Discuss. Just watched Askeys post match interview. For me still struggling to be positive. Mani back January but can one player galvanise the rest of the team. It’s going to take him 4 or 5 games to be match fit.

Mani back January? What does that even mean? People have expressed plenty of views already about Pools' prospects on the Chesterfield match thread - including you with your "it might as well have been 10-1." Sensible comment - for the last game of the season when only a win will do
I'll take it your (beach) towel is already well and truly thrown in.

Playoffs well out of reach for us. Manic won't change a lot. My prediction is we will struggle for the second half of the season, finishing 15th.

actually thought he sounded a bit more positive to be fair. one man can make a big difference as we just did not lose mancini but lost seaman also as he looked good with mancini in the side but terrible without him.

Yep, play offs a distant memory. I just want us to win a game or two and keep out of the relegation fight. The resources of Pools are far better than the majority of National League clubs and while we dont have any God given right to win stuff we shouldn't be fighting a relegation battle.

We simply have to get wins, especially at home. If we don't we're going down.
Although performances appear to be getting a bit better the points total isn't.
Other than that there's nothing more to say.

Sometimes you just have to play Devil’s Advocate and ask yourself what you’d do as chairman to kick start the season….. the problem is in the dressing room alone and I reluctantly have to conclude that we’re between a rock and a hard place.
We know the players can do it, but it’s motivating and drilling into them what’s required of them and the message coming their way is not having much effect.
The next four matches aren’t even gonna offer much guidance because if we won all four, we’ve now got that suspicion it’ll collapse again…therefore we bite the bullet and get a new manager or get a new team…… the first option is expensive, the second option is impossible and financially a fantasy …..or we plod on with what we’ve got.

Maybe the title of the thread should read.

"Are this Managenent/Coaching lot good enough to keep us up"

My thoughts possibly, But not fully convinced.

When the manager implies we will get results when we play lesser teams, To me that totally sends the wrong message to the players.

mind you i think the biggest percentage of fans think exactly like he does about our future results. think also our players know their real ability no matter what they are told.

Are we good enough to stay up? - Probably not.

Will we stay up? - Probably yes

We couldn’t beat them in previous games, what’s changed ?

A bit like a twelve year old bully sticking to beating up the 5 year olds, but can such a bully really be called a bully…or a football coach.

Just need a couple of quick wins to settle things down.

I am entitled to make my opinions as you are. I watch most of the matches in full albeit through tv. I haven’t thrown in the towel I just write what I see. I don’t wear rose tinted spectacles although I do have a pair of shades and my opinion as an expat is as good as yours. At least some of my money is going back to the club.

And finally looking at the stats which never lie. Last 10 games lost 6, drew 2, won 2 national league results. As regards current form in last 6 matches we are third bottom. Like everyone I want us to stay up. I’m just asking everyone’s opinions leading in to the end of the year . Still along way to go and of course we need to beat the teams around us and at the bottom. We will see

Maybe the players are listening to him now.

Mid table imo. We ain't that bad and a few signings might get us within a sniff of play offs.But if spending will give us a sniff I don't think Raj will splash the cash as he wants out

And maybe the squad is improving. Mattock looks to be a decent old school centre half - pity he's not the tallest - and though it's early days I liked the look of Brennan yesterday. Those two plus Manny O did ok against a very good Chesterfield attack. The young lad Zak Johnson was starting to struggle and he'll be back at Sunderland next month. We need a bit more up front adn it'll be great to have Mancini and Crawford back.

Apart from Chesterfield and Bromley it's a very inconsistent division - Gateshead well beaten at home by Halifax yesterday and 'our Tommy' Widdrington's Aldershot thumped 5-3 at home by Eastleigh. That could be a Hartlepool score

So please explain "it might as well have been 10-1." Does the the performance and the effort the team puts in not matter when you're watching on TV? It certainly does when you've gone through the turnstiles. If I had a cat I'd have kicked it after the Bromley game!

I predict promotion via the playoffs and certainly not relegation. The "Machine" Mancini will make all the difference just wait and see.

If you pay on the gate all your money goes back to the club, …just don’t get the point of what someone pays being of relevance, there is no substitute for being there, it’s chalk and cheese and killing me.

I,m as optomistic as the next fan.

The Stones home form is really good, W7 D3 L1.

Wonder if Askey sees them as a lesser team.
Stupid remark imo.

'Lesser team' in the context of this season means every club in the NL not at Chesterfield's level. But agree, it's a bad choice of words - if the likes of the Wealdstone manager get to hear about it they'll use it as motivation.

Believe you me if I was living there I would be attending as many matches as I could. Yes was plenty of effort on Saturday. But as expected we were played of the park. On another day we might have got a point although not deserved it. We are 4 points of the 4th bottom team. Let’s see where we are at the end of the month. I predicted mid table before the season started and I am still sticking to that for now.

he really only said what we might think and say and wealstone manager and their fans will also think that pools are a l.esser club than chesterfield are in ability on the pitch.

Nope he said what he thought(his words not mine) and its totally disrespectful.
Its just an arrogance we don,t need.

With due respect to the clubs I think of the likes of Dorking,Fylde, Ebbsfleet etc as lesser clubs but I don’t think I’m arrogant. I’m sure Pep thinks Luton are a lesser club when Man. City play them.

Sometimes it’s best to just think things but not to broadcast them.

Don't think it's a problem unless he actually gave examples of who he thought were a weaker club - wonder what category he had Chester in?

Trouble is, whatever a manager says, some will have a go at twisting it.
We’ll end up with Yes/no answers or a shrug.

or give him the questions earlier till they have an answer lined up and not saying stuff off the cuff.

There's hardly a straight talking manager in the game right now, they're all afraid of upsetting owners, FA, League management, etc
Can't remember the last time I listened to a pre or post match manager interview tbh.

they might not be afraid but do not fancy yet another fine or ban imposed on them for telling a few home truths that fans agree with. they,ll be watching and listening to our comments next and the chant is this a library will typify all football grounds.

That's a bit pessimistic given that last season the average attendance across the top four English divisions was pushing 18,000, the highest since 1951-52. The 1980s were the absolute pits for football attendances for some reason.

DC could talk a glass eye to sleep, Don,t recall him implying other teams were lesser (not my words)

One thing he used to say (many times) was "Lose the game, Lose time off"

In the eighties money was tight, but there was also many other distractions for spectators that just aren't about now or attracted more people such as greyhound and stock car racing, ice hockey, leisure centres were fuller, particularly swimming baths, cinemas were still aplenty, and people actually shopped and used town centres which they don't today. When I was a teen I'd go sea angling on the local beaches or the Headland, you'd see a row of anglers all along the piers and coastline, nowadays it's a rarity.
People have become lazier unfortunately, and now have entertainment in the palm of their hands.

For me if we start to loose another say 2 or 3 on the bounce then the management team have to go. Only thing is we know for certain due to the way things are behind the scenes is, Sweeney will be given the reigns for the remainder of the season and no doubt will just do enough to keep us up ? who knows ! feels like the dressing room is lost in parts and Feaths coming back may have upset some who knows ? We need a leader on the pitch aswell and would be nice to have one in place come next season. Its going to be a tough next few months.

We have to make sure Mancini and Seaman and Crawford all get back into the side. Hopefully Brennan is the other CB we have been missing all season and we an keep him a little longer and id say still on paper we have one of the best teams in this division. SHame its not happening on the pitch. But thats down to setup and player mentality for me

You mean money isn't tight now? Actually the North-East might be bucking the trend a bit. Things were really bad here in the 80s and the region had far and away the highest unemployment rate in the country. Now we're bang average - maybe even a bit above average. In the country as a whole there's millions in work and on the bones of their arses because of unaffordable rents etc.

The eighties went shit in the mid 80’s and it lingered…well it did in Hartlepool.

Scrolling through YouTube and up pops the play off final, I just had to watch the penalty shoot out again, brought tears to my eyes !

there has always been more in work than out of it and the main problem of the 80,s was widespread hooliganism in football. just cannot see the present attendances keeping up with all the boxes you have to tick just entering grounds, some of the dire games on view and being tret like a criminal inside and outside.

Remember when you could turn up at a ground, pay at the turnstiles and walk in, simple as that.
Now they want you to jump through so many hoops that if you’re not a season ticket holder, the casual attender loses the habit and says f£&k it.
Now it’s an obstacle course which keeps raising the obstacles, thought up by nerds.

The game is becoming full of flannellers and bullshitters, in top end jobs such as Sporting Directors or Head of Sporting Excellence etc, I watched that interview of that guy Sunderland have just appointed and the words of the guy who appointed him and if I was a Sunderland fan would certainly have concerns, "I'm aligned with the vision that the club have moving forward" and "the longer the interview went on the more comfortable I felt", nothing statements, bullshine, he's saying nothing, he also said "I'm hoping to bring some of my ideas into the mix", hoping?, is he taking the pith, shouldn't that be determined?, words fail.
Sunderland fans also furious about the upcoming cup game with Newcastle, they've given them a home stand and conference area to hold 5k and are having to take down all of the home fittings and memorabilia relating to Sunderland incase it gets damaged or stolen and apparently replace it with Newcastle related stuff, really?, that's the alignment that the Sunderland owners have, squeezing as much money out of their fans and visiting fans as they can no doubt.

thats the reason i can only be bothered coming to the vic and rarely bother with our away games now or going to non pools games apart from a few at stockport with my lad who gets my ticket for me. there must be others like me and eventually crowds will drop off like they did years ago unless the club you support are succesful. cannot even buy a programme now before a game unless you do what pools want you a paying supporter do. doubt asda would last too long if they tret their customers like football clubs do.

[quote="paulus the woodgnome and a side salad"]The game is becoming full of flannellers and bullshitters, in top end jobs such as Sporting Directors or Head of Sporting Excellence etc, I watched that interview of that guy Sunderland have just appointed and the words of the guy who appointed him and if I was a Sunderland fan would certainly have concerns, "I'm aligned with the vision that the club have moving forward" and "the longer the interview went on the more comfortable I felt", nothing statements, bullshine, he's saying nothing, he also said "I'm hoping to bring some of my ideas into the mix", hoping?, is he taking the pith, shouldn't that be determined?, words fail.

its all business speak bullshit where at times you need an interpreter to tell you what they are actually on about. only vision i have is when i open my eyes and see something and moving forward means winning more than losing and not the crap they are on about. never has the game been more distanced from the average fan.

Nail and head come to mind there mate.

It's tricky for me to attend due to some medical problems, but what you've described makes it twice as awkward and then some.

Getting in to see your team play should be a piece of piss, and not any chew at all. Instead, we face a number of obstacles that would test the patience of a saint.

if football clubs and the league ran pubs you,d have to reserve your spot at the bar beforehand and pay for your drinks the same way whether you turned up or drunk your allocated amount.

Imagine you turn up at the ‘Footballer’s Ams’ and as you go to enter a ‘security adviser’ frisks you and your ‘cavity’s’…..as you come to the second door you’re asked if you have a seasonal booze access ticket and which bar is it for as movement between bars invokes a penalty according to the bar allocated and you must use your numbered seat and table as allocated.
Your alcohol and snacks must be booked seven days in advance of attending said pub.
Proof of identity is required and must be carried to gain entry to your allocated bar.part time and casual attendees at the pub must phone in advance to book bar space, no seating is available for non members.
Enjoy.

do not give the bartards any ideas. being a bouncer in mothercare was a joke once but reality is taking over the world. can see the collections in churches being done by someone in high vis dressed up para miletary style and the ban of singing fight the good fight just in case.

Do hospitality have to go through what you describe, Doubt it.