After the break - reflections on the season so far

By Albatross
September 22 2003

After a couple of weeks away from the site, it's probably worth looking back on what's been going on for Hartlepool United. Despite the defeat at Brentford, I can't help thinking of a certain song - "Everything's coming up Roses...."

Another high profile job available, and it surely can only be a matter of time before Pools Boss Chris Turner is linked.... ooops, sorry, just having a momentary flashback there. Neale Cooper is unlikely to have Spurs knocking on his door just yet, but the start he has made is surely raising a few eyebrows throughout Division 2 and beyond.

Yes we lost at Brentford on Saturday, but even so Pools are sitting in sixth place having played nine games. We are still unbeaten at home, and have notched up a couple of away wins to boot; from our five away games we've picked up seven points in total, a healthy return for most teams. Meanwhile, we've recorded our biggest victory in decades at home, and have scored more goals than any other team in the division.

One of the reasons that Poolies are so happy of course is the number of so-called "experts" that predicted Pools would be struggling at the wrong end of the table having to eat their words. Chris Kamara is the most-often quoted, having tipped Pools as strugglers this season, but to be fair he was far from the only one to be thinking along those lines. The writer of the Season Preview for the BBC Site said much the same, and quite a few unofficial sites for our fellow Div2 clubs predicted that we'd either be relegated or facing a long fight to avoid the drop. Even when we started the season with a couple of good results, the fans of Peterborough and Sheffield Wednesday seemed keen to give us as little credit as possible and tell us instead that we'd be scrapping at the wrong end of the table before long.

They may still be right of course, but the healthy start Pools have made should go a long way towards winning more respect. Cooper has the team playing with confidence and spirit for the most part, and isn't afraid to give them a rollicking if he thinks the effort isn't going in.

Considering he's not even been in charge for three months yet, Coops has already stamped his mark on the squad. He may have inherited some good players in the likes of Ritchie, Eifion, Tinkler and others, but he's added to the squad intelligently and with impact. He may have struck lucky a little with Nelson, given Pools and Tommy Miller had done much of the groundwork, but Cooper still gave the go-ahead to the deal; and then he's brought in the likes of Strachan, Robinson, Gabbiadini and Jordan. He's obviously paying heed to Martin Scott, and has adopted the attitude of "if they're good enough they're old enough" with Robson starting a number of games, Istead involved much more often, Foley making a sub appearance, and Provett being given his chance - and taking it with a vengeance. Paul Robinson has looked outstanding, and has already scored seven goals; and when Eifion returned to fitness, Cooper showed he wasn't afraid to alter tactics and formation to allow him to play all three of our best forwards. Richardson and Henderson have been allowed to go out on loan, and he's looking to bring in yet more firepower by arranging trials for a couple of Highland League forwards with goals galore to their credit.

About the only position that Cooper doesn't seem to have sorted to his satisfaction is the left back role. Robson and Jordan seem to be almost taking turns to play there, while John Brackstone is pushing for the place as well and was on the bench on Saturday. Mark Robinson seems to have vanished off the radar completely, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear of him going out on loan as well.

So where are Pools heading under Cooper - this season and longer term? Coops himself has indicated that he's ambitious, and doesn't see Hartlepool United as just being here to make the numbers up, which can only be a good thing. More importantly, not only is he showing he can talk the talk, he's showing that he can walk the walk as well. It's already a remarkable achievement when you consider that in many ways he's got the toughest act to follow of any Pools boss since Alan Murray taking over when Sir Cyril was cruelly struck down. Turner came in with low expectations: survive, and then consolidate was about all we could hope for. Once our Division 3 status was secure, I think many Poolies would have been happy with relative obscurity for a season or two. Cooper has come in to a team that could and probably should have won the title last season, and has had four years of relative success and high finishes. And although the attitude of many of us was that a comfortable finish somewhere in the middle would be a great achievement, there's no doubt that many of the floating voters would have floated off elsewhere had our form gone drastically downhill. Instead continuing success, attractive football and a few goals have seen Pools averaging just short of 5500.

A serious run at the playoffs may well see attendances remain at this level, or even rise a little more. I know we're currently in a playoff position, but I'm not convinced it'd be good for Pools to be there at the end of the season - let alone gain promotion. Rotherham may have done it, with some success, but back to back promotions can spell trouble if the infrastructure and money isn't there - just ask Brighton. We've got a tidy enough ground for Division 2 football, but another upward move would see the Vic as it currently stands woefully inadequate - even if only in the number of away fans we can accomodate. And while we may have some players capable of doing a job in the first, there aren't enough to see us do anything other than struggle. It would require some major investment both on and off the pitch to see us have any chance of staying up.

Longer term though, it's not beyond the realms of possibility. Currently we're operating at 75% capacity; continued good attendances may well encourage IOR to invest in expanding the ground, and it's by no means impossible for smaller clubs to thrive despite the bigger ones close by. Walsall have Wolves at the door (if you'll pardon the pun), and then not far away West Brom, Aston Villa and Birmingham City - and yet have managed to get to a point where they can put a few noses out of joint and fight for Division 1 survival with a realistic chance of achieving it. Their attendances currently average around 9500 - and with some imaginative ideas in their commercial department (drive past their ground on the M6 and you'll see the adverts on top of the stand for example) they are more than keeping their heads above water.

Maybe in two or three seasons we will be joining the likes of Walsall and Crewe in the "perennial strugglers made good" category, but for the moment there can be few complaints with what's happening on the pitch at Victoria Park. Let's hope it stays that way!