Five things for new Hartlepool United boss John Askey to consider including defensive frailties and ex-Charlton Athletic striker's form

After Keith Curle saw his side slip to a late defeat against Newport County, supporters vented their frustrations before chairman Raj Singh made the tough decision to part ways with his manager.

Singh reacted quickly to find a replacement with the appointment of former York City boss John Askey and his assistant Mark Goodlad.

Askey achieved promotion with the Minstermen last season but now the objective is very much the opposite with the 58-year-old tasked with ensuring Hartlepool’s Football League survival.

And, here at The Mail, we consider five things for Askey in order to maintain Hartlepool’s league status come the end of the campaign.

Settle on a system

It’s always nice to be flexible in your approach to games and in games when called upon.

But in recent weeks we have seen Hartlepool fluctuate almost too much to the point where there have been question marks as to where certain players are meant to be playing.

Curle has tended to favour three centre-backs, which is fine, but moving forward it has transitioned into a variety of systems which, unfortunately, hasn’t worked on enough occasions.

Lately, we have seen January signing Connor Jennings operate more in a hybrid attacking role, drifting wide and supporting in defence as opposed to being out-and-out alongside Josh Umerah.

Likewise the impressive Dan Kemp has been drifting from one position to another too often which, along with Jennings, has then led to Umerah being isolated.

Injuries may force Askey’s hand a little when it comes to set up with Dan Dodds likely to be missing for a number of weeks.

But with Hartlepool continuing to boast the worst defensive record in the division despite operating, more often than not, as a back five when out of possession, could there be an opportunity now to change that to incorporate other options?

Playing to strengths

That lends itself to trying to utilise some of the squad’s strengths a little more.

We have seen in patches of games under Curle recently this is a team who can play in possession.

At Doncaster Rovers for the opening quarter-of-an-hour, Hartlepool were advanced well into the opposition half with the centre-backs split high and the wing-backs operating almost as additional strikers.

Against AFC Wimbledon in the opening exchanges we saw Hartlepool winning a number of turnovers in the opposition half, while their start at Crewe Alexandra was okay prior to Jamie Sterry's red card.

But for whatever reason these spells in games haven’t been sustained for long enough, where a lack of composure, or a mistake, sees the players retreat and resort to a more direct approach which allows the opposition to maintain pressure.

There are options within the squad to mix things up.

Askey has wide players available to him such as Joe Grey, Brendan Kiernan and Wes McDonald if they were to consider a wider approach to be more direct in terms of pace.

Hartlepool have found themselves on the wrong end of overloads when defending from wide areas all too frequently but don’t often force the same issue on their opponents.

Askey will need to quickly establish what style and approach he believes suits the players at his disposal.

Improve defensively

If Hartlepool are going to win games there are several things they need to do better and one of those is to defend their goal.

Paul Hartley suggested he was keen to play more attacking football but, defensively, Hartlepool found themselves all over the place having conceded 17 goals in his nine league games in charge.

But despite a more pragmatic approach, Curle has been unable to find a balance between defensive solidity and attacking threat.

Hartlepool have kept just six clean sheets this season - only worsened by Rochdale and Crawley Town.

But within that, it is Hartlepool who have conceded the most goals at an alarming 59 in 33 games.

It means Askey needs to find a way to stabilise a side who are, on average, conceding almost two goals every game.

Creating chances and getting Josh Umerah scoring goals again

In what would prove to be Curle’s final game in charge against Newport, Hartlepool failed to register a single shot on target.

In any circumstance that is cause for concern and criticism but when you are a team who are meant to be fighting for your life it borders on unacceptable.

But analysing things a little deeper and it’s, perhaps, a little easier to see why Hartlepool could produce a game without testing the opposition goalkeeper.

In their previous four games Hartlepool have had a combined 65 touches in the opposition box compared to 105 touches given up.

It suggests they are not getting themselves into positions, often enough, to be a threat in front of goal.

And that has led to the goals drying up of late for Umerah.

Having earned the PFA fans' player of the month award for January, Umerah has now gone six games without a goal - his longest stretch since joining in the summer.

Askey needs to be able to unlock his talisman once more for the run in.

Unity

Curle was right to often suggest the unity Hartlepool will need for the final weeks of the season and that is something Askey will want to build on and maintain.

Curle referenced frequently how important it would be for players, in the squad or on the fringes, staff and supporters to all be on board and pulling in the same direction and that will be integral.

If there were any players, staff or supporters who have felt aggrieved in recent weeks then Askey’s arrival represents a fresh start.

Momentum is key in football, particularly in the final stages of the season. Hartlepool have been without any for pretty much the entire campaign and that is something Askey will be hoping to resolve.