Another hard fought win | Vital Football

Another hard fought win

A

Alfalf2

Vital Reserves Team
Another tough game against the Gas with Pools scraping the win. Well done to all concerned. Sterry has his first goal for Pools, lets hope its the first of many cos our forwards aint doing it. Fifth top of the table, so far so good.
 
Fourth top, I think? And no-one in the league has more wins than we do. So, very well done.

PS Haven't checked to see if other teams' forwards are 'doing it' or whether they're having to make do with goals from mid-field like us.
 
It was a tough game, though we should have scored more than the one goal in the second half. The Gas didn't really trouble Killip in the Pools goal, relying mainly on balls swung in from deadball situations.
I thought all the players did well, though one or two (Fela, Mols, Grey) are short of match sharpness.

Next two away matches need to result in points on the board.
 
grabeca said:
Fourth top, I think? And no-one in the league has more wins than we do. So, very well done.

PS Haven't checked to see if other teams' forwards are 'doing it' or whether they're having to make do with goals from mid-field like us.
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My mistake, we are fourth in the table. Forest Green have five wins to our four.
 
The top scorers in League 2 are all forwards. Mathew Stevens and Luke Armstrong both have five goals. Jamie Proctor, Harry Smith and Andy Cook are on 4 goals
a piece. Interesting, Stevens, Armstrong and Smith all play for teams above Pools in the table. Just think where we could be if we had a decent centre forward like Luke Armstrong.
 
Old Poolie said:
It was a tough game, though we should have scored more than the one goal in the second half. The Gas didn't really trouble Killip in the Pools goal, relying mainly on balls swung in from deadball situations.
I thought all the players did well, though one or two (Fela, Mols, Grey) are short of match sharpness.

Next two away matches need to result in points on the board.
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Yep, superb home form but we need to start picking up away points. Away at Sutton will be one heck of a challenge. I see Richie Bennett scored two for them today and they got a win so they will be confident of turning us over on Tuesday. A draw would be a great result in my opinion.
 
Alfalf2 said:
My mistake, we are fourth in the table. Forest Green have five wins to our four.
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Pools have scored a total 8 goals so far and the three teams above Pools have all scored significantly more (14, 13, 13) The two teams below Pools have also scored more goals (11 and 10). So, Grabeca, I think that one needs a decent forward player or two in order to be successful as we found last season.
 
If two teams have scored more goals than us and yet are below us the league, this rather undermines your point, Alfalfa. Perhaps goals scored by the opposing teams also needs to be taken into account, when analysing wins? Which in turn means that the entire team is instrumental in success, and not only forwards?

Personally I'm more than happy that our newly-promoted team is holding its own.
 
Goals win games, which is why proven goalscorers attract a premium. Unfortunately, Pools can't afford to pay a premium for a proven goalscorer !
Nevertheless Pools are doing, very, well at present and long may it continue.
 
We seem to have this discussion every season.

Pools currently have the joint lowest goals for of the teams in promotion/playoff places. But we also have the fewest against. It's results that count. Last season was similar at the start but DC brought in loanees that could score and we got promoted. No reason why that shouldn't happen again but I'm not that optimistic. We are already doing far better than I expected. Long may it continue.
 
Personally I'm delighted with how Pools are currently coping in League 2, far better than I had envisaged.

If I do have a criticism it is that we, still, don't look threatening at free kicks or corners.
 
Old Poolie said:
Goals win games, which is why proven goalscorers attract a premium. Unfortunately, Pools can't afford to pay a premium for a proven goalscorer !
Nevertheless Pools are doing, very, well at present and long may it continue.
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Yes, like everyone else I am delighted Pools are doing well. Although we cannot pay the transfer fee of a proven goal scorer, we allowed the player who is now joint top scorer in League 2 to leave. He'd just sat atop of the promotion celebration bus and must have sensed the positivity at the club with a superb manager and magnificent support. We signed loads of defenders and midfielders but only Cullen and Fela to score goals.
 
Block Sands said:
We seem to have this discussion every season.

Pools currently have the joint lowest goals for of the teams in promotion/playoff places. But we also have the fewest against. It's results that count. Last season was similar at the start but DC brought in loanees that could score and we got promoted. No reason why that shouldn't happen again but I'm not that optimistic. We are already doing far better than I expected. Long may it continue.
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In the National League you can sign players at almost any time but in the FL as you know, their are transfer windows only. If things were to go off the rails we would have to wait till January to sign anyone from another club.
 
grabeca said:
If two teams have scored more goals than us and yet are below us the league, this rather undermines your point, Alfalfa. Perhaps goals scored by the opposing teams also needs to be taken into account, when analysing wins? Which in turn means that the entire team is instrumental in success, and not only forwards?

Personally I'm more than happy that our newly-promoted team is holding its own.
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In one of your posts above you were rather dismissive of the need to have forwards who scored goals wondering if other teams were doing well while relying on goals from midfield. My post was to clarify that in the majority of cases the most effective teams mostly employ goal scoring forwards. Obviously being able to defend is important but 46 nil nils will get you relegated. I am delighted with what Pools have achieved thus far but looking at the bigger picture I am wondering if the current run of good results can be maintained over time without a player like Luke Armstrong or Rhys Oates. I say this particularly in the light Burey's ten week injury absence.
 
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I sympathise with your view Alf2 regarding the need for a consistent goalscorer who'll score 20 goals in a season, but such players are few and far between and are expensive in terms of signing on fees and wages, let alone transfer fees! No doubt this was the motivation for Armstrong and Oates moving on to pastures new?
Pools have rarely had such a player, and if they have developed a player with these qualities they've soon been sold to a "bigger" club.
Pools can still bring in "free agents" and if they could identify someone of similar quality to "Gordon Watson " who knows what they might bring to the team?

Also, with only 6 League games played to date, there's plenty of time for Fela and Cullen to prove their worth.
 
Yes I suppose there may be a Gordon Watson out there without a club but realistically, it is highly unlikely. Most "free agents" are free for a reason at this stage of the season. Dont get me wrong, I am not moaning, I am thrilled to bits with the way things are going so far but I just worry that because we dont have a decent (match fit) forward on our books, things could start to turn sour. After all, as things stand we have not played any of the form teams in League as yet. It will be interesting how things pan out when we play Orient, Harrogate or Forest Green away from home. I dont mean to bang on about this but it is galling that we had Luke Armstrong, current joint top scorer in League 2 and we let him go! It is not as if he has joined "a big club" either, Harrogate struggle to get 2,000 punters through their turn styles. Fingers crossed that Fela or Cullen do a Rhys Oates and start scoring goals for fun as the season progresses.
 
Alfalf2 said:
I dont mean to bang on about this but it is galling that we had Luke Armstrong, current joint top scorer in League 2 and we let him go!
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But you are banging on about it Alf. You keep saying we had Luke and we let him go when we didn't have him in the first place. Luke spent time with Pools on loan. At the end of that arrangement he was a free agent and could do what he liked. He chose not to stay with us for reasons unknown. End of !
 
Alf bangs on so that we don't have to. It's his social conscience wot does it!

But, two things. One is : what is the point of looking for negatives when we're doing so well? Can't we just relax and enjoy it? Second, in many of the past times when the team really excelled, we rarely featured in the league 'top goal scorer' list. That was because the team scored goals from across the park...Tinks, Humphreys, Strachan, Clark ......
 
I am entitled to state my opinion on this site, just as you are. I am not being negative simply wishing for Pools to be the best they can be. Amused but slightly surprised by your laissez faire attitude, sarcastically musing whether or not other teams were doing well relying on goals from midfield as though that is perfectly reasonable and just as good as teams who actually had capable forwards on their books. You seem ruffled when I gave evidence that supports the idea that every football fan understands, namely that successful teams need decent forward players. Armstrong was indeed a free agent but had roots in the North East and had been part of a successful team so why would he leave if offered a decent contract? He is gone, we are struggling to score goals and now Burey is injured. As for Pools goal scorers: Joe Allon, Paul Baker, Richie Barker, Gordon Watson. I dont say we need top scorers but we need forwards who can contribute to the team.
 
I think we are getting several issues confused:

Are we all allowed to express our opinions? Yes and I don't think anyone is saying otherwise.
Would it be good if Pools had a goal scoring forward? Yes of course it would.
Can a team prosper without such a goal scorer? Yes we've done it in the past. I remember we all forecast doom and gloom when Adam Boyd left but didn't we actually do better without him (recollections may vary).
Are Pools doing OK? Yes they are doing well so far - far better than I for one expected.
Was HUFC management negligent in not signing Luke Armstrong? We don't know and never will.
 
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