Food for thought for Hartlepool United as Nicky Featherstone finishes on a high note?
While back-to-back home wins proved to be too little, too late for Hartlepool United as far as the National League play-offs are concerned, successive victories over promotion hopefuls Forest Green Rovers and Southend United will surely have given new Pools owner Landon Smith some food for thought.
Having gone four games without a win and almost seven hours without scoring, the club announced that Nicky Featherstone was set to step down as manager at the end of the season last week.
Although Featherstone expressed his disappointment at the decision and told the press on Saturday he was "gutted" by the news, the 37-year-old's departure had started to feel like an inevitability as Pools slipped out of play-off contention.
For Featherstone, his side's recent dip in form came at the worst possible time in a whole host of different senses.
Not only did Pools slide out of the running for a place in the National League's top seven, their struggles coincided with the arrival of Bromby and Partners, a specialist football consultancy firm set to run the rule over significant changes on and off the pitch this summer.
Having hauled themselves back into play-off contention thanks to a run of three successive victories for the first time since September, Pools were sent back down to earth with a thud following a humiliating 7-0 mauling at the hands of Wealdstone last month, their heaviest defeat since 1994.
While he might not have fully realised it at the time, Featherstone's hopes of being named as the man chosen to lead Pools into the 2026/27 campaign - not to mention his side's play-off hopes this season - probably slipped through his fingers during a bruising 90 minutes at Grosvenor Vale.
To their credit, Pools rallied somewhat over the Easter weekend and secured battling goalless draws against play-off contenders Scunthorpe United and title-chasing Rochdale but much of their good work was subsequently undone by a thumping 3-0 defeat at Boreham Wood earlier this month.
Featherstone has probably been unfairly criticised at times during his tenure and recent results have been a reminder that his side are still prepared to fight for him despite their being nothing left to play for other than pride and, perhaps, their footballing futures; Featherstone admitted at the weekend that just three members of the Pools squad were still under contract ahead of the new season.
Buoyed by the return of influential defender Reiss McNally and benefitting from Featherstone's decision to change to a 3-4-2-1 formation, Pools were good value for their victories over Forest Green and Southend, overcoming their recent struggles in front of goal and playing with far more energy, purpose and intent.
For Featherstone, however, the last few days might well have been a painful reminder of what might have been.
Without wishing to diminish them, their recent wins should be taken with a pinch of salt given that both Forest Green and Southend had already secured their places in the top seven - indeed, the Shrimpers made seven changes for Tuesday night's trip to the North East - and will likely have had at least one eye on their upcoming play-off campaigns.
Yet it all could have been so different. After all, the visit of Southend was billed as a potential play-off showdown when it was rearranged as a result of the Essex outfit's progression in the FA Trophy mere weeks ago; had Pools managed to keep themselves within touching distance of Kevin Maher's side, then Featherstone's fate could well have been different.
As it is, Featherstone can afford to feel proud of his work as Pools boss, his first ever job in management and one that's been packed full of drama, incident, change as well as a whole host of highs and lows.
Taken in isolation, his managerial record compares favourably to many of his predecessors. Featherstone, who has comfortably outlasted all of the five most recent permanent Pools bosses, has won 14, drawn eight and lost 11 of his 33 games at the helm, giving him a win percentage of 42.4.
That is far superior to almost all of the club's plethora of 21st century managers, with only Mike Newell, Neale Cooper, Danny Wilson, Dave Challinor and Kevin Phillips boasting a better record in terms of win percentage than Featherstone.
Yet the reality is far more complex and Featherstone has divided opinion among the fanbase, with his critics suggesting he is too inexperienced, cautious and lacking in tactical imagination, while there have also been a series of bruising defeats and woeful performances, not least two embarrassing cup exits against Northern Premier League opposition, their seven-goal drubbing at Wealdstone as well as a 4-0 hammering at Woking and a 3-0 thrashing at home to Aldershot Town.
Even so, as Featherstone pointed out in the week, Pools' tally of 68 points would have been enough to finish seventh last season - albeit Pools might well still have missed out on goal difference, depending on what happens on the final day of the campaign - and had he managed to lead his side to the play-offs then Smith surely would have had no choice but to offer him a new contract over the summer.
The club revealed last week that they had held "initial discussions" with Featherstone over the possibility of remaining in a coaching role while the former midfielder told BBC Radio Tees Sport after Tuesday's win over Southend that he was set to meet with Smith before he flew back to the States.
Yet for all Featherstone might care deeply about the club - after all, he is the third highest appearance maker in its entire history - he has often spoken of hs determination to carve out a career as a manager and it's difficult to see how stepping back onto the coaching staff would hold much appeal at this stage.
To add to that, as Featherstone himself admitted last week, whoever does end up replacing him - the likes of Darrell Clarke, Tony Mowbray and Rob Elliot have all been linked since the news of Featherstone's impending departure - is unlikely to relish the prospect of having the former boss next to him in the dugout, however pure and sincere his intentions might be.
Whatever the case, if Featherstone does indeed leave Victoria Park for good this summer then he can afford to do so with his head held high. The challenge for whoever succeeds him will be to build on strong foundations and Pools bid to plot a route back to the Football League.