Hartlepool United head coach Anthony Limbrick unfazed by size of challenge facing him at Pools

Limbrick, who became the 16th permanent Pools appointment in the last decade when he replaced veteran manager Lennie Lawrence at the beginning of this month, has endured a difficult start to life in the hotseat. After producing a statement performance to beat in-form Sutton in his first game in charge, things have taken a turn for the worse and fans, remarkably, are already asking questions of the Australian. Pools had hoped to use a run of three home games in seven days to launch their assault on the National league play-offs, but draws against Tamworth and Maidenhead, followed by defeat at the hands of Altrincham, all but spelled the end of their slim hopes of sneaking into the top seven. Limbrick changed his side's shape for Saturday's trip to Aldershot, switching from the 3-5-2 he had favoured in his first four games at the helm and reverting back to the more familiar 4-2-3-1. However, Pools were once again punished for missed chances as they were beaten 3-2 by the relegation-threatened Shots. Pools, who have slipped down to 12th, are now staring down the barrel of another season of, at best, stagnation, while supporters are running out of patience.

Limbrick, then, has a tough job on his hands. Of his 15 permanent predecessors, just two - Ronnie Moore, architect of the so-called 'great escape' in the 2014/15 season and Dave Challinor, who led the club to promotion in 2021 - have lasted more than 12 months in the role, while Challinor is the only manager who left with his reputation genuinely enhanced. The last three permanent bosses - Kevin Phillips, Darren Sarll and Lennie Lawrence - have all managed just 16 league games or fewer, albeit Lawrence stepped down of his own accord. With relentless pressure, considerable expectation and a host of challenges on and off the pitch, the Pools job is widely regarded as one of the toughest in the National League.

Limbrick, who has previous experience in charge of the likes of Woking, Welsh side The New Saints and Gibraltar's Manchester 62, will be under no illusions as to the size of the task facing him. To be successful at Pools, the energetic, charismatic and ambitious 41-year-old will need to be able to spin a lot of plates as he looks to lead the club back to the Football League. Yet Limbrick insists he is relishing the challenge ahead of him.

"I knew the challenges coming into the role," he said.

"It's a big club, it's a club that should be in and around the play-offs. We want to be in the play-offs, we've worked hard to try and achieve that but we're falling short at the moment with the results we are getting. We shouldn't be losing 3-2 away at Aldershot, we know that.

"We know the challenges here. If we can get it going, then that's a really positive thing and that's what we're working hard to try and do. We haven't won the games that we needed to win over the last few weeks. We had that good result against Sutton, then we had three home games where we should have got a lot more points than what we did, there's no doubt about that. Then today (Saturday), we should have won again. If you're winning more games, then that makes things easier. We need to start performing and winning more games, that's for sure."