Gone where?

Gone to lie down in a darkened room.

Gone to talk tactics with Craig Harrison.

Gone to Govan to give Mary-doll some flowers, now BEAT IT!

Gone to the Greenside for a wee dram.

Gone to bed.zzzz night night everyone.

Gone to c Sing for the other half of the budget.
4 days of window left.

If he is going this week, when is the best time?

Do we give him a few more weeks to prove himself so he can finalise any signings?

Or do we have time to sack him, put someone in charge so they can make a last minute attempt at bringing their own players in?

Or do we not worry about either, and the let recruitment manager do his magic?

and the alternative is what, someone possibly not much better with less money available after the compo payouts. people rarely just walk nowadays unless they have something to walk straight into.

Dosent sing protect himself with 6 months employment probation period so no compo.

surely if it can be proved in any contract that work done is not of an expected standard then why should compo be paid in football. people in proper jobs get contracts and if their work is crap you just get rid.

The alternative is the National Lge, If he stays GUARANTEED.

unlike some others i did not get excited by his appointment where some thought the opposite would be happening on the pitch. saying that it now seems the modern knee jerk approach as the manager must go as if some miracle worker is waiting in the wings to make things right again. sometimes there is but rarely at pools and most lower division clubs. we cannot blame raj either for the appointment as managers are not shy introvert individuals but call all talk the talk. finding out the bull shit from ablity they have aint that easy. i,d give hartley to early december but would be searching now just in case there is no improvement.

Got to give man a chance...look how long it took to get a Manager to come here. They aren't falling over themselfs to come here.

I thought Hartley gave an honest assessment on the post match Radio Tees interview.

I thought he sounded a lost soul.

DC could be available soon as he looks like overseeing Sticky's return to the National League.

well some of the natives are getting restless there as quick as we are. at least pools are not splashing out the wages as they are to get 2 points better than pools after 6 played.

If you would like a honest assessment of Hartley, Ask any Falkirk supporter.
Seems he,s done this before, He has form!!!

I think Raj will be fuming.

Whatever people think bout Raj's backing, I reckon Murray, Hastie, Lacey, Cooke and Umerah will also be on decent money. For me, only Umerah looks the part.

The other four so far haven't shown their worth, Lacey and Murray have so far being a disaster.

With the exception of McDonald and Niang who I can't imagine being on a lot, the rest of the players signed were squad players it seems.

This looks like to be the worst transfer window in the history of HUFC. He has severely underestimated League 2.

“Natives getting restless” and with good reason. It’s alright saying give the manager time but the consequences are frightening. I believe if he doesn’t turn it round quickly, hopefully with two or three decent signings this week, he’ll be for the chop.

It's comical how many have had a bite at this joke thread - the piss take replies last night exempted.

Unless there's some really bad stuff going on behind the scenes I can't see any way Raj is going to chuck everything overboard on the back of 5 league results. 3 of the next 4 games are at home and the solitary away game is Pools' first opportunity to play another side that has started the season badly. If there's no improvement in results over those four games I think the club's board really will be at panic stations and anything could happen from then on.

Not saying I'm confident that there will be an improvement - there were some baffling picks for the team Hartley put out yesterday that were reminiscent of Dickie Money's 'chuck everything up in the air and see if anything sticks' approach to selection during his 7 weeks as manager.

Just wondering if any of our members who know about tactics and team set ups etc can explain why Menayaise (spelling?) was not chosen as part of the back four instead of either Lacey or Murray? I note that when interviewed Hartley simply replied that Menayaise didn't play because we were playing a back four but that doesnt fully explain it. Can Menayaise only play in a back five? Did he want to play Murray and thought Lacey was better than Menayaise or vice versa? Any opinions would we welcome.

It was a stupid decision and I said that before kick off.
I suspect it’s because they match his ‘philosophy’ as they are allegedly comfortable on the ball.
But both are slow and non physical and so far error prone so it’s very hard to see us not leaking more goals with them playing together. Murray especially I expect is one of the better paid players which is alarming.

Ps was it confirmed sylla and Cooke were both injured ? I hope so as otherwise the selection makes even less sense

There's been no suggestion that anyone was injured. Hartley said that Shelton played because he hadn't had as many 'opportunities' as other players and thought he did ok. Ndjoli got his chance too but 'struggled to get into the game' so it sounds like he won't be starting another league game in a hurry. As for dropping Menayese, Hartley has said he preferred Lacey and Murray in a flat back four...

Brave to play a 4-4-2 with two attacking wide men and a front two away to the league leaders! To be fair, Orient had only conceded 2 goals in their previous 5 games and Pools doubled that, but it counts for nowt when you let another 4 in.

Said on radio tees before kick off that Cooke had a thigh strain injury.
Maybe why he hasent been up to standard so far!
Theres a reason Sparky dident want him at Bradford.

it doesn,t but can be seen as a little plus. pools could have gone down there packed the defence and midfield and come away with a 2 nil defeat in the end. it does show we can score in the right circumstances but still cannot defend.

When you sign some one like Euan Murray 28 years old, he has only played around 170 games in his career we can’t expect the defence to be decent.

According to the Mail Cooke has a knee injury so wont be playing on Tuesday. No mention of Sylla.

So, Menayaise could have played as part of a back four? In other words, Lacey and Murray were preferred as though Hartley believes Menayaise is not as good as Murray and Lacey. OK.

Sylla looked one Of our few decent signings, certainly would have broken up play in that formation better than Shelton.
I think the manager is just flailing now hoping anything works

There's something not right and we're not being told. It smacks to me that there has been a falling out. Week after week we've been told there are more bodies coming in, so where are they??
Has Raj decided he is not financing any more sub standard players or what?

Raj is in a tough spot--I dont have inside knowledge but I think he is doing as best he can without bankrupting himself/the club ... you could maybe argue he over egged the cake budget wise.
It's very unfortunate that he appears to have backed someone who has made bad recruitment decisions--and on 2 year contracts-
Over simplified but if you say the Scottish signings are Hartleys and the others the recruitment suggestions, both have been sub-standard.
Hartleys look like they were signed by someone with no clue what the standard of this league, and the recruitment blokes ones appear to be signed via searching youtube for flashy once a season highlights.
The signing of Ellis Taylor was particularly baffling, someone plays ok in a friendly against us and lets sign him for a year, throw him into men's football then realize he's out of his depth and leave him taking up a wage/squad place...all very haphazard and Raj is within his rights to ask wtf is going on.

Obviously I am a fan not an expert--maybe we will turn all this around and this post will looks stupid in 3 months, I hope so but I dont see it.

Raj has employed the last 2 managers after waiting a long time to get them in.
Plus hes employed the last 2 recruitment gadgies.
No wins in last 16 suggests them 4 employees cant solely be responsible for the shit we in.
Appreciate him getting DC in when he did a masterstroke to get us back in the league.
But you cant live off that accolade forever.
The league table tells you that.
Take 3rd bottom.
And know way me or our other 4/5000 supporters should have the blame put on them.
What will be will be.
UTP.

Some comments from the Orient board....seems like its not just Pools fans being overly critical, we sound a complete joke.

Pools were pretty shambolic, lacked quality and were arguing among themselves, they look like a side on their way to the NL at the moment

Poor Killip, bore a lot of frustration out there.Made me laugh when at one point he was mouthing off to his team mates and one of their centre half's just turned round and shrugged his shoulders.

I was at the game yesterday. Hartlepool were terrible. We barely got out of 2nd gear. The momentary lapses were, I think, because we were so in control, so utterly dominant, that we switched off. It can happen. We wont play a worse team all season and they wont face too many better ones than us. Took the lad and he was well entertained. A great afternoon for the O’s. Felt for Pool fans. We’ve been there.

Hartley told Radio Tees before the Orient Game that Pools had made offers for some players but that he wasn't expecting to hear anything before this week.

To be honest for the past week or two there hasn't been a lot of transfer business going through involving League Two clubs - Salford have got a couple of loans in and Colchester signed a lad on loan from West Ham who will probably feature for them tomorrow night.

No doubt it will all get pretty manic from the Premier League down between now and Thursday. We'll just have to see what this week brings.

Some more stats (just for comparison)

Dave Challinor (League 2 and league cup for pools)

Pld16 W7 D2 L7 GF 17 GA 21 Shots on target 51 shots faced 57 - pretty even in terms of attack and defence (44% win percentage)

Graeme Lee (League 2 and FA cup)
Pld29 W9 D10 L10 GF 27 GA 35 Shots on target 97 shots faced 128 (31% win percentage)

Paul Hartley (League 2 and league cup)
Pld7 W0 D2 L5 GF 4 GA 17 Shots on target 14 shots faced 51 (0% win percentage)

Have no fear fellow Poolies. In the 1976/77 season it was the 11th league game before we got our first win having drawn 4 up to then. We finished 3rd from bottom so we’ll take that as things stand!

I wonder what's going on in PH's head?

Have I made a mistake? There's a big difference between Scottish League footie & the EFL and I didn't realise.

Should I still be at Cove? But they are finding life tough with only the Red Lichties below them.

[quote="derwent"]There's something not right and we're not being told. It smacks to me that there has been a falling out. Week after week we've been told there are more bodies coming in, so where are they??
more chance of seeing a new body at the undertakers than the vic unless its a no hope wee scottish kid on loan.

As Stephen Hobin said, Judge us when the window closes, His words not mine.

Don,t worry Ste we will...

He must of meant the January Window.

I must apologise for my last post, where I likened our manager to Govan native Rab C Nesbitt.

Our manager is instead returning to the Fairytale Swamp to stay with Donkey and Princess Fiona!

Think the NDA may be on his desk in the morning.

Whether he stays or goes, at present, we have the following issues:

- There's a lack of physicality within the team
- There's a lack of pace/general fitness within the team
- There's a lack of movement, creative desire

The latter can be fixed partially through training. The first two are going to be really difficult to sort out without bringing players.

I think this is a very good assessment it’s amazing how easily a lot of the new players are knocked off ball or come off second best
The 2 center backs in particular are glaring and I can’t see anyway we stay up without Murray being replaced

Murray is woeful! Up there with Harrison and Laing for me. Slow, positional sense is shocking and weak as pish. Even struggles to pass a simple ball.

Most defenders in our league have strengths and weaknesses eg big blokes who are slow or quick defenders who make mistakes
All Murray has is weaknesses, slow, poor physical, makes mistakes can’t read the game, something is up as I said maybe half injured but he’s nowhere near a professional level, he’s below
Conference North standard