November Review: Home and Away?!

By Albatross
December 1 2004

November saw Hartlepool United continue to display great form at home, dire form away - a trend that has continued all season. No chance of Neale Cooper winning Manager of the Month then - so who are the contenders? Pools Online's regular look at Division 2 seeks to answer that very question...

With teams having played different numbers of games the decision about Manager of the Month may prove to be a little hard, but clear favourite has to be Paul Sturrock. His Sheffield Wednesday side have finally started to pick up, and wins in all three of their league fixtures should mean he takes the award. However there is some competition - three other teams also won nine points albeit in a game more, and given that one of them is surprisingly Torquay United, it could be Leroy Rosenior that's celebrating. Even should he miss out of the award, it's a terrific effort from the Gulls that has pulled them out of the bottom four - at least for now - and shows that they are going to battle all the way to avoid a relegation that the majority of Division 2 fans thought inevitable.

No such luck for the MK Dons though, who remain firmly in the relegation slots after losing all of their league games and ending up with a goal difference of -8. Only the similarly flatlining performance of Stockport County is keeping them off rock bottom, and it's rapidly reaching the situation that both teams could find themselves well and truly adrift by the New Year. With Stuart Murdoch and Sammy McIlroy both having left and a permanent appointment yet to be made by either team, it looks like it may be a far from happy Christmas for the fans.

Pools actually finished in the top half of the form table for the month, mostly thanks to having just one away fixture. We are now in the crazy situation of being the best side in the league at home, and the worst away - 26 points from 30 at the Vic, 3 from 27 on the road. In a way you could argue we're consistent - we almost always win in the North-East, and almost always lose elsewhere.

While some issues are now becoming clear in terms of who's playing for what, there is still a fairly tight bunch in the centre of the table. Luton still lead the way and are looking good to be in the shake-up at the end of the season; Tranmere also look set to be challenging for Automatic Promotion, and Hull still have some hopes of challenging for the top two as well. We then have eleven teams from Bradford in 4th to Huddersfield in 14th with six points covering them, all of whom will feel that a playoff place is certainly not beyond them and that even an automatic promotion challenge is possible with a good run. Walsall and Wrexham are in something of a "could go either way" situation, needing some consistency not just to join the playoff-chasing pack but also to make sure they stay out of trouble at the other end. From 17th down to maybe 22nd are the teams that know they face a dogfight to retain their place in this division - a poor run for any of them could quickly see them in the mire, and Blackpool are particularly at risk of seeing clear water opening up between them and safety. MK Dons and Stockport, the current bottom two, are already in that situation - Franchise are seven points and a big goal difference behind 20th placed Torquay, while the Hatters are in an even worse state, four points and six goals further back. It will take a minor miracle for either side to escape from these positions.

While every team has so far played the same number of games, we approaching the point of the season where the weather starts to have it's say and the tricky situation of trying to evaluate the value of games in hand arises. Pools have two home and three away games to play before the end of the year if conditions permit - and we desperately need to pick up at least a couple of points from the games at Walsall, Wrexham and Bristol City if we are to look like serious playoff challengers.