press. Its just as a striker has to score goals occasionally, especially in a struggling side , and up until the last couple of weeks, he had failed to do that. It will be interesting to see how this plays out from now on.

Confidence and mind set are very important things with team sportsmen, a player who thinks he deserves to be on the pitch rather than hope's too is much more likely to produce the goods. The feeling of deserving to be in the team rather than making up the numbers is going to be beneficial when having the guile to take on your opposite number or try that audacious shot.

Team confidence is massive, back in the 1975/76 season at this point we'd just won away at Workington (I was there) and sat 8th in the table, next game was a 3rd round FA cup game at Man City, as you well know we lost 6-0, but what many may not remember is we then went 13 games without a win to sink to 19th in the table, before rallying and finishing the season in 14th.
That heavy defeat obviously affected the players confidence, whi knows had we not played City that season we may well have finished in the top 6.

Remember it well, one of the defeats was a galling 2-3 home defeat to Darlo, after throwing away an early 2 goal lead. Mind you in the 70s/early Pools often seemed to do well in the lead up to Xmas, then fall like a stone in the new year, 80/81 and 84/85, 85/86 immediately spring to mind.

exactly and the same this season if we had been beaten at home by torquay by a single goal instead of the rout.

Confidence and mindset are clearly important, in all walks of life, not just football, but I find it hard to believe that a team previously playing well , then getting hammered, would then go on a losing run because of it, maybe a shock to the system, that could rumble on for a few games , but not to blame for a massive slump. My view is that over the course of a season things even themselves out, and if we use Pools in 75/76 as an example, maybe we overachieved in the first part of the season. I do remember a very settled side leading up to the Workington game, and a disjointed one, that seemed to change every week after Man City, lots of players who were past their best brought in such as Dennis Wann, Joe Jacques and Harry Charlton etc. The Man City game signalled the end of a relatively steady 4 year period since the great escape of 1972 for Pools. I wonder if finances were beginning to get stretched around that time, players not being paid on time and rumours about going bust are more likely IMO to affect performance on the field , as in October 1976 we were AGAIN on the brink of going bankrupt , with Vince Barker stepping in at the last minute and saving the day.

Armstrong what’s a player
Shame about the hair

Agree, we could do with a couple of bald players in the team.

remember, if he had decent hair we would not have him for this season.

Usernames now available in the Bunker superstore:

Luke Armstrong's Topknot

Ben Killip's Hairband

What about that ball ?! Looks like the ones Pools used to play with in the 60's when they had to paint old ones 'cos they couldn't afford to buy brand new.