Dave Challinor discusses the wholesale changes he's had to make at Hartlepool United

Hartlepool United manager Dave Challinor and Gary Liddle embrace at the end of the Vanarama National League match between Hartlepool United and Stockport County at Victoria Park, Hartlepool on Saturday 25th January 2020. (Credit: Mark Fletcher | MI News)

In over four months since Challinor took over as Pools manager, he has made several significant changes to the side in terms of their style, training approach and personnel.

The 44-year-old has handed debuts (or second debuts) to a total of nine different players since becoming Hartlepool manager.

The club also completed the signing of young striker Lorne Bickley over the weekend to further add to their options.

Challinor’s changes have yielded an upturn in form in recent weeks as Pools sit just one point outside of the play-off places with eight matches remaining in the National League. But it hasn’t been a quick fix for the former AFC Fylde boss.

“I knew it would take time in terms of what we wanted to get across,” he admitted.

“We’ve probably made more changes than we envisaged but early on it’s about playing in a way that suits the players we have.

“Then we start to look at how we ideally want to play and see if we can get the players in now to be able to try and bed down those philosophies moving forward and consolidate them in the summer and into next season.

“We’ve done that, I want to play with an intent, certainly at home, and to do that you need the right players. The players have bought into that brilliantly.”