Hartlepool scorethread sponsored by hope the lights work

[YellaFella 75]

UTS, daft sod

[Dan]

My pics from tonight if you want a look: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?van ... 9757294104

[Costastag]

It was a poor result against a poor team ,but we played some great football for the best part of it,mistakes were punished but we need to move on .I think swan has to start tonight ,but who do you drop to fit him in ?certainly not lapslie

[Billy the fish]

If we aren't dominant in the middle of the park, home or away we are struggling! We have no pace up front or in defence and the better teams will exploit that!...defo 2 points dropped tonight, 1 of the poorest teams I've seen at league 2 level for a while

Been saying the same thing all season if teams set up like vale did at Wembley against us we will struggle . We played some really good football last night against a very poor side I lost count of how many balls into the box Gordon put in but again all that possession and only coming away with a point is utterly disappointing. When Curle made those subs you knew he was going to throw the kitchen sink at it and we just couldn’t cope against the bottom of the league you just can’t defend like that and expect to get promoted.

[Chrisuknottm]

It was a poor result against a poor team ,but we played some great football for the best part of it,mistakes were punished but we need to move on .I think swan has to start tonight ,but who do you drop to fit him in ?certainly not lapslie

How about Useless Akins??

[lifestags]

2 massive individual errors from a young rash centre half cost us the win, it’s a simple as that. Clough waited too long to make subs though and Lapslie should of scored when he hit the keeper in the face.

[stagmanrob]

Hartlepool were terrible.

Saying that though, Crewe weren't much better on Saturday and we almost threw that one away were it not for some late heroics.

It will be interesting to see how we cope against better footballing sides - will they pull us to shreds? Or will it suit us playing against sides who would be more likely to be open rather than sticking bodies behind the ball?

[julianshatnasty]

Whilst not a fan of the formation, I can't agree that he got it wrong. We were 2 up after an hour which shows that. The final score wasn't a result of the tactics, just the errors.

[adamstag]

Sadly a tale of individual mistakes and dreadful tactics.

At 2-0 we were cruising against what was, with respect a terrible side, just such a shame the amount of possession we had wasn’t converted and i think the vast majority were very surprised to see only akins start, ajd was isolated by himself frequently with no help at all. Had we started with swan i dare say we’d have been out of sight so the individual errors wouldn’t have played the role they did.

The errors made for the 2 goals are horrendous. Hopefully we learn from it and go again.

Playing 1 uptop against carlisle didn’t work, and it didn’t work last night - great away tactics but doesn’t work at home.

[stag324]

Where my crust comes from is the fact we can all see with a proven centre forward and strong centre back we would be top of the league.

Our midfield is superb but every week it is a case of missed chances and mistakes at the back.

We will make the play offs but not much else.

We’ve haven’t learnt from last season

[S7AGS]

I don’t think the manager can be blamed for our players assuming at 2-0 it was done and dusted, the complacency was embarrassing.

Yeah agree with the complacency. But that is the management's fault. The 1 up top who didn't do anything also a bad decision.

I don't mind doing stick with a winning team. But the team that won at crewe weren't the team that started at crewe. So by that logic he should have started with the team that won at crewe not started at crewe, where we were equally as poor infront of goal and didn't make it count.

But it’s not a one up top really is it. Lapslie and Akins pretty much play on the same line.

give over.

Lapslie is playing as 1 of 2 forwards.

There was nothing wrong the tactics or starting 11 tonight for me. We were miles better than them in every aspect for 60 minutes up until individual errors changed the game and the way we just let our performance go to pot after the first rather than just keeping calm against a side we were far better than was concerning.

I keep reading same comments about tactics being right…. No lol, yes we were miles better but the ‘tactics’ were to not have a striker up front, yes we scored 2 (midfielder and defender) but missed about 4 easy chances a striker would have bagged… then tactically we let Curle make 4 changes a good 15 20 mins before we changed anyone…then when the changes came they were too late and taking off lapslie and Gordon just made no sense to anyone and cost us the game.

We average about 10 corners a game and usually notch up over 10 shots a game home and away… it’s glaringly obvious we need a striker on the pitch. Winds me up how simple it seems…. I don’t but the need Akins in the side to hold the ball up stuff either, he had a couple of good games (in about 30) and everyone falling over themselves to praise him, he’s done zero in the last 2 games, we were lucky to get the 3 points on Sat if we’re honest, could have had the game win with a striker starting… then it’s cost us 2 points last night.

[five to three]

Even if Akins has a good game he is not a natural goalscorer. It's like five at the back and five in midfield. Swan starts a game, plays brilliantly and doesn't start again!

[AJStag]

Pym set the tone trying to be clever with the ball at his feet, compounded by Hawkins with an awful cross field pass and then Harbottle with a back pass without looking. Thereafter we were never quite "at it" so to speak.Harbottle with the fatal errors but more senior and experienced team members culpable too. Nigel,understandably ,not a happy bunny during and after the game!

[gazza1988]

Fact is Curle made 2 subs at half time which gave them a foothold in the game. Then swaps a midfielder for a striker (earlier in the thread I mistakenly said defender for a striker) and within a minute that forward scored. That should have set alarm bells ringing and we should have made subs to regain that foothold on the game. We didnt. We left it for 21 minutes, their goal scored on 62 our first subs on 83. One of those was to put Bowery at RWB. So we are already under pressure (they were poor but got in some good situations) but decide to throw fresh legs on with 7 mins to go. Then we chucked more fresh legs on just 3 minutes later.

Curle then mad a swap on 89 and in the same minute after the sub gets a goal. we make a sub with 4 minutes of added time left. We make subs far too late in a game for me. Especially when the starting XI wasn't quite working as well on the evening.

[BH_Stag]

S7AGS - So we were miles better than them but the tactics from the start were wrong - strange one.

Akins was always going to play last night. He is seen as a focal point and a target to hit. His hold up play last night was generally absolutely fine but whenever he has a bad touch he’s hammered for it (show me a target man in league 2 that has a perfect touch on every occasion?). He’s not a 20 goal striker and is guilty of missing some chances (like every striker at the club has this season by the way) which is why he has another player with him up top. That was a toss up between Lapslie or Swan and Lapslie got the nod.

Lapslies output in that area since being played there has been good, scored goals, made assists, won penalties. If he was signed as a striker everyone would be raving about what a good striker he is! We put a ridiculous amount of crosses in the box which is what Lapslie thrives on getting on the end of. The first half was frustrating that we didn’t score but in the end it paid off and Lapslie scored from a cross.

I assume the popular choice would be to see Swan and Lapslie up top. Might work a dream, maybe Clough thinks it could be a bit lightweight?

I agree to an extent that Curles roll of the dice helped to change the game and we buckled but it was largely of our own doing! If we don’t give away that gift I have no doubts we’d have won 3 or 4-0. It was no masterclass by Curle, he just had to change something as they were 2-0 down. It was the goal more than anything that lifted them and it wasn’t through any good work of their own. No problem with questioning our subs either. I just don’t particularly subscribe to the idea that the tactics were wrong to start with.

[yorkshire stag]

i stand corrected, who needs a quality CB anyway !

[cassellswasmagic]

On reflection this has nothing to do with Hartlepool coming at us near the end of anything really to do with tactics or skill (I do still question Akins hold up play) but it’s a mental issue with this team. Forget that these are league two players, it’s a non argument…we simply go to sleep far to often in games that could push us into a good position. We should be top 3 this morning. At 2-0 we took our foot off the gas a yet again…the keeper has poor distribution, the defence started passing backwards again and the young lad shouldn’t be passing backwards in that position when it’s easier to pass it forward. Our composure just evaporates at times. I think Harbottle will be dropped unfortunately because a) he deserves to be for the mistakes and b) it will give him time to have a few games to get his mind right again. I think he’s been superb but maybe he just needs a rest of one or two games. Clough alludes to this on a Nottingham Forest YouTube clip. These could be two huge points blown at the end of the season.

[Sandy Pate Best Stag]

For me we played well for the majority of the game and the tactics were correct. The flaw was that our personnel at the back are too slow as a unit. When a mistake is made (as it always will be) the others simply aren’t quick enough to cover effectively.

If we are honest, similar situations have arisen in other games (particularly Carlisle) and we’ve got away with it. The problem is that other teams will analyse that and look to exploit the same situations.

I don’t blame Nigel or particularly individual players for what happened last night as it was beyond Nigel’s control and the players were simply doing their best. I put it down to failing to recruit the right man in a vital position.

One last thing. People are blaming young Riley Harbottle but don’t forget that he is an inexperienced player learning his trade. He is naturally right footed but is played consistently on the left meaning that the whole balance of his body has to do what doesn’t come naturally to him. Give him a break.

[MTFCMusings]

I honestly don’t know what game some people were watching. Akins isolated? One up top? Hartlepool threw the kitchen sink at us? None of those things happened in the game.

Again we’ve given goals away whilst limiting the opposition to very few chances, whilst creating plenty of chances ourselves and squandering them. Akins, McLaughlin, Lapslie, Clarke were all guilty of wasting good chances.

[NEStag]

Very disappointed but I'm making myself feel better by reflecting that at 1 0 down with 5 to go at Crewe we'd have snatched your hand off for 4 points from these two games. We could easily have lost that Crewe game and won this and ended up with fewer points. (I know we still let a 2 0 lead slip).

[adamstag]

Moving away from the result but once again what a great crowd for a friday night!

Even 2/3 years ago it would have been unheard of to get these crowds.

slowly but surely moving in the right direction.

[S7AGS]

S7AGS - So we were miles better than them but the tactics from the start were wrong - strange one.

Akins was always going to play last night. He is seen as a focal point and a target to hit. His hold up play last night was generally absolutely fine but whenever he has a bad touch he’s hammered for it (show me a target man in league 2 that has a perfect touch on every occasion?). He’s not a 20 goal striker and is guilty of missing some chances (like every striker at the club has this season by the way) which is why he has another player with him up top. That was a toss up between Lapslie or Swan and Lapslie got the nod.

Lapslies output in that area since being played there has been good, scored goals, made assists, won penalties. If he was signed as a striker everyone would be raving about what a good striker he is! We put a ridiculous amount of crosses in the box which is what Lapslie thrives on getting on the end of. The first half was frustrating that we didn’t score but in the end it paid off and Lapslie scored from a cross.

I assume the popular choice would be to see Swan and Lapslie up top. Might work a dream, maybe Clough thinks it could be a bit lightweight?

I agree to an extent that Curles roll of the dice helped to change the game and we buckled but it was largely of our own doing! If we don’t give away that gift I have no doubts we’d have won 3 or 4-0. It was no masterclass by Curle, he just had to change something as they were 2-0 down. It was the goal more than anything that lifted them and it wasn’t through any good work of their own. No problem with questioning our subs either. I just don’t particularly subscribe to the idea that the tactics were wrong to start with.

Miles better yes that was obvious but the tactics were still wrong, we were at home v bottom of league, we have a brilliant home record, we set up like we were playing a top 3 side away… Swan deserved a start after rescuing us on Sat and would in my opinion have had a field day against them in the first half with how we played.

And yes, I would love to see Swan and Lapslie together up front, I reckon teams would really struggle with their pace and energy. Just my opinion, if Akins truly held it up well every game (he doesn’t as his touch let’s him down) then he’d be worth a place

[Stoney]

Very disappointed but I'm making myself feel better by reflecting that at 1 0 down with 5 to go at Crewe we'd have snatched your hand off for 4 points from these two games. We could easily have lost that Crewe game and won this and ended up with fewer points. (I know we still let a 2 0 lead slip).

Exactly what I said walking down Quarry Lane last night. I don't understand the meltdown.

Yes it's disappointing but I took lots of positives from last night. People need to chill out.

Akins is getting some right undeserved stick in this thread. I'm clearly on my own here but I thought he had a really good game.

[adamstag]

Very disappointed but I'm making myself feel better by reflecting that at 1 0 down with 5 to go at Crewe we'd have snatched your hand off for 4 points from these two games. We could easily have lost that Crewe game and won this and ended up with fewer points. (I know we still let a 2 0 lead slip).

Exactly what I said walking down Quarry Lane last night. I don't understand the meltdown.

Yes it's disappointing but I took lots of positives from last night. People need to chill out.

Akins is getting some right undeserved stick in this thread. I'm clearly on my own here but I thought he had a really good game.

You’re right, he did play pretty well.

Folk seem to be missing the issue was that he had little or no support throughout the game which at home to bottom of the league was criminal.

[Rob]

Moving away from the result but once again what a great crowd for a friday night!

Even 2/3 years ago it would have been unheard of to get these crowds.

slowly but surely moving in the right direction.

2/3 years ago we gave out proper attendance figures It would be nice to know what the actual attendance was last night, it 100% wasn't 6,800