Hartlepool United manager Simon Grayson discusses South Shields team selection following disappointing defeat
Hartlepool United manager Simon Grayson insists he was not surprised by the manner of his side's performance following Saturday's disappointing 2-0 defeat to South Shields.
Pools had been looking to make it seven matches unbeaten in pre-season when the Mariners visited Victoria Park, only for Paul Blackett's first half brace to end what's been a generally positive summer of preparations on a disappointing note.
While fans would be well advised to take pre-season results - both good and bad - with a pinch of salt, it was perhaps the manner of the performance that was a cause for concern among more sceptical supporters. Pools were, for the most part, outplayed by a South Shields side who finished a lowly 17th in the National League North table last term, albeit the Mariners are expected to improve significantly next season following the appointment of highly rated manager Ian Watson. Nonetheless, if Pools are to mix it with the likes of York, Carlisle and Southend next season, then they'll need to be better in every department.
Perhaps there were some extenuating circumstances, not least Grayson's somewhat experimental team selection. Although the sense is that Pools are likely to begin the new campaign lining up in a 3-5-2 formation - a shape Grayson, who already has four promotions in English football to his name, has favoured throughout large parts of his career - the new boss started out with a 4-4-2 on Saturday, even though he admitted he was aware Shields would look to overload in central areas and dominate the ball. What's more, Grayson named teenagers Campbell Darcy and Louis Stephenson in the XI, while the likes of Jay Benn, Reiss McNally, Besart Topalloj, Jamie Miley and Nathan Sheron, who are all expected to be in the team when Pools begin the new National League season against Yeovil at the weekend, started on the bench. Although some fans might have felt that, given the proximity to the start of the new campaign, Saturday's game was an unusual time for Grayson to tinker with his tactics and team selection, the Pools boss revealed he wanted to challenge his players in circumstances he anticipated might prove uncomfortable.
"We played 4-4-2 to start with - I'll take responsibility for that because I knew exactly how South Shields were going to play, but I wanted to test us being uncomfortable in certain situations and see if we could solve any problems," Grayson told The Red Radio.
"We changed halfway through and went back to the system that we've played a lot in pre-season and we looked a lot more comfortable. That was why I did it, because I wanted to have a look at players in different positions. I wanted Sam Folarin to play as a right-winger rather than a wing-back, and the same with Jermaine (Francis) on the left-hand side.
"It was a learning curve in terms of how we deal with things if we play against a team like this that dominate the ball. Full credit to South Shields, they dominated but we got better and solved a few things when I changed it round. It was a good learning curve for everybody, including myself."