Richard Money lays out his Hartlepool United blueprint as he eyes short-term boosts

Hartlepool United manager Richard Money has laid out his blueprint for success at the club.
Richard Money has laid out his Hartlepool United blueprintRichard Money has laid out his Hartlepool United blueprint
Richard Money has laid out his Hartlepool United blueprint

But he is under no illusions as to how difficult the challenge will be in what he feels is the toughest league in the country.

Money, who counts Walsall, Luton and Cambridge among his former employers, has vast experience of the National League having guided the U’s promotion and the Hatters to a second place finish.

Richard Money has laid out his Hartlepool United blueprintRichard Money has laid out his Hartlepool United blueprint
Richard Money has laid out his Hartlepool United blueprint
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That means he is well-equipped to turn around a Pools side who have won just once in 11 outings.

And he has a clear blueprint of how he intends to turn the club around in the short-term, focusing on both personnel and tactics.

“There’s a process,” explained Money.

“The first task is to get to know the players as quickly as possible and try and find a way to play that gives us a chance to be successful in the short-term.

“I know the way that I prefer to play and how I want to play, but I need to see the personnel we have.

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“I think it’s more about finding a way that suits them the best to get results in the short-term.

“We know how it works, a new manager comes in and hopefully we can get a bit of a bounce and a lift.

“Obviously that’s not for certain, but if we can find a way of playing that gives us a chance to win quickly short-term, then we can look to challenge.”

But challenging will be far from easy, in a league which is growing stronger and stronger each year.

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Money has been a keen observer of the changing nature of non-league’s top division, and knows only too well about how tough it will be to guide Pools back to the EFL.

The emergence of big-spending sides - adding to several former Football League outfits - means competition is fierce, and it’s for this reason Money believes that the league is the toughest to exit.

“I’m under no illusions, I know this league is difficult” he added.

“People talk about Championship to Premiership as being the most difficult promotion, but they only talk in that sense because of the money involved.

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“Trust me, this is the toughest league to get out of because the rules of the competition make it so.

“And every year, there will be five or six clubs - possibly more - like us who have fallen out of the league and don’t think they should be there and all want the same thing.

“Every now and again you get a Salford, a Fylde, a Crawley a Fleetwood, because the non-league ambition is huge.

“So this is the toughest league to get out of.”

Key to any promotion push from Pools will be confidence.

While it seems to be coming back to the side after two positive performances, part of Money’s short-term plan is to cultivate a culture of confidence around the Super 6 Stadium.

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And the new manager has called on supporters to play their part - promising improved showings in return.

“I think confidence is a big, big thing - for any team - but in this league, even more so,” said the 63-year-old.

“And especially at a club like ours right now.

“Everyone is aware that there’s a frustration on the terraces so that makes life a bit more difficult.

“But confidence is fickle, it can turn very quickly and if it turns as quickly as we all want then levels raise 10, 20 per cent and suddenly the team looks very different.

“That’s the short-term aim, really, trying to achieve that.”