He looks more and more disconsolate. I feel sorry for him but it’s his job to find away and he is not doing it. I am afraid we are in a relegation dog fight which we cannot win if we keep conceding. I have said it time and time again he needs to be more ruthless. Get them out 12 hours a day till they are screaming. In any other profession they would be sacked. Can’t we just employ a defensive coach for a month

https://youtu.be/40oNQrpnuwo?si=y5WCeA--N6Ah7W5e

I forgot to post the link although I am sure most of you have seen it. You can tell by Askeys demeanour that he is becoming more and more disconsolate. He has more or less
thrown the towel in as he suggests that the personnel are just not good enough. And with no more money on the table he is a worried man. I know he cares about the club and the fans and most of us like the guy but the stats tell us the story. Let’s now forget promotion this team is not good enough because if you concede the amount of goals we do the forwards start to lose confidence. I know I am being negative but we must face facts and accept there could be a distinct possibility of another relegation. There are 2 leagues in this league. Teams with a chance of promotion and teams which are free falling. We can’t keep doing the same thing every week and expecting positive outcome. I don’t think Raj will sack Askey but he might walk! It’s so sad

By contrast listen to Andy Woodmans post match interview, talk about being positive. Knows exactly what he wants from his players and how to get it, very impressed.

As said before, many of times, he's lost the changing room. That interview just proves how much he's lost it.

If players aren't doing what you tell them and clearly ignoring your instructions, they not interested in you.

Something is seriously wrong behind the scenes with this management team and squad.

And if you watch the highlights carefully you can see how well organised his defence is. They hold a tight line, hustle and out muscle the opposition and are extremely well drilled. That’s not a coincidence but good management, preparation and self discipline. That’s why they are hard to breakdown. So is it the manager and coaches fault or the personnel?

Bromley have been consistently up there for years, have a history of recruiting well so no wonder he is confident and positive. We have brought the scraps from a chippy for our defence, you can be a positive as anything but if you know your defence is shit then their shit. We can bring another manager in next week, it may change for a few weeks, but then it will dip back to what we are watching now.

The club is now reaping what it has sowed for two seasons. Same thing happened last year, its now happening in reverse this season. Then some wonder on here why we arent positive. Its 2 years of it now, its simply not good enough. Decent money has either got to be spent changing this defence or chances are we will drop again.

Those players are capable of producing the goods…..BUT……trouble is it’s hit and miss akin to herding cats.
We keep hearing they’re a happy squad who all get on, but they lack heart and character, they have no fight, no pride but worst of all no fight…when the going gets tough they retreat into their individual shells and hope the world will go away.

It’s turning into a crisis, so playing with the cards we’ve been dealt is the only option …so let’s forget the pity party and ask what can be done with what we’ve got.
Can we get a manager in to organise these erratic performers, because we sure as hell can’t afford a new team.
There actually is talent there …..but who can get a grip and organise it?

What talent is in that defence though? Even when we were top, which was more down to dodds and mancini and a set of nicer fixtures, we lost both games against the top teams away by 3 goals. Pity party or not we have all seen this coming, even last week at York, possibly the worst york team ever they scored against this lot, even when the game was won. Fans were content with a point at kidderminster, a team no doubt be batting in the conference north next season because the defence cant cope with anything. Choices have got to be made soon, either spend a bit on the defence, change the manager or it will cost a hell of a lot more if we drop down again. We played russian roulette last season, we didnt get away with it, are we just hoping mancini saves the day?

We didn't lose to the top 2 by 3 goals, we lost both by a single goal.
Conceding to York isn't a disaster, the game was comfortably won. Besides did Barnet and Chesterfield (the top 2 at the time) regard it as a disaster when we scored 2 against them both, we even scored yesterday against the best defensive unit I've seen this season?
Who was content with a point against Kidderminster? Most of us were hugely disappointed we didn't win that game comfortably, we had enough chances.
Making stuff up to make things look worse than reality doesn't help anyone does it?

I should of said conceded 3 goals. No conceding to York is not a disaster, but its called standards. If you dont have standards then yesterday happens and then it keeps happening. You simply never see the bigger picture. We lead against kidderminster daft goal oh look we cant beat bottom of the table. Bit of a disaster.

We start yesterday against a decent team daft goal bang game over, maybe if we had higher standards and didnt brush over stuff even when the result goes right yesterday doesnt happen.

Did it come as a shock to anyone yesterday? Making things look worse than reality? Seriously? Reality is we have won 1 game in 8 or 9 games at home, some of them games were against teams on dreadful runs. Im not making things look worse in reality, you would like to think they cant get much worse.

We even scored against the best defensive unit? Really? Thats great. You do realise we lost 4-1. Talk about burying head in sand. Making it sound like were better than we are doesnt help anyone does it?

[quote="Snowy"]Those players are capable of producing the goods…..BUT……trouble is it’s hit and miss akin to herding cats.
We keep hearing they’re a happy squad who all get on, but they lack heart and character, they have no fight, no pride but worst of all no fight…when the going gets tough they retreat into their individual shells and hope the world will go away.

thats a good summing up on our defence. this losing the dressing room is an excuse for players not looking at themselves in the mirror and thinking i could have done much better than that. you do not need to like your boss or respect them to put in a good effort at work. if the boss actually does not rate you putting in maximum effort will hurt him more than it hurts you and there is also life somewhere else if you and them want out but not with a reputation of slackers who do it if they want to do.

do not think he is making the situation better than it is. the fact is if we had not conceeded yesterday or only one we would have got something out of the game. as long as we keep conceeding it will make scoring goals even harder as the players will think they need to score at every opportunity. best way to cause a big rift in the squad when one half of the team can say they are doing their job but the other half are not. i have seen this myself where the two groups after games seem to go in different corners and never really mix if they do not have to.

Which is what im saying this defence conceded 3 at barnet in no time, actually we probobly had a better defence at barnet then, we then go to our next toughest game Chesterfield concede another 3, their is no potential in this lot they have conceded at every opportunity they can this season. Either we just accept were going to lose most weeks now and get relegated or we go and get one or two quality defenders and not from york reserves or halifax 3rd team. No matter who is chairman something needs to be done or they will lose big money doing nothing.

Don't think I tried to make things look better at all, I just played reality against your inaccurate post.
I'm not at all sure where you get this idea that everyone thinks things are rosy, the reality is every true Poolie is passed off massively about where we are in the league, results, style of play, defense, etc?
The fact of the matter is that all we can do as fans is to get behind the side that's fielded game in game out.
Demanding change on here, and twisting facts to suit an agenda isn't going to help one iota.

To be honest I think it’s very difficult to get behind a side where the manager doesn’t know what to do and basic football principles are not adhered too. The attacking side of the team is not too bad but you cannot keep conceding. If we could see progress in that department we could get behind the manager. It’s been like this now for 1.5 years. For a team like Hartlepool and its loyal supporters its a travesty

You praise them sparsely with cautious caveats when they win and slaughter them when they lose…. I suspect they will never reach your standards regardless.
But instead of pointing it out ad nauseam, we need to see what we can cobble together from the wreckage of our season so far.
Practical solutions …. not fairy tale options are needed.

Same old lines get brought up every week. Praise them sparsely? Ever wonder why they get praised sparsely? 2 wins in 3 months possibly got something to do with it? Do you think this lot should be praised continually or something? Do they deserve it? Practical solution go out and get half decent defenders brought in. Surely there must be 2 out there, surely thats not a fairytale? Remember one of the first things cyril knowles did on a tight budget, decent central defender, changed things immediately.

No agenda go out and get two decent defenders in and we will confortably be playing in national league next year. If someone else takes over the club next week they will have to do it. No agenda we can all see the problems we have. The club will be a much easier sell in this league than the national north. Dont have to spend fortunes their has got to be better defenders out their.

What planet are you orbiting…..”go out and get two decent defenders” ….times have changed since Cyril( God bless him) that was 30 years ago, a different world.
Do you seriously expect the chairman you criticised for several year's, and is about to leave, is gonna take your advice and splash the cash
Now that is naive.

Sounds exactly like the situation we are in! It’s depressing!!

Very naive thinking a businessman who has made millions will let let the club slip another league without trying something when times get desperate. It is he who will lose a fortune if they go down.

So times have changed, they have, are you now seriously saying their are no decent defenders out their that can play in this team, that can improve us? You said players have potential in that defence? Who and when did they show it?

if you know of anydefenders who would improve that defence in our price range then tell us all. bit pointless though telling the club as it will be ignored like i was years ago by names who eventually were good enough to play well over 100 games for carlisle but lived closer to the town than that other outpost.

If we cant find two defenders that cant improve us we might as well give up.

If they concentrated all game it would be a huge help, a bit more protection from midfield would be a bonus too.
We effectively had a 6 man midfield yesterday and they ran past them as if they were invisible.

I agree our defence is and has been a shambles all season, but PTID hits the nail on the head with comments about midfield being bypassed. We lack any real leadership and nastiness in the team and there was a reason why most of the players signed were available including "fans favorite" featherlight and all fans need to understand that even Pep couldn't polish these terds

well we have two in lacey and maniO where we might have conceeded but not by that number. just how would bromley have done if they had lost one of their regular central defenders a few hours before kick off with the other out till the new year. our defence may be poor but i doubt any team would prosper with 4 out of a possibly 5 out all for one game. this is not the first time we have lost a player due to sickness just before a game. its just another reason to get pissed off as you are constantly thinking what next before the next game that comes up.

really we have a midfield with the worst defensive capabilities in the league both last and this season. we have nobody that looks or acts as a leader with so many outmuscled by players with lesser footballing ability than some of ours have. we have in motoring terms too many sports cars where we need 4x4 when it gets on a tough terrain.

I said no such thing…I said the team has potential
Again you say go out and buy two defenders, if you were getting ready to leave would you spend on two new players? Get real.

The team can have all the potential in the world, its not getting them results or many of them. When the defence and goalie makes up nearly half the team, potential means nowt.

How simple can I put this apart from pictograms..I said quite clearly they have potential……I emphasised the word…. ‘but’ …..they aren’t living up to it, in other words they’re crap. Jeeeez

Yes i would if it meant not getting relegated, yet you want the manager replacing on a 3 year contract.

Seriously who wants to get real?

I also didnt say buy, we dont need to spend loads of money, we just need to find two lads who can defend a bit better than the shower we have.

Sometimes in life you don’t have any other option, regrettable as it may be.
As for you spending the money if you were leaving the club as chairman, of course you would and I’m an Admiral in the Swiss navy.
‘going outband buying two defenders’? They coast money nowadays they have agents nowadays…and how do you know they’re decent defenders, do they have a barcode on their forehead…!
It’s just so simple in your world….the politics of the game just pass you by.

Feeling it LO, But as Yazoo sang " fuck it i,m going to bed " or was it "the only way is up"

Yet you think another manager is going to be better? Simple isnt it? Does this new manager come with a stamp on his forhead? Good manager. I think its certainly passing you by

Let alone paying off his 3 year contract.

So if that ‘s the case you’ll have no problem hanging on to those useless players you’ve raged about for the past two seasons …oops hang about, you were the one wanting the club to spend, spend, spend, on new players….you’ve answered your own question.
Oh dear, oh dear.

A story for JA to remember & tell to his players;

Yesterday in the Scottish Cup, Spartans beat Arbroath 2-1 and in the dressing room after the game, Dick Campbell the manager of the Smokies, told the players that if they don't give a f*ck why should he and resigned.

You have gone on about spending someone elses money for two year but now you want raj to pay off a 3 year contract and then pay for another manager, who will come into a mess and no doubt survive 6 months before he has to go, when does it end? Cant keep sacking managers that would cripple the club for years.

It doesn’t seem to bother you with your scattergun attitude to splashing the cash on buying quality players, money doesn’t even cross your mind, you just say spend it…which in my mind is a sign of financial illiteracy by the way, …….but why are you suddenly so bothered if I ‘m apparently doing what you advocate continuously.

Even more baffling is your sudden concern for the club’s finances and you of all people advocating financial caution…… totally out of character for you as you’ve been the biggest backer of spending your way to success…with other people’s money.

I just find it strange for the last couple of years you have gone about fans saying we need to bring quality in, which we do think we would all agree, we now deffo need some at some point?

But now its you wanting to spend massive amounts on changing a manager. Even if the fella is on 1k a week thats well over 100 k in wages we would have to find to pay him off or strike a deal, then to bring another one in on similar wages.

on top of that the money wasted on compo for a sacked manager could be used to bring a new player in. then it would also be a shock if when the new man came in there would be nothing left in the kity for him to spend. funny when this happens cash gets mysteriously found from somewhere.

Oh the irony on your part…..I’d advocate it in this instance, because I fear the way things are going, but I ‘m not one for telling others how to spend their money…and if they don’t I respect their choice because I am not privy to the finances.
So please don’t assume my wish is the same as your constant down the ages cry for money for ‘quality’ players.

Im talking about bringing 2 defenders in on loan or until the end of the season, if he doesnt thats his choice probobly end up in another league if we dont. Your talking about advocating spending well over 100 k to get a new manager in with exactly the same side or do you think raj will then fund players for another manager? With no guarantees a new manager would be able to do anything better with what he has got. Totally contradicting what you keep having a go at others for.

If id of said lets spend 100 k on new players you and a few others would of said what planet are you on yet you are now advocating this for managers.

And knowing our luck the 2 quality defenders would be injured in their first game.
Besides which a big part of the issue imo is the fact that the midfield offer very little protection to the defence so defensive midfielder may be a better signing.

It is constantly been stated by JA that he gives out instructions which the players apparently take no notice of.
The only occasions I've heard him speak are his pre and post match interviews which are highly repetitive and frankly boring.
I got to wondering if that is how he communicates to his players and, because of the boredom he generates, they switch off and therefore don't grasp what he is saying half the time.
Does he actually impress anybody on here cos he certainly doesn't impress me.
Most of us could actually give a good account of what he's going to say before he says it.
Are the players, in any way shape or form, inspired by the man.
Just looking at it from a different angle. He continuously bleats on about working on the defensive frailties without success so why doesn't he adopt a different approach because his current one sure is letting him down.
I mean he recognises the threat of Michael Cheek and puts a man on him and within five minutes Cheek has the freedom of the penalty area and picks his spot after his marker has gone AWOL. If the players can't understand something as basic as that then any sort of complicated tactics will go in one ear and out the next.

Probobly we have had zero luck this year. I just think we need to stumble accross the line this year, ive got concerns over askey too but lets see what he is like when mancini is back, when we get a few others back and maybe sign a central defender or as you say defensive midfielder.

Maybe some of our players are just thick as shit. The marking for that first goal was a disgrace. I doubt this would of happened if we had a liddle or someone with experience time and time again its happening.

Joe Mattock is supposed to be experienced, played in the championship with three different clubs. Liddle didn't as far as I know. How clever have you got to be to understand your man marking job. Whoever got the job of marking Cheek went missing within the first five minutes so maybe he just forgot. Can you imagine DC being interviewed and coming out with the "they're not listening to me" crap week in and week out. JA has to find a way of getting his message across, it's as simple as that. We can't afford to sack him so we have to find a way of getting him to realise it's happening time and time again as you put it. Everyone else can see it so what's stopping him. Maybe you should have a word with him.