Managerial Merry-Go-Round 2020/21

[Agombar stool]

As much as I find Garner an arrogant so and so, he did seem committed to Swindon and seemed genuinely gutted that they didn't get through. It's a strange one, as although Charlton have been in the premier league fairly recently, they're not a massive club. Perhaps he wanted to live in London or the financial package was too good to turn down.

Swindon job is going to get a lot of applicants. They've got a virtually promotion ready team there with a few smart additions. It might be an opportunity to steer slightly away from the complete possession based football which I feel never works at this level...the players aren't good enough to make it work. Needs a mix.

I pretty much agree with this. Off the pitch I wasn't overly keen on Garner's moaning about officials in general but I had certainly warmed to him over last season. Given where we were a week before the league kicked off to be able to put a competitive side out on the pitch was a blessing. It became clear that pre-season predictions of a struggle weren't going to happen as players in the calibre of Louis Reed, Jonny Williams et al were not going to come to a club battling to stay in the league. The 3 at the back possession based style was a huge success away from home but at home it didn't work very well and we were turgid and a lot of the fans were bored. But he tweaked that to go to a back 4 and mixed it up more attempting to use Davison as a focal point with Mckirdy and Barry as the pace merchants. It worked to an extent and getting to the play-offs, for me at least, was a fantastic achievement. I think he was out-thought by Darrell Clarke in the end as Vale go to Wembley instead of us.

I don't begrudge Garner being enticed by Charlton, a London club who are bigger than us, in a higher division offers him a great chance to show how good a manager he might be. He's clearly an excellent coach, the improvement in a number of players (Iandolo, Baudry spring to mind) was evident and he, to date, has been the only manager to really get a tune out of McKirdy. He was quite stubborn in the way he played, the 5 at the back at home stayed too long but he did eventually see the error of his ways and make that tweak.

I think for us Ben Chorley is key as his contact book has been excellent. If we can get a dynamic exciting coach then there is no reason why we can't kick on next season. My big fear is if Charlton try and take Jack Payne, Mandela Egbo, Louis Reed and/or Jonny Williams (who they would have to buy) and we face a much bigger rebuild than hoped. It's amazing that this came totally out of the blue and there were no rumours at all from either Charlton or us, until it was agreed yesterday/last night.

I hold no malice to Ben Garner, can totally understand his decision and wish him well. Another chapter in our history is done, the next is going to be bright(er).

 

[BarraMatt]

So he’s either gonna pump it this season (highly doubtful) or we’re hiring Jesus Christ as manager.

At least yous will be decent at dealing with crosses.

 

[Chief Rocka]

At least yous will be decent at dealing with crosses.

You'd think so but we still have Ben Killip for another season.

 

[Sestonpoolie]

Probably a case of whether you believe him or not. Going on last season's evidence that wasn't apparent at all. You hear figures like 800k which if true is tiny compared to our attendances and revenue. You can barely compete with figures like that. This season you feel all will be known about the scale of ambition and funding at the club.

Yup.My ST money is staying safely in my pocket until I see the quality of the manager appointed & players signed.

 

[Sestonpoolie]

Eh? League 2 version of Halifax, fucking hell that's a cheap shot, you're gonna have to expand on that for me like.

County are a big club once again don’t you know.

 

[Chief Rocka]

Yup.My ST money is staying safely in my pocket until I see the quality of the manager appointed & players signed.

Nah you can't do that, the 'elite fans' have already spoken, 'proper fans' don't do that..

I'm in the same boat as you, I'll pay the extra, if we keep a serial loser like Nelson around then I'll just pick and choose my games.

 

[Optimistic Poolie]

Nah you can't do that, the 'elite fans' have already spoken, 'proper fans' don't do that..

I'm in the same boat as you, I'll pay the extra, if we keep a serial loser like Nelson around then I'll just pick and choose my games.

Think there’s a lot of people feeling the same, especially when you consider the early bird offer only running for three weeks from end of the season, and the fact they’ve chose not to be able to finance the ST’s this year, with the cost of living going through the roof at the same time.

Add to that what feels already like a serious lack of ambition and we could be stuck with some one as manager because everyone else turns us down, it’s hard to find the motivation to get your hand in your pocket.

 

[Soup Ladle]

Think there’s a lot of people feeling the same, especially when you consider the early bird offer only running for three weeks from end of the season, and the fact they’ve chose not to be able to finance the ST’s this year, with the cost of living going through the roof at the same time.

Add to that what feels already like a serious lack of ambition and we could be stuck with some one as manager because everyone else turns us down, it’s hard to find the motivation to get your hand in your pocket.

Yeah that finance thing is totally batshit, there's not loads of people in town with a spare 350 odd quid in their pocket. I've got 18 months left on my contract here so don't affect me, I'll still buy ifollow for the year and get to the odd game on visits.

I do think we lack ambition without concrete proof but next season will be clear for all to see. There's lots of stuff I hear from people so this is the acid test for Raj. I don't trust him but he really has no excuses at all to get a decent manager in and a competitive team together.

 

[RiftHouseLad]

Expectations with your chairman and budget would be what exactly?

I see Hartlepool as the League Two version of Halifax. If he was appointed and you finished fourth next season I should imagine you’d take that.

Here we go again, When DC left for the Dosh and he really did.
All that was said on the Natlge forum was how County were going to steamroll the league.
Didn,t go quite according to plan, Although you stumbled along and got there in the end.
And now of course County are the billy big bollocks of Lge 2.

All i can say is Lge 2 is a whole new ball game, But have fun i know we will.

 

[RiftHouseLad]

Budget is a weird one cos we genuinely don’t know, Raj has already publicly stated that the new managers budget should get us the playoffs this season, even went further to suggest a ‘good manager’ in his words would get an automatic spot with it.

So he’s either gonna pump it this season (highly doubtful) or we’re hiring Jesus Christ as manager.

Don,t be blaming our season on Jesus, He/She (see what i did there) has enough to put up with.

 

[RiftHouseLad]

Think there’s a lot of people feeling the same, especially when you consider the early bird offer only running for three weeks from end of the season, and the fact they’ve chose not to be able to finance the ST’s this year, with the cost of living going through the roof at the same time.

Add to that what feels already like a serious lack of ambition and we could be stuck with some one as manager because everyone else turns us down, it’s hard to find the motivation to get your hand in your pocket.

surprised me people buying tickets before a manager is installed.

 

[Who Needs Mourinho]

Eh? League 2 version of Halifax, fucking hell that's a cheap shot, you're gonna have to expand on that for me like.

Budget wise, shit chairmen wise and even attendance table wise you’re a League Two version though if you’d had stuff to cheer like Halifax you’d be much higher I’m sure so maybe not too much of a comparison.

If you finished fourth in this league you’d be overachieving just like Halifax did the NL.

 

[Who Needs Mourinho]

Here we go again, When DC left for the Dosh and he really did.
All that was said on the Natlge forum was how County were going to steamroll the league.
Didn,t go quite according to plan, Although you stumbled along and got there in the end.
And now of course County are the billy big bollocks of Lge 2.

All i can say is Lge 2 is a whole new ball game, But have fun i know we will.

We went from 10th to winning the league so you’re right it didn’t go to plan because nobody thought we’d have a chance of winning the league. It went better than we could have ever planned for.

I’m not sure why you’re getting your knickers in a twist. There is numerous posts from your own fans on the last couple of pages saying the club lacks ambitious and you don’t trust your chairman or think he does a good job and that’s exactly what Halifax fans are saying.

Wild got a lower mid-table budget and turned it into a fourth place finish. I should imagine it would be a very similar task he’d want/have to perform for you guys to have a successful season.

 

[Stocky]

Here we go again, When DC left for the Dosh and he really did.
All that was said on the Natlge forum was how County were going to steamroll the league.
Didn,t go quite according to plan, Although you stumbled along and got there in the end.
And now of course County are the billy big bollocks of Lge 2.

All i can say is Lge 2 is a whole new ball game, But have fun i know we will.

I agree that too many of ours think we're going to waltz into League Two and just be right up there.

Don't get me wrong, we're not going to turn up to make up the numbers but I can bet we'll receive a few reality checks.

And we'll need to add 4-5 minimum if we want to be up there play off wise, which I have faith we'll endeavour to do but you can't always get it right. Our summer recrutiment was from from perfect last season, the lack of transfer window helped us in NL, we don't have that luxury.

FWIW, I thought Hartlepool had a very good season last year all being concerned with such a short turnaround. But Challinor mustn't have half helped in laying that foundation. You even lost your two best strikers. There's bickering with our lot and yours mainly because of the DC exit but I think we both agree he's a good manager. He's what gives me faith we may actually compete if we can keep hold of him during the next season at least.

 

[Chief Rocka]

Budget wise, shit chairmen wise and even attendance table wise you’re a League Two version though if you’d had stuff to cheer like Halifax you’d be much higher I’m sure so maybe not too much of a comparison.

If you finished fourth in this league you’d be overachieving just like Halifax did the NL.

Wanna tell me what our budget is for the coming season? cos I certainly don't know what it is and did you actually look at the attendance figures for the past season? we were the 9th best supported team in League 2, which was comfortably above the league average, you really took a shot and missed here like.

 

[Who Needs Mourinho]

Wanna tell me what our budget is for the coming season? cos I certainly don't know what it is and did you actually look at the attendance figures for the past season? we were the 9th best supported team in League 2, which was comfortably above the league average, you really took a shot and missed here like.

And Halifax are 11th in the league below so very similar. I did say League Two version.

I’m not suggesting that you’re a similar sized club overall. But I am suggesting that if Wild came in and got you into 4th position then that would be a cracking job just like he did this season with Halifax.

I don’t know your exact budget but I know you lost two of your best players to two teams in the same division in Harrogate and Mansfield so we can safely say it’s not huge.

 

[The Evil Dead]

Looks like Ben Garner is leaving Swindon for Charlton.

Let's hope Charlton water their fucking pitch then.

 

[leedsvaliant]

I dont know about that, we did ok in the end. regularly had 60-70% possession by the end of games

From what I saw of you, you mixed it up. You didn't just knock around at the back or play an extra pass for no reason. FGR in previous seasons just passed it around between each other, which inevitably led to moves breaking down. They started to use their wing backs this year and get more balls into the box, which has clearly worked for them.

I felt like Swindon at times wanted to show how good they were at passing without a clear purpose. Players at this level aren't good enough to knock it side to side and then play defence splitters. Occasionally, yes, but ultimately it doesn't work.

 

[RiftHouseLad]

And Halifax are 11th in the league below so very similar. I did say League Two version.

I’m not suggesting that you’re a similar sized club overall. But I am suggesting that if Wild came in and got you into 4th position then that would be a cracking job just like he did this season with Halifax.

I don’t know your exact budget but I know you lost two of your best players to two teams in the same division in Harrogate and Mansfield so we can safely say it’s not huge.

I take it you are referring to Oates, The player who scored the winner at EP.
Dc said at the time he had been offered a good contract, But felt the player
Did not back himself. Interperate that anyway you like.

With regard to Harrogate, I believe you mean Armstrong who was never a Hartlepool
Player to lose. Harrogate bought him from Salford and that deal was sorted before the Playoffs.

 

[leedsvaliant]

I pretty much agree with this. Off the pitch I wasn't overly keen on Garner's moaning about officials in general but I had certainly warmed to him over last season. Given where we were a week before the league kicked off to be able to put a competitive side out on the pitch was a blessing. It became clear that pre-season predictions of a struggle weren't going to happen as players in the calibre of Louis Reed, Jonny Williams et al were not going to come to a club battling to stay in the league. The 3 at the back possession based style was a huge success away from home but at home it didn't work very well and we were turgid and a lot of the fans were bored. But he tweaked that to go to a back 4 and mixed it up more attempting to use Davison as a focal point with Mckirdy and Barry as the pace merchants. It worked to an extent and getting to the play-offs, for me at least, was a fantastic achievement. I think he was out-thought by Darrell Clarke in the end as Vale go to Wembley instead of us.

I don't begrudge Garner being enticed by Charlton, a London club who are bigger than us, in a higher division offers him a great chance to show how good a manager he might be. He's clearly an excellent coach, the improvement in a number of players (Iandolo, Baudry spring to mind) was evident and he, to date, has been the only manager to really get a tune out of McKirdy. He was quite stubborn in the way he played, the 5 at the back at home stayed too long but he did eventually see the error of his ways and make that tweak.

I think for us Ben Chorley is key as his contact book has been excellent. If we can get a dynamic exciting coach then there is no reason why we can't kick on next season. My big fear is if Charlton try and take Jack Payne, Mandela Egbo, Louis Reed and/or Jonny Williams (who they would have to buy) and we face a much bigger rebuild than hoped. It's amazing that this came totally out of the blue and there were no rumours at all from either Charlton or us, until it was agreed yesterday/last night.

I hold no malice to Ben Garner, can totally understand his decision and wish him well. Another chapter in our history is done, the next is going to be bright(er).

There's no doubt he's done a decent job after where you were before the start of the season. He's probably had a very good budget though. But the club was in chaos, so to pull together a squad decent enough to challenge is no mean feat.

He will obviously try and take a couple with him you would have thought. Williams is good but he doesn't half spend a lot of time on his arse. Sometimes you just think 'play on!' and show us your capabilities. Reed and Payne would be a loss and your right back was excellent.

Who was the tall guy that you brought on that slotted in at the back ? He looked like he'd won a competition to play! Everything he did was awful!

 

[Agombar stool]

There's no doubt he's done a decent job after where you were before the start of the season. He's probably had a very good budget though. But the club was in chaos, so to pull together a squad decent enough to challenge is no mean feat.

He will obviously try and take a couple with him you would have thought. Williams is good but he doesn't half spend a lot of time on his arse. Sometimes you just think 'play on!' and show us your capabilities. Reed and Payne would be a loss and your right back was excellent.

Who was the tall guy that you brought on that slotted in at the back ? He looked like he'd won a competition to play! Everything he did was awful!

I'm with you on Williams, I really think if he cut out the histrionics he'd way more influential. In the second half of extra time we went to 3 Centre backs and the tall guy was Jake O'Brien who is on loan from Palace. He was actually not bad earlier in the season playing alongside Brandon Cooper, but when Cooper got injured he didn't play nearly as well and ended up being on the bench and coming on for 5-10 minutes towards the end of matches. He's only just turned 20, is a Republic of Ireland Under 21 international and Palace gave him a 3 year deal last year so I think he'll eventually become a decent CB back but yeah, he wasn't great at Vale Park!

 

[RiftHouseLad]

I agree that too many of ours think we're going to waltz into League Two and just be right up there.

Don't get me wrong, we're not going to turn up to make up the numbers but I can bet we'll receive a few reality checks.

And we'll need to add 4-5 minimum if we want to be up there play off wise, which I have faith we'll endeavour to do but you can't always get it right. Our summer recrutiment was from from perfect last season, the lack of transfer window helped us in NL, we don't have that luxury.

FWIW, I thought Hartlepool had a very good season last year all being concerned with such a short turnaround. But Challinor mustn't have half helped in laying that foundation. You even lost your two best strikers. There's bickering with our lot and yours mainly because of the DC exit but I think we both agree he's a good manager. He's what gives me faith we may actually compete if we can keep hold of him during the next season at least.

Dc is an Exceptional manager and i for one wish him all the best, He achieved something at Hartlepool
That others struggled with, He united the Fans.
With regard from what i,ve seen of yous this season, i think therer will be a fair few more than 4-5 coming in
IMO.
Theres actually some very talented playersin Lge2 who don,t give you a second chance, unlike the NatLge.

You guys will enjoy every minute of the coming season and why not you,ve waited too long to get back.

Good luck for the season, But not when we meet,lol

 

[Chief Rocka]

And Halifax are 11th in the league below so very similar. I did say League Two version.

I’m not suggesting that you’re a similar sized club overall. But I am suggesting that if Wild came in and got you into 4th position then that would be a cracking job just like he did this season with Halifax.

I don’t know your exact budget but I know you lost two of your best players to two teams in the same division in Harrogate and Mansfield so we can safely say it’s not huge.

And how much below the National League average were Halifax and their 2,000 crowd this season? Lemme tell ya, a lot.

We only lost Rhys Oates who had the season of his career with us, Luke Armstrong was never our player and he went to a monied club, shit happens and it'll happen again, as much as we all wanted him we can't compete with Harrogate's sugar daddy, who was happy to spend big on him.

Look, we know we're not a big club, none of us think that, we're happy with our lot, but to compare us to a side created 14 years ago is just talking shite.

 

[Chief Rocka]

Dc is an Exceptional manager and i for one wish him all the best, He achieved something at Hartlepool
That others struggled with, He united the Fans.
With regard from what i,ve seen of yous this season, i think therer will be a fair few more than 4-5 coming in
IMO.
Theres actually some very talented playersin Lge2 who don,t give you a second chance, unlike the NatLge.

You guys will enjoy every minute of the coming season and why not you,ve waited too long to get back.

Good luck for the season, But not when we meet,lol

DC united the fans as manager and once again when he fucked us off

 

[Who Needs Mourinho]

And how much below the National League average were Halifax and their 2,000 crowd this season? Lemme tell ya, a lot.

We only lost Rhys Oates who had the season of his career with us, Luke Armstrong was never our player and he went to a monied club, shit happens and it'll happen again, as much as we all wanted him we can't compete with Harrogate's sugar daddy, who was happy to spend big on him.

Look, we know we're not a big club, none of us think that, we're happy with our lot, but to compare us to a side created 14 years ago is just talking shite.

But that’s the point there are plenty of clubs with more more money and ambition than you guys just like there is Halifax in the NL.

My main point was you’d expect Halifax to finish mid table and you’d presume that it’s on a mid-table budget and that’s the same with you guys unless your chairman has decided to boost that budget.

I wasn’t comparing the clubs I was comparing the jobs.

 

[Sestonpoolie]

I agree that too many of ours think we're going to waltz into League Two and just be right up there.

Don't get me wrong, we're not going to turn up to make up the numbers but I can bet we'll receive a few reality checks.

And we'll need to add 4-5 minimum if we want to be up there play off wise, which I have faith we'll endeavour to do but you can't always get it right. Our summer recrutiment was from from perfect last season, the lack of transfer window helped us in NL, we don't have that luxury.

FWIW, I thought Hartlepool had a very good season last year all being concerned with such a short turnaround. But Challinor mustn't have half helped in laying that foundation. You even lost your two best strikers. There's bickering with our lot and yours mainly because of the DC exit but I think we both agree he's a good manager. He's what gives me faith we may actually compete if we can keep hold of him during the next season at least.

Challinor is a great manager.
He signs players who will fit into his system,not necessarily the best individual players available.
When he was here,we literally swarmed over teams & battered them into submission,i can see you having a very good season.
The only thing that could hold him back is the transfer window,he moaned a lot about not being able to bring in players at will.

 

[Optimistic Poolie]

The way he went to Stockport left a sour taste but there’s no denying DC is a fantastic manager, and with that budget behind him, Stockport will be right up there I’d imagine.

WNM is right in the fact that finishing in the play offs is above what most of us would be expecting this season, It’s obvious the club size between ourselves and Halifax are not comparable, but the task at hand is.

 

[BarraMatt]

5 year contract for Clarke at Vale, surely that length is unheard of down here?

 

[kieran_vale]

5 year contract for Clarke at Vale, surely that length is unheard of down here?

Probably Dario when he was at Crewe would have had a similar sort of deal. Great stuff though absolutely love DC, between him and Flitcroft they’ve transformed our club from one of the leagues biggest laughing stocks.

 

[Chief Rocka]

5 year contract for Clarke at Vale, surely that length is unheard of down here?

Wow good for Clarkey