Warren — FM 2011 Hartlepool United February 2010/11

Hi all and welcome back to yet another edition of this Hartlepool story we are now in February and hoping that we can make the most of the position we find ourselves in at this stage of the season. With five game in all this month it was time to get the ball rolling when we face Charlton on the first day of February.

V Charlton (a) 1^st February 2010

The first game of the month was a trip to the Valley to face Charlton Athletic and the return leg of when I got a 2-0 win over Charlton in September. Charlton were currently mid-table in 12^th and continuing the struggle in getting back to the Championship they were in a few seasons ago.

This game was a much closer affair than the first so much so that we ended up sharing the points. I was pleased that my players had responded well by going 1-0 down and were 2-1 up at half-time with Yeo and Brown on the scoresheet. We conceded a very sloppy second half goal which was a disappointment and it meant that the game finished in a 2-2 draw.

V Notts Co (h) 5^th February 2010

It was now time to face a Notts County side who were one of the few teams to beat me in the first half of the season and they were looking to repeat this feat at Victoria Park today.

An exciting game which I thought that we were going to get three points out this game but for the second game running we threw away three points to just one as we were 2-0 up at half time but ended up drawing 2-2 with two second half goals coming in the space of eight minutes. It’s yet another two points dropped.

V Dagenham & Redbridge (a) 12^th February 2010

We were now going to face a Dagenham and Redbridge side who were currently in 18^th position and I was hoping that there would be a repeat result of the time I last played Dag & Red in the league where I got a 1-0 win.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing at half time I was 3-0 down against a team that was just above the relegation places.  I was so angry with the players for such a terrible performance and I guess you could say they got the hairdryer treatment. I came out second half and was definitely the better side and managed to overturn the result and finish in a thrilling 3-3 draw. I had to thank Brown, Monkhouse and Vidal from the goals.

V Exeter (a) 19^th February 2010

With three draws in a row I needed a win and I was hoping that this game against Exeter would be the solution.

I had to wait till the second half but I got my win with three unanswered goals from Keenan a second in as many matches from Monkhouse and an own goal from Krysiak. It was a much needed and well deserved win.

V Walsall (h) 26^th February 2010

In the last game of the month I was facing Walsall and I wishing for another win to make the month slightly less of a disappointment.

We won in style in an 8 goal thriller with Hartlepool getting six past Walsall’s keeper. Javan Vidal scoring a brace was on the scoresheet as well as Donaldson for the first time since the 4-0 win against Sheff Wed back in December. Yeo, Liddle and Brown were the other scorers.

February Results

An undefeated month but this also included a total of three draws so I have to say that it was a poor month. It was coming at the wrong time and was it going to ruin all the hard work that I have put over the first six months of the season. It also was quite an exciting month with a total of 22 goals in 5 games.

Table

I had again dropped down the league this time into 3^rd position which is still a very good position but I felt that I deserved an automatic position. I was only one point away from the illustrious top two so I wasn’t going to panic.

Performance of the Month

I felt that the winner of this month’s POTM is the 6-2 win against Walsall as this was probably the most entertaining game out of the five I played and I have to say that it ran close with the Dag & Red which featured the comeback from 3-0 down to draw the game but the winner is the 6-2 win vs Walsall.

Thanks for reading

Warren

p.s sorry but there is no video this week there seems to be a problem with the connecting between the game and uploading it to YouTube. I hope I have the problem sorted next time I post.