The Poolie Bunker

Sacked

If this is true, it's pathetic!!!
Something not quite right with McDonald going last week, so now do we have the ex South Shields manager in charge!
Player power? Not playing to the manager's instructions?
Grayson should have had at least been given a fair crack!
Pools embarassing themselves! AGAIN!!!!

Club statement on Twitter

Aye, after a board meeting…. Words fail me….where’s the head butting a wall emoji when you need it.

Will he be replaced with an AI manager….oh dear

Raj is out of his mind!
He clearly stated that he had been after Grayson for a number of years, gets his man, then gives him 15 games and then sacks him!
Raj, a message from me, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB!!!

Nicky Featherstone aided by Elliot Dickman and Adam Smith will take over the running of the Club for the interim period

Been in the planning then hasn't it!

Is this a cunning plan too moor us in this league for this century and the next

Our board of yes men have proven to be incompetent well before now. Until they change and the owner changes this trend will continue.

After the long summer in ‘no man’s land’ we’re back where we started..what now…?

Fan takeover of the club, how much do we need?

To the Board and Raj in particular: YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. How do you expect to do any think when Raj said he had got the man he has been after for years he gets him injury crisis and after 12 games sacks him. RAJ OUT.

Of course it's true, it's no surprise either, its been coming for several weeks, Grayson had been struggling to get anything out of the current primarily inept squad, even prior to the admittedly harsh run of injuries. We looked much more of an all round threat under Skippy than we do with this mismatch of rejects and wannabees.

I can't see Raj leaving anytime soon but the poor excuse for a board could do with a mass clearout. Whoever Raj Singh has lined up as team boss will need be fully clued up with the NL from Day 1 unlike the over-qualified Grayson - and hopefully be able to offload up to half a dozen of the squad and replace with some half decent signings.

Christ I didn’t see that coming. Well that’s certain relegation nailed on!!

More compo to shell out, how many managers now, Pools going down the same road as Darlington, the point is were the new signings his if so maybe he deserved to go but if Monks it’s not his fault about the poor quality signings.

I’m pleased too see us sack another manager as it’s worked so well for us in the past.

Well Stevie G turned down the Gers, I think he’s got his eye on a bigger job…

At least we can joke in these turbulent times for our club!
Saying that Raj would sack him after 3 months anyway!

Are we around 18-19 changes of manager (including caretakers) since Raj tookover?

Who would be stupid enough to manage Pools now?
Barely get through the interview stage before being sacked!

I said at the time it was a ridiculous appointment and he'd be gone by Christmas and we'd be in a relegation struggle, turned out even earlier than I expected. Doesn't matter who gets the job, with this buffoon in charge of the club we'll continue to struggle along in mid table at best. What a huge laughing stock he and his "board" have made us look again. Just when we think it can't get any worse.....

What's more bizarre than Grayson's dismissal is that there will be a queue of people applying for the job. The main reason is that within six months of being appointed the "successful" candidate has the chance of a nice little payday.
This new board have failed to get a settled incumbent since they were given the reins to run the club, starting with Sarll. Maybe they should be questioning whether they themselves are up to that task. I notice Lenny is not mentioned as being involved with the playing side any more. So what exactly is his role.
It looks as if there could possibly be some mileage in Smokin Joe's theory that SG was over qualified or to put it another way, maybe SG expected too much from players who were not capable of interpreting what he (SG) was actually expecting or even demanding of them.
I guess we'll never know.
What I do know is we can't go on like this but I've got to own up and say I'm beginning to ask questions of myself and the first one is why do I bother. The most frustrating part is I can't influence proceedings one way or the other until, of course, I win the Euromillions.
Screaming and shouting for Raj to leave is a total waste of time because he is here until he decides to go and of course that is his right, like it or not.
Who would be a football fan ?????????????????????

If the chairman sacks his choice of manager, then surely the chairman should sack himself!

Good little earner for a few months work, bit of compo and move on.

Relegation was/is currently nailed on anyway given current form of one win in eleven games and a likely exit to a team currently two divisions below us. Grayson wasn't even talking the talk let alone walking it. It would appear that between them Grayson and Monks have squandered Raj"s minimal playing budget on a collection of time wasters with a few notable exceptions. We are going to need a motivational boss/tactician and despite the promising start I honestly couldn't see Grayson turning the season around. Monks should be shown the exit door too.

I thought it was very bizarre, he went to the bother of meeting the owners then said no, I don’t think he ever wanted the job, he was just highlighting to other clubs he was available. He said there was other job offers on the table, been sacked twice, been said before it’s the only job you get sacked from then pick another similar job up.

I think the sacking will boost numbers on the bunker, maybe a ploy by the moderators!

Pretty sound theory but the fact of the matter is that the Chairman has to appoint from the applications list, which consists of a group of people who have probably been sacked before, sometimes on more than one occasion OR he appoints an up and coming prospect OR he head hunts someone who he thinks fits the bill. The latter will cost money for compensation.
Two years ago I suggested that Raj should appoint a CEO to run the club for him and put Russ Green's name forward as an example of the sort of person he should be looking for, or even Russ himself. I still maintain that, if he wants to continue to own the football club, that is the course he should take. He says he has taken a step back and put a board of directors in charge. A watered down version of my suggestion. The problem is this new board does not have a Russ Green type CEO within it's ranks, who has a hands on CV to his name.
If I bought the club that is the first thing I would do. Hodcroft did it and it was successful. Hodcroft had Russ Green and Chris Turner running the show and they brought in Danny Wilson. During that period sits the memory of that great day out at Darlington and a promotion run. I think we'd all welcome a bit of that back. If there was a possibility of that I think Raj might be tempted to put a bit more in because a bit more cash wouldn't go amiss. The day Raj puts an experienced football CEO in the chair will be the day we have a chance of turning the corner and, in doing so, put an end to all the bickering and division currently plaguing our football club.

A tinkering control freak incapable of delegation.

Absolutely feckin' ludicrous. That's 6 managers dispensed with in 22 months. Take out 2 summer breaks and the average life expectancy of a Hartlepool manager is about 3 months.

You expect this level of idiocy from a minority of fans, it's what used to be called pub talk and talk is cheap, but for a man who owns a football club to be so trigger happy is borderline insanity.

There is no doubt that this merry go round of hiring and firing managers before they have hung their coat on the peg is getting us nowhere. Someone has to persuade the owner to take steps to unite the club and to get the fans back onside. We all have to sing from the same hymn sheet and a way of achieving that has to be found.
Continuing along the current path is getting us where exactly???
We can't change the owner until he decides to go, so the next best thing is to try and get him to look at possible change in other areas and, putting my money where me mouth is, I've come up with a suggestion.
We need more of that attempt at positivity, so how about it or are we going to continue this bitter impasse until we all disappear up our proverbial arseholes.

Well there is always FC Hartlepool to support!
Probably have a better chance of getting to the EFL than Hartlepool United (and I use the term United loosely)!

We're becoming the Watford of the National League..well nearly!

I can see derwent hesitation in your words to say anything against the chairman and understand your reasons why.
I can safely say in my opinion the chairman is a very stubborn man, and he is the reason why the club has not moved on, when we had a big chance to do so.
It is clear, again in my opinion, that he should never ever go anywhere near another football club when he sells Pools.
He is clearly out of his depth, yes you say appoint a CEO, but the club needs a decent chairman and the rest will follow.
This club is an embrassment at the moment!

This has become a sorry, regrettable saga that makes me think nothings gonna change …till there is change.

Yet again Raj proves beyond all doubt that he is incapable of owning a successful football club.
SG wasn't responsible for the injuries that were bound to affect performances given the slim line squad.
Asking a new manager to do better given the squad we have is pie in the sky.

I wouldn't argue with any of that but taking into consideration everything you say, the way I see it we have two choices, we wait until he decides to leave, if he ever does, or we try to persuade him to have a look along a different path and my hesitation, as you put it, is because I can't see me getting anywhere if my opening gambit is to slag him off. I/we can't change what has happened but we can learn from it and hope he is prepared to do the same.
The whole scenario needs a fresh coat of looking at and I am prepared to meet the guy if it can get the ball rolling in the right direction. If nothing comes of it then at least we have tried.

Raj is not going anywhere until he's good and ready.
The board are quite right saying that 1 win in 11 is not good enough but simply sacking another manager won't necessarily change things, we're now asking a complete novice in Fev to take the reins. Thought it was an omen when Dickman arrived but didn't expect Grayson to be sacked so quickly. The board and the owner needs to look themselves in the mirror and ask themselves what they can do better to support their manager, or bite the bullet and leave.

Look on the bright side - Adam Campbell gets 'another chance to impress.'

So this means we have enough time left to employ another 2 managers sack them both and still have time left to appoint another. The clubs become a joke which is why after over 60 years of supporting it I've had enough.

Raj did say derwent that he had learnt a lot from the mistakes he made at Darlington when he took over Pools.
I also remember a few months ago, I linked an article about Raj and what his hopes were and how he would not be making the same mistakes again.
Well apart from our 'lucky' promotion, Raj has made mistake after mistake. So if you think he can learn from further mistakes, then you have more faith in him, than I do, and I suspect more than many people on this forum. I admire your views though but I can only see this club moving forward once Raj decides/is forced to leave!

If this latest brainstorm doesn't work out well very quickly , Raj will learn to his cost that Simon Grayson hadn't lost the support of the majority of the paying fans.

It's obvious in hindsight that he's has been a dead man walking all week, since his Assistant Manager was forced out.

Wonder who's calling those shots. Lenny? Lee Rust? Joe Monks? Most of the players Pools have signed in the past two years have been his recommendations. It's high time he went too.

He doesn’t fancy the idea of working under a Director of Football apparently. He would be better off looking for a decent championship side to manage anyway…

'Ball to feet!' How much do I miss your Mill House coaching? But you're right. I've given up my season ticket and been only three times this season - quite enjoyed the York game but the others were tripe. The sad thing is that I now get more enjoyment out of going along to watch Morpeth Town FC, Ponteland RUFC, Blyth Spartans FC or Ashington RUFC - why should I do a journey of two hours each way to watch crap? The things that kept me going were the pre-match beers and the crack - but so many folk have now jacked it in....but I guess Pools will soon be visiting Blyth.....

I know what I propose is a long shot but the alternative, as you point out, is waiting for him to decide to leave or is forced out. If we adopt that route then we have to be prepared for the possibility of a mighty long wait and take whatever is thrown at us while we're waiting. I am not sure our more volatile fans will have the patience for that and somebody, perhaps on here or perhaps elsewhere, will explode into a situation where litigation rears it's ugly head and dire consequences emerge. Have we got the patience and nerve, that's all of us, to stare him out. He has all the cards, all the ball and can turn whichever way he wants.
If people are prepared for that as our only course of action then fine but we have to be diligent and refrain from giving the remotest chance of a court case against one or some of us.
Are you confident we can ALL adhere to that. I'm not so sure.

Derek Adams

That could be the only positive, Another decent bloke screwed over.

FFS - the circus is back in town.
I said on another thread last week that Raj would wait until after the FA Cup tie- BUT even Uncle Darren was allowed to take charge of the replay!

As others have said - things didn't look too clever last Sunday when McDonald was axed and Dickman was then parachuted in straight away. However to sack SG now (when nobody was asking for it) is very bizarre given our need for stability in the dugout.

I appreciate 1 win in 11 isn't good enough though surely Monks now needs to follow suit and take some responsibility as he has signed the vast majority of these players.

I can only assume that they (the board) have somebody already lined up to take over the reins at Sutton next Saturday.

Only at Pools. Ridiculous.. .fuck-off Raj you daft mentalist narasitic kunt!! How the fuck is he called a 'business man'???
Raj Singh......fuck off from Hartlepool United....you utter utter kunt....and the other board members can fuck right off aswell.

We've done exactly the same old shite in preparation for this season as we have for several years now. Go into the break with no manager - because our manager has been sacked (having not particularly done anything wrong at all). Lose our best players on free transfers (because they're fed up of this bloody circus), Replace them with players who are past it or are nowhere near as good: And If we're lucky enough to find a diamond in the rough, they turn out to be made of glass. Appoint a new manager that we've apparently been after for years about four weeks before the first proper game. Give them a pre season that goes reasonably ok against under 21's (they're all f'cking 17 though). Start the season. We're shit and we know we are. Sack the manager. Rinse and fucking repeat.

We'll probably get through another two managers this season - and of course our under performance will be THEIR fault - not at all the cockwombles in charge of decision making at HUFC.

Pathetic. Year after year.