December Review: Top 6 Progress

By Albatross
January 12 2005

December proved to be a good month for Hartlepool United with good progress made in both League and FA Cup. Will we be able to say the same at the end of January? If we can, we could be a long way towards securing another crack at the Playoffs....

December was overall a very good month for Pools, with ten points from five games and the ending (at last!) of our losing streak away from home in emphatic fashion, with a 5-1 win over Wrexham. Together with home wins over Oldham and Stockport, the draw with Bristol City and the solitary blemish of defeat at Walsall, Pools climbed four places to finish the year in 5th place in Division 2 and had the third best record in the division over the month. Not quite good enough to win Cooper Manager of the Month then, but still highly satisfying.

Best team over the month was without doubt Hull City. Their perfect record of five wins out of five - and a goal difference of +11 - saw them close the gap on Luton (they have since overhauled Newell's men) and made sure that going into the New Year they are not just in the running for the playoffs, but in fact serious contenders for automatic promotion and even the title.

Only one other side were unbeaten over the month: Barnsley, with three wins and two draws. Luton completed the quartet of teams to reach double figures during the month.

The other end of the form table though looks grim for Colchester and Peterborough; neither side recorded a win over the month, although Colchester played a game less, and one point was scant consolation for the two sides. Stockport's efforts to arrest their plummet saw the appointment of former Pools boss Chris Turner with a little success; while MK Dons new manager Danny Wilson also saw improvements although admittedly against some of the lesser lights in the division.

However the pressure remains on for some other managers and their efforts in December will have done little to comfort the likes of Colin Hendry at Blackpool or to a lesser degree Paul Merson at Walsall. Both sides are perceived to be under-achieving, although it's the Lancashire side with more immediate reason to be concerned as they remain worryingly close to the relegation zone.

The situation at the bottom is starting to tighten up, although Stockport remain adrift at the bottom and will need to pull a few rabbits out of the hat if they are to survive. MK Dons and Peterborough United had both earned 21 points - seven more than the Hatters - by year's end, while Wrexham's ten point fine, coupled with some poor results, saw them on the same number. While the Robins are still apparently hoping to appeal against the deduction, they aren't exactly having a great time of it anyway - heavy defeats to MK Dons and Pools have since been followed by injury to Andy Dibble just a couple of weeks after they released their only other senior keeper. With Administration limiting their playing staff, they will need to have a major change of fortune to avoid the drop.

As of 31 December then, the scores on the doors showed Stockport adrift on 14, MK Dons, Wrexham and Peterborough on 21 as previously mentioned, and Blackpool just a point clear of those three. Torquay had pulled away a little to be five points clear of the relegation places with COlchester after their poor run a further point better off. Port Vale on 29 points were slightly further ahead, but in need of some better results to stay clear of the battle at the bottom. Beyond that it would take a poor run akin to that of Rushden last season to see any of the rest dragged into trouble.

At the top, Luton and Hull had managed to get clear water between themselves and the rest, with Tranmere on their own in third and a gaggle of teams including Pools scrapping it out for the playoff places. Just six points separated Sheffield Wednesday in 4th from Huddersfield in 12th, and another four clubs were within eight points of the Hillsborough club. As with last season, all that it would take for any of these teams to become playoff candidates is a decent run of form; Pools current unbeaten run is already starting to look promising on that front. Will January - already off to a good start for HUFC - see us consolidate a top six position? With away fixtures at Torquay and Hull and the return fixture with Bristol City to look forward to we will have to be right on our game if that's to be the case.