retired_confal2

Gripping. I really like the 'reminiscing' approach, and the writing is impeccable :thup:

mrsevans7177

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Cheers, it's really strange how a few of us have found it so much easier than a lot of others with the same squad(s) <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Maybe because some of us are **** managers

Another couple of good results there Most people seem to be having difficulty getting the next job though, lets hope you dont :thup:

Mike..

Cheers guys, and OMDave - if you like the style, and you can look beyond football, I'd heartily recommend reading some of Stephen E Ambrose's WWII books (Band of Brothers, Citizen Soldiers, D-Day etc) - there's just something magical about the way he mixes facts and history with the retrosepctive narrative from those who were there

Mike..

March started off with probably the most important game of the late season for Hartlepool, a home tie against Sheffield Wednesday, their nearest challengers. Wednesday had, in fact, taken the top spot thanks to the fact that they’d played out their game in hand earlier in the month. Adam Boyd had found the goals drying up once more, whilst his strike partners were enjoying something of a purple patch.

“Randy kept faith in me and kept playing me, but I was struggling with my consistency and the Wednesday game was a perfect example, we dominated the match, we created most of the chances, but I don’t think I had a single shot in the hour that I played. That’s how life as a striker can be, you’d be feeling terrible because you hadn’t scored in ages, but you were on the winning side and you knew that the latter was more important. Joe (Joel Porter) had knocked in six in his last five games and he did it again in the Wednesday game, to be fair it had only been a matter of time before I found myself back on the bench with Joe and Andy (Appleby) starting up front – but I got a bit of a reprieve because Andy took a knock in training. I had to be pleased for Joe though, don’t forget that he’d been on the transfer list when Randy arrived, and now he was looking like putting together a twenty goal season”

March offered some relief on the fixture front too, after the constant pressure of the previous months Wakeman found that he had a whole week to prepare his side between games, and after a close-run defeat at Brentford Hartlepool bounced back with a good win over Stockport and a disappointing draw against MK Dons.

The first sale of the Wakeman era saw Hugh Robertson leave Victoria Park for Gillingham in a move that at least gave the manager nominal transfer funds to work with. A reporter from a local paper immediately contacted the club to ask who the manager would be looking to sign, Wakeman’s response? He faxed a copy of the league table to the young hack. Although they’d slipped to a point behind Sheffield Wednesday things were looking better and better for Hartlepool, with six games of the season remaining their cushion over third place was nine points.

Mike..

The start of the run-in didn’t get of entirely according to plan, Mark Tinkler recalls that Wakeman had set a very definite strategy for the last six games of the season, “The boss had looked at the table, and our fixtures, and identified the trip to Tranmere as a game that we needed to win. Unfortunately we couldn’t quite manage it, in fact it ended goalless – as did the trip to Torquay. We got lucky though, Bristol City were in third and they went one worse than us, drawing with (Port) Vale at home and then getting thumped 6-1 at Bradford”

“We were looking good in the table but the problem was that we only had one game left against struggling opposition, and that was away, and of course John Murray was still pleading with the gaffer to give half of the first team a rest”. Hartlepool’s fourth consecutive draw followed, conceding a one goal lead to Bournemouth at home, but luck stayed with them according to Tinkler, “when the Cherries held us we were sure that the gap was going to close, but Bristol could only manage a draw at Walsall and Hull went goalless against Luton. We were into the last three games, Wednesday had won, and guaranteed themselves promotion, and we were left needing just two points from the last three”

On April 23rd 2005 Hartlepool won promotion to the Championship, in the end their own result was irrelevant, Bristol City travelled to Huddersfield and were beaten by four goals to nil, having worked their way into third place they had proceeded to put together a run of two draws and two defeats. Meanwhile, on a wet and windy day in Chesterfield, Joel Porter and Adam Boyd were scoring the two goals which would send their hosts to the bottom of the table whilst guaranteeing promotion for the Victoria Road side.

Boyd had found his scoring touch again but was beginning to wonder if he needed to consider his future, “With Joe taking his tally to twenty-four, and Andy Appleby on twenty, it was pretty obvious who the first choice strikers were by the back end of the season. I couldn’t blame Randy for making me the backup but there was still a part of me, that spark of ego that every striker needs, that wanted to be in the limelight and I was starting to think that maybe I needed to be at a higher level, the fact was that promotion looked likely and – though I hate to admit it even now – I didn’t think that the squad was good enough. I felt that in a team that played more quality football I’d be able to show my best, I know some people found that strange but when I spoke to Randy he actually understood – his response was typical of the man, ‘Adam, you just bide your time young man, we’ll be big enough, soon enough’ he said when I had a quick one-to-one with him”

Mike..

Victory at home to Colchester, coupled with an away defeat for Sheffield Wednesday, set up the slimmest of chances for Hartlepool to lift the title on the last day of the season, Mark Tinkler remembers that Wakeman delivered something of a surprising team talk in the changing rooms that day, “I’m not going to lie about it, we were knackered by then, all but one of the loan deals had finished and we were about ready to enjoy our holidays. Randy came in and we couldn’t believe what we were hearing, he basically told us to go out and make it look like we were trying hard, but not to worry if we just couldn’t deliver. His philosophy was simple, whatever happened we were going to have a real scrap on our hands to stay in the Championship, as far as he was concerned it would serve us better to go up in second than as Champions, I sometimes wonder if he would have preferred to go up through the playoffs” he suggests with a wry smile. “I don’t know if it was reverse psychology or not, but the lads played their hearts out that day, Luton took the lead but Joel Porter pulled us back level before they swamped us. We ended up three-one down and the message we were getting from the fans was that Wednesday were walking it, even then Adam (Boyd) came off the bench and grabbed a goal to make it a grandstand finish, but we couldn’t sneak an equaliser”

Hull City would go on to join Sheffield Wednesday and Hartlepool in promotion, beating Bristol City in the playoff finals, and for Randy Wakeman III it was time to start rebuilding the squad for their journey into uncharted territory.

“It was a strange time for the players, especially for myself, after the talks I’d had with the gaffer I began to wonder if he would be looking to offload me” Adam Boyd speaks for many of the players who were with the club at the end of the season, “Here we were, heading for the Championship, and the first question that hit a lot of them was ‘will the boss think I’m good enough?’. It’s weird balancing that uncertainty against the euphoria of having won promotion, and against the feeling that I wanted to be in a better team. I certainly didn’t see Joe or Andy having any problems, between them they’d ended up on forty-seven goals, and I just hoped that the couple I bagged near the end of the season would be enough to keep me in as third man, and maybe get me some attention from scouts”

Unfortunately in writing this book I was unable to speak to Joel Porter, having retired to his native Australia in 2015, he lost his life to a heart attack at the age of 59. At the end of the promotion season he was interviewed in the local press though.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
TRANSFER LIST TO HOT LIST
Hartlepool’s striking sensation on a season to remember.

When Randy Wakeman III arrived at Victoria Road Joel Porter was on the transfer list, and seemingly on his way out of the club. Ten months and twenty-seven goals later the Australian hit-man is looking forward to life in the Championship.

“I’m not sure exactly why Neale Cooper felt that I was surplus to requirements, I never really had a straight answer, but I accept that at this level it may be that he was looking at the financial stability of the club. When Mr Wakeman came in he gave me a chance, initially he told me I’d be on the bench, and I just decided to make the most of it”

To say that Porter succeeded would be an understatement, and he’s now looking forward to whatever next season brings. “My contract is up for renewal at the moment and I’ve made it clear that I want to sign up, I’m in talks with the boss at the moment and I think we can find a point that suits us both. After this season I just want to see what I can do at the next level, and I’m sure that Mr Wakeman feels the same about his own career, it must feel great to have won promotion in his first season as a manager over here”
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Mike..

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Sheff Wed | | 46 | 26 | 10 | 10 | 80 | 38 | +42 | 88 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | P | Hartlepool | | 46 | 25 | 9 | 12 | 74 | 51 | +23 | 84 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | P | Hull | | 46 | 19 | 16 | 11 | 66 | 48 | +18 | 73 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Bristol C | | 46 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 75 | 59 | +16 | 73 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Oldham | | 46 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 58 | 53 | +5 | 73 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Colchester | | 46 | 17 | 20 | 9 | 72 | 53 | +19 | 71 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Tranmere | | 46 | 19 | 13 | 14 | 68 | 59 | +9 | 70 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Peterborough | | 46 | 19 | 12 | 15 | 68 | 70 | -2 | 69 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Luton | | 46 | 17 | 17 | 12 | 58 | 58 | 0 | 68 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Swindon | | 46 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 63 | 55 | +8 | 67 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Blackpool | | 46 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 72 | 57 | +15 | 65 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Bournemouth | | 46 | 17 | 11 | 18 | 60 | 67 | -7 | 62 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Doncaster | | 46 | 18 | 8 | 20 | 78 | 88 | -10 | 62 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Torquay | | 46 | 17 | 10 | 19 | 66 | 74 | -8 | 61 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Barnsley | | 46 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 41 | 39 | +2 | 59 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Stockport | | 46 | 16 | 11 | 19 | 55 | 62 | -7 | 59 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Huddersfield | | 46 | 16 | 10 | 20 | 49 | 54 | -5 | 58 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Port Vale | | 46 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 58 | 69 | -11 | 55 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Bradford City | | 46 | 15 | 9 | 22 | 67 | 73 | -6 | 54 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Walsall | | 46 | 12 | 13 | 21 | 52 | 69 | -17 | 49 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | R | Brentford | | 46 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 60 | 76 | -16 | 47 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | R | Wrexham | | 46 | 10 | 17 | 19 | 42 | 60 | -18 | 47 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 23rd | R | MK Dons | | 46 | 10 | 15 | 21 | 31 | 47 | -16 | 45 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 24th | R | Chesterfield | | 46 | 10 | 11 | 25 | 43 | 77 | -34 | 41 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Mike..

Writer’s Note: Challenge update

OK, this being a challenge story I’ll be keeping an eye on the overall picture at key points in proceedings, so here’s where we stand at the end of season one.

Stage one is over and done, Hartlepool promoted to the Championship as runners-up in League One.

Derby came close to a play-off spot in the Championship and the chances of a move there look slim at the moment, George Burley seems to be a popular fellow at Pride Park. Leeds is a different story, mid-table at the end of the season – they had undergone a real slump under Sam Allardyce and I confess to having declared my interest in the position the day after securing promotion with ‘Pool – only to have Gerald Krasner laugh off my comments in the press. I certainly fancy my chances of scoring an FA Cup win higher with Leeds than with Brighton who finished thirteenth, two places behind the Elland Road crowd.

Separating Leeds and Brighton were Notts Forest, it seems that many of the teams in the challenge are on a similar footing at the moment and that’s what leads me to believe that this is going to take a loooooong time, I don’t know about anyone else but on the basis of Bobbev’s idea I’m thinking that challenges should be set every two years

Oh, and what about England? Played six and won six in their World Cup qualifying group with Wales sitting in a strong second place at the moment.

It will be interesting to see how season two starts, with; Appleby, Boyd, and Provett all looking for moves to bigger clubs, and not a lot of cash to play with, I’m sure that at least one will be making a move. Whether I can build a team capable of mounting a serious survival bid is the big question, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find Randy Wakeman III letting his ambitions override his loyalty if a job at a more ‘established’ club came up. Who knows, I guess I’ll just have to keep reading……

retired_bbcarr

congratulations on promotion, flippers it'll be interesting to see where randy is in twelve months

retired_embartl

well done flippers Now just to hope for a better job to come up for Burley to go to...