Match Thread Hartlepool v Chester 15/08/17

But this performance hasn't come during a period of good form. It's come during a substantial period of form where we've been incredibly defensive and passive. McCarthy can bleat on about are unbeaten start but we've not actually looked like beating any of the three sides we've played. Give him till the end of September and if we're being served the same shite we need to pay him off...

Agreed. And enough service, support. Being switched out wide at half time then substituted won't help though.

Usual post match interview (friendly) fare from McCarthy. Firstly seemingly refereed to difference in "status" between clubs, swiftly correcting to “resources” (what a surprise) . He also felt it was "outstanding " to get a point at Hartlepool. In McCarthy’s world average/ordinary/lucky/trying hard seemingly equals “outstanding” . If we had won 2 or 3 nil that would indeed have been outstanding !

Yes, it's blatantly obvious from his press appearances that he's celebrating everytime we don't get beat. The entertainment, level of opposition and history of less than a point a game since last December is irrelevant, we didn't get beat. I think it was John Still at Dagenham last season who said that you are better off playing positively and winning one game and losing the next, rather than drawing regularly. He knows a bit about being successful in this division.

Any links to this?

I went and found us terribly frustrating to watch.

Hartlepool were always going to pile on the pressure; they've got some top quality players in that side. But we were resilient and with a bit of luck came out with a point. Last season we would have collapsed and come home empty handed.

'Hartlepool playing budget will be one of biggest in National League' 
 www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/sport/football/hartlepool-united/hartlepool-playing-budget-will-be-one-of-biggest-in-national-league-1-8636519

This was Ronnie Moores advice to the monkey hangers board in the summer -

“It’s no good saying ‘Right, we’ve dropped down, we need to take three or four hundred grand out of the budget’.

“If you start cutting corners and messing about, you’ll spend a long, long time in that division.

“The competition is just too strong. It took Lincoln six years to get out.

“Chester and Wrexham are still there. York got relegated this year, Stockport in the past.

“The warnings are there. If you skimp and try to do things on the cheap, you could easily go down again.”

I didn't go to the game but I agree Hartlepool were going to pile on the pressure if and when we scored because of the stick they would get from there fans.
Our goal came early on from a defensive mistake in the game and they piled on the pressure and we seemed to soak that up well and went in at HT 1-0.
Now it is down to JM tactics for the second half and what does he do he goes 4-5-1 for 45 mins why ? we should have exploited the fact that they had worked hard and they seemed weak in defence.
Instead with JM we go negative for 45 mins allow them to re group and pile on the pressure that's the way it sounded on the match commentary and that doesn't surprise me in the slightest tbh.

Going to be shattered tomorrow morning but it was worth it in the sense that it's always nice to see a new ground. I think first half we played alright to be honest, could easily have gone 2-0 up. They did put pressure on us but their defence was far shakier than ours and another goal would have had their fans going nuts. However half time happened! I hate to slag off JM, genuinely, but you have to question going 4-5-1 when they looked so defensively poor, especially given Akintunde was superb first half and gets moved wide left for his troubles! Terrible decision that invited pressure and lost us a potential victory IMO. They panned us second half, well at truly, and the change was a poor decision. Then I look at the subs...Joyce and Chaps on for Hannah and Akintunde. If I was Aki, I'd be knocking on JMs door asking what I have to do to play a full match up front to be honest. He's been better than Hannah in the first few games, regardless of if Ross is a big signing, you have to play form players in their best positions. Overall I would have taken a point away given their players, despite form. It's the tactics second half that irritate me. That defence was there to be hit with our pace up top on the counter.

I’m loathed to criticise the players as they did what they were asked to do pretty well, worked bloody hard and defended well. We at least carried a threat in the first half, mainly through Akintunde although I thought Mahon also looked a lot better tonight as well. Hartlepool looked suspect at the back, which is how our goal came about. But we came back out after the break presumably with the instruction of not to cross the half way line and Akintunde dropped to wide right midfield in a switched 4-5-1 shape. Seem to remember a curled Dawson effort from outside the box and a White header for us in the second half, but barely anything else, pretty much just all Hartlepool.

I don’t know where we’re going, if he keeps setting us up in such a desperately negative manner then people just won’t come, gates will be down and so will the budget. It all results in the manager’s job just becoming more and more difficult. I know where we are as a club but he’s nowhere near ambitious enough. If he doesn’t change his ways then it’s without doubt just a matter of when and not if for him.

Good point tonight but a very fortunate one.

Let be honest here, McCarthy is tactically inept and doesn't know how to use his players properly. We've got some talent in this side but they can't fulfill their potential if the manager doesn't know how to play them. I'm not one for calling for managers heads so early on but if we get beat Saturday we've got think about getting rid. No change from last season really.

I know things are a bit frustrating, but I think you have to take each result in its own right and say that's not a bad point. I'm not really interested in how many times Hartlepool hit the bar. If you hit the bar, something or someone has forced your shot slightly off target. Fine margins make a difference in any game, and you could say what if our disallowed goal had been given, or Hannah had timed his run slightly better, it might have been a different game. It sounds like the goal they scored could have been put down to a mistake too, so swings and roundabouts, ifs and buts, but one goal each is all that matters.

Overall, even in the awful last eight months, I think McCarthy has got us reasonably well set up away from home. We've won at some tough places like Bromley, Torquay and Braintree, drawn at Hartlepool and lost narrowly against the likes of Lincoln and Dagenham. Alright, there have been a couple of horror shows at Sutton and Maidstone, but I don't think anyone would be complaining about our away form if our home record wasn't so terrible. McCarthy needs to build on the solid away setup and get us playing more positively at home. Being able to grind out a result is great, but you can't grind out every result, and too many draws can send you down.

He calls the fans negative but he plays so negative...like others have said don't win Saturday and it's a poor start. Yes we haven't lost but the performances have been dreadful and better teams will brush us aside. We've done well to get 3 draws so far