Match Thread Hartlepool v Chester 15/08/17

And there was me thinking the season went on till late April!

Always a bit wary of fans' forums of relegated football league sides as some posters can come over a bit bitter with delusions of grandeur.

Becuase the table actually matters after a few games. They'll be in the play offs.

Reminds me of when we first came down from the league and our Conference Tour tee-shirts at the first away fixture at Rushden and Diamonds. We soon had a reality check.

It's all too kick and rush. Sorry but if I want kick and rush football I'll go to any local park pitch on a Sunday morning instead

Sorry but it's that mentality that does my swede in.

Yes we should expect pressure but by god I would expect us to do more to support the front two. We have zero width. Watch the highlights and see how much space we gave Hartlepool down the flanks, inviting their full backs to bomb it forward putting balls into the box.

It's asking for trouble. Our style of play is far too negative. Others have said it themselves, switching from 442 to 451 at half time said it all. Leaving Hannah upfront with zero support. We've a better side than that. Halifax and 2nd half vs Fylde was exactly the same story. Sit far too deep, don't win any second balls, keep the full backs deep which keeps the wide midfielders deep as well. Gives the forwards absolutely no support whatsoever. It's a farce.

How on earth are you this optimistic?
I haven't seen these kind of tactics employed since the smaller teams did it to us in the evo-stik. Bypassing the midfield, no width (don't kid yourself I was there too)- Mahon looks lost and doesn't attack the byline like he used to, just cuts in and doesn't know where to go.

As soon as we got that first goal we were on the back-foot, not because Hartlepool were creating much, but because we invite the pressure onto ourselves with these dire tactics. If we'd have stayed on the front foot from that first minute their defence wouldn't have been able to handle Akintunde or Hannah running at them - their centre backs looked all over the place and scared to go anywhere near our two strikers.

We invite so much pressure onto ourselves we look like a team in the FA cup hanging on for dear life against a side 2/3 leagues above us, and that is embarrassing. 11 men back defending corners is ridiculous. you put 1 up at least and that takes 2 of theirs out of the box too. No outlet from defence= balls coming back into the box straight away, absolutely no time to reorganise that back line.

Hartlepool looked solid enough, but were there for the taking. We should have lost that by 3 or 4. It completely sucks the life out of the support- no one could have enjoyed it as a spectacle surely?

JM will be gone by October once the crowds are sub 1500 consistently. No neutral or floating fans will pay money to watch us hang on like that every week. As I said before- truly embarrassing.

I've watched the highlights again, paused, and summarised it. Our problems lie with 3 things. No Width, No Support when we do occasionally get the ball into a wide area, and failure to win any second balls.

That is down to McCarthy for me. Halls and LRT are so deep it is unbelievable. Both are more than capable going forward, we know what sort of ball that Halls can put in the box when he's given a bit of freedom to overlap, but, for whatever reason he's just not doing it. For me, that's down to the tactics they're being given by the man in charge.

3 occasions in those highlights where Halls or LRT advancing forward would have got us in behind the defence, instead they stay out of shot, and Mahon is forced inside. This is where we should be looking to stretch the opposition and give Hannah a bit more space in the box for when the ball DOES come in.

It's basic bloody stuff this.

I was going to post something very similar to that bit in bold, it's all a bit small time.

At the moment we also get McCarthy hailing our upcoming opposition in the press beforehand as an ‘outstanding team’ or similar along those lines. They’re nothing of the sort; in fact all three we’ve faced so far are currently beneath us with no wins between them from 12 games. Overestimating every opposition makes it easier to justify such negative and defensive tactics. Any team that plays the ball on the deck a bit looks good against us as we sit back and allow it.

I’m hoping he’s just trying to get a few hard fought points on the board to ease the pressure of being stuck on virtually nothing. He has to change his mentality and fast as the crowds will/are falling and we can’t afford it.

Understand what you're saying completely, the lack of pace at the back does mean we have to cover up those cracks, when they start to appear, from the midfield. However, I don't think we're required to do that for 85 minutes of the game, especially at this level. We know Kingsley can put a tackle in, why not leave him back to mop up defence and put those balls over the top when needed, and let Turnbull push up a bit, so he can distribute the ball on the deck which is, by reputation, what he's good at.

Dawson isn't an out-and-out winger and tends to drift in, but he always gets back to help Halls on that right side, but Mahon is really causing us problems with his lack of positional awareness when he's supposed to be defending- as soon as teams realise he doesn't track back, there's been overlaps and crosses time and time again down that left hand side. LRT looks to be a solid left back, but again he hasn't got the pace to deal with any kind of 2-on-1 situation on his flank. Fylde exploited it, Halifax did too, Hartlepool cottoned on with about 25 to go and the Chappell came on who, despite his shortcomings, does tend to track the overlap from the opposition well.

We've rode our luck to nearly breaking point in the first 3 games already. It won't take long for this side to be on the end of some 4/5-0s once the better squads really get into their stride.

My first match was in the 03/04 season, so it hasn't taken me too long to get downhearted as the rest of the more senior posters on here . But I can honestly say that these tactics are really the most simple, amateurish tactics I've ever seen us play with. You can tell with 10 minutes to go on Tuesday the players were really intent to waste as much time as possible, staying down after a tackle - and I honestly don't think this is down to anyone but the management team. They're instilling somewhat of a tin-pot club mentality on us, the kind we used to laugh at when we were winning every week.

There is talent in this squad, and Akintunde won't be with us for long, he's looked like an absolute gem of a number 9 so far this season, one of the only players who seems to be able to beat his man with ease and have the time to look up for the pass. That'll be a real asset if every now and then the full-backs have the freedom to push up a little more. You see, at least I tried to end with some positivity!

The biggest question those highlights leave me with is what is that awful music Hartlepool come out to? Sounds like some crap Knopfler did that wasn't accepted by the producers of "Auf Weidersen Pet". Shocking stuff!

I think they need Mancot Blue to get down there with his "Best of 90's dance" including "Sunshine after the Rain", "Im Blue" and "Scatman".