disgraceful behaviour from those darlo loids.....

https://darlingtonfc.co.uk/news/from-th ... spennymoor

From the comments above and from what i have seen/heard this is all getting a bit worrying.
My feeling at the start of the season was to consolidate in this league.DC leaving was a disappointment and i thought he would have been replaced by a solid "safe pair of hands" experienced manager.
The appointment of Lee surprised me but it is early days.
Lets see what happens in the transfer market and future results but i hope if things dont improve the clubs acts early and decisively as relegation would be a disaster.

https://darlingtonfc.co.uk/news/from-th ... spennymoor

Makes me feel a bit nostalgic for the old days watching the mass brawl roll out of Feethams and onto the Cricket Ground.

It'd almost be worth being in the NLN to have 8 derby games a season with Darlo, Spenny, the Heed and York.

Almost. I mean, it's never gonna happen in League 2 is it?

The statement says "he"
You cant say that any more

as the fail would put it....5 questions for graeme lee to think about after christmas.....

1.ogle and francis angol are two of our better defensive players ...surely one or both could be given a chance in defence ......or wide in our midfield...?

2.other than hendrie and the three who played at mansfield ..... our only other recognised central defender is lawlor....6 foot 4 and playing well it seems on loan at darlo who want to keep him .....now hes fit should we recall him and see if hes worth a go..... ?

https://the72.co.uk/258806/darlington-w ... oan-spell/

3.do we have anyone in the entire squad who can play up front ...with his back to goal.... and hold the ball up....if not..... should we bin "hoofball" as a tactic for the time being...?

4.we have to stop conceding from crosses......would playing mitchell instead of killip help ...?.

5.fringe players ......who can be offloaded one way or another.....goodwin, jones, macdonald, fela, fondop ,smith, cook....?

6.are there any boro under 23's available on loan who can improve us......?

7.how much is there to spend in my transfer kitty raj.......?

8.can someone tell me has sweeney made his bloody mind up yet....?

Yes Poolie1 only time will tell.
31st January is the date for me.

blue.....as well as being a misogynistic......the darlo statement actually seems to suggest the wrlter may have been involved in some way in the disorder....disgraceful....

"We stated pre-match that if any Darlington supporter is found to have been involved in anti social behaviour, then he we will be banned from Blackwell Meadows."

Yes he needs reporting!

Cullen does not work hard enough, his hold up play is poor and he is s not strong enough, l lost count how many times he got knocked off the ball.

Mansfield fan here in peace ...
I think todays game was a cracker , after recovering from a 2 goal deficit to score 3 goals in a 11 min spell was surely icing on the cake .
you were a tad unfortunate to have your last attempt ruled out ( i think it was a very borderline decision by the linesman ... but this is football im afraid ).
... on a final note you can be proud of your vocal support that made the atmosphere electric .
good luck for the season Poolies

Nice words stag and all the best to you and your team too. Unfortunate or not you get what you pay for, we have gone cheap and we will and are being found out on a very regular occurrence now, time for our owner to step up and fund a team our incredible fans deserve, no more excuses now it's almost January.

thank you stag......you were clearly the better side today...... and you deserved your win this time....we were hanging on by the skin of our teeth throughout the game unfortunately....you had 22 corners....maybe some kind of record ....but that lad oates is over rated ...any chance of loaning him back to us....?

Club need to ensure they don’t lose the absolutely imperious support that continues to follow the team.

I’d have rather the fog thickened than continued to watch punt after punt go forward. Also thought it was Sterry’s third or fourth poor game in succession which is a worry. I seriously believe you cannot underestimate the impact of the coaching staff in developing a way of playing and creating momentum which was the crux of Challinor success.

Say we’d lost 3-2 today in a game which looked more respectful in the match statistics , general way of playing etc - I’d have agreed it was a good game for Pools (having been non league last season) to have been involved in. But it wasn’t. And the continued time wasting from minute 30 was also a shade embarrassing.

Over to you Spike Lee.

No surprise sterry has gone to pot playing this utter rubbish style of play, if these two are still in the managerial hotseat come the end of the season i will be amazed.

billingham...sterry was withdrawn today because of illness....had covid last week...same with daly...listen to lee on radio tees...oh ....and prepare to be "amazed" pal....."these two" are there at least till the end of the season...so suck it up....

Fair play. Well that explains invisible performances from both then.

I don't think anyone is playing well at the moment, we look woeful with balls coming in the box, our wing backs are off the boil and don't seem to be getting in to dangerous positions anymore, midfield looks sluggish,slow and incapable of keeping the ball and playing long balls to our front two certainly won't work, just keeps coming back.
One main problem for me is Killip, I couldn't make their goals out in the fog but was informed Killip should have been coming for the crosses, he's permanently stuck to his line, got to be time for Mitchell to have a run of games. If we are persisting with 3 at the back we need a left sided one, more energy in midfield and a presence up front.
Maybe it's time to test a different formation out as we concede far to many goals!

He's not that type of player though is he.
He's there to get in the end of balls into the box,which he can do, not
battle with centre back with the ball in the air.
The shit 'style' of football us making him look poor.

jeffy.....cullen was not built to be a targetman or workhorse.....have you had a look at him ?...i remember when that useless rarf of a postage stamp hignett was trying to do the same with amond.....completely pointless exercise.....cullen is simply no armstong or oates....and never will be...nowt to do with not trying...he just isnt big or strong enough .....and hasnt got the engine in him...he is a finisher nowt else...if we need him to hold the ball up...win in the air...be mobile and cover miles pressing.... we wont get anywhere....we need another type of player....which we haven't got.....sure the snakes mate jake could expand on that with some sports science....cullen is a very poor mans gerd muller [aka der bomber].... god bless him....

https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundeslig ... d-75-16911

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywa9yD8AzVk

This.

I will take 3rd bottom now then.

We still basically have a non league standard squad operating in the EFL.
Januarys a huge month for the club.
Surely some major improvement!

I’d love to know how long before left he was having talks about leaving. Looks like the team is Challinor’s poison chalice in some respects. I can’t believe he thought he could mould a league 2 team out of the football pound shop bargains he bought with wild abandon.

Looking back at the game I don't think it was as poor as a performance as it initially seemed. We managed to score two goals and if the lino had gone to specsavers we'd have got a point.

Oldham on new years day is huge now, we need to make a gap between them and Scunthorpe (I don't think either of those teams will move much higher in the table).

When given just pounds to spend.....

with the pedigree of the three mansfield lads that scored they,d walk into pools starting 11. for me its so obvious what we lack. 3 big beasts in the side. a no nonsence defender, a big hard mid field lad with loads of energy and the big lad upfront. let pools bully sides instead of the opposite.

i would have done back in august. think some fans got a bit overconfident in the team after a decent start. if the season ended now i,d say we have had a decent season. its a question now of what money will be available in january and the summer. only one man knows that.

true. the oldham game is the big one. staying up will not be decided by a defeat at in form mansfield. those who expected a win there need to get into the real world of football where everything just aint blue and white.

Bunker goes overboard after defeat shock.

Mansfield won their 6th home game in a row because of a crap decision by a lino. Even the Mansfield local paper admits it was a wrong 'un:
"Hartlepool were denied a point at the death when they had a goal ruled out for offside.
'It was a little bit nervy at the end,' said John-Joe O'Toole. 'I am not sure if it was offside but I think we could have dealt with it a bit better. Maybe we got a bit lucky there but over 90 minutes we fully deserved the win.'"

Despite looking like they might get hammered out of sight early on Pools stuck at it, especially the defence. We made the most of what few attacking chances we had. There's nothing wrong with the team's spirit.

Admittedly, that's the limit of the positives and without some real strengthening next month the rest of the season will be a struggle against relegation.

I don't think being worried about getting four points from a possible twenty four since DC left, culminating in relinquishing a two nil advantage away from home by poor defending, especially when our distinguished management team spent all their professional playing career supposedly knowing how to shut a game down, is anywhere near going overboard.
I personally have defended Raj and the club to the nth degree and our loyal fans have performed magnificently home and away. Performances that have gained praise and envy from every quarter.
I expect the kitchen sink to be thrown at strengthening our team in January. No more and no less.
Message to messrs Lee and Nelson. When you two were centre backs and playing against teams playing hoofball up to front men lacking the height and strength you both had, your eyes would light up at the prospect of an afternoon off. On the other hand if those two front men were part of a team who played it on the deck and ran you ragged, you went home knackered and probably losers. I am sure you get my gist and where I am coming from but if you are struggling to comprehend what I am saying then go and knock on Raj's door and tell him the job is too much for you.

Despite the scepticism of certain people, I reckon we will see four new faces in January!!

Cant argue with that. I also would suggest that some of our players while comfortable in the NL are having their limitations exposed when up against the better FL teams. Liddle, Byrne, Ferguson, Odusina all spring to mind. The latter was sometimes poor in the NL. Featherstone while on his day is class is getting towards the end of his career.

Everyone seems to be expecting miracles in January and while I live in hope we need to be realistic. How many genuinely good players are going to be on offer in Jan? If a player was decent why would he be going out either on loan or permanently in Jan rather than last Summer?

We have two excellent wing backs who have bombarded the opposition with quality crosses but it appears to have dried up.
Reason.....our change in tactics from playing it on the deck and instead hoofing it towards the diminutive front men.
At the other end Mansfield score three from crosses, including two simple headers in our six yard box in front of flapper our goalie.
A goalkeeper who can't command his six yard box, especially against teams like Mansfield who rain in cross after cross, should not even get anywhere near the team sheet.
There are times when the hoof is required and there are times when slick passing is required.
The trick is knowing when and where. Basic stuff really.

If it isn't sorted in January, we will certainly need a miracle after January and that's a fact.

You must be counting the 5-0 thrashing at Orient, which was Challinor's last game in charge, in the 4 points from 24 - Pools have only played 7 League Two games since he left.

The 5 League games lost by Sweeney and Lee/Nelson have all been against teams in the current top 10 in the division. Home form was better under Challinor but he only beat Northampton out of the current top 10.

Pools' away league form has been rubbish all season. Under Challinor Pools lost at Stevenage (currently second bottom) and only drew at bottom side Oldham.

To a certain extent an easier fixture list papered over the cracks while Challinor was still in charge - as others have pointed out. Pools started the season with an understrength squad and have always needed a good transfer window in January to be really competitive in this division.

Despite looking like they might get hammered out of sight early on Pools stuck at it, especially the defence. We made the most of what few attacking chances we had. There's nothing wrong with the team's spirit.

We didn't go in 1-0 up at the break because the defence played well ,it was because Mansfield finishing was awful.

Up to a point yes, but how many of those 11 or 12 corners Mansfield corners in the first half produced a goalscoring chance? Liddle got his nut to most of them, so a bit of credit for that doesn't go amiss. A keeper who can command his own box would be even better of course.

We have a 6 ft 4" defender who never gets a header on goal from our free kicks and corners and can't win one in his own box yet everyone seems to rate him, so it must be only me that thinks we need better. Why Odusina gets in the team ahead of Angol is a mystery to me and I'd have Ogle start everytime ahead of Sterry.

I really feel we are in for a tough few weeks and who we get in January is going to be make or break for us.

On the subject of the wing backs, Ferguson has always had shortcomings in the defensive side to his game and good teams with tricky, pacey wingers make his life so difficult it impacts his attacking game. Sterry is an altogether superior player and although he was poor yesterday (recovering from Covid?) few would argue he is one of the best players Pools have ever had.

Listening to Wilder we will get no preference from Boro. He said we will have to compete with other clubs for players he will loan out. His exact words were ‘we are not a feeder club for Hartlepool’ I remember many years ago when he was at Halifax his name was mentioned for a manager vacancy at Pools and he was less than complementary about Pools.

Yeah I was counting the Orient game because I believe DC had already done the deal with Stockport and because of that I believe neither him or the players were focussed on that day and at the time we played Harrogate they were top ten but the reality is that we are struggling and to say so isn't going over the top. I believe we have good reason to be worried and so I am worried. If and when I stop being worried I will say so and give praise and credit to those who stop me worrying.
Until then I am worried, with or without agreement from others.

You have access to the accounts?

[quote="derwent"] Until then I am worried, with or without agreement from others.


I'll be doing cartwheels on Wednesday if we get any sort of result against Tranmere - third in the table and bang in form.

If we get beat I'll probably give the Bunker a miss till the Oldham game. Losing at home is a bad result whatever the circumstances and I won't need any reminding about that.

Mention of winning against Harrogate and going top 10 feels a long time ago - the odd thing is that Harrogate's form over the last 5 games is literally as bad as Pools and they are only 3 points better off than we are. And that's WITH Armstrong!

You have to spend a bit of money to have any sort of reasonable team nowadays, if we get anything against Tranmere playing with lee,s tactics it will be some sort of miracle.

No but we're probably spending less than Darlo.

We won't be spending less than Darlo, after all, they have some property damage in spennymoor to fix!

In all seriousness we lost to a good team, with large backing and in my memory its always been a place Pools struggle at.

As i said the Oldham and Tranmere games are now massive though.

Losing games of football always going to happen. Manner of those defeats can stay fairly consistent in regards to your teams tactics / pressing and work rate / pre-game preparation and then the ability to carry out game plans. The Management have the stats at their disposal via the trackers the players wear and are the ones qualified and paid to do so…

The concern for me is I feel I’ve watched the same game since Lee came in. And it’s distinctly different from the ones I watched that came before him.

Any team below us looking at our managerial hire post Chally would say that’s a different (possibly risky) approach to take.

Seriously, let’s hope we can grind some results out over the coming few weeks

And Blyth! I'd like to see the National League fully regionalised. Think I speak for everyone on here when I say no one would miss the likes of Braintree, Maidenhead and Eastleigh.

Wilder totally transformed the Boro with the same players.
As for getting the best of Boros young talent then it sounds like we not likely to be at the front of the queue. Obviously theres plenty of other clubs to loan from but id like to see more of emphasis on 2/3 good permanent signings.
Oh i forgot theres non available in the January Window.
.
Whatever January bring im sure we will still be in the EFL next season.
UTP.