The Poolie Bunker

Here's my 10 game report on what I've seen so far. What do you think?

1 – Max Merrick. Excellent on the few occasions he has played but will we see him at the Vic again? Somehow I doubt it.
32 - Nathan Fisher. Nowhere near good enough. Lacks experience and confidence.

2 – Jay Benn. Not bad going forward but can't defend. Should have been scattered last season.
3 – Cam John. Gone backwards compared with last season. Not doing enough.
5 – Max Kouogun. Really big miss while he's out injured.
6 – Reiss McNally. Doing his best not to allow the crap around him to affect his own form.
12 – Neo Eccleston. An energetic 'rough diamond' at best. Not good enough to start games.
15 – Charlie Penman. Pass. Nobody can judge what he has to offer on the basis of 45 minutes played.
27 – Liam Gibson. Not fit enough to finish games. Limited anyway.

4 – Jack Hunter. Doing his best as a stand-in centre-back but his best isn't good enough.
7 - Brooklyn Ilunga. Looks good 1 game in 4 but bullied out of games the rest of the time.
8 - Jamie Miley. Gone backwards this season the same as Cam John. Looked better in a settled team and system under NF. Hopeless at free kicks and corners.
14 - Nathan Sheron. Looks bad in a bad team but really no worse than he was last season.
18 - Owen Hampson. Who?
21 - Charlie Thornton. Same as Penman, not seen enough of him,
42 - Cole Deeming. Can obviously play a bit but struggles to show it in a team this bad.

9 - Jordan Hugill. Rumoured to be on a big wage and done f-all to justify it.
10 - Will Harris. Scored 3, missed at least as many more good chances - but he will get goals.
11 – Luke Charman. Limited but at least a fighter.
17 - Jack Nolan. Massive disappointment so far. Low on confidence and not much comes off for him.
18 - Corey McKeown. Started very well, then crocked.
19 - Chris Popov. Energetic but no football brain.
30 - Terry Bondo. Bit like Popov, only worse. Looks as if he couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo.

Dunno where the money's gone but we look 4 or 5 players short of a side capable of challenging at the right end of the table - even with a manager who knows what he's doing.

Another crap manager and no money for team strengthening and yes, we could be bad enough to go down.

Yes definitely

If we get the next managerial appointment right, no.

We have to face facts and admit that this squad is certainly capable of getting relegated. At the moment we are poor in every department. Our midfield inadequacies have been well documented, last season our midfield struggled to create, this season we struggle to both go forward and defend.

Our forward line despite signing some of last seasons top attacking players are not taking chances. In today’s defeat we could have had it wrapped up in the first half hour instead we go down 4-1.

We are now leaking goals against teams at the bottom half of our league, whereas last season our defence was one of the best on the league, especially at the start of the season. As for our keeper we have been forced into fielding an inexperienced keeper due to injury which certainly hasn’t helped.

Unless we get a decent manager in with a proven track record and he gets some funds to put things right then it’s going to be a tough watch…

Get rid of the cause and get in someone who knows what they’re doing… the players will respond.

Desperately need to get the manager right, no stupid decisions allowed, then the new manager has to be allowed to bring a few seasoned pros in, players like ash palmer from York for some leadership would be a good start. Something has to change before we head into the abyss!

Fisher has just as much 1st team experience as Merrick has,he's just not very good!

Without a generous influx of cash (which I doubt) we are definitely heading for NLN with plenty of local derbies.

After watching Pools in every game , albeit on dazn . We are 100% nailed on for relegation with this squad. I dont normally like to give predictions for matches but think we will get slaughtered by Harrogate. Fortunately for me i will be in bed . Worryingly too i cant see where the next win is going to come from . Every team we play plays us of the park . Further, to be more pessimistic i cant see any manager turning us around without bringing in 5 or 6 players . And i forgot to mention the young keeper who the defence are doing their upmost to protect because he never goes for crosses . The league below is our level .

The way the players throw the towel in yesterday at half-time.
I'm not sure the best manager in the world could stop them being losers.

We don’t need a manager ..we need a Cyril Knowles style arse kicker who demands performances instead of this disorderly undisciplined, uncommitted flock of wandering sheep.
Get rid of the root cause, the glorified clique of gamers playing out their fantasy squad with all the expertise of a 13 year old on his new computer game in his bedroom …this is a sel inflicted perfect storm and a perfect response needed to kick arses and scatter arses where needed..

Cyril wudent walk onto the pitch like Clarky n now Clayton is and shake our players hands after defeats.

He would of went crazy.

We certainly need some discipline at the club.

And I wudent rule out the injured players not wanting to return in a hurry.

Bromby getting greed n rightly so.

But the players and now chairman need to shape up fast.

Bromby brought a manager in who hadn’t seriously coached in England for 5 years, Clayton sacked from the same club twice and Liddle who had only coached at Whitby a Northern Premier League team leaving them in 16th place. The coaching staff are hardly a dream more like a bunch of misfits.

Must be someone who knows what the Bromby contract situation is.

Id say we have a right to know.
Maybe we actually get some talk talk from our new Messiah this week.

If not then it's fair to say it's hello division 6.

but they are all local misfits though. would they have actually brought in a manager and coaching staff who had say experiance at bristol city as players and experiance at weston super mare and gloucester as coaches.

Nah. They’ve been playing tactics that they either didn’t understand or didn’t agree with and over the past 9 games have had the shit kicked out of their confidence. We lack a Mark Tinkler, or dare I say it, a Nicky Featherstone in midfield, someone who can get a grip of it.

We’re a couple of players and a shit load of confidence short of a decent team.

The next manager - and he must be a manager with total authority not a ‘head coach’ is possibly the most important appointment in living memory.

Tuesday night could see a collapse in support if it goes tits up…..the whole thing is a comedy of errors, the rot has to stop.
Our owner needs to get a grip sharpish because this present comedy show is derailed and going nowhere……ACT NOW!!

Listening to Clayton’s post match interview on Tees gave the impression the players are really down and in a bad place mentally.

I think they’ll be dreading Tuesday night in front of a depleted crowd who I’m guessing when Harrogate inevitably score are likely to turn against them.

As mentioned above, they need to get their big boy pants on, get a grip of things and try and drag us out of this sorry mess. Unfortunately, not sure who’s got the minerals in this squad to step up to the plate.

We are the complete opposite of the Wrexham project. Just cos Smith is American doesn't guarantee success. Get Raj and Fevs back to steady the ship ironically. We are in the worst position in our history and cannot see things improving until we drop into NLN or even further down.We could be overtaken by Hebburn ffs No leader, no manager, squad full of failures, no keeper, no spirit. no hope. Furthest from NSD we have ever been!

Isn’t that the job of a manager though? Unfortunately a position which is under threat or at least in decline in football? Arm around the shoulder, kick up the ar$e, knowing your players and what they respond best to.

We’ve gone from being ridiculously over optimistic to ridiculously pessimistic. This team won’t get relegated or promoted.

Don't you mean this team won't get promoted and shouldn't get relegated?
On recent form and performances we most certainly can get relegated.
Lack of confidence and belief takes a bit of turning around and the jokers who're in charge right now won't be able to lift things.

3 points from last 21 available.

And that includes Woking missing 3 sitters at the end of the game.We won 1 0

Thats enuf evidence to suggest relegation can't be ruled out.

Maybe the squad are the epitome of this woke world we now reside in, it's the players who are oppressed and need sympathy, they are the victims, no shouting on Tuesday, we wouldn't want to upset them, just stand there be quiet and accept our fate, whichever way it goes, after all its only football, like Labours policies it's all bad news never good, we all have to make sacrifices.

You're probably right. If Pools get a half-decent manager in and a proper keeper between the sticks they'll stop leaking goals at the very least.

Looking at the squad Beech and Maxwell have assembled, it's a mile off challenging for promotion. Any manager worth his salt will want additional funds to fill the most obvious gaps, and control over how the new money is spent. I'm not sure they'll get either!

WE NEED A MANAGER…to assess his players and deal with them individually not this daft idea of running the team like a social club committee…. It’s proved it doesn’t work for us.
Somebody get a grip.

there is only one get out of jail card that can be used about pools not being relegated is the side that started yesterday is miles away from the one that started the first game of the season with only 2 players out. although it seems there is no light at the end of the tunnel for when these better players will be back they eventually will. they might not set the league on fire but will surely collect enough points to make us safe.

you mean like the other 23 teams in this league do. why oh why does it have to be pools to be different especially when being different is not working.

Landon Smith must be shell shocked at the turn of events. Going from championship favourites to relegation bound in 6 weeks takes some doing. I hope he is a fast learner . As others have pointed out he needs to get rid of Bromby and Partners , who are just glorified players agents, appoint a manager ,of proven ability, someone who has sole control of incoming players and tactics. The season can be resurrected but it needs an almighty effort and soon.

It seems that we're trying to put in place a similar model to Brighton and Brentford. The big difference being that they were both pretty much successful and already had established their footballing identities. So the model works well in terms of continuity.
We were most definitely not successful nor did we have an established footballing identity. The last thing we needed was continuity of the previous 2 or 3 seasons with 3 managers per season. Yet the consultants have come in and here we are.
FFS, sort out the manager recruitment and then back him to take charge of team affairs. Then once we've stabilised look at tweaking things in a structured and orderly fashion - evolution, the revolution isn't working.

That system works if you have the cash to splash…and people with a proven track record running it….we don’t….it’s bit like flying a plane only by reading a book on how to and seen a couple of films about flying.

Yep but the plane needs fixing and fuelling first.

They created this mess, only they can actually sort it out.
So best shape up and jettison the self pity.

Aye…..we’re ‘Pathfinders ‘ leading the way and up the creek without a paddle.
We really are good at turning promising victory into rambling defeat.

THIS!!!

The amount of money Pools could save by getting rid of all the leaching consultants, and directors of this, that and the other (who by the way are producing the footballing equivalent of a runny turd) could fund a manager of a much better caliber than the ones we've been made to suffer in recent years.

Just think if we'd started this season with a manager who'd gone "We need a decent goalie and the midfield is shite - let's fix that and work from there" instead of some leaching consultant tosser going "Here's your squad Lee. Try and do something with it even though you haven't got a clue (as we've gone for a cheap managerial option because my Audi A8 isn't going to pay for itself...)"

I loathe consultants. I really do. They're always just "We're going to go in there and sort it out - and while we're at it we'll be costing a fortune and we'll leave you in a worse position than you were in to start with before buggering off to our next gig".

Too much deadweight producing nothing of consequence and a drain on resources that could be better spent on a decent manager and players,
We seem like a club run by 14 year old geeks online, going by results..

We have a good goalkeeper though, Merrick. Other than Stolarczyk he’s looked like the best keeper probably since we went down the first time 10 years ago nearly. I’d give them a bit of a break on that one as it’s not often a keeper picks up injuries so early. We’re still shite but if we had him in net instead of Fisher who’s Sunday league level we’d look a lot better.

The midfield is absolutely stinking, has been for several years (Miley, Hunter and Sheron have been here long enough to know they’re not good enough) and not doing anything about it should be a sackable offence.

I don’t think I ever remember such despair among Pools fans and for once it’s not a financial issue, threat of administration etc, it’s the threat of relegation hanging over us and unless Smith sorts it out it’s where Pools are heading with the current set up.

Too true Jamie.
Results like this in any business would set the alarm bells ringing, let’s see what the reaction is from our ‘head office’…because we’re on the road to nowhere on turbo boost.
Even an unlikely win would mean nothing, I can not see any future under this set up.

just need to look at the goals we are conceeding now to realise we have a poor keeper that even his defenders do not trust. at least once we had a good defence to rely on now we have no midfield, a poor defence and strikers starving on little service who know they might not get another chance if they miss the one that comes up.

correct. i used to be worried about the future of pools and the thought of them becoming a gateshead or workington. defeats really hurt but over the last couple of weeks i have reached the level of not giving a toss. not giving a toss if they lose, go down or just join the sunday league. the whole set up just aint pools for me now and at least crap players of the past were funny.