Hartlepool United 'part ways' with manager John Askey following 2-0 defeat at Oldham Athletic

Pools confirmed his departure on Saturday evening in a short statement.

It began: “Hartlepool United can confirm that the club have parted ways with manager John Askey and assistant manager Mark Goodlad.”

Chairman Raj Singh added: “This decision wasn’t an easy one to make, but we feel it’s necessary following our recent downturn in form.

"We thank John and Mark for their efforts during their time at Hartlepool, and wish them the best of luck for their future endeavours.”

The statement ended: “A further update on our interim management team will be made in due course.”

Fifty-nine-year-old Askey leaves Pools in 17th place and just four points from the National League relegation zone.

He lasted 10 months in the post after becoming the club’s third manager in the 2022-23 season.

While results initially improved, he was unable to prevent their relegation back to the National League after two seasons in League Two.

Touted as one of the favourites to go up this term, Pools started the campaign brightly before nosediving down the table from September onwards as injuries began to ravage Askey’s squad.

The defeat at Oldham meant that Askey’s team had kept just one clean sheet in 28 games this season.

Speaking shortly after the 2-0 reverse, he admitted he faced an uncertain future when asked if he was going to be able to strengthen the squad in January.

"Hopefully, if I'm still here," he said. "We'll just have to wait and see."

Asked if he was expecting any conversations with the club as to his future, he added: "I don't know, you never know.

"Obviously the circumstances that have caused this to arise, we've had loads and loads of injuries and it's cost us and we haven't been good enough to get the results that we need.

"It's tough when you've not got the biggest of squads but you've still got to find ways to win games and we've not been able to do that."

He leaves having won 29% of his 41 games in charge with a record of 12 wins, 11 draws and 18 defeats.