Hartlepool United sporting director outlines intentions to 'take club forward'

Those are the words of new sporting director Darren Kelly who has outlined his intentions to help take Hartlepool United forward as a club following his arrival from Newport County.

Kelly joined alongside new manager John Askey as chairman Raj Singh took the decision to shake things up for a third time at the Suit Direct Stadium this season which included the introduction of the sporting director role.

Kelly will likely take over and add to the work of former head of recruitment Chris Trotter while Askey is given the immediate and overarching responsibility of preserving Hartlepool’s Football League status come the end of the season.

Askey has already gotten to work with his new group of players, picking up two points from his first two games in charge of the club, with the threat of relegation back to the National League still a real possibility.

That will very much be at the forefront for Hartlepool between now and the end of the season whilst Kelly will get to grips with things behind the scenes in a sporting director role.

Kelly has previous having held a similar title with Newport over the course of the last 18-months before his recent exit from Rodney Parade ahead of the switch to the Suit Direct Stadium.

Kelly’s role will be to ‘bridge the gap between the football department and the board’ with chairman Singh suggesting the club have been pursuing a sporting director model for some time.

“We have been building toward the appointment of a sporting director or director of football over recent years as we developed things,” he said in a recent statement upon Kelly’s appointment.

“Whilst this season has been very tough, and we are certainly not in the position that we wanted to be on-field, I felt it important to continue with the progress and plans that we’ve made off-field.

“Ultimately, Darren’s role is to guide and support our football department to become better and he will oversee key areas including recruitment. He will also allow our manager and the coaching team to focus on the priority of coaching and developing the team.”

And those are sentiments shared by Kelly who insists he will not get involved with Hartlepool management when it comes to matters regarding the on-field dynamics of the first team.

“The manager will always have the final say,” explained Kelly.

“In Europe they do it differently where these roles, sporting directors or general managers - however you want to put them, they have an input in team selection and things like that. Nothing like that happens on my clock. My role is more of a supporting director as I would call it.

"But with regards to the first team it’s to work very closely with John with regards to what he needs.

“The main thing for John is that he can be out on the training ground looking after all of the players, making sure he’s seeing what he needs to see because, effectively, you train how you play.

“So he’ll be looking at the main aspects which is to put his strongest team out on a Saturday. All the other noise and everything around that I’ll take away from John.”

Kelly added: “I was a manager before and that’s why I got into the sporting director side because seeing how many challenges are faced with a manager, there is many, and the way the game is changing now - the manager just needs to focus on the training and preparation for the team so he can be mentally fresh to make the right decisions.”

And that means Kelly will take on an added focus of all things beyond what happens on a Saturday afternoon with recruitment likely to be at the very top of the list, with one eye potentially on the summer irrespective of Hartlepool’s fate this season.

Kelly believes his time with Newport has provided him with the experience necessary to be a success at the Suit Direct Stadium as Hartlepool seek to move into a more hybrid model as a club.

“It’ll basically be overseeing the football structure and the operation and trying to implement an infrastructure that can effectively take the club forward,” said Kelly.

“It will be working closely with the academy and trying to see where we can go with that to see if we can have a pathway for young players coming through.

“I’ll work closely with the sports science, the media, the analysis and link that into the first team working closely with John and the first team staff and putting a recruitment strategy in place making sure that when it comes to a transfer window we’re prepared.

“But the main thing is trying to take the club forward in every aspect in each challenge and to make everything better as best we can.

“When you’re in League Two there’s going to be many challenges. It’s not like you’ve got the monies that big clubs have and you're always trying to fight within your means.

“So it’s trying to make best use of what you have and there'll be similar challenges here.

“At Newport there were many challenges. It was a fantastic two years I had there and there were many lessons learnt there and, like everything in life, there were many mistakes there as well.

“But it was all stuff and experiences that gears me up to take into this role at Hartlepool.

“I’m really excited about the journey and the challenges ahead with what we’re looking to build and hopefully it’s exciting times ahead.”