In the 'Net
looks back on the season that was 1999/2000. Pool went from escaping
relegation by two points - to becoming a promotion chasing side
in the space of just over a year.
ITN follows the up and downs of Chris Turner's first full season
in the Pool hotseat.
To navigate the season review use the links at the bottom of every
page.
Conclusion
So glory was restricted to that fantastic day at Hull. A trip to
Wembley would have been well deserved for Chris Turner and his team, but
Darlington won the right to face Peterborough after coming out on top
over the two legs. The long trip South on a Friday night proved fruitless
for David Hodgson's side as they lost 1-0 to Posh with Andy Clarke scoring
the only goal of the game in the second half. Pool and Darlo will met
again next season after both failed to leave the bottom division.
Failure though is not a word which will be used at Victoria Park. Pool
were billed as pre-season relegation favorites and surprised many people
by consistantly being in the top seven for the majority of the season.
Chris Turner joined Pool when they were rock bottom, facing relegation
to the Conference, Turner took on what many in the world of football
would describe as one of the hardest jobs available. Turner's self belief
and positive attitute, although with some excellent signings saved Pool
from the dreaded drop. A season of consolidation was on the cards for
Pool, anything other than a relegation fight would have been acceptable.
A mid table finish the target. To reach to play off's far exceeded the
Pool fans dreams. Turner has introduced young fresh exciting talent to
the Pool books, installed a confidence into his players and perhaps even
more importantly increased the level of fitness of the squad noticably.
Pool's only failure has been finding a goalscorer. At the start of the
season Chris Freestone and Gary Jones looked a potent combination. But
they never hit it off. Jones alround game is excellent but he has not
registered enough goals. Freestone's work rate is much lower and he frequently
looked uninterested in the task in hand. Both Pool's top striker have
spent time out on loan this season, that fact alone display's the lack
of form from Turner's frontmen.
Kevin Henderson has progressed well and possibly became Pool's number
one striker. However injuries have restricted his chances and he will be
looking to get a clear run in the team next season. The major plus point
for Pool has been the form of Tommy Miller. The creative midfield man
has scored sixteen goals in a brilliant season which has seen interest
from several top clubs. Pool turned down bids of £500,000 for Tommy,
but whether they can keep hold of him over the summer is another matter.
Miller was named in the third division PFA team of the year. The form
of Graeme Lee has also been a massive plus point. Lee was named as one
of the best defenders in the third division by Opta and regular made the
Opta team of the week. His transformation from central defender to striker
means he now has another string to his bow and will also eventually move
onto to great things.
Paul Stephenson was voted the fans Player of the Year after an amazing
turn around from the previous season. Out on the wing Stevo had showed
little of his ability and was dogged by injuries. Turner promoted Stephenson
to a central midfield role and after early teething troubles he settled
into his role and began to impose himself on the play. Stevo has become
a fan favourite with his trickery and ability to setup goals and cause
problems from free kicks. A worthy winner after a great season. Chris
Westwood has completed a similar transformation. Turner brought the ex
Wolves man to Pool from Telford towards the end of last season. Then Westwood
looked out of his depth and uncomfortable. After a full pre-season under
his belt Westwood now looks the complete defender, cool in the tackle
and confident with the ball. Another Turner success story.
The form of Micky Barron has been as expected utterly consistent. Pool's
captain has as ever lead by example and showed total commitment to the
cause, together with the experienced Strodder and up and coming pairing
of Lee and Westwood, Pool have had one of the best central defensive units
in the third division. At right wing back Darren Knowles has continued
his progress by adding a greater attacking presence to his game. Knowles
comes under some criticism at times, but is missed when he's not available.
110% commitment is always appreciated. On the other side many fans expected
Sam Shilton to make the left wing back position his own. Ian Clark had
other ideas though. After turning down a move to Orient early in the season,
Clark has been superb for Pool in the second half of the campaign. Again
Clark comes in for criticism but he is another who plays with his heart
on his sleeve. What he lacks in defensive ability he makes up with in
attack. Mazy runs are becoming a Clark speciality and the ginger one remains
a firm ITN favourite.
Martin Hollund has had another eventful season. The Norwegian started
the season as second choice, but soon won back his place from Andy Dibble,
after a poor spell around Christmas Hollund regained confidence and form
as Pool lined up a crack at the play off's. With Dibble being released
Hollund will have new competition for his number one jersey next season,
a factor which can only be good for Pool. Andy McAvoy, Lee Fitpatrick,
Sam Shilton, Paul Arnison, Adam Boyd all have time over the summer to
make sure that by the time season 2000/01 comes around they are ready
to take a place in the Pool line up. Chris Turner will no doubt be dipping
into the transfer market to add to his squad, so competition for places
will be even stronger next season. Turner has one main objective for the
summer months, find Pool a goalscorer. All Pool have missed for the entire
season has been a top quality striker. With a 20 goal man upfront Pool
could have been challenging the top three this season. Whilst every team
is looking for goals, Turner has to find the man if Pool are to better
this season.
Chris Turner was quoted on the Hartlepool United official website as saying
:-
"This past season has had its usual ups and downs like every season.
The start to the season with three consecutive home defeats was not something
we anticipated but as you all must agree our home form since those defeats
has improved somewhat.
The indifferent start meant that for most of the season we have had to
play catch up on the leading teams. Having said that so did Northampton,
who have had a superb season considering they changed manager only a third
into the season. At one stage we were 18 points behind our rivals Darlington.
To finish just 7 points behind them, when they had been in automatic positions
for most of the time shows how much we have improved over the season.
In the two play-off games with Darlington looking at the two teams there
was not a lot of difference. The edge that they had over us is that their
forwards are more consistent in front of goal, although their top scorer
could only manage to score past us from a dubious penalty decision in
four games this season.
Both games were tight. In the first one we had Knowles, Strodder and Henderson
missing from the Hull performance. Changes were made and it upset our
rhythm, but just after half-time we forced Darlington back for the first
25 minutes where we should have scored at least a couple of goals. This
period was the most crucial in the tie and our failure to score proved
to be our downfall.
In the second leg, like the first, we saw another poor refereeing display.
How Chris Freestone's goal was ruled out I still cannot work out. The
game itself fizzled out really when Darlington scored, but I was pleased
the way the players reacted. They didn't let their heads drop and kept
going to put in a reasonable performance on an atrocious pitch. Obviously
not beating Darlington is a disappointment but looking at the full picture
we now have a squad of players that are more disciplined, fitter and ambitious
than when I arrived.
Success cannot be guaranteed but I feel very optimistic for next season.
There is now a solid base to build on, and I will be bringing in some
new faces for the start of pre-season. The one thing we should not do
is sit back and wait for things to happen because they won't. We need
to strengthen in certain areas so that we can improve on our away results."
In
the 'Net thanks Chris Turner and his staff for a great season, being up
near the top is much better than being down at the bottom.
Yours forever Blue,
In the 'Net.
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