Hi everyone and welcome back to the north of England and to Hartlepool United. The summer’s transfers have arrived and have settled in nicely and are ready to go for the start of another new season. One which will hopefully bring some silverware to Hartlepool. Today’s post will go through from the start of the season up until the last game in November and hopefully we can make a successful start to the season.
August Results
The season started off with four games in the first month with two of these games being our first ever venture in Europe and hopefully it will be the platform for me to qualify for the group stages. The league season started off with a disappointing 1-1 draw against Birmingham City. Ryan Babel had the honour of scoring the first goal of the season but a defensive error and not closing down the opposition quick enough led to the share of the points. Jablonec of the Czech Republic were going to be the first ever team Hartlepool would face in Europe and in front of a home crowd they also got there first ever win. The goal came from the penalty spot and from the right foot of N’Diaye. What followed was a superb win against Liverpool and a debut goal for Jonjo Shelvey and this was also a club against his most recent employees. The final game of the month lead to the progression into the group stages of the Europa League. It came with an easy 3-1 win in the Czech Republic with goals coming from Shelvey, N’Diaye and Babel.
September Results
September didn’t start in the best of ways with a 1-0 defeat against Blackburn. I had not had a brilliant start to the season but I shouldn’t panic as I am only three games in. Emmanuel Adebayor was the saviour in our first group match in the Europa League scoring in the final ten minutes of the game. Liverpool got their revenge for the league defeat in the previous month by knocking us out in the League Cup which was such a disappointment as I felt that this should be the year where we finally put some trophies in the cabinet and we were already lost the chance in one of those fronts. The final game of the month saw only our second win so far this season and it was a game that was just about won in the first 10/15 minutes as West Ham had a player sent off and we were 2-0 up before some fans had even arrived into the ground.
October Results
A busier October brought 2 league wins and 1 win in the Europa League. We started off the month with a point against NEC of Holland and if we were going to qualify for the knockout stages we would need to get a win against Brondby. We were back in league action and it brought us a win with a closely fought 1-0 victory over Fulham with Kadlec (his first goal for the blue and white stripes) getting the vital goal. This was then followed by a runaway victory from Arsenal but the 3-0 scoreline flattered the visitor the reason why they had won was because they were able to take their chances. We got the much needed win against Brondby and after finding his first goal for Hartlepool Kadlec quickly brought up his second with a superb strike from the edge of the box. The final game of the month saw a dogged performance against arguably the best side in the league and we were able to hold the superstars of Manchester City to a 0-0 draw. This was the first time Man City had failed to score a league goal in 18 games.
November Results
November saw a good run of form which lead to just three dropped points in 5 games. We dispatched local rivals Sunderland 4-1 in a tasty derby. We were able to repeat the same scoreline in the next game against Brondby with Vaclav Kadlec scoring the perfect hat-trick. Kadlec scored again with a little help from N’Diaye to set up a 2-0 win over the Villains of Aston Villa. We then easily overcome what could have been a tricky game against newly promoted side Burley with another 2-0 win with another goal coming from Vaclav Kadlec. Then came the dropped points against Everton who had simply outplayed us in the second half and second three second half goals in quick succession. The final game of the month saw a 2-1 win over Wolves with new strike partnership of Kadlec and Campbell. This seems to be the one that I am going to stick with as my main partnership as since I have placed these two together they have both scored goals and the performance of the team is overall better.
Peformance Part 1
v Sunderland
Table
A decent start to the season and once the players really start to gel which there are sign already we could make a good push for the Champions League places this season. The games in hand I have are crucial and I must have a good winter in order to keep this dream alive this season. Looking forward to reading the comment below.
Thanks for reading
Warren
Darren Smith
8 марта, 2011 at 19:08
Hey Warren, glad to see one of my favourite players in Kadlec doing so well. It will be a tough season with extra fixtures from the Europa League. But I think you’ll at least match last seasons finish of 5th…getting a Champions League spot would be incredible. Looking forward to your next post :)
warren
9 марта, 2011 at 16:04
Hi Darren
Im pleased that Kadlec has started off his Hartlepool career off well and my sure he will get even better once the season progresses. I agree with what yu think my targets are this season and my sure that it can be achieved.
Laxeyman
8 марта, 2011 at 21:02
Good start Warren, 7th is a good place to be at this stage of the season, and with your games in hand you can climb higher than that. You should be able to challenge for a Champions League place, especially if Kadlec can keep scoring. Good luck!
warren
9 марта, 2011 at 16:06
Its not the best of start but its early on in the season and there is plenty of time to get up the table. I hope that I can at least challenge for a Champions League place but it will mean performing to a high standard week in week out.
kevin
8 марта, 2011 at 21:27
Hi Warren
Not a bad start at all and you seem to be doing very well in Europe too. Well done!!
warren
9 марта, 2011 at 16:09
Thanks Kevin
I am pleased with the start but I am hoping that it does get better soon.
Johnny Karp
9 марта, 2011 at 09:38
Good job Warren, you got off to a good start and I am glad to see that Torje is doing a good job for you on the right flank. Best of luck, make us proud in Europe!
warren
9 марта, 2011 at 16:12
Hi Johnny
Torje is doing a fantastic job out on the wing as is Babel which is giving me much more balance and width going forward. The target is to at least get to the knockout stages but it all depends on the kindness of the draw if we do get there.
Josh Allen
9 марта, 2011 at 09:52
A very solid start, and a good foundation on which to build on Warren. Good luck in the season, and hopefully you’ll be able to push on in Europe
Josh
everythingthatisfm.blogspot.com
warren
9 марта, 2011 at 16:14
Hi Josh
I is quite tight at the top so if I get a good run going then Im sure to build on the start we have made. I also hope that we are able to pick up a trophy along the way.
Lye
9 марта, 2011 at 10:01
Hey Warren,
This time you are keeping close and keeping tight at the top. You should be challenging for a Champions League place if you can keep up the performance. Good luck.
warren
9 марта, 2011 at 16:15
Hey Lye
If I can get a good set of results like in November I could make a good challenge for the Champions League place and if the players perform to the standards I know they can play to then this sould be the seasons target.
Sears
9 марта, 2011 at 14:08
That was an extremely promising start Warren. I’m optimistic that you can challenge for a Champions League spot, and you seem to be doing excellent in Europe too.Good luck :-)
warren
9 марта, 2011 at 16:17
Thanks Sears
It was a good start and when my team fully blend then a push for the Champions League places is definately on the cards. I feel that its all going very well so far this season and hopefully I can continue this into the new year.
Ana Garcia
9 марта, 2011 at 16:53
Good start so far!
Challenging for the champions league is ambious but you seem to be equipping yourself very well so far, and you might have a chance.
A good start in Europe also, so good luck on the rest of the season! :)
warren
11 марта, 2011 at 12:13
Thanks Ana
It is ambitious but then what would be the point of being a manager if you dont dare to dream a little. I am pleased with the decent start we have made but Im hoping that it does get better.