That game really should have been more comfortable and put to bed earlier. We got in enough good positions to win that 4 or 5 nil. BUT as is the pools way we manage to concede a goal to rank bad opposition again and gave them a life line, in fairness they saw it out fine but we can't keep gifting goals and making it harder than it has to be. Grey got in enough great positions today to get a hattrick but his finishing and decision making in those areas wasn't the best. Mancini made a huge difference today, just having a player willing to take the ball on the half turn and run at players makes a huge difference, 3 or 4 times the Oxford players tried to take him out but missed. He gets in great areas and is a constant threat, occasionally he overplays it but for what he offers you can give him that.
Few decent performances today from Stephenson, Crawford, featherstone, grey despite the misses, Ferguson was much better ( notice he wasn't captain), both centre halfs were decent although not under much pressure and I thought Hastie did well coming on. Cooke and Wallace looked a bit shabby today so they need to give a bit more. All in all is have loved a clean sheet but it was a vital win in a vital month with the fixtures we have.

Other weird thing today is the team and cooke especially didn’t seem to want to pass to Stephenson, a few times he was open and they opted for a more complicated ball, not sure if they were trying to protect him but seemed strange

He seemed to do ok but wasn’t really tested and his touch was a little heavy at times

Thought Stephenson did well, looked comfortable on the ball, one run forward into their box was almost Dodd-esque.
Considering we had Hendrie, Wallace, Crawford fresh back from injuries and Mancini first start since a really bad injury they did well on a heavy pitch too.
Maybe the opposition weren't up to much, but neither was our finishing and we could easily have scored 5 or more.

Missed chances probably down to confidence because like you say it could have been five on another day.

Tommy Miller and Chris Beech were both half decent and knew where the goal was.

Not saying the best outright but he is more technical than Beech
And miller

I noticed that with Stephenson as well, said it during the game. He was open quite often but they kept coming inside.

Either that or we didnt have Manni D playing. I have a feeling we would have scored more with him on the pitch. Cant fault Gray for effort, he does his best but he just isn't in the same class as Manni D.

Manni I went through them with ease, his class showed.

He was subbed on 66 minutes, did he get MOM ?

Yes MoM, stand out performance. The amount of times he took a first touch and at tge same time turned and got away from his man was unreal. Surprised he doesnt get a good kicking from the opposition.
Hes an absolute game changer and desperately needed with Mani D being out, without both dont know where goals would come from.

fair play to them as some opponents would have chopped him down well before he was taken off. really hope they somehow pick up and avoid the drop but then the meek never inherited the earth or win football matches either.

plus we did not have a natural goalscorer in the pitch and lenny got it right saying after a bad run you do not suddenly get a 4 or 5 goal victory but need to dig in to get one.

thought he had a decent game myself especially after being cautioned half way through the 1st half for to me absolute sod all. only minutes after he missed a head high boot from one of there lot. he could have had a real easy game picking up money for nothing but had to get noticed.

Mr A,

Have you got the local inside track as to why Stanley let Mancini leave on a free transfer?
Did he not suit their system or was he not rated?

Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted they passed up the opportunity - but it does seem a bewildering decision given the impact he's made at Pools

Some managers believe a player MUST fit in with their system.

Another puzzler is why he came to Pools? There must have been any number League 1 and 2 clubs who would have offered him a contract with more money than Pools can afford. We are very lucky to have him.

You say that, but he never got a taste of first-team action at Burnley (not even the Pizza Cup) and never went out on loan. He was without a club for 8 months after leaving Burnley till the Accies picked him up on a short-term deal, and he only played twice in 3 months for them.

He must have spent a load of time as a trialist before last season and this. Great for Pools that we gave him a contract, but great for Anthony too - he finally got a proper chance to prove himself. Seems like this one was just written in the stars.

And hes lucky to have us, As supporters we take players/managers to heart.

Ask Gavin.

no idea as i have never visited their ground since before covid. can understand a manager not liking him if they are not prepared to accept that he makes mistakes and wrong decisions on the pitch as well as the top stuff he brings as well.

Wasnt he in league 1 though? Huge gulf in class. We saw what the lad from swindon did in 15 games here and he couldnt get a game for mk dons.