Relegation Run-in: First Look

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By Albatross
March 27 2006

The season is drawing to a close, and Hartlepool United are not in a good position. Saturday's defeat leaves us back in the relegation zone, and Paul Stephenson will need to coax some big performances from his players in the next eight games.

Saturday's defeat has seen us dip into the bottom four again; with eight games remaining it's probably about the right time to take a look at the all-important run-in. The good thing is that it's still in our own hands; however, the home form in particular needs to continue it's recent improvement if we're to reach safety.

Because of the stupidly draconian approach taken by the Footballing Authorities regarding publishing fixture lists, I can't give you a complete list of the games that are left complete with dates - but these are the teams we still have to play.

Home: Oldham, Bristol City, Nottingham Forest, Port Vale
Away: Swindon, Colchester, MK Franchise, Brentford.

Of those teams, three are in the battle for an automatic spot: Brentford, Oldham and Colchester. With two of those away that's on current form probably two defeats, and Oldham (who visit the Vic on Friday) will no doubt fancy their chances of grabbing at least a draw if not a win.

Forest are on the fringes of the playoff race at the moment, but as they'll be visiting close to the end of the season it may be possible that they are out of the running by then and have nothing to play for. Bristol City are currently hovering around mid-table, their playoff hopes remote but still with an outside chance of being sucked in to the relegation battle. Similar thoughts may be in the minds of fans of Port Vale, although as the visitors for our final game of the season it may be possible that they too have nothing to play for by that point.

That leaves two games against other strugglers, and the bad news is that both are away from home. Swindon and MK Franchise are both below Pools in the table at the time of writing, and while Franchise looked dead and buried not too long ago a recent revival is giving them hope - although they remain six points and a lot of goals away from safety. Worryingly for Pools, it's their home form that's giving them a lifeline so it's again a hard one to call. Swindon meanwhile are just a point behind Pools and also know their destiny is in their own hands.

The good news for Pools is that the division is so tight that there are still a number of teams we can overtake. Rotherham, having won on their Fans United Day on Saturday, are only ahead on goal difference; Blackpool are just a solitary point clear, and Bournemouth and Yeovil are only three points better off. A couple of wins could easily see us looking down on the relegation zone from three or four places above.

The problem is that it's wins we need now rather than draws - and that means beating some sides that are equally keen to get the points for their own promotion or relegation battles. We have a hard run-in, nothing really in terms of easy games, and if it's going to be a successful fight then Pools are going to have to perform well in the remaining few weeks of the season.

One potential problem for Pools though is that it seems that Adam Boyd still isn't really firing on all cylinders. He was only on the bench on Saturday, and rumour has it that his knee is still causing problems - the word is that he's still seeing a specialist and it's only really at 70%. In the meantime Stephenson is having to try and find a cutting edge, with Proctor tried alongside Porter on Saturday. Quality forward play is what we'll need over the coming weeks - can Stepho get the mix right? Poolies everywhere are hoping that he will.