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

Got a nose bleed yet? Haha. Sitting in 8th after 5 games is huge with the 'Pool. As always good dealings in the transfer window. Keep it up mate.
 
images


OCTOBER

Hartlepool United 3 (Masoud 34, Connors 40, James 84)
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 (Doyle 20, McAlinden 45)

Considering they only had 3 shots on target this should have been far more comfortable than it was!

--

Sunderland 3 (Fletcher 45, 53, Ibrahimovic 68)
Hartlepool United 1 (James 83pen)

I HATE SUNDERLAND!!!!! lol. Connors fails to score for the first time in the Premiership.

--

Capital One Cup 4th Round
Hartlepool United 3 (Hetherington 11, 28, Guindo 90)
Hull City Tigers 2 (Graham 50, Berisha 86)

We have so many injuries at the moment I had to play a weakened side here. I put recent signing Guindo on at 2up and cruising and in the end he scored a last minute winner on his debut.

--

Middlesbrough 1 (Jutkiewicz 89)
Hartlepool United 2 (Connors 55, Hetherington 76)

Boro are bottom of the table so I am pleased that we took advantage of their poor form to grab an away win.

--

Hartlepool United 0
Arsenal 1 (Vydra 16)

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! My first home defeat in the league as manager of Hartlepool. The run lasted 72 games.

--

Hartlepool United 1 (McKinney 86)
Reading 1 (Mellis 28)

Masoud, Djurovski, Jarju, Kakuta, Hetherington, Igor Augusto, Schwartz and Pedrinho were all out - 8 CMs!!!!! And then Brady got injured to make it 9!

--

LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
Wol
3-2
Flinders
Femenia
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz
Igor Augusto
James
Masoud
Djurovski
Connors
Pedrinho, Jarju, Campbell
Sun
1-3
Flinders
Femenia
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz
Pedrinho
James
Whelan
Kakuta
Connors
Hetherington, Mulconroy, Campbell
Hull
3-2
Flinders
Femenia
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz
Pedrinho
James
Whelan
Hetherington* 2
Connors
Guindo, Clarke, Campbell
Mid
2-1
Flinders
Femenia
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz
Pedrinho
James
Whelan
Hetherington*
Connors
Symons, Tesfaye, Guindo
Ars
0-1
Flinders
Femenia
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz
Pedrinho
James
Whelan
Hetherington
Connors
Healy, Miller, Guindo
Read
1-1
Flinders
Femenia
Baldwin
Healy
Holden
Miller
Brady
James
Whelan
McKinney
Connors
Clarke, Walker, Guindo

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
STEVEN HETHERINGTON
View attachment 380072

--

SUMMARY

A frustrating month. It had its good moments and results but my first home league defeat and losing to Sunderland plus my injury list makes this a month to forget really. However we are sitting pretty in 6th place so I cant complain too much.

I made another signing in the shape of Issa Guindo who looks as though he will be decent. Just a pity he isnt a CB or CM!!!!
View attachment 380079

View attachment 380076

--

images


UKRAINE

UEFA European Championship Quals Group A

Malta 1 (Grech 31)
Ukraine 5 (Morozyuk 30, Arab og40, Khacheridi 50, Yarmolenko 64, Bezus 71)

--

Bulgaria 1 (Khacheridi og15)
Ukraine 3 (Bezus 37, 39pen, Seleznyov 90)

View attachment 380081
​
 
images


NOVEMBER

Hartlepool United 1 (Connors 62)
West Bromwich Albion 0

--

Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Soldado 7pen, Sigurdsson 35)
Hartlepool United 0

Totally outclassed and they had a couple of goals disallowed too.

--

Liverpool 2 (Sturridge 11, Suso 51)
Hartlepool United 0

Once again the opposition were just too good for us.

--

Hartlepool United 2 (Connors 14, 29)
Manchester United 1 (Hernandez 57)

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! What a result. Our first win against one of the big boys, They had a late equaliser disallowed too.

--

LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
WBA
1-0
Flinders
Femenia
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz
Igor Augusto
James
Whelan
Masoud
Connors
Guindo, Pedrinho
Spurs
0-2
Flinders
Femenia
Schwartz
Al-Kamali
Holden
Hetherington
Pedrinho
James
Whelan
Masoud
Connors
Healy, Miller, Campbell
Liv
0-2
Flinders
Symons
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz
Igor Augusto
James
Whelan
Masoud
Connors
Hetherington, Ford
Man Utd
2-1
Flinders
Symons
Baldwin
Schwartz
Holden
Pedrinho
Igor Augusto
James
Whelan
Kakuta
Connors* 2
-

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JAKE CONNORS
View attachment 380340

--

SUMMARY

Going into the match against Man Utd I was thinking this update would be pretty negative (albeit due to a really tough run of fixtures) but after our win in that match it is all good!!!!

Hopefully we can pick a few more points up in December to set us up for a strong finish. You never know I might get some cash to spend!!

Against Man Utd I suddenly noticed that we are playing back at Darlington again while our stadium gets modified lol.

View attachment 380341

--

images

UKRAINE

Friendlies

Scotland 0
Ukraine 1 (Chygrynskyi 25)

--

Czech. Republic 1 (Kadlec 25)
Ukraine 4 (Khacheridi 5, Zozulya 52, Konoplyanka 55, Stepanenko 59)

​
 
images


DECEMBER

Capital One Cup QF
Crystal Palace 0
Hartlepool United 0
(AET Hartlepool United win 6-5 on penalties)

We scrape through to the semis - just!!! They missed a last minute penalty plus their first two in the shoot-out but then we contrived to miss two also but we kept our nerve and won it - Flinders saved 4 oenalties during the course of the game!

--

Hartlepool United 4 (Kakuta 30, Masoud 59pen, McKinney 66, Connors 78)
Southampton 1 (Grosskreutz 90)

A fantastic victory. My 2 CBs were only 85% fit, I played teenage winger McKinney at LB and he scored somehow!

--

Chelsea 6 (Lewandowski 15, 48, 63, 66, David Luiz 53, Oscar 77)
Hartlepool United 2 (Pedrinho 40, James 90)

Ouch!!!! My keeper ended up with a rating of 3.8 which didnt help much!!!!

--

Hartlepool United 2 (Masoud 25, 90)
Stoke City 0
It was vital that we got something out of this game after the Chelsea result and we battled away to get all 3pts.

--

Swansea City 2 (van der Vaart 2, Matavz 36)
Hartlepool United 0

We just didnt turn up here and we got what we deserved.

--

Hartlepool United 1 (Connors 25)
Cardiff City 0

Both sides had 8 shots on goal, 1 on target and 50% posession. Fortunately we were the side to get the only goal.

--

West Ham United 0
Hartlepool United 1 (Connors 80)

A nice away victory. Luke James missed an early penalty and Hetherington got injured and will be out for 3 months.

--

LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
C. Pal0-0FlindersFemenia
BaldwinAl-KamaliHoldenPedrinhoJarjuJamesWhelanMasoudCampbellSchwartz, Hetherington, McKinney
South4-1FlindersSymons
Baldwin*Al-Kamali
McKinneySchwartzIgor AugustoKakutaWhelan
MasoudConnorsGuindo, Walker, Hetherington
Chel2-6Flinders
ClarkeSchwartzAl-KamaliHoldenPedrinhoIgor AugustoJamesKakutaMasoudConnorsSymons, Jarju, Whelan
Stoke2-0
Flinders
Clarke
Schwartz
Al-Kamali
Holden
Pedrinho
Igor Augusto
James
Kakuta
Masoud* 2
Connors
Campbell, Whelan, Jarju
Swan0-2
Flinders
Mulconroy
Schwartz
Al-Kamali
Holden
Pedrinho
Igor Augusto
James
Kakuta
Masoud
Connors
Jarju, Campbell
Card1-0
Flinders
Clarke
Baldwin*
Schwartz
Holden
Pedrinho
Igor Augusto
James
Kakuta
Djurovski
Connors
Masoud
WHU1-0
Flinders
Clarke
Baldwin
Al-Kamali*
Holden
Schwartz
Igor Augusto
James
Kakuta
Masoud
Connors
Hetherington, Whelan, Jarju

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
HAMDAN AL-KAMALI
View attachment 380443

--

SUMMARY

Another month in which we make progress. We won 4 league games to end the year hovering about the European places and we also made it through to the Capital One Cup semis. The defeat against Chelsea was our major downpoint.

I got offered 3 jobs this month, Aston Villa, Watford and my beloved Newcastle United. I refused all 3 naturally.

I also arranged a few transfers for January so next months post should be a big one!

Finally in the Euros my Ukraine side have been drawn against Austria, Slovakia and Sweden - a kind draw.

View attachment 380444



​
 
ive never played fm 13 much but reading your story makes me wanna change that I always go back to fm 12 I just wanna know from your point a view what makes fm 13 better?
 
images


JANUARY

FA Cup 3rd Round
Leyton Orient 0
Hartlepool United 2 (Whelan 5, Lamacraft 20)

A game for my backups. Mahon, Tucker and Lamacraft started for their debuts here with Lamacraft netting.

--

Capital One Cup SF 1st Leg
Everton 1 (Stoch 70)
Hartlepool United 1 (Kakuta 71)

This was a pretty good result as we got the away goal. Hopefully we dont bottle it in the 2nd leg!

--

Arsenal 3 (Vydra 19, Wilshere 46, Ibarbo 86)
Hartlepool United 1 (James 89pen)

Meh - Wilshere also missed a penalty for them so it could have been worse I suppose.

--

Hartlepool United 2 (James 32pen, Kakuta 68)
Aston Villa 1 (Guidetti 42)

--

Capital One Cup SF 2nd Leg
Hartlepool United 4 (Connors 1, 62, 112, James 115pen)
Everton 2 (Mirallas 10, Makoun 90)
(AET Hartlepool United win 5-3 on aggregate)

Into the final we go!!!! Fortunatley Stoke beat Man City so we have a chance in the final.

--

FA Cup 4th Round
Aston Villa 1 (Guidetti 9)
Hartlepool United 0

Disappointing but we were missing several players which proved to be key.

--

Hartlepool United 1 (Connors 58)
Manchester City 2 (Aguero 42, Jovetic 49)

The scoreline suggests it was a close game but it wasnt - our only attempt at goal found the net.

--

Everton 3 (Jelavic 21, Suaro 24, Anichebe 38)
Hartlepool United 2 (Djurovski 58, Lamacraft 79)

Our capitulation in the first half cost us as we left ourselves too much to do in the 2nd half but we gave it a good shot anyway.

--

LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR`
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
Ley O2-0FlindersClarkeMahonHealyMulconroy*TuckerPedrinhoLamacraft
Whelan
JarjuCampbellDjurovski, Brady, Mlinaric
Eve1-1FlindersClarkeBaldwinAl-KamaliHoldenSchwartzIgor AugustoJamesKakutaDjurovski
Connors
Mulconroy, Mlinaric, Masoud
Ars1-3FlindersClarkeBaldwin
Al-KamaliHoldenSchwartzIgor AugustoJamesKakutaDjurovskiConnorsMahon, Jarju
Villa2-1FlindersMahonBaldwinAl-KamaliHolden
Schwartz*
Igor AugustoJames
Kakuta
DjurovskiConnorsTucker, Mulconroy
Eve
4-2
FlindersClarkeBaldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz
Igor Augusto
James
Kakuta
Djurovski
Connors*
3
Villa
0-1
Flinders
Mahon
Healy
Symons
Mulconroy
Pedrinho
Jarju
Kakuta
Whelan
Masoud
Connors
Guido, Lamacraft, Tucker
Man C1-2
Flinders
Clarke
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz
Igor Augusto
James
Whelan
Djurovski
Connors
Masoud, Lamacraft, Helay
Eve2-3
Flinders
Femenia
Mahon
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz
Pedrinho
James
Kakuta
Djurovski
Jarju
Whelan, Lamacraft, Tucker

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
LUKE JAMES
View attachment 380759

--

SUMMARY

On the field this month it was a mixed bag. We won 3 lost 4 and drew 1, got knocked out of the FA Cup but reached the Capital One Cup final. We finish the month in 8th place - 4pts clear of Man Utd!!!!

I was a busy bee in the transfer market this month. 2 players came in from Crystal Palace - Simon Lamacraft (£1.5m) and Tareiq Tucker (£2.7m).
View attachment 380764View attachment 380765

I spent a total of just under £2m on these guys.
View attachment 380766View attachment 380767View attachment 380768View attachment 380769

Outgoing was Poole, Tesfaye, Stratford and Souayah on loan while Crawford and Redmond left for £100K in total.

View attachment 380762
​
 
What tactic are you playing? I don't understand how you keep over-achieving! I'm struggling massively in the Prem!
 
Steve Rogers said:
What tactic are you playing? I don't understand how you keep over-achieving! I'm struggling massively in the Prem!
Click to expand...

View attachment 381076View attachment 381077

Just my usual tactic. Although I dont have any world class players (Connors, Igor Augusto, Schwartz and a couple of others will be though) I have enough Premiership quality players so midtable is fairly realistic for me methinks.
 
KLIPPYBO said:
View attachment 381076View attachment 381077

Just my usual tactic. Although I dont have any world class players (Connors, Igor Augusto, Schwartz and a couple of others will be though) I have enough Premiership quality players so midtable is fairly realistic for me methinks.
Click to expand...

I don't know how that tactic does so well for you Klippy it has no defensive minded players in midfield. When i tried this I got dominated haha
 
images


FEBRUARY

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0
Hartlepool United 2 (Connors 22, Kakuta 89)

After losing 3 out of 4 league games this was a vital win to get back on track especially against the bottom side.

--

Hartlepool United 1 (Whelan 45)
Hull City Tigers 0

--

Capital One Cup Final
Hartlepool United 2 (Connors 86, 111)
Stoke City 1 (Rhodes 1)
AET

YES!!!!!

An enthralling final. We suffered a nightmare start and looked ropey for the first hour before coming back into it. Kakuta had a goal disallowed just before we levelled and we went down to ten men in extra-time when I had a player taken off injured but we scored the winner moments later.

European football here we come!!!!!!!!

--

Hartlepool United 3 (Schwartz 34, Connors 65, Whelan 71)
Sunderland 1 (Moberg-Karlsson 40)

A great win and I am especially pleased with Schwartz's goal as both he and Igor Augusto had failed to score from CM so far this season.

--

LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
Wol
2-0
Flinders
Femenia
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz
Igor Augusto
James
Kakuta*
Djurovski
Connors
Tucker, Clarke
Hull
1-0
Flinders
Clarke
Baldwin
Mahon
Mulconroy*
Pedrinho
Tucker
Kakuta
Whelan
Masoud
Connors
-
Stoke
2-1
Flinders
Femenia
Baldwin*
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz
Igor Augusto
James
Kakuta
Djurovski
Connors 2
Clarke, Jarju, Pedrinho
Sun
3-1
Flinders
Femenia
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz*
Igor Augusto
Kakuta
Whelan
Djurovski
Connors
Campbell, Masoud

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JAKE CONNORS
View attachment 381149

--

SUMMARY

A perfect month!!!! Not only did we win the Capital One Cup but we won all 3 league games also so we are looking good for a top 8 finish in the Premiership. After winning the Capital One Cup it means European football is secured so if we finish 8th or 9th and finish say 3pts short of a European spot it wont matter!!!!

So into March we go and hopefully we will get a decent player in the youth intake.

View attachment 381152

images


​
 
LovanoFM said:
I don't know how that tactic does so well for you Klippy it has no defensive minded players in midfield. When i tried this I got dominated haha
Click to expand...

You need lots of quick players with high technical attributes to make it work
 
images


MARCH

Reading 0
Hartlepool United 0

A draw!!!! Those are rare with my Hartlepool side as this is only my 3rd in the league this season - 2 of which against Reading.

--

West Bromwich Albion 1 (Le Fondre 79)
Hartlepool United 2 (Connors 10, Kakuta 33)

A hard fought win but we rode our luck towards the end as they had a goal disallowed.

--

Hartlepool United 1 (Baldwin 7)
Middlesbrough 0

Our impressive league form continues but Connors is out for 6-7 weeks which is a huge blow.

--

Hartlepool United 5 (Whelan 13, Baldwin 37, Kakuta 39, 65, Djurovski 77pen)
Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Sigurdsson 25, Soldado 61)

We return to Victoria Park and put on a show!!

WOW!!! Spurs have beaten us easily every time we have played them before but this was one of the games where just about every shot we had found the net.

--

LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
Read
0-0
Flinders*
Femenia
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz
Igor Augusto
Kakuta
Whelan
Djurovski
Connors
-
WBA
2-1
Flinders
Femenia
Baldwin
Al-Kamali*
Holden
Pedrinho
Igor Augusto
Kakuta
Whelan
Djurovski
Connors
Masoud, Mahon
Mid
1-0
Flinders
Femenia
Baldwin*
Al-Kamali
Holden
Pedrinho
Igor Augusto
Kakuta
Whelan
Djurovski
Connors
Clarke, Jarju, Campbell
Spurs
5-2
Flinders
Clarke
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz
Igor Augusto
Kakuta* 2
Whelan
Djurovski
Campbell
Lamacraft, Tucker, Mahon

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JACK BALDWIN
View attachment 475992

--

SUMMARY

Another dream month!!!! We almost won all our games and have all but secured a top 6 finish as we are 9pts clear of Southampton in 7th place and 12pts clear of Man Utd amazingly. We even have a chance of qualifying for the Champions League but with our tricky fixture list I very much doubt that.

I am tempted to ask the board for a new stadium but I am not a legend at the club yet so will hold off until I am lol

The youth intake was pretty **** but there was one decent player.
View attachment 475982

View attachment 475978
​
 
Last edited:
images


APRIL

Manchester United 3 (Van Persie 65, Cleverley 72, Sandro 90)
Hartlepool United 0

We got a bit of a hiding here. We held on for just over an hour but caved in eventually. Campbell has yet to score for us this season.

--

Southampton 0
Hartlepool United 0

A decent point as Femenia got injured and Campbell sent-off in the first half.

--

Hartlepool United 1 (Djurovski 45)
Liverpool 0

A great win. This was a very even match but we got the only goal to move level on points with Liverpool.

--

Hartlepool United 0
Chelsea 2 (David Luiz 42, Hazard 58)

We probably deserved a draw but just couldnt take our chances and when Igor Augusto got sent-off it was game over.

--

Hartlepool United 2 (Lamacraft 47, 51)
Swansea City 1 (Brunt 33)

A minute after they took the lead we had James sent-off so to come back and win is fantastic and a fine way to end our season at home.

--

LINEUPS
OPP
RES
GK
RB
CB
CB
LB
CM
CM
AMR
AML
AMC
ST
SUBS
Man Utd
0-3
Flinders
Femenia
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz
Igor Augusto
James
Kakuta
Djurovski
Campbell
Jarju
South
0-0
Flinders
Femenia
Baldwin
Schwartz
Holden
Pedrinho
Igor Augusto
James
Kakuta
Djurovski
Campbell
Jarju, Clarke
Liv
1-0
Flinders
Femenia
Baldwin*
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz
Igor Augusto
Kakuta
Masoud
Djurovski
James
Pedrinho, Whelan
Chel
0-2
Flinders
Femenia
Baldwin
Schwartz
Holden
Pedrinho
Igor Augusto
Kakuta
Masoud
Djurvoski
James
Whelan, Jarju, Mulconroy
Swan
2-1
Flinders
Femenia
Baldwin
Al-Kamali
Holden
Schwartz
Pedrinho
Kakuta
Whelan
Djurovski
James
Lamacraft* 2, Tucker

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JACK BALDWIN
View attachment 475893

--

SUMMARY

A decent month I suppose. In a month with some very tough fixtures we still managed to get a couple of victories which has us 1pt off a Champions League place with 2 games to go which are away to Stoke and Cardiff. Unfortunately Spurs and Liverpool both play their games at home so it looks very unlikely.

I dont know where all those red cards came from though. I am quite disappointed about Luke James' sending off as he needs 1 more goal to reach double figures in the league again.

View attachment 475892
​
 
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