Turner "satisfied" - but are the Pools fans?

Boss Chris Turner says that he is satisfied with Hartlepool United’s season. Is anybody else? It sounds strange for a team boss to say he is satisfied when his team avoided relegation on goal difference, but Turner points out that if Pools had not been docked three points by the Football League, the season would have ended quite comfortably rather than in near-panic.

And he shouldn't need to be told that they it was their own fault that they were docked those points.
A few of Turner’s players can perhaps feel satisfied with their personal campaign – Flinders, Austin, Collins, Behan and one or two others - but many more will surely admit that they as individuals and the team in general could have done better.
But look at the League One table and, even if you add three points and move Pools from fifth bottom to a much more comfortable position, it’s not exactly brilliant is it?
But they have achieved something the club has never done before by clinching a fourth consecutive season in football’s third tier, and that is at least something.

And Turner justifies his “satisfying” verdict by telling the Hartlepool; Mail: "Last season was very difficult for us in terms of new players, the standard of the league and the difficult times we had on and off the field.

"It has been eye-opening in terms of how difficult the top six were and how good they were for this level.

“Getting players to be consistent has been the most difficult thing ... when we've played the top sides we've generally done well.
"When we've played the bottom teams, we haven't played so well. You don't know how the 13 players are going to mix or do as a team.
"That's far too many players to bring in in one year, but we did it.
"I wouldn't say we got away with it, but I think we'd have had a satisfying season without the three points knocked off.
"We've had a cliff hanger because of what happened off the pitch.”
It’s difficult to argue with any of the points he raises there, and of course we all knew that it would take time for all the new players to knit together as a team, though most fans would perhaps have expected it to be a bit quicker than it actually was. Some might even ask if they have knitted together yet.

It’s also true that most of the new players Turner signed a year ago haven’t done badly, some better than others, and while consistency has been missing, there has been promise at times.

If that consistency can be found and if Pools can get out of the nasty habit of losing to teams they should really be beating, we can hopefully expect to do better next season.

After all, there won’t be a whole team and a bit to bed in and everybody knows what is necessary.

But with the likes of Southampton and Charlton joined by Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth, there are at least four teams who will all think they have a divine right to be higher up the football ladder.

It’s not going to be any easier than it was this season – the question is, will Pools be any better?