Warren — FM 2011 Hartlepool United Oct+Nov 2011/12

Hi everyone, after an excellent start to the season I was looking to continue this form into the autumn months. I will have a total of ten games over the next two months so a possibility of getting up to 30 points but I doubt that I will get that many.

Before I start I have to tell you that I made two more signings that I forgot to tell you about at the end of my last post. The first of which was Welsh midfielder James Koumas again a little bit on the old side but he has Premier League experience which will come in handy and the second of which is central defender James Chester who I signed on a free transfer after being released from Manchester United in the summer.

October

V Ipswich

The first game of October saw us at home with Ipswich making the journey from East Anglia. I was looking forward to this game as we have usually done well against teams have been the premiership in recent seasons. In the end it was another decent performance against a good side but I couldn’t convert the chances that I created.

V Doncaster

A really exciting game ended up in defeat for my Hartlepool by the odd goal in 5. It looked as if the game was going to finish in a 2-2 draw but Dean Shields grabbed the winner in the 87^th minute and made up for the mistake when he scored an own goal to make it 2-2.

V Portsmouth

I got back to winning ways with a win over Portsmouth where goals from Henaini and Woolford had cancelled out Portsmouth goal that came from Dave Nugent. It was another win against a team that were in the Premier League a few seasons back. It seemed to be I could win when I was the underdog and lose when I was favourite to win.

V Burnley

We were certainly having an exciting season and the goals were flying in left, right and centre. This game was no different and this time we were involved in a game that had 6 goals. The match finished 3-3. After taking a 2-1 lead into half time with a goal each from Brown and Moore, Burnley started the second half and found themselves 3-2 up after 66 minutes but a second goal of the match from Luke Moore just two minutes later finished the scoring at 3-3.

V Swansea

In the final game of the month we travelled to Wales to face a Swansea side who were top of the league so I was expecting for it to be a tough game but once again my side proved to be no pushovers and won the game 2-0 both goals came from summer signing Moore and he seemed to be finding his feet in the Championship now.

Performance of the month

V Swansea

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE_EqJSOuvw

November

V Nottm Forest

The first game started with a home game against Nottm Forest. My players put in a very poor performance against a team who were second in the league and paid the price by losing 3-0 and Nottm deserved the three points to take them back to the midlands.

V Peterborough

Another game which featured six goals but gladly this time we won the game 4 goals to 2. Due, Woolford and a brace from Henaini ensured another thrilling win against a team that came up with me from League 1 last season. I was hoping to build on this win and push up the league into the play-off places.

V Wigan

Wigan posed another tough game for my Hartlepool side and I felt that if I could replicate the performances in the last game then I should be ok and indeed I was although this game was pretty dull and deserved the 0-0 scoreline it finished with.

V Derby

Next up was a trip to the midlands to face Derby County. They are currently in 15^th position a few place below us and it was certainly going to be a close match. In the end it was Derby who came out on top by one goal in a 2-1 win. We had initially taken the lead though Henaini but two second half goals saw us slip to our sixth defeat of the season.

V Newcastle

The final match of November saw us face a familiar team in the form of Newcastle United. They had been relegated back to the Championship (which is where I think we’re going with Pardew and Ashley at the realm) and were finding it hard and were stuck in 19^th place. I almost didn’t want to win the game but I knew Hartlepool was more important this time. In the end the game finished all square at 0-0 and there is nothing much I could tell you about this game other than Newcastle were the better side.

Performance of the month

V Peterborough

Sorry but the problem with the video uploading to YouTube has come up again and it seems to only happen on certain games as I have uploaded other that will feature later on in my next post.

Oct + Nov Results

Another decent two months and I feel that we certainly have enough to survive in this league it may be time to change my season expectations and give an almighty push for the play-off places.

Table

By the end of November I was in 10^th place and I was pleased with the start that we were making to the season and they certainly took note of what I said at the start of the season which was to hit the ground running at the start of the season and let team below us to try and catch us up and not the other way around. I was only two points away from the play-off places so that was still a possibility going into the winter months.

Thanks for reading

Warren