Hartlepool United verdict: Make or break for Pools as Barrow blitz exposes frailties to wash away encouragement

The Hartlepool United interim manager systemically condemned his squad by suggesting there are ‘too many that are not good enough that don’t show it on a consistent basis,’ following their 3-1 defeat at Barrow.

And, on the first half performance at least, he was right.

In recent weeks there has been a case to suggest some green shoots - not quite of recovery, but just of ‘something.’

There was the come-from-behind win over Grimsby Town which displayed a resilience and epitomised that ‘Never Say Die’ club motto. There was taking the lead twice in the FA Cup and competing in a game which could so easily have seen them roll over. There was a brave performance in defeat at Stevenage and there was the ‘at least we got through’ in the FA Cup replay with Solihull Moors.

All of that, however, was washed away inside 21 eye-opening minutes at Holker Street as Barrow completely swept Hartlepool aside to expose their frailties.

‘They looked like strangers,’ was another of Curle's post-match remarks but even strangers, you’d like to think, would show more cohesion and unity than this. Pete Wild’s side cut through Hartlepool at will and could have scored as many as they wanted in the first half. At some stage you would have hoped a sense of professional pride might have kicked in, but that did not come until the second half as Barrow, mercifully, eased off. Maybe they even felt sorry for Hartlepool.

Away in the corner of Holker Street, around 350 Hartlepool supporters stood. Their continued loyalty again bruised by what was unfolding in front of their eyes.

For some it was too much, as boiling point emerged. Several stewards were quickly on the scene in an attempt to diffuse what appeared unsavoury scenes at 3-0 down. It feels like we’ve reached that stage of conflicting emotions between supporting your team and taking a stand against what is happening.

Quite how Hartlepool got into this situation is jarring in itself from where the club were 12 months ago. But here at Barrow, it was the same failings we have seen for too much of the season.

Having redeemed himself from his costly error at Stevenage with a match-winning contribution in the FA Cup against Solihull, Ben Killip was back on the wrong side of the hero-villain spectrum inside five minutes when caught in possession out of his goal. Instead of trying to return the ball upfield from where it came, Killip tried to control it but was caught out as Josh Gordon curled into an empty net.

And things got worse four minutes later when Josh Kay found Ben Whitfield in acres of space on the right, with Pools having to cover over in the absence of Reghan Tumilty who was still off the field, before being allowed to cut back onto his left all too easily to power beyond Killip.

Eight minutes and already this felt like game over. Curle’s side didn’t recover. Barrow continued in the ascendancy and added a third through Billy Waters when both he and Gordon beat a static high Pools line to advance and beat Killip.

It was as bad as it gets from Hartlepool in the first half and the damage was done. It is why they find themselves back at the bottom of the League Two table.

Where at Stevenage results elsewhere helped them, here they went against them. Wins for Newport County, Harrogate Town and Colchester United means Hartlepool prop up the table with just two wins from 19 games this season.

After such promise amid their return to the Football League a year ago, it feels as though the club is having its heart and soul ripped out after the summer turnover. Things like fan unrest and lack of match day staff are merely consequential side effects to the malaise which has set in at the club.

Curle has been brought in to, as he describes, ‘do what I do’ in helping to stabilise clubs and guide them to safety and the interim boss remains confident he will keep Hartlepool up this season despite what we have seen for almost half of the campaign.

“We’re at the stage now where we will have players coming back fit and the January window will be open,” said Curle.

“It's an opportunity for players now to start fighting for their shirt for now and the run in come the end of the season.

“I’m confident we’re going to stay up. I know there’s more [to come]. When you get the first 10-12 players fit and available there’s more than enough to stay in the division.

“In that changing room it’s going to be a case of ‘do you want to be involved in it? Do you want to be sat here enjoying the celebration of staying up this season and being part of the football club moving forward?”

At the moment, unfortunately, it feels like too many of them don’t want to be a part of that ahead of what is shaping up to be a make or break period for the club.

Curle has described December as a ‘massive’ month. Between now and the first day of 2023, Hartlepool face four of the six sides directly above them in Crawley Town, Newport, Rochdale and Harrogate in games which simply must produce a solid haul of points if they are to stay in contention before what will then be an equally important January transfer window.

In the summer it appears to have been quantity over quality. In January it is going to have to be both.