Jonathon Woodgate in the Echo:
“Spike did a good job there. He was brought in there to keep them in that league and he did that. He had to go in there and do that job....
“In football, first managerial job for Spike and he’s given five months? One transfer window? What are you supposed to do? I think it’s a ridiculous decision in my view.
“He’s signed a two-and-a-half year contract. Why get rid of him so quick? Give him a chance, he needs time but these owners have pressure on themselves and I didn’t really understand what pressures were on Hartlepool this season other than staying in the league. Then they can rebuild."
Hmm. Yes and no. It wasn't really down to only Graeme Lee that we stayed up. We were doing fair enough under Antony Sweeney. But it's obviously true that Spike had had no chance to build his own team. The owner seems to have been influenced mainly by the recent run of results, when in fact they are just one aspect of the equation. You don't write history until the end of the war. You wait and look at things long term. Well, I would, anyway.