Hartlepool United manager Darren Sarll expects this summer to define his side's season

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Hartlepool United manager Darren Sarll has said that the summer is the most important time of the year for Pools.

It's been something of a baptism of fire for Sarll, who was appointed a week after the end of a turbulent National League campaign and inherited a squad lacking in a number of areas.

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With the expectation among supporters that Pools - at least - challenge for the play-offs, the pressure is on the new boss to assemble a squad capable of closing the gap between his side and the top seven, which stood at five places and 11 points at the end of last term.

One of his first tasks was to run the rule over the retained list and the 41-year-old pulled no punches, releasing nine players and making both Joel Dixon and Manny Onariase available for transfer.

Darren Sarll has warned that this summer will define his new side's season.Darren Sarll has warned that this summer will define his new side's season.
Darren Sarll has warned that this summer will define his new side's season.

After a slow start to the summer which saw the frustration of the fanbase continue to build - not helped by the controversial decision to increase the price of season tickets - Sarll looks to have made a breakthrough.

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The new boss has secured four new faces, including League One promotion winner Adam Campbell.

Supporters have been impressed by Sarll's approach, which has seen him focus his recruitment on a specific type of player; namely, those with links to the local area, in the prime of their career, with National League experience as well as a reputation for robustness and reliability.

Three of the new quartet - Luke Charman, Jack Hunter and Adam Campbell - are local lads while Nathan Sheron has spent the last two seasons as a regular in National League rivals Oldham's midfield.

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Pleasingly, Sarll has worked to identify the areas most in need of strengthening as well as those most important to his unique, relentless brand of football that focuses on a press all over the pitch; both Hunter and Sheron have arrived to bolster a lacklustre midfield, while Charman and Campbell appear to have the tools to lead the press.

Like most managers, Sarll is well aware of the importance of the so-called off-season and can feel confident that, together with head of football Joe Monks and chief scout Ronnie Moore, he's made a strong start to his summer business.

Pools are still in need of strengthening in a number of important positions, namely in goal, where the embattled Joel Dixon remains Sarll's sole option as it stands, but supporters appear to have been buoyed by Sarll's refreshingly focused approach to recruitment.

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And the new boss is doing all he can to get things right, telling the official club website that he expects the summer to define his side's season.

"It's been very good," he said.

"It's the key time of the year, it's the most important time of the year.

"Having that balance between being on-site and meeting players and being off-site and meeting players is always very important.

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"The work Joe and I do with the agents and representatives of players and the interview process when we meet a player is quite time consuming but it's such an important facet of how this season's going to go.

"We get this wrong now, we get the season wrong."

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