Pools drop to 7th - Don't Panic!

By Albatross
September 29 2003

7th in Division 2, you'd be forgiven for thinking all's rosy in the garden at Hartlepool United. However, it seems that as far as some people are concerned, there's a disaster waiting to happen at Victoria Park....

Glenn Roeder, Roddy Collins, Glenn Hoddle, Ray Mathias, Martin Wilkinson. Here we are, at the end of September, and already managers are getting the sack. With the pressure to succeed growing both in the boardroom and amongst fans, the trend to sack managers earlier continues to grow.

If you believe some, the pressure is starting to grow on Pools boss Neale Cooper as well. Guiding his team to seventh in the league after ten games it seems isn't enough to stop some Pools fans wanting to have a go..... drawing 0-0 at home with a team second in the table at the start of play and two divisions ahead of us twelve months ago seems not to cut the mustard.

I hesitate to write this in some ways, because of what happened with the previous incumbent. I was one of those who, when criticism started to grow towards the end of last season, reckoned that Newell ought to be given a little more time. OK, so I got that one wrong, but with the limited evidence we have it seems that results on the pitch were only part of the reason for his departure. While to be fair there isn't anyone calling for Cooper's head on a plate, it's a lot too early to be casting doubt on his ability.

I'll make no bones about it. I like what I've seen of NC so far. He's straight-talking, knows his football, knows how to attract players like Robinson and Strachan to Pools, and his teams generally seem to be displaying the passion that was so sadly lacking in March and April for us last year; and if they aren't, he's not afraid to tell the players that.

It doesn't mean though either that I'm about to hand him the title of Pools best-ever manager. If it's far too early to heap criticism, it's also far too early to say he's going to be up there with the likes of Westgarth, Clough and Knowles.

Cooper's selections in the last couple of games haven't exactly poured oil on the troubled waters of Pools Fans expectations. Ritchie and Eifion have found themselves having to play a lot deeper than they'd like to - and a lot deeper than they were last season when so effective. While neither has proved disasterous in the positions they've been asked to play in for the last couple of games, it's frustrating to see two of the players that were our most potent threats last season playing as wing-backs or deep-lying midfielders. With Robinson not having quite sparkled either, that lack has started to show up more.

Much of this seems to be a symptom of the problems on the flanks. Ritchie is superb going down the wing - but who will play behind him? Jordan and Robson have been there so far this season, and with Brackstone pushing for a place and Mark Robinson starting to come back into the picture, an outsider might think that we're spoilt for choice. The problem is, so far none of that quartet have shown they can be more than simply decent in that role. That's maybe a little harsh on Matty Robson, who is of course not even on a pro deal yet, but while we could get by in Division 3, we're going to come up against more teams at this level capable of causing problems. We need a good, solid Division 2 player there, and so far Robson has looked better going forward than defending, while Jordan hasn't done enough to make the position his either. Ritchie did play on the left side of defence for a brief spell at Sheffield Wednesday, and so Cooper is asking him to fill in there - at the expense of cutting off much of his attacking threat.

Meanwhile, Eifion is almost in a kind of limbo - doing well enough to merit a place in the starting eleven in many eyes, but not doing enough to justify dropping Paul Robinson or Gabbiadini. Given the problems with filling the berth on the right hand side of midfield, it was almost inevitable that Eifion would be asked to pull out wide, and from there it's been a short move to him filling in as a wingback.

So what options might Cooper try? On the right side, the obvious one is (if playing with four in midfield) Steven Istead. Cooper though seems to want to keep him as a sub, and to be honest there's some good logic there - the last thing tiring defenders want is a fresh player with Istead's pace coming on with 15 minutes to go. From the start, he might not have the same impact. Clarke has of course spent plenty of time out on the flank, but hasn't often impressed. Can Ryan McCann play there? Maybe it's worth giving Jermaine Easter a go there, although he has rarely impressed for the first team.

On the left, Robinson may soon find he has a chance to impress the boss, and if he can lift his game consistently he might do the trick. But I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that Cooper is continuing to look for players to fill his problem positions.

So where is the problem? Have we become spoilt after the consistent performances of the last four seasons? Are we assuming that the teams in this division are no better than the ones we played last season? Do we really feel that this division is here for the taking? I'm not sure, but in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy following a top 10 side.