The Poolie Bunker

Divided loyalties in our house today. My wife is from Crosby, been a ST holder at Pools for years, travelled all over the Country with me supporting Pools but today is supporting Marine. She lived five minutes walk from the ground and her Dad and brother supported them.
I suppose just this once.

My loyalties are a bit divided as well. Fond memories of many a pint in The Marine, down Seaton.

I played for Marine FC in the old Sunday league back in the 70's
We were pretty average, to say the least. I remember one game against Brierton Diamonds where one bloke was eating a meat pie & another had a tab on throughout the game . Talk about taking the piss !

Grass roots footy. You cant beat it.

Marine winning 1-0 with about 20 minutes left. Looks like our FA cup dream is once again strangled at birth.

Now its 2-0. I guess this is one of the bumps in the road. Well peed off/

Sounds like we are back to being shite .

We are a disgrace to the town. Just total lack of quality all round . And we were favourites for promotion what a joke

Mick Barron doing the co comms on Tees. Very scathing about the effort all round.

‘There is something rotten in the the state of Denmark’…oops Hartlepool Utd ….. to paraphrase Shakespeare.

I must admit, I am surprised by the 'lack of effort'. I thought Pete Wild was on the case and although I was expecting some losses I never thought it would be due to lack of effort. Maybe they are knackered cos he is training them too hard? Maybe I am clutching at straws?

I said it about a month ago that northern league somewere near the bottom is our level. Maybe Darlo? How much shite can you actually watch or listen too. Crowd booed them off . What a job Wild has ! Aimless punting im sick of seeing it

I really really really really hope that Bromby et al get paid by results.

Don't know why I bothered going - in 50+ years as a Pools fan we've nearly always been shit in the FA Cup. Today just plumbed new depths.

For the first 20 minutes Pools looked a league above Marine. Neo Eccleston was playing out of his skin and causing then all kinds of problems. But chances came and went, our level started to drop off and Marine came into it more. I was sat behind their manager, who is a bit of a character and had good banter with some Poolies.

Second half he got serious because he could see his side were in with a sniff. So could we. Pete Wild used all 5 substitutes and NONE of them affected the game positively. Pools went completely into their shell after Marine's first goal and couldn't string 2 passes together.

Don't know about 'lack of effort' but there was only one TEAM on the pitch in the 2nd half and it was Marine. Saying that, there's definitely a problem brewing with Will Harris. He looked better playing for Lee Clark than he does now, and to be honest I can't see him being at the Vic much longer.

For what it's worth, Lavelle had a good debut but I'm not sure that counts for much. Kouogun will be back soon and Pools real problems are in midfield and up front.

I thought it was quite an even game until the subs were made. A Hughill header hit the crossbar but other than that I didn't think either team where going to score, then he made the subs! For the 2nd Saturday running, we where noticeably far worse and went to pieces after the subs where made. Only players to emerge from today with any credit where Ecclestone (my man of the match), Lavelle and Sheron. Even against part timers our fitness levels looked questionable as well as our decision making in the final third!

Marine thoroughly deserved their win, we were as poor a footballing side as I've seen in many years, worse was that they looked more up for it than us.
Unbelievably we took our target man off then went long ball to Harris? Harris definitely looks as if he's not wanting to be here, have him and Wild had a falling out?
We're in desperate need of a winger or two, clearly Wild like Clark wants to bypass the midfield.

Strange as it is Mr Bromby himself is at Derby county and they are second bottom of their league. None of his company know what they are doing so GET RID NOW.

I thought the same about Harris he looked a lot better under clark and the other 2, He hasn’t looked interested at all last 3 games and is just sulking. Every goal we’ve conceded last 3 games has been with him on the pitch and he’s played less than half the minutes. At least Hugill offers something.

They feature in their new film, CARRY ON FAILING. in $hitevision.

Losing against lower league teams suggests that we could improve our squad by scouring the NLN for their best up and coming players rather than going for EFL cast offs.

The Marine performance today illustrated how to win a game. Had Pools taken a second half lead would they have gone for a second or just tried to see the game out? Marine scored a second and even looked good for a third. Not only do we have a very poor team, our strategy and tactics are rotten.

WTF were they doing in the close season…..?

Pete Wild admitted the subs made Pools worse, not often a manager admits that, he admits lack of quantity in the team, players not giving everything they have got, whoever recruited them should be sacked, on the edge of changing players unfortunately he can’t. Head coach Pete Wild admits the task ahead of him at Hartlepool United is "double the challenge I thought it was".
https://x.com/official_hufc/status/2111 ... deo/1?s=61

The guy looked shell shocked in his interview. It was bad enough listening to the match on the radio. Trying to imagine the play i got the feeling that all we were doing was punting the ball forward with no thought whatsoever. We seemed unfit and disinterested . My intuition which is normally correct was telling me that 80% of this squad is not good enough and there attitude is zilch. So what do we do? The manager now needs to be extra tough, more training , more discipline to get these lazy fuckers working. He said there were 3 players who are really bad . He needs to get more loan players in. We need to back the guy even if we finish 5 bottom. No other manager can sort this shower out . I saw one or 2 negstive remarks about Wild on X! Out of order. Hands up whos backing Wild?

100 % agree with him.
Looks like he's already lost the dressing room and after the players watch that interview it will take a miracle to get it back.

Deffo take 5th bottom.

We got to stick with him.
Unfortunately its a longish term fix.
First job is to stay up then bin every single out of contract employee at the club in May.

Bigger questions are will he still want to commute and be here next season.

And will Smithy cut his obvious losses or carry on because today he's just took anutha financial hit and loss of revenue.
UTP.

Landon Smith needs to get the cheque book out, let Wild select potential signings as the current recruitment manager has failed miserably but who can Wild attract to Pools, get the majority of the current squad out on loan if anyone willi have them.

He's probably skint now and furious.
As for players going out on loan I don't even think Seaton Carew FC would have them.

If that’s the case, they want to fecking grow up and do the job they signed up for…..seriously, they’re in no danger and have a job most folk would love to have so what’s with these big girls blouses actions and non existent attitudes to their alleged jobs.

They obviously have no pride in themselves or their ‘profession’ so in the name of god go if you’re not up to the job, you’re a disgrace in a Pools shirt.

The basic qualities of a pro footballer regardless of skill level are fitness and a will to win. If they haven't got those then there's not a coach or manager in the world that will get a decent and consistent level of performance out of them.
He talks about bodies in the box getting on the end of things but Harris is sidelined which suggests there's a rift between the 2 of them which means our best finisher is in the bench and looks to be disinterested, at least he was putting a shift in under Clark.
How many opportunities are some of them going to get? I suspect another loanee or 2 will be through the door this week.
We've got to get behind Wild and the owner needs to back him, we're not going to get a better manager considering the state of the football club at the moment.
And, the only way the fans will stop the criticism is if we see those basic qualities for 90 minutes from every player.

We absolutely need to stick with Pete Wild as I honestly think he’s the best option we’ve got in our current position.

Regarding lack of effort and suggestions of players not wanting to play for him, totally unacceptable. If that is the case with some of them, disgraceful and not fit to wear the shirt.

Absolute minimum for any professional footballer, regardless of ability, is to give 100% on the pitch.

if last summer was the start of a new chapter for pools then give me the old one as things have got worse not better without any shoots of progress to be seen. one consolation is we must be improving somewhat as we got dumped out of the cup by a higher placed team than last season. only hope for round one proper is an opponent who gets kicked out for a technicality giving us a bye.

you could point your finger at the two main signings nolan and harris for the lack of effort shown. even if they hate the manager surely they have pride in there own performances and use that to get one back on him. or is it the reason they are playing at this level and another reason why life is unfair as there would be plenty watching that non effort who would have run themselves into the ground even for darlo if they had been given the chance. times have certainly changed as many pro,s knew how lucky they were to have this talent when the other option was the pit, shipyards and other jobs you sweat your knackers off and were damned lucky to reach pension age.

I suspect that a few players are getting an abrupt awakening by Pete Wild, I can't see him being too close and pally with them, I think a few of them are not enjoying a disciplinarian manager and their toys are being thrown out.
If his style of management doesn't sort this mess out then I reckon we should just shut up shop.

Harris's efforts under Clark couldn't be faulted, the bloke ran himself ragged every game - look at his goal against Worthing when he chased the keeper down in the dying minutes as an example. Since Wilds arrival he doesn't look up for it anymore so it would appear to be a personal issue imo. Hopefully it can be sorted out because there's probably not a better finisher in the division when he on song.

If their toys are being thrown out, I suggest they follow it up by throwing themselves out too.

Fair point. Maxwell and Beech put their faith in 'potential' signing a bunch of young lads from premier league and football league academies. What we needed was seasoned pros who know that you have to scrap for the right to show that you're a decent footballer in non-league. Only Eccleston has made the grade out of the lot of them - it's probably no coincidence that he is that bit older at 23.

Can only assume that Pete Wild will carry on signing men rather than boys to turn things around - and look for them in the NLN too.

Well it's only taken 4 games and Pete Wild knows the hand he has been dealt. Guessing the 3 players he is on about are Nolan, Harris and Bondo. Probably Miley also a contender. When everybody was full of confidence pre season I think it was forgotten how these players were at this level. Harris had drifted around a lot of clubs in our area before having one good season at Halifax. Unfortunately he has dropped back to his level which is NLN. Nolan went down with Morecambe last year and was signed after a good performance against us at their place in defeat. Bondo, well where would you start. Out on loan at a couple of non league teams way down the pyramid. Did nothing and ended up here. Never a potential pro. Miley came from the bright lights of Newcastle and was given slack based on his brothers ability. No end product and there never will be. Wild knows the problems but are they too deep to solve and will he be given the tools to do the job. We are nailed on for relegation and reckon Wild might throw the towel in before Xmas if he thinks he cant turn this around.Players seem to be too easily injured which is never a good look. Defeat by the mighty Hornchurch next. Then what!

[quote="accrington fan"]
you could point your finger at the two main signings nolan and harris for the lack of effort shown. even if they hate the manager surely they have pride in there own performances and use that to get one back on him. [quote]

You can point at Nolan if you want, doesn't look as if Pete Wild is - he kept him on the pitch for the full 90 minutes yesterday and in mid-week. If any highlights for the Marine game turn up they'll show that Nolan made Pools' two best chances in the game - his own shot early in the first half that the keeper saved well and the cross early in the 2nd that Hugill headed onto the bar.

Not denying that Nolan is as frustrating as hell at times but 'lack of effort' doesn't come into it - McNally and the keeper are the only Pools players who were on the pitch for 180 minutes last week and neither of them will have covered as much ground as him.

not for me though. remember after about 80 odd minutes i saw him and actually thought he had been sunned off. he was a free agent just over a year back and there was not exactly a long list of clubs after him only to be signed by basket case morecambe who had only a handful of players at the time. somehow he has become a big marquee type of signing for us. possibly doing the full 90 minutes is working on his fitness as earlier it was something he was incapable of.

there is a reason men are playing in the NLN and its usually the lack of something. just looking at marine yesterday who played as a team and at the top of there game was there seriously a player there that you,d love pools to sign. correct about keeping away from young acadamy type lads where we,ll get one reyas cleary and 9 invisable ones.

You do your best to make him sound like a no hoper. He scored 17 for Accrington Stanley in League 2 three seasons ago and Gillingham paid a fee for him. Didn't work out for him there but he went to Morecambe last season and scored 18. He's scored 36 goals in 3 seasons and is still only 25.

I don't think he's a no hoper, but his fitness level seems to have dropped since the 1st couple of games.
Miley is made to look way poorer by the fact that he's a footballer in a midfield that doesn't try to play football in the midfield. A decent player but not in this system.
From their team yesterday the left winger gave Ecclestone a tough game and the keeper made a few really decent saves. Other than those they were bang average but as a team were much better than those. And btw the RB was laughing at Bondos lack of ability.

then does it all go down to the fact that stats might be the reason players are signed but when you actually see them perform they do not look the same player. then there are players who perform well in a good side or one like morecambe with no real pressure where even there most keen fan thought they were going down. possibly at pools with the crowd expectations we are certainly a top 7 side where players just have to give 100% and look as if they are doing it.

So add Marine to the list of Gainsborough Trinity, Anstey Nomads, Brackley, Chester, Hampton and Richmond Borough, all teams from a lower league who we've been unable to beat at HOME in either the FA Trophy or Cup in the last 3 seasons alone, so nothing unique to this side only, you have to ask yourself why is that?, why are we such a pushover on our own track?, it's certainly not pressure as other clubs fans I know ain't anywhere near as patient as ours.

As a Halifax fax, with regards to Harris. His demeanour even for us, was one of a lot of self belief mixed with a bit of an attitude if you get my drift. Lakeland put all his faith in him and basically Harris couldn't no wrong and it ultimately worked for us. He never worked overly hard for us. And if he we lost game he was often criticised for not being involved. We however had an excellent midfield last season that created good chances for him.

Yes we were gutted to lose him at the time. But if you look at forum. We would rather have our new and current striker Connor Carty, who puts a shift in every week, and like Harris is now adding goals to his game.

Also a shout out to Tayt Trusty, who has been excellent for us as well recently. I've seen mentioned that he was one of the worst players ever to play for Hartlepool.

I do hope you turn it around though. Wild did a good job for us, and Earing of not injured is a good signing for you. However Hunter will never be creative enough to be a starting midfield for a team that had aspirations like you did pre season. How your football consultant advisors missed that. I do not know...

If our ‘consultants ‘ were on the bridge of the Titanic, they wouldn’t only hit one iceberg, they’d be bouncing off them.

Trusty wasn't awful - he was the same as a lot of academy lads who get signed on loan for a month or two - didn't get many chances and didn't show a lot when he did get a game.

I'd be interested in your take on Pete Wild. Not just on whether him and Harris will hit it off - it already looks like they won't! More Pete Wild's style of play - strengths and weaknesses from a fan's point of view over the 3 seasons he was with you.

We were defensively decent, hard to break down, not overly adventurous. But we worked our socks off.

He identified and developed Earing, Kian Spence and Kieran Green, also got the best out of Jeff King. His defensive and midfield eye for talent was good. He's also struck me as only being able to manage smaller clubs. Look at his interviews at Tranmere they weren't great. At Barrow and Halifax, he loved the underdog tag. Whether he can handle the expectations of a fanbase such as yourselves is questionable.


If you had signed him as manager instead of Clarke and let "HIM" sign the players he wanted, then I think you will have done alright. Coming in midseason, and probably being able to sign a limited amount of players. I'm not so sure about.

On Wild and Harris. I could easily see a personality clash. Harris needs to be told he's the man. That's just how he came across to me. If he felt like the man, it gave him the confidence to do what he did goal scoring wise for us. Wild wants workers, and run through brick wall type players. Not entirely sure Harris and Nolan are those types.

To be fair, Hunter was already on the books prior to the arrival of our grandiose 'football consultant advisors'. As I recall, he was signed by Darren Sarll, season before last. Hunter has obvious limitations but he is in the team more often than not. I guess, you could say he always does his best and of course he can play Centre Half if needed and given our never ending injury crisis, that is a real asset. Hunter himself is rarely injured.

Take out the DC Promotion season and our Vanarama home form has been pure dogshit.
I'm not a statto but guessing the win ratio is as low as 29%.
New players managers Chairman.
It's the same old shit.
Beyond me how our Support has stayed as high as what it is.

More than likely a day on the piss we're the lads need a break from the women.
And now the new immigrants neighbours.