Unbelievable Jeff!! A Hartlepool United Story!!

[FM_TNSSO]

Friday 12th April 2019

Friday 12th April 2019

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On transfer deadline day (28th March), I brought in another winger to help boost our attacking options. Kieron Cadogan was available on a free transfer and joins the club on a 1 year deal. He has a good work rate, high level of determination, some pace about him and is a decent dribbler of the ball. He can definitely bring something to the team and I felt it was important to add another permanent player to the squad as I currently have a lot of loanees.

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Dover are 5th in the league, so we knew this wouldn't be easy and had to settle for a draw. In all fairness, they probably deserved something from the game, but it's still gutting from our side to concede the equalizer so late on!

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The point against Dover guarantees us a playoff spot this season! Already, that is above the board's expectations so not matter what happens now, I've over achieved.

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It wasn't all good news from the Dover game though. We've lost first choice right back, Kenton Richardson, for the rest of the season most likely.

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A really bad result as we are beaten at home by Maidstone! Only our 3rd loss of the season in the league, but couldn't have come at a worse time with Aldershot breathing down our necks at the top of the table!

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Our defence seems to be having a bit of a wobble and this is now the 4th game in a row that we have conceded 2 goals which is slightly worrying! Luckily, we were playing bottom side Braintree who can't defend themselves so we managed to get 4 past them on our way to a win!

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We got away with this one as we turn in a less than convincing performance against relegation threatened Bromley! A wonder goal from Jake Cassidy was the difference between the two sides and was enough to secure us the win though!

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The win over Bromley takes us to a new points record for the club!

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It was also our 27th win of the season which is another record for Hartlepool United FC...am I going down in the club's hall of fame yet?!

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Another sending off for us here as our discipline continues to let us down and it cost us today as Gateshead ran ragged with the extra man and managed to smash 5 past us on their way to victory! The only positive for us to take from this game was Jake Cassidy's hat trick!

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There's no doubt about it, our form has definitely taken a dip and it could be at just the wrong time of the season too! Despite that, we do remain top of the table though by just a single point now, although we do have a game in hand over Aldershot! It has looked like a two horse race from a long way out, but we can all but confirm now that it will definitely be us or them that lifts the title this season!

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The first leg of the semi final ends in a draw. The main aim for us here was not to lose as I felt confident we could get the job done at home, and we achieved that! We were the better side here and probably could have won the game though, but we'll take this result after having to play most of the 2nd half with 10 men.

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We're not going to Wembley this year and I'm gutted! I'd targeted this competition as a trophy we could win this year and am so disappointed to go out at the semi final stage! We saved our worst defensive performance of the season for one of our biggest games and it simply wasn't good enough! Needless to say, the boys got a stern bollocking at the end of the game and were told in no uncertain terms "You better not f*ck up the league now"!

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With our cup runs this year, we have brought some extra cash into the club and with the bank balance looking healthy, I asked the board to invest some more money into future youth recruitment.
​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Saturday 11th May 2019

Jake Cassidy

Saturday 11th May 2019

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Considering our recent form has not been the greatest, this was actually a ****** good performance against 3rd placed Fylde! We completely dominated them...something we haven't done for a little while in any game. It only looked like a matter of how many we'd score and on the day, 2 was enough to seal 3 points towards that precious title! Unfortunately for us, Aldershot beat Dag & Red as well so we don't pull away from them at all.

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This was our game in hand over Aldershot and unfortunately we weren't able to maximise on the opportunity as we're soundly beaten at home by Salford! It leaves us 1 point ahead of Aldershot now with 3 games remaining each!

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A Luke Williams free kick provided the goal that gave us the win, but Scott Loach should take all the plaudits for his fantastic penalty save at 0-0! They say goalkeepers can win you games and this was one of those days.

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Aldershot could only manage a draw with Barrow which leaves us 3 points clear with 2 games to go. Because of our far superior goal difference, it means 1 more win will be enough to secure the title!

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Boreham Wood might be battling relegation, but they had beaten us earlier in the season so we weren't going to take them lightly, especially with what was at stake! The lads were told in my pre match team talk to go out there and give me a title winnin performance...and they delivered! We absolutely battered Boreham Wood's goal for 90 minutes and could easily have had 6 or 7 here in all honesty, but we'll happily settle for the 2-0 victory! Job done! Aldershot won as well, which means that we can't officially be crowned as champions yet as if we lose 10-0 and they win 10-0 on the final day of the season they can still nick the title off us lol!

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Although we pretty much had the title wrapped up, I'm pleased to win on the final day of the season and sign off in the right way and ensure we win the league outright and not on goal difference! It was a professional job from the lads today as we got the job done with no hiccups.

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The final league table confirms our status as champions of the National League and Hartlepool United's first ever piece of silverware! I have to admit I feel slightly sorry for Aldershot as they reach 100 points themselves and only lost 6 games all season and most year's this would have been easily enough for them to be champions themselves! Instead, they'll now have to do it the hard way via the playoffs, but a small part of me will be supporting them! Salford definitely picked things up during the 2nd half of their season, but still fail to make the playoffs in what has been a campaign to forget for them!

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We've also set a couple of new records. One for the National League as we scored the most goals in a season and one is a new club record for least defeats suffered! A truly memorable season for me in my first year in charge!

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We'll have a little bit of money to play with next season, but again I am likely to look to the free transfer market and loans to improve our squad over the Summer.
​

 

[leckuno]

What a way to finish the season with winning the title on the final day. Be good to see how you do next season

 

[FM_TNSSO]

What a way to finish the season with winning the title on the final day. Be good to see how you do next season

Cheers mate! I think we would have had it wrapped up a little earlier if it wasn't for Aldershot also having a pretty amazing season! I mean, you gotta feel for them a little bit as they reached 100 points and still don't win the title!!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

End of Season 2018/19

End of Season 2018/19

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Chesterfield won the playoffs and will join us in League Two next season! I'll be keeping a cheeky eye on Aldershot to see if they run away with the league next year as I expect them to!

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Jake Cassidy finished the season as the league's top goalscorer with 27!

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I also took the Manager of the Year in my first season in charge. Well chuffed to pick up a prestigious award in my first year in management!

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Right back, Kenton Richardson, absolutely runs away with the supporter's award! It actually surprised me a little that it was by such a wide margin with so many of our players having great seasons this year. Richardson also lifted the Young Player as well, whilst Mugabi is the signing of the season...which I completely agree with - he was a fantastic addition to the squad in the January window!

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The media review gives us deserved praise after a wonderful season which saw us exceed expectations! The league positions table shows that we were top of the division for more than half the season!

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The squad dynamics are excellent at this stage, as I'd expect after a title winning season.

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The squad stats for the season show that there were plenty of players who recorded average ratings above the 7.00 benchmark that I ideally look for, with Kenton Richardson having a fantastic season as he topped the pile with 7.45!! However, it is Liam Noble that really stands out for me as the central midfielder bagged himself 15 assists and 16 goals throughout the campaign...that's a pretty amazing return for any player at any level! Molyneux and Rollinson did their jobs from the wings contributing with 12 assists each and scoring 19 goals between them as well! The on loan Charles Vernam also grabbed 17 goals from attacking midfield roles, whilst Jake Cassidy won the league's golden boot and scored 29 for us in all competitions, recording the highest number of man of the match awards for the season too (8).

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Naturally, the board couldn't be happier with me!

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The commercial summary makes for good reading with everything on the up!

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We have a new senior affiliate in Swansea and I'll definitely be looking to take advantage of this relationship over the Summer and hopefully bring a couple of youngsters in on loan for next season.
​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Thursday 4th July 2019

Thursday 4th July 2019

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Before we get on the the new players to join us, this is the released list! There's no really big names for us here, but instead all of these were backup players for the first 11 last season and I just don't think they'll cut it at League Two level so have decided not to renew their contracts.

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With promotion back to the football league, we can expect a busy Summer as I look to improve the squad ready for League Two. My first signing is goalkeeper, Ted Smith, who joins the club on a free transfer from Southend. The 23 year old made 11 appearances for them last season, conceding only 6 goals and looks like he could do a good job for us down in the division below. He will likely relegate Scott Loach to backup keeper now and come in as my immediate number 1 between the sticks!

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Luke Molyneux was brilliant for us last season, so the next thing on the agenda was to extend his loan from Sunderland for another season!

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Taking advantage of the affiliation with Swansea, I moved to bring in 23 year old English striker, Courtney Baker-Richardson on a season long loan. He will provide good competition or Jake Cassidy up front and definitely has the stats to bang in the goals in League Two! Let's hope he can get a few for us!

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Another season long loan wrapped up as Birmingham's 21 year old winger, Beryly Lubala, joins the squad! Lubala has only made 1 senior appearance in his career to date (all with Birmingham), so he is a bit of an unknown quantity, but I'm prepared to take the risk on him and give the lad a shot to show his parent club what he can do!

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Last season, we had Danny Amos on loan at left back to provide competition for Mark Kitching. However, I decided not to renew his loan spell and instead have opted to bring in George *** on a free transfer. The 21 year old was released by Brighton and looks to have some decent stats for such a young player without much game time, so I'm hoping he can come in here and with some games under his belt he will improve further.

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The centre back position needed a new addition to bolster my options at the back and it's Charlie Goode that joins us on a free transfer from Scunthorpe. He spent last season on loan at Northampton in this division, making 32 appearances, and helping them to a 13th placed finish in the league! He'll definitely compete for the starting 11!

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Cameron Humphreys is another centre back that joins us on a free transfer. He has come through the Man City youth, so should have some pedigree about him and at 20 years old he still has plenty of improvement in him! He'll get some game time this season for sure, although he may start 3rd or 4th in the pecking order, based on current stats and ability.

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Possibly my best signing of the Summer is 23 year old Scottish midfielder, Ryan Blair, who comes in on a free transfer from our parent club, Swansea! He spent last season on loan with Dunfermline in the Scottish Championship and made 28 appearances. He is already a 4 star rated player, making him one of my best players in the whole squad upon arrival! At 23 years old, he has his best years ahead of him too!

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We will kick off our League Two campaign with an away trip to Northampton Town who finished 13th in the division last year. We follow that up with our first home game against Wycombe, before going to Yeovil who we knocked out of the FA Cup last year!

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My first ever game in the Carabao Cup pits us against Lincoln City at home!

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We'll bag nearly £300k this coming season in TV money.

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The board are not taking it easy on me this year with a mid table finish expected in the league, despite only requesting a top half finish in the league below last season!

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We have a few pre season friendlies lined up against mixed opposition. The games against Cheddar and Horncastle should be comfortable wins and confidence boosters for the lads, before we take on bigger challenges in Swansea and Middlesbrough!
​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Monday 19th August 2019

Kenton Richardson

Monday 19th August 2019

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Another signing to announce as Danny Redmond joins the club on a free transfer. After a couple of loanees left the club in the Summer, I needed to strengthen the attacking midfield options and Danny is perfect as he can provide cover on the left wing and through the middle! He has some superb all round stats and is a great addition to the squad! Last season, he played his football for TNS, where he scored 4 goals and got 4 assists in 21 games.

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Considering we only just returned to League Two, we're actually expected to have a decent campaign and the bookies have us at only 55/1 to win the division this year. That leaves us expected to finish in and around mid table!

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I've made no changes to the captaincy for the upcoming season and Magnay keeps the armband!

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Pre Season went well enough with the highlight being the fact we kept 5 clean sheets! The loss to Middlesbrough can be forgiven, whilst we earned a decent draw against a strong Swansea side! All lower league opposition games produced sizeable wins to boost the lads morale and confidence going into the new season and I think we're raring to go!

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An extra 650+ season tickets have been sold following our return to League Two football!

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The Checkatrade Trophy is another new competition for us this season, although I won't be taking it too seriously in all honesty! We have a pretty tough group, but at least my rotation/backup players will get decent runouts!

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A good performance to start the season off and we earn a respectable point away at Northampton who finished mid table in this division last year.

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New goalkeeper Ted Smith picked up an injury in training after the Northampton game that will see him miss 3 weeks of action!

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Brilliant result for our first home game of the season as we record a comfortable victory over Wycombe! Luke Williams got us on our way again with his 2nd goal in 2 games!

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Yeovil would have been looking for some revenge on us for knocking them out of the FA Cup last season, but they didn't get it and instead it was us that scored a more impressive win over them! Jake Cassidy is off the mark for this season with his first 2 goals of the campaign!

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Unbeaten in our first 3 games in League Two means we're in the top 5 who are all on 7 points! Obviously, it's early days but I'm extremely pleased to have started so well!

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We came from behind to beat Lincoln and progress in the Carabao Cup! Molyneux bagged his first goal of the season, whilst Courtney Baker-Richardson gets his first for the club!

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Bradford City will be the visitors to Victoria Park for the 2nd round now! Hopefully we can get through this fixture and then draw a big Prem side at home to get the fans in and get some decent cash from ticket sales.
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[FM_TNSSO]

Sunday 15th September 2019

Chesterfield came up with us last season after winning the playoffs, but have made a winless start to their campaign. And we piled on the early pressure with a big and pretty easy win here. Their fans should be geared up for a long, tough season based on this performance! Jake Cassidy scored his 2nd brace in 2 games as he starts to find his stride at the higher level!

I'll take a point here all day long! Not only are Blackpool one of the favourites to win this league, but we had to play the last 20 minutes with 10 men after Mugabi's sending off! I really though Blackpool would pile on the pressure late on after that, but they really didn't seem to want it!

With the games coming thick and fast, this proved a step too far for us! Bury are tipped to finish in the top 3 this season and with home advantage they were able to capitalize and inflict our first defeat of the season on us! Can't be too harsh on the lads though, we came up against a good side and held our own and on another day it might have swung in our favour!

Birmingham loanee, Beryly Lubala, wins the Young Player of the Month award for August!

Our best team performance of the season so far as we batter Exeter on their own turf! This result never really looked in doubt from the 8th minute when a Liam Noble penalty put us in front!

Having already beaten Lincoln in the Carabao Cup, I felt confident we could beat them again here in the league. And I wasn't wrong as we thrashed them. Carl Magnay was the unlikely goalscoring hero today with 2 from right back, and chipped in with an assist as well as he delivered a man of the match performance!

Eight games into the season and with only the 1 loss to Bury on our record, we are top of the league! It's very tight up there with only 4 points separating 1st-9th (Notts County and Macclesfield could go above us with their game in hand too) and it's also very early days so nothing to get excited about, but we've made a good, solid start that gives us something to build on!

Boom! Get in there! We take League One's Bradford all the way and knock them out on pens! Scott Loach performed miracles in goal for us and pulled off 3 incredible saves in the shootout to see us through!

We got the home draw we wanted but not against one of the big Prem sides. Instead, we'll take on Portsmouth in the 3rd round!

Our first group game in the Checkatrade Trophy pitted us against Wigan, one of the favourites to win the competition. Despite that and the fact we rotated the squad a little, we still battered them, but failed to score. Unbelievably we come away with defeat after Wigan score with their only shot of the game to scrape a 1-0 win!

16 year old left back, Christopher Lynch, made his debut for the club in the Wigan game! The youngster gave a good account of himself too with a 7.2 match rating!

Which also makes him the club's youngest ever player!
​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Does anyone else know why FM Base all of a sudden is showing all my images as links rather than thumbnails?? I know they've had the site down a few times over the last week doing updates and now this has happened? Can anyone tell me how I fix it please?

 

[WeArePalace]

I'm sorry I can't really help with the issue. One thing is that I don't think it's happening to everyone and I'm really not sure why yours are showing up as links instead. Sorry I can't be of any help though mate.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

I'm sorry I can't really help with the issue. One thing is that I don't think it's happening to everyone and I'm really not sure why yours are showing up as links instead. Sorry I can't be of any help though mate.

It's a massive pain in the **** and have to admit it's really annoyed me! Might have to switch to another site if I can't work out a way to fix it!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

It's a massive pain in the **** and have to admit it's really annoyed me! Might have to switch to another site if I can't work out a way to fix it!

Right, I might have worked out a way to get around it by uploading the images and posting the links via imgur. It's more long winded and a bit of a pain, but I've managed to edit the above post and the screenshots are now showing as pictures and not links!

 

[Hampus Silverholt]

It's a massive pain in the **** and have to admit it's really annoyed me! Might have to switch to another site if I can't work out a way to fix it!

I feel your pain with this, I have no idea what to do with images and it's never been a problem before.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Monday 21st October 2019

Monday 21st October 2019

If it wasn't for Vale keeper, Sam Hornby, this could have been a massive scoreline! However, he was in brilliant form between the sticks for them and kept the score to a respectable 1-0!

We had to work hard for this win over Cheltenham but got the job done in the end. There were a few nervey moments when they pulled it back to 3-2, but Kieron Cadogan put the game to bed late on with his 2nd goal of the game!

After winning all 4 of our games in September, I won the Manager of the Month award!

When we knocked Gillingham out of the cup last year, I said there was a likelihood we might be playing them in League Two this season and I was proved right. They haven't made the most convincing start this year either and came into this game in mid table obscurity, and with us flying at the top of the table, we recorded another win over them here! However, as a Gills fan, I can honestly say I didn't enjoy this one bit!

Macclesfield finished 18th in this division last year and are doing much better this season as they sit in the top half. That being said, we were still able to go away from home and get a win here! We limited them to only 1 shot in the entire game, so really it was about how many we'd score...2 was plenty!

Being a Gills fan, I can't ****** stand Swindon, so this was our sweetest victory under my management so far! I loved every minute of it and it's safe to say that I didn't shake Swindon boss, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's hand after the game!

Not quite sure what happened here. We were simply awful. Struggled in attack and we were a shambles in defence. Although we created more chances, Cambridge were the slicker of the two sides and deserve credit for their win!

Now 14 games into the season and I didn't expect us to be topping the table at this point but that's where we find ourselves after winning 10 of our games! What's even better than that is that we've already opened up a 5 point gap back to Notts County in 2nd place as well! And what's even better than that is that we are 11 points clear of 8th placed Forest Green...could a minimum of the playoffs be on the cards again?!

I fielded a full strength side here as, with home advantage and the fact that Portsmouth are really struggling in the Championship, I felt we could win this game! And I wasn't wrong as we took another team to penalties and again my lads came through a dreaded shootout to claim another scalp! Will be rewarded with that big home tie against a Premier League side in the next round now?

You're **** right we did! We'll invite the mighty Manchester City for the next round and we'll be guaranteed a full house and some decent gate money from that one! We'll probably get spanked mind you, but the finance boost and the opportunity for our lads to play against some of the best players in the world will be worth it (assuming City field a strong side and not a bunch of kids)!

Again, I made loads of changes for the Checkatrade Trophy and we were expected to lose to Wolves youngsters! However, we managed a draw and even picked up a bonus point by winning the penalty shootout! It still leaves us 3rd in the group with 1 game remaining, but as mentioned at the start of the season, I'm simply using this competition to rotate the squad.

And that's why I'm paying no attention to the competition this year as it clearly means nothing to our fans as we record our lowest attendance in 35 years!

Our great start to the season has convinced the board to keep hold of me for a little longer by offering me a new 2 year contract with another pay rise! Of course, I accepted!
​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Hi guys, just letting you know this is going on hold temporarily. My laptop screen is busted and I have got to send it off via work for repair.... (word of advice....Microsoft surface pros are very delicate around the edges so don't pick them up from there)! Probably going to be without it for 3-4 weeks at least. Luckily I do have a home PC and will be able to continue playing FM on there. I will be starting a new save on there later today with the plan that I will pick this up at a later date as well and play the two saves in parallel with one another.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

It's OK....I managed to get the save off my laptop and on to my PC! Hooked my laptop up to my TV via a HDMI cable so I could see the screen, and then uploaded the file and downloaded it onto my PC. So I don't need to start a new save after all and can continue with this one! Well chuffed as I am really enjoying this!

 

[Hammerhedge]

its ok mate look forward to your new save and when you pick this one back up, keep up the good work mate.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Friday 22nd November 2019

Friday 22nd November 2019

It was a top of the table clash as 2nd played 1st! Now we might be close in the league, but this contest (if you can call it that) wasn't close at all, as we completely embarassed County in front of their own fans! A stunning performance from my boys that saw us open up a 6 point lead at the top of the table!

After thrashing Notts County, we proved here that we can do it the hard way as well with a solid 1-0 over a good Crewe team! Bevis Mugabi's header from a set piece was the difference between the two sides here!

Luke Molyneux picked up the Young Player of the Month award for October!

Whilst I made it back to back Manager of the Month wins!

Solid result away at Rochdale as Young Player of the Month, Luke Molyneux continues his fine form with a man of the match performance and a goal! Jake Cassidy came off the bench to bag his 8th goal to seal the win late on! Rochdale manager, Keith Hill, was sacked following this result!

I think we would have had a much tougher challenge here against 5th placed Colchester if they hadn't had a player sent off within the first half hour. After that moment, we were all over them and the only surprise turned out to be that we only scored one goal! However, Ryan Blair's first strike for the club was enough for all 3 points!

Eighteen games into the season and incredibly we've opened up an 8 point lead at the top and I think we can now realistically look at making it back to back league wins if we can maintain this form! And even if we don't end up winning the league, automatic promotion already looks well within our grasp as a minimum as we have a 13 point buffer back to 4th!

Man City brought a pretty strong side with them to Victoria Park and it was no surprise to anyone to see them win the game easily! However, we enjoyed ourselves and the chance for my plaers to share the pitch with world class stars like these will do wonders for their morale! Especially, striker Courtney Baker-Richardson who managed to grab a goal that he will never forget!

Luke Williams and Jake Cassidy were both on top form here as their goals saw us through to the 2nd round! We battered managerless Rochdale to be fair and they were never really in the game!

Unfortunately, we did lose Luke Molyneux to injury during the Rochdale game and he will now miss up to 2 months!

And we will take on non league opposition in the 2nd round as we go to Barrow.

A weakened side which included a 16 and 17 year olds was still enough to beat Port Vale in our final Checkatrade Trophy group game! We certainly didn't dominate the match, but we took our chances well!

Central midfielder, George Armstrong was handed his debut for the club against Vale, and the 17 year old played OK with a 6.80 match rating.

The win over Port Vale was enough for us to leapfrog Wolves U23s into 2nd place in the group and qualify for the knockout stages.

After Manchester City knocked us out of the Carabao Cup, we will now take on their youngsters in the knockout stages of the Checkatrade Trophy.
​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Tuesday 31st December 2019

Tuesday 31st December 2019

When you have 25 shots on goal, you're always likely to score at least 1, and one was enough here to beat Grimsby! Charlie Goode this time popped up with a headed effort as he scored his first goal for the club!

Tranmere came into this game bottom of the table, so anything less than a win wouldn't have been good enough. But my boys kept their heads and their professionalism as they got the job done to extend our winning streak to 6 games in all competitions and record our 5th straight clean sheet as well!

For the third month in a row, I lift the Manager of the Month award! Making a bit of a name for myself here in the football league!

Considering we had to play more than 80 minutes of this game with 10 men, following the early sending off of Cameron Humphreys, we will have to take this point as a good one! Especially as late on it looked like Forest Green had nicked a winner with only a couple of minutes remaining, only for Beryly Lubala to score an injury time equalizer!

A great 2nd half turnaround earns us all 3 points at Crawley! We were poor in the first half, but a good kick up the **** for the players at half time from moi seemed to do the trick and they looked a lot more focused in the 2nd half! All 3 of our goals were headed efforts as Crawley couldn't seem to cope with our crosses into the box!

To be fair to Newport County, they put up a good fight and were one of the better sides to have visited Victoria Park this season so far. However, unluckily for them they still walk away with nothing and it's another home victory for the mighty Pools!

Northampton held us to draw earlier in the season and very nearly did the same again here! However, Beryly Lubala had other ideas as he scored a brilliant solo effort from outside the box with only a couple of minutes remaining to put us in front. Danny Redmond then scored his first goal of the season to finish things off in injury time!

Really disappointing not to win this game after being 3-1 and 4-2 up during the match! However, you can't win them all and at least we didn't lose and preserve our current unbeaten run in the league!

We finish 2019 top of League Two and if you'd have told me that at the start of the season, I'd have never believed it! But we've been brilliant so far this year, with our home form standing out as we are yet to lose a game at Victoria Park in the league this season! We lead the division by an incredible 14 points and are a massive 18 points clear in the automatic promotion spots. Surely it's nailed on that we'll be playing League One football next year?!

Not at all happy with this! Going out of the FA Cup to lower league opposition is simply unacceptable! We created a lot of chances but our finishing was awful and Barrow made us pay!

Man City U23s came into this game as 1-2 favourites to win the game and it was no wonder when they have players like £15 million valued Douglas Luiz and £8 million valued Lukas Nmecha in their team! I mean, just one of those players is worth more than our entire team...worth more than the entire value of our club in fact! Despite the gulf in class though, we did hold our own against City's talented youngsters and took them to a penalty shootout! However, it was them that prevailed on the day and we won't be winning the Checkatrade Trophy this year...although I'm not too disappointed as I never really tried to win it anyway. The competition has served it's purpose of giving game time to some backup players and a couple of promising youngsters from the U18s!

The board have agreed to fund my personal development and hopefully in 6 months time I'll have the next coaching badge on the ladder!
​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Wednesday 19th February 2020

Wednesday 19th February 2020

Jake Cassidy had a fantastic season last year and I was concerned going into the football league as to whether he'd be able to make the step up! However, I was wrong to doubt him and he scored his 12th and 13th goals of the season to give us victory over Chesterfield here!

A bit of an off day in front of goal for us as we created loads of chances but failed to find the back of the net. On the up side, Wycombe couldn't score either so we take a point!

This game was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster for me. First I had the jubilation of 17 year old George Armstrong scoring his first senior goal for the club as we raced into a 2-0 lead! Then that ****** off feeling as we threw that 2 goal lead away, before being livid at going 3-2 down! Then I had some reprise as we scored an injury minute equalizer to salvage a point...before Blackpool went straight down the other end and nicked a winner. So it's fair to say I finished the 90 minutes feeling ****** off!

That loss to Blackpool brought our 13 league game unbeaten run to an end. 13 - unlucky for some I guess!

Bury are going well in the league and are one of our closest rivals, although they're still a fair way behind. We would have extended that lead further here if it hadn't been for a last minute lapse of concentration that allowed them to equalize with virtually the last kick of the game!

Exeter came into this game 2nd in the table, but we'd already beaten them 3-1 earlier in the season at their place so I felt confident. That confidence was not misplaced as we romped to another easy win over the South West club!

Mark Kitching picked up an injury against Exeter that will see him miss a couple of months! It will give me an opportunity to give more game time to young prospect, Christopher Lynch!

Our worst performance of the season results in our biggest league defeat! In fact, it's the first time in my career that we've lost a league game by 3 goals...and it hurts!

I was looking for the lads to bounce back after the defeat to Lincoln, but instead we laboured to a poor draw against a mid table Port Vale side!

I will become the first Hartlepool manager to reach 100 games managed since Danny Wilson back in 2008 who reached 133!

We really should have beaten a struggling Cheltenham side, but our discipline let us down here with two players getting sent off! Based on that fact alone, I guess we have to look at a draw as a decent result!

We've definitely had a dip in form over the past few games, but it hasn't really effected us as far as the table is concerned as we still maintain a massive gap at the top of the table! As long as we can quickly turn our form back around, it should only be a matter of time before we tie up first a playoff place, then automatic promotion and then the title!

Christopher Lynch is probably my best prospect at the club, so it's no surprise that the likes of Sheffield Wednesday are sniffing around the 16 year old left back. However, £27,500 is a bit of a **** take of an offer and was quickly rejected!

Sheffield Wednesday did come back with a significantly bigger offer, but still nowhere near my valuation of the player so again it was rejected! I would need at least £500k to allow him to leave now! Further offers came in on transfer deadline day from Reading, Birmingham, Portsmouth and Preston, but nobody got anywhere near my valuation of the player, with the biggest offer being £325k from Portsmouth.
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