Trying To Win (with) The Pools - A Hartlepool United Story

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APRIL

Brentford 1 (Grigg 24)
Hartlepool United 2 (James 56, Dean og85)

We seem to specialise in late winners!

--

Bolton Wanderers 2 (Trotta 24, Hooiveld 90)
Hartlepool United 2 (Franks 12, Tesfaye 88)

I thought we had got ourselves another late winner but it was not to be. I cant complain as they are managed by Alan Shearer.

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Hartlepool United 2 (Baldwin 13, Al-Kamali 18)
Newcastle United 1 (Vuckic 60)

PROMOTION!!!!

We do the double over Newcastle!!!! They ended up appointing Steve Clarke and they are hanging on to a play-off space as it stands.

We are 1pt away from the title.

--

Hartlepool United 2 (Jarju 54, 62)
Charlton Athletic 0

CHAMPIONS!!!!!

--

Hartlepool United 1 (Jarju 17)
Leicester City 0

So our final home game of the season results in a victory. Thats 69 home games unbeaten in the league. 3 seasons undefeated. (lost in the cup though)

--

Brighton & Hove Albion 3 (Lua-Lua 41, Ulloa 75, Crofts 84)
Hartlepool United 0

Brighton did a Hartlepool here as they had 3 shots and scored three goals! We absolutely battered them but couldnt score.

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Birmingham City 5 (Hughes 3, Connors 16, 24, 27, 83)
Hartlepool United 6 (Al-Kamali 10, Jarju 20, Lingard 25, Whelan 55, Masoud 57, Holden 59)

This game was actually played on the 2nd of May. What a boring way to end a league campaign!!!!

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LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
Brent
2-1
Flinders
Hutchinson
Baldwin
Al-Kamali*
Holden
Djurovski
Schwartz
James
Whelan
Lingard
Jarju
Hetherington, Franks
Bolt
2-2
Flinders
Clarke
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Hetherington
Schwartz
Franks
Whelan
Lingard
James
Collantine, Tesfaye
New
2-1
Flinders
Clarke
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Djurovski*
Schwartz
James
Whelan
Lingard
Jarju
Tesfaye, Brady
Char
2-0
Flinders
Clarke
Schwartz
Al-Kamali
Holden
Hetherington
Fardeau
James
Whelan
Lingard
Jarju* 2
Tesfaye, Brady
Leic
1-0
Flinders
Clarke
Baldwin
Al-Kamali*
Holden
Djurovski
Schwartz
James
Whelan
Lingard
Jarju
Tesfaye, Thomson
Brigh
0-3
Flinders
Clarke
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Djurovski
Schwartz
James
Whelan
Lingard
Jarju
Thomson
Birm
6-5
Flinders
Clarke
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Djurovski
Schwartz
Lingard
Whelan
Masoud
Jarju
Hetherington

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
HAMDAN AL-KAMALI
View attachment 379180

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SUMMARY

A fine ending to the season - even our emphatic loss could have been a victory!! We claim the Championship title thus giving us our 4th ever trophy.

I will do an end of season update shortly but there was some other news regarding the club............

View attachment 379183View attachment 379184View attachment 379185

Now it was mentioned that he was a tycoon and he made our bank balance go from -£500K to £2.5m and he cleared our £15m debt but he only added £500K to the transfer kitty.

This did make me chuckle though.............
View attachment 379186

A £1M pound loan payable in 25 years lol

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​
 
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END OF SEASON POST


So into the Premiership we go. If I review my 3 seasons the first season was kinda expected as with the update we were a League 1 side in League 2. League 2 was slightly above expectations regarding the winning margin and this season was crazy.

I honestly believe it was a freak season. In 46 games we only drew twice!!! If you took away 10 wins and added 10 draws (-20pts) we would have finished 3rd so we would have still overachieved lol (without adding the extra 2pts to the oppo mind you).

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FINAL LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 379246

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FIRST TEAM SQUAD
View attachment 379245
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PLAYER OF THE SEASON
JACK BALDWIN
View attachment 379244

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U21 PLAYER OF THE SEASON
LUKE JAMES
View attachment 379243

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CLUB NEWS

Victoria Park to be extended by 4,644 costing £5.25m........
Which means the training facilities upgrade is cancelled
I sign a new £9,500k per week contract - a £6k rise
Oostende become a feeder club to help with work permits
We can now scout around the world

--

OTHER NEWS

Man City win the Premiership
Liverpool (FA) and Reading (Capital One) win the cups
WBA beat Newcastle in play-off final
Bayern Munich win the Champions League
Arsenal win the Europa League

--

SUMMARY

So into the Premiership we go. My squad will need a major overhaul. Flinders, Schwartz, Holden, Baldwin and James are safe but everyone else arent. I wonder how big a budget I will get?

This season was wierd as we lost a lot of league games, didnt score too many goals yet we still prevailed.


​
 
Last edited:
Great story! Well done on getting to the Premiership. Jeff is going mad on Soccer Saturday! He never saw this coming, haha. Good luck in the Prem. Hopefully be able to survive and push on from there. Hopefully this new owner will be able to splash the cash.
 
Got a budget of £13m. Signed a few decent players.

Trying to sign a player that will amaze everyone but no dice so far.
 
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PRE-SEASON

So what will this season have in store? If we can finish between 10th and 15th, get past the 2nd round of the Capital One Cup and maybe get to the QF of the FA Cup I will be happy.

Having said that I have won a trophy every season so far so I wouldnt mind keeping that record up.

--

PLAYERS IN

I have so far spent £7.4m (previous spending in 3 seasons was £600k) and I am 1000000% happy with my transfer dealings. Everyone I have went for so far has signed - apart from the wonder transfer I am working on...........

My biggest signing was Jake Connors from Birmingham City for £4.5m. He scored 4 against us on the last day of the season and he is going to be a star. The rest of my money was spent on two Brazilian regen CMs - Igor Augusto (£2m) and Pedrinho (£900K).
View attachment 379431View attachment 379432View attachment 379433

Also for the first team on free transfers came Kiko Femenia and Gael Kakuta.
View attachment 379434View attachment 379435

Two came in as backup on free transfers, William Ford and Benjamin Siegrist while Adam Campbell returned to the club on loan.
View attachment 379437View attachment 379438View attachment 379439

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PLAYERS OUT

Kevin Thomson was sold to Aberdeen for a club record fee of £1m and Sam Hutchinson went to Bristol City for £220K. Released on a free were Omozusi, Sandaza, Bates and Vangjeli. Out on loan went Franks, Crawford, Gunn, Redmond, Stratford and Fardeau.

--

SUMMARY

We have a decent side methinks!!!! Femenia comes in at RB, Igor Augusto at CM, Kakuta at LW and Connors at ST. I think we have a competitive side but if Connors struggles to score, being so young, then we may struggle.

--

SPECIAL MENTION......

From League 2 to the Premiership...............

Jack Baldwin (146apps/5goals)
Jordan Clarke (108/2)
Scott Flinders (166/0 goals) - played every game
Steven Hetherington (106/7)
Darren Holden (141/3)
Luke James (145/67)

James, Holden, Baldwin and Flinders were at the club before I arrived.

​
 
Some good signings there mate, really enjoying this and I look forward to seeing how you go in your first season in the Premier League! Let's hope that Pedrinho doesn't have to win many balls in the air though XD
 
Safc-mad-scotty said:
Some good signings there mate, really enjoying this and I look forward to seeing how you go in your first season in the Premier League! Let's hope that Pedrinho doesn't have to win many balls in the air though XD
Click to expand...

Never noticed that lol
 
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AUGUST

Hartlepool United 3 (Kakuta 34, 81, Connors 65)
West Ham United 1 (Carroll 27)

A great start. My 2 Brazilians were missing but 2 of my other debutants really impressed while Luke James got 2 assists.

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Aston Villa 2 (Helenius 18, Guidetti 48)
Hartlepool United 3 (James 21pen, 47, Connors 62)

Another great result. They had a late goal disallowed though.

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Capital One Cup 2nd Round
Hartlepool United 2 (Masoud 67, Pedrinho 90)
Rotherham United 2 (Etuhu 9, Dwyer 35)
(AET Hartlepool United win 4-3 on penalties)

I played a backup side here and we struggled big time however we go into the 3rd round for the first time.

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LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
WHU3-1FlindersFemeniaBaldwinAl-KamaliHoldenSchwartzDjurovskiJamesKakuta* 2JarjuConnorsHetherington
Villa3-2FlindersFemeniaBaldwinAl-KamaliHoldenSchwartzDjurovskiJames* 2WhelanJarjuConnorsClarke, Masoud
Roth2-2FlindersClarkeSymonsHealyMulconroyPedrinhoHetheringtonFemeniaWhelanMasoud*CampbellBrady

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
LUKE JAMES
View attachment 379501

--

SUMMARY

6pts down 34 to go lol. To be fair I dont think we will be troubled with relegation. Our next game is away to Man City so that will give me more of a true measure to how good we are - I think 8th-12th myself.

I didnt make any additional signings to my squad but not for the want of trying!!! I missed out on my superstar signing when Wayne Rooney accepted an offer from West Ham. I tried to strengthen the CB area and put in a £5m bid for a regen on deadline day which was rejected and then he gets transfer listed for £4m and I didnt have enough time to sign him!!!!

View attachment 379507
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UKRAINE

Friendly

Lithuania 3 (Mikoliunas 31, 88, Sernas 75)
Ukraine 3 (Seleznyov 2, Konoplyanka 4, Bezus 41)
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Last edited:
Nice looking regens and great start!
I think you can survive!
 
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So one month in the Premiership is done and I thought I would post how things lie in the best league in the world.

CLUB
MANAGER
KEY SIGNINGS
Arsenal
Arsene Wenger
Criscito, Inigo Martinez, Lennon, Fellaini, Halilovic, Insigne
Aston Villa
Gary Bowyer
Essien, Fabio, Guidetti
Cardiff City
Javier Aguirre
Will Hughes, Arnautovic, Austin, Carrizo
Chelsea
Jose Mourinho
Sakho, Strootman, Illarramendi, Lewandowski
Everton
Eddie Howe
Stoch, Young, Defoe
Hull City
Sam Allardyce
Ruddy, Frimpong
Liverpool
Rafa Benitez
Santon, Yarmolenko, M'Vila
Man City
Manuel Pellegrini
De Bruyne, Lamela, Walcott, Volland, Coutinho
Man Utd
David Moyes
Sandro, Coentrao, Bernard, Saponara
Middlesbrough
Lee Clark
-
Reading
Roberto Martinez
-
Southampton
Didier Deschamps
Glen Johnson, Corchia, Fischer, Grosskreutz
Stoke City
Mark Hughes
Rhodes, Banega, Valencia, Naughton
Sunderland
Paolo Di Canio
Forster, Agger, Perotti, Ibrahimovic
Swansea City
Ian Holloway
Lampard, van der Vaart, Carrick, Adam
Spurs
Andre Villas-Boas
Rodwell, Leitner, Milanov, Ilori
WBA
Michael Laudrup
Lescott, Izaguirre
West Ham
Nigel Adkins
Rooney
Wolves
Kenny Jackett
Gomes

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Last edited:
KLIPPYBO said:
SPECIAL MENTION......

From League 2 to the Premiership...............

Jack Baldwin (146apps/5goals)
Jordan Clarke (108/2)
Scott Flinders (166/0 goals) - played every game
Steven Hetherington (106/7)
Darren Holden (141/3)
Luke James (145/67)

James, Holden, Baldwin and Flinders were at the club before I arrived.

​
Click to expand...

Dunno how you've managed to get straight promotions to the premiership! Madness! Or haven't you?

I started a save with Exeter and am currently in the Championship (potential to make play-offs) but I'm in 2018/19 season! Here's my progress each season -
12/13 - 7th (Promotion from L2 through play-offs)
13/14 - 18th
14/15 - 17th
15/16 - 3rd (Promotion from L1 through P-Os)
16/17 - 17th
17/18 - 8th
Current - 5th with 9 games to go in Championship

I found L1 particularly tough until my break-through year. I've struggled to compete with wage demands throughout.

I have a couple of star signings that were free transfers and unfortunately had to let one go this January as he wouldn't sign a new contract and managed to sell him for £2.5mill. There is another who I've promised promotion to so need to go up!

Only 1 guy from League 2 to Championship, Liam Sercombe (was at Exeter since 2006) but had to let him go as he wouldn't sign a new contract

Cian Bolger and Jordan Clarke I have had from League 1 and they'll be with me till the Prem.


Good luck in the Prem!
 
Steve Rogers said:
Dunno how you've managed to get straight promotions to the premiership! Madness! Or haven't you?

I started a save with Exeter and am currently in the Championship (potential to make play-offs) but I'm in 2018/19 season! Here's my progress each season -
12/13 - 7th (Promotion from L2 through play-offs)
13/14 - 18th
14/15 - 17th
15/16 - 3rd (Promotion from L1 through P-Os)
16/17 - 17th
17/18 - 8th
Current - 5th with 9 games to go in Championship

I found L1 particularly tough until my break-through year. I've struggled to compete with wage demands throughout.

I have a couple of star signings that were free transfers and unfortunately had to let one go this January as he wouldn't sign a new contract and managed to sell him for £2.5mill. There is another who I've promised promotion to so need to go up!

Only 1 guy from League 2 to Championship, Liam Sercombe (was at Exeter since 2006) but had to let him go as he wouldn't sign a new contract

Cian Bolger and Jordan Clarke I have had from League 1 and they'll be with me till the Prem.


Good luck in the Prem!
Click to expand...

League 1 was fairly easy mainly due to the fact that James, Flinders, Clarke, Baldwin and Holden are Championship class while I used the loan market very well. I probably had a side that would finish in the lower reaches of the Championship while in League 1 so it wasnt too hard.

The Championship season was crazy though and just a tad unrealistic however in this save Kenny Jackett has led Wolves from League 1 to the Premiership in straight seasons too
 
Ian Holloway has built himself a Golden Oldies side with Swansea there
 
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SEPTEMBER

Manchester City 3 (Fernandinho 72, Coutinho 82, Jovetic 85pen)
Hartlepool United 2 (James 28pen, Connors 54)

I just about fainted when we went 2up but we couldnt hold on. In a perverse sort of way I am glad we lost as that would be rediculous.

--

Hull City Tigers 0
Hartlepool United 2 (Djurovski 45, Connors 71)

A nice away win. Connors has scored in every league game so far.

--

Capital One Cup 3rd Round
Hartlepool United 1 (Pedrinho 4)
Newcastle United 1 (*** 80)
(AET Hartlepool United win 3-2 on penalties)

I rested a few players here and we scraped through - just!!!!

--

Hartlepool United 2 (James 39, Connors 55)
Everton 2 (Jelavic 17, 21)

Being 2 down at home was a bit of a shock but we battled back to get a point.

--

LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
Man C2-3FlindersFemeniaBaldwinAl-KamaliHoldenSchwartzIgor AugustoJamesKakutaDjurovskiConnorsPedrinho
Hull2-0Flinders
FemeniaBaldwinAl-KamaliHoldenSchwartzPedrinhoJamesKakutaDjurovski*ConnorsMulconroy, Campbell, Jarju
New1-1FlindersClarkeBaldwinAl-KamaliMulconroyHetherington
PedrinhoJamesMasoudJarjuFordFemenia, Holden, Djurovski
Eve2-2
FlindersFemeniaBaldwinSchwartzHolden
Jarju
Igor AugustoJames
Kakuta
DjurovskiConnors
Masoud, Brady

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JAKE CONNORS
View attachment 379873

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SUMMARY

A decent month I suppose. Sure we only won 1 game but we progressed in the cup, got a decent draw and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory away to probably the strongest side in the league.

I have made a massive error though - I only have 3 CB's in my squad!!!! Al-Kamali, Schwartz and Baldwin are only joined by 2 youth team players Symons and Healy. I tried to sign Khumalo on a free but he didnt get a work permit. I am still on the hunt for a freebie.

View attachment 379874
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UKRAINE

UEFA European Championships Group A

Iceland 1 (Sigporsson 78)
Ukraine 4 (Konoplyanka 6, 38, 55, Khacheridi 12)

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Ukraine 9 (Khacheridi 1, Seleznyov 4, 27, Bezus 41, 61, 62, Harmash 49, 89, Konoplyanka 75)
San Marino 0

This win secures qualification for the Euros
​
 
Look in the loan market for abit of squad depth at CB?

Great story!!!
 
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