When Gary Madine, who boasts more than 100 career goals as well five promotions, including two to the Premier League, signed for Hartlepool United, Pools fans were expecting their side to become one of the National League's most potent attacking forces. It's still early days and Madine is yet to really get up to speed but Pools have been misfiring in front of goal and last season's top scorer Mani Dieseruvwe is cutting an increasingly frustrated figure. Somehow, adding a striker with Premier League pedigree seems to have created more problems that it's solved. Pools must find a solution and begin to propel themselves up the National League table.

Saturday's 0-0 draw with Halifax was the third time in four home matches that Pools have failed to score - in the interest of balance, it was also an impressive fifth clean sheet in seven games.

When last term's turbulent campaign came to an end with a 4-3 thriller at relegated Dorking Wanderers, few would have imagined that the narrative at the beginning of the new season would have centered around a failure to score goals but a renewed determination to prevent them.

Pools conceded a staggering 82 goals in 46 National League games last season, including seven in one particularly miserable March evening at local rivals Gateshead.

Mani Dieseruvwe scored six goals in pre-season but has bagged just one in seven since the new campaign began.

placeholder image — Mani Dieseruvwe scored six goals in pre-season but has bagged just one in seven since the new campaign began.

Defensive issues plagued successive managers and there was a point before Christmas when Pools fell into an unhappy habit of conceding in the first 10 minutes of matches, giving their opponents an early headstart for five games in a row.

Last season's salvation was, of course, Mani Dieseruvwe, who scored 23 National League goals - 25 in all competitions - and became just the fourth Pools player in the last 50 years to register at least 20 goals in a single season.

For all the goalmouth action, there can't have been more than a handful of Hartlepool United supporters who can claim to have enjoyed last season; despite Dieseruvwe's goalscoring heroics, it was a miserable campaign that saw Pools make the same sort of defensive errors week in, week out.

Previous manager Kevin Phillips deserves some credit for helping Pools tighten up defensively in the second half of the season, even if his ill-fated experiment with three at the back resulted in a mauling at the Gateshead International Stadium.

The biggest boost to the Pools back line were the January arrivals of Luke Waterfall and Tom Parkes, with the experienced defenders partnering one another for three of their side's four shutouts last season.

However, the pair were also in the side for the 7-1 humiliation at Gateshead which goes to show that having good defenders is not a guarantee of success or solidity - a lot also depends on how a side sets up.

Darren Sarll's reputation as a pragmatist and an astute organiser must have been one of the things that made him stand out to chairman and owner Raj Singh, who was willing to suffer a barrage of criticism in order to replace the popular Phillips with Sarll.

The new boss has certainly delivered defensively - only high-flying Rochdale have conceded fewer goals than Pools this season.

Indeed, three of the four goals Pools have shipped came in the final 25 minutes of their trip to Woking after they'd played the majority of the game with 10 men following Jack Hunter's red card.

However, their newfound defensive stability has come at a cost - for all Pools have been resolute, disciplined and well-organised, Sarll's side have struggled to score goals.

Pools have found the net just five times this season - that's 11 less than league leaders Gateshead and seven fewer than free-scoring Eastleigh, Forest Green and Yeovil.

It's almost inexplicable that a squad including Mani Dieseruvwe, Gary Madine, Adam Campbell, Joe Grey, Luke Charman and Anthony Mancini have found goals so hard to come by.

There are a number of structural and stylistic areas that Sarll will need to address if his side are to rediscover their goalscoring touch - of course, it will have to be a careful balancing act as the Pools boss will not want to diminish his side's impressive defensive record.

Perhaps the most obvious issue is the form of Mani Dieseruvwe, who has scored just one goal in his opening seven games.

For all there has been a lot to like about Pools so far this season, Sarll's side have not really played to his strengths.

Pools are a lot more direct under the new regime and Dieseruvwe's role has changed as a result; the talismanic frontman is spending more and more time with his back to goal, whereas last season he had much more freedom to drift and drive into the box.

The fact is that Sarll's side are not about to divert from the structured, well-organised unit the new boss has worked hard to establish and return to last season's more chaotic, if sometimes more fluid, approach - given last term's travails, would Pools fans even want them to?

It's unlikely Dieseruvwe will achieve similar goalscoring success in Sarll's new system but there is a convincing case to be made that Pools have a better chance of pushing for promotion now they're capable of keeping clean sheets.

The challenge will be whether Sarll can maintain his side's impressive defensive record while getting more out of last term's top scorer.

There's no doubting, however, that Dieseruvwe does seem a little discontented and the decision to substitute him for a second week in a row will surely have exacerbated that.

The 29-year-old said on more than one occasion that he relished being the main man at Pools last season as he approaches the latter stages of a career during which he's often had to be content with playing second fiddle; Madine's arrival means he will have to accept that he's unlikely to play as many minutes as last season, so Sarll will have to carefully manage his mood.

For all Pools fans might ponder which combination of personnel is likely to be the most prolific, one area Sarll might feel the need to address is his side's attacking approach.

While getting the ball from back to front quickly is a fundamental facet of Sarll's footballing philosophy, Pools have at times looked a little aimless when progressing up the pitch.

Pools are blessed with considerable attacking talent as well as a host of capable midfielders and so a little bit more patience and consideration in their build-up play should allow their forward line to influence the game more; in the opening 20 minutes at Woking, when Pools varied their approach, Sarll's side look almost unstoppable going forward.

Sarll will also now have to contend with the rather thorny question of how to get the best out of Dieseruvwe and Madine as the former Sheffield Wednesday, Bolton and Blackpool man nears full fitness.

And the boss can afford to approach the dilemma with confidence.

Sarll is a straight-talking, strong character who will not be too concerned about treading on toes while Madine is a vastly experienced campaigner and Dieseruvwe is a fabulous character - he might have let a little frustration show on Saturday, but he won't throw his toys out of the pram.

The obvious solution, perhaps, to the problem is to start the pair together.

However, as Sarll pointed out - he reminded assembled reporters that this was real life, not Football Manager - it is unlikely to be that simple.

Pools have spent all summer training and playing in either a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation and so Sarll will have to implement a total readjustment if he wants to get the pair in the same side.

The boss hasn't ruled out naming the two towering strikers in the same XI but suggested at the weekend that he was a little reluctant given the disruption it might cause to other areas of his team.

A switch to two strikers, therefore, is not necessarily on the cards - nor is it the only solution.

The immediate priority must be getting the best out of Dieseruvwe and that means playing a bit more to his strengths.

It's hard to imagine he'd have been as frustrated at being substituted had he got on the scoresheet at the weekend and a lot of his anguish probably stems from his own lack of goals rather than any sort of ill-feeling towards Sarll.

Pools did look slightly more threatening during Saturday's draw with Halifax and had a host of chances to win the game late on so the boss doesn't need to reinvent the wheel in order to get his side scoring again.

The key will be to get Dieseruvwe in more goalscoring positions - and that probably hinges more on how Pools approach the game than whether or not there are two strikers on the pitch.

Pools have two prolific frontmen on their books as well as a host of other talented attacking players and being able to call upon both Madine and Dieseruvwe should not create problems for Sarll - get things right and the pair could soon be causing havoc and propelling Pools up the National League table.