Hartlepool United Q&A: John Askey's future, player contracts and what happens next for Pools

Excluding the most extraordinary miracle, Hartlepool will be playing their football back in non-league next season after a year which has continued to fall to greater depths.

The final straw came with the weekend defeat against Crawley Town.

A 2-0 reverse in front of a buoyant home crowd epitomises everything which has gone wrong this season.

But what now for Hartlepool? Here we run through some of the key questions at the Suit Direct Stadium.

What went wrong for Hartlepool United against Crawley?

It would be easier to analyse what went right than list those which went wrong.

From the off Hartlepool looked way off what was going to be required for a game of such magnitude and significance.

Crawley settled well, enjoyed possession and opportunities and took some of the sting out of the vocal home crowd, replacing it with nerves.

Not until Mohamad Sylla crunched into a challenge to win the ball midway through the first half did Hartlepool seem as though they were even remotely at the races.

In a sense, it was a continuation of the two performances we saw on the road against Newport and Salford where they gave up opportunities too easily and were too passive to play against.

John Askey had one interesting suggestion post-match in that he queried whether his players had hit a wall following an eight game unbeaten run.

When reflecting on Hartlepool's 1-1 draw with Stevenage on Easter Monday, the final game of that eight game run, he said: “There were moments there where we could have won the game. Perhaps that’s the moment where it passed us by.

“I don’t know why. We should have carried on. If we’d have lost then it would have been different, but Stevenage were third in the league so that should have inspired them to push on again and the belief should have been there.

“For whatever reason it wasn’t and the Newport one was where we were all thinking we’ve got a great chance going there, they’ve got nothing to play for, and the goals they scored were very poor from our point of view.”

It’s an interesting viewpoint. One which may hold some substance.

And yet even if that were to be the case, for the players not to have galvanised themselves to perform in front of their own supporters, who had pretty much packed out the Suit Direct Stadium, then it kind of tells you all you need to know.

Askey made one of his few errors at Newport when tweaking his system which had worked throughout that eight game unbeaten run. And yet when reverting to type against Salford and Crawley, the players were unresponsive.

Even Askey's ace up the sleeve, Wes McDonald, was frozen out when being introduced, albeit the game was pretty much gone within minutes of his introduction.

We could talk about tactics and look into stats and systems in more detail but, in reality, the most troubling aspect of the performance was the apparent lack of fight. From minute one, it looked as though Crawley wanted to win that game more than Hartlepool.

Askey commented on how the occasion got the better of his players whilst also questioning the ability of some within the squad. But in some instances, effort and desire will carry you and mask where talent falls short. Unfortunately for Hartlepool, it appeared both aspects fell short.

What now for Hartlepool United?

First and foremost they need to see the season out.

They owe it to the supporters who turn up against Barrow to put in a performance and finish off their home campaign with a win.

Beyond that, should Crawley lose against Walsall we would then find ourselves in a situation whereby Hartlepool would still have the most unlikely of chances of staying up going into the final day of the season. Should that happen, at the very least there would be an element of pressure on Crawley who travel to Swindon.

But, in reality, as Askey alluded to, Hartlepool are playing for pride over their final two games of the season.

Planning for a return to non-league should really have started on Monday given the probability of Hartlepool being relegated.

If, or when, relegation is confirmed, owner Raj Singh needs to address supporters and lay all of his cards on the table as to what is happening from here on in.

The club cannot afford to wait until just weeks before pre-season as they did 12 months ago to start moving things into place. They need a clear and decisive plan as to how they are going to tackle what will be yet another summer overhaul with the first point to address on that list being manager Askey.

Will John Askey stay with Hartlepool United?

The club needs to do everything it can to make sure Askey does stay.

Whilst not absolved of blame, given he has won two of 11 matches in charge, Askey is well down the order when it comes to where fingers should, and will, be pointed.

Askey has more than likely done enough to convince supporters he is the man they would want in charge to lead their fight back to the Football League and Singh must already be holding conversations with him about that.

Askey cut a demoralised figure post-match against Crawley. Asked whether he wants to be the man to continue leading the club he said: “I wish I wasn’t in this position.”

It was hardly a convincing answer, albeit in the heat of the moment.

Askey is contracted until the end of next season but when taking the job he suggested how league football was the deciding factor, despite Hartlepool’s precarious position.

Will he fancy a battle in non-league? Much may depend on what he will be given and the players he will have at his disposal.

What of those Hartlepool United players out of contract?

Askey confirmed to The Mail earlier in his tenure how negotiations had not yet opened up with any players given the uncertainty of the club’s league status.

Now that is all but confirmed, there will be decisions to make. You suspect most of those out of contract will look to move on elsewhere and chance their arm at finding another Football League club.

Most notably, Jamie Sterry, Nicky Featherstone and Sylla will see their deals run out this summer, with Ben Killip another who is out of contract.

Sterry and Sylla, you feel, are almost certain to move on and with Killip losing his place this season he, too, may seek a challenge elsewhere.

Featherstone will go down as something of a Hartlepool legend but, much like Gary Liddle last summer, will the club feel it is time to move on from the midfielder?

There are so many decisions to make for the club. Decisions which, unfortunately, come in the worst possible scenario with the club heading back out of the Football League.

But they are decisions which need to be made and dealt with quickly.

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