Trouble at T'Mill - are we getting greedy?

By Albatross
March 15 2005

Four games lost in a row, and there's more than a few fans not exactly happy. Our playoff place is under threat, and it seems that to some fans failure to get into the playoffs again is just not good enough. Have we been spoilt after the success of the last few years?

Pools are to be honest suffering from their failure to take points from the games against Stockport and Wrexham rather than against Hull and Tranmere. We always knew that the second two games would be tough; but had we taken four points from the first two, we would be in a lot healthier position. As it is, we have now lost four on the bounce and our situation has gone from talking about automatic promotion to looking over our shoulders at the chasing pack and wondering if we'll still make the playoffs. Should Brentford beat Oldham tonight, they'd be level on points with us, and have a game in hand to boot.

There's no doubt that we're approaching a vital time as far as our playoff ambitions go, and it's critical that we turn the form around if we are to secure our place. With ten games left to play, we will probably need to earn another 15 points (or maybe slightly more) to be in the top six come the end of the season; once again we could be faced with a final day make-or-break game, this time at Bournemouth.

While some would no doubt regard missing out on the playoffs as a failure, it's worth remembering how far we've come in so short a time. At this point of the season six years ago, we were arguably still favourites to go down to the Conference; my brother even has a letter from the club at that time, sent when Chris Turner was appointed, stating their optimism that we would avoid the dreaded drop. Now we have a youth system that's the envy of many other clubs, and look set for our sixth successive top 10 finish - and are still in with a very good chance of making the playoffs yet again. Failure? Whether you think the history is irrelevant or not, we have never had such a spell of sustained success. Even back in the days of Fred Westgarth, close on 50 years ago now, we rarely if ever sustained a position in the top half for more than three years on the spin; already we've doubled that. The club is in a position it has arguably never been in before.

Cooper has kept Pools well up in the table against the odds this season. Quite a few people - outside Hartlepool at least - were prepared to say that last season was a flash in the pan, and that we'd find things much tougher this time round when everyone knew what to expect from us; and the injury problems we've had to contend with have been quite horrendous. Barron has spent large parts of the last twelve months on the sidelines; Jack Ross has missed quite a bit of the season and is currently out again; Hugh Robertson has missed out on most of the season as well. Darrell Clarke has yet to kick a ball in anger for Pools this year, Chris Westwood and Mark Tinkler are missing... despite this we have remained in contention throughout the season and there are still plenty of sides that would swap places with us. Coops brought in Ross before the start of the season to help fill a problem position for us; he's since added another centre-half and midfielder in Ben Clark, and a big forward in Jon Daly to try and plug another couple of holes. It's evolution not revolution - but few would argue Coops has the wrong strategy. His stance over Kevin Betsy turned out to be spot on, and he's even persuaded our hottest property in Adam Boyd to sign a new contract despite a general feeling that he was a dead cert to move on in the summer.

Recent results may be disappointing, but in reality we are still a better side than last season. The two sides that were promoted last season hammered us home and away; Luton and Tranmere may both have done the double over us this time round, but Hull didn't and I'd argue that the five games we've lost against those three sides have been a lot closer. The gap between Pools and the top sides has narrowed - a sign to me that we are still making progress.

Meanwhile, Cooper now has to concentrate on getting some sort of result at Bradford on Saturday. He's been boosted by the news that three of those important players - Westwood, Tinkler, and Robertson - are all getting close to fitness again and depending on how they come through a training game today may all be available for selection. The bad news is that Adam Boyd is doubtful after apparently being beaten up at the weekend - though the club has said nothing, it has been reported in the Hartlepool Mail that he required hospital attention following the incident. Whatever the lineup though, Pools are still the masters of their own destiny: it's still all up for grabs.