Hot chocolate, scrabble and togetherness: Inside Keith Curle’s first two months at Hartlepool United

Hartlepool had just fallen to a 2-0 defeat against Sutton United, their players despondent and confused. In the aftermath, Paul Hartley cut a forlorn figure. He knew the knives were out and were being sharpened.

And so it would prove to be the case as, after just 107 days in charge, Hartley was sacked less than 24 hours after that defeat in South West London, with some suggestions to The Mail the former Celtic midfielder did not even travel back on the team bus, such was the resignation to his fate.

To their credit, Hartlepool did not wait around to find a replacement. Having taken over a month to appoint Hartley in the summer, chairman Raj Singh moved swiftly with Keith Curle unveiled as interim manager just hours after Hartley’s exit.

“We had to move very quickly to make the changes that we felt were desperately needed,” Singh wrote on the decision.

“Although we have initially brought both [Curle and Colin West] as interim, there is nothing that would please me more than seeing them be really successful and making the position permanent for themselves.”

The decision to remove Hartley from his post went beyond just the results, or lack thereof, on the field with, it’s understood, relationships fractured behind the scenes being another catalyst.

It has meant Curle, in his two months in charge, has had a multitude of plates to spin. While results on a Saturday afternoon remain the overarching concern, the 59-year-old has had to endeavour to rebuild and repair certain elements among players and staff.

Some of those elements are noticeable as the weeks go by. You only have to walk around the club’s Maiden Castle training base to sense there has been a shift in morale, even if results remain inadequate. One source told The Mail there is a more ‘upbeat’ mood around training with training ground staff ‘no longer feeling like they are walking on egg-shells,’ while club staff are now more considered and open to ‘mucking in’ around the place.

The Mail understands Hartley was, at times, unwilling to engage with staff at the university complex as he remained more introverted, something which Curle has actively tried to strike a balance with as feelings are now more reciprocated at Maiden Castle.

“We want to create a professional environment,” Curle said following his arrival.

“We’re at Durham University and we’re guests, but we’re professional guests and we want the people of the university to see us as a professional outfit.”

He added more recently: “The staff who are behind the scenes, not just here at the football club but at the university [at Maiden Castle], have been excellent to us.”

Curle’s policy is basic, but effective. For example, players know to take off their boots before heading back inside the complex, as well as the more common fining system for uncleaned boots. Players are believed to dine together more freely with academy players also sharing in that experience.

Even little things such as wearing their GPS data tracking vests, something which, it’s understood, was often overlooked previously, under their training kit to ensure the club’s official sponsor ‘Suit Direct’ is visible at all times are marked improvements.

“It’s a repeated thing that’s been landing on the commercial department’s desk, so it’s one of those where we make clear instructions to the players to wear your vest underneath your training top,” said Curle.

“It’s like saying to a player ‘you’ve got the No.5 at a corner’ and they might forget. So it’s one of those good habits of doing things which need to be done when it needs to be done and taking pride in it. I only ask players to do what I would do myself.”

Training itself, has seen an improvement in levels of fitness of the players with a more regimented, elongated, structure with one source disclosing to The Mail ‘it’s a lot better,’ when asked about the general feeling behind the scenes as spirits can often be seen high in club media snippets of games of head tennis to conclude sessions.

Even for supporters, who are, largely, restricted to the prism of media and the club’s output, there are more uplifting signs. Whether it be the way Curle conducts himself before and after games, with a smile and a hot chocolate, or sharing jokes which go viral, he endeavours to keep spirits high.

“We have to stay high in spirit. There’s no point coming in here and feeling sorry for ourselves. That won’t help,” full-back Reghan Tumilty told The Mail.

“We’ve got to keep team morale up. Everyone knows what the manager wants, so we just need to keep delivering that and hopefully our luck will change.”

Alex Lacey, another player who joined under previous manager Hartley, revealed to The Mail after the win over Grimsby Town: “It’s been a big change but it’s been enjoyable.

"He’s done a lot of work with us on the training pitch, and it’s a different style of football compared to the old gaffer, but I think there’s a bit more of a resilience amongst the squad at the minute. The confidence to keep going and fighting is there so we can graft out results when perhaps we weren’t as good as that before.”

And it’s not just new signings who have been encouraged by Curle, with the likes of captain Nicky Featherstone and goalkeeper Ben Killip, two of the club’s most senior players, also heartened by the ‘togetherness’ he has instilled.

“He’s spoken to me quite a lot over the last month or so,” Featherstone said recently.

“He’s got a good track record at this level. It’s just if we, as a club, can help him to bring in certain players that he wants to help push us forward. But in terms of how he’s been with me, he’s been spot on.”

Killip said: “He’s set new standards for us. He’s got us all together and he’s tried to create a team togetherness and I think he’s done it well.”

It’s significant Curle has been able to improve that side of things during his 10 league games in charge, particularly as they continue to struggle at the foot of the table, although there has been an upturn in points and statistics – albeit very marginal.

Whether it be by taking players to one side to address their issues, something which can often be seen at the end of a week of training after selecting his team for the weekend, with players encouraged to express their concerns to him, or by partaking in a game of scrabble with staff on the team bus, Curle is approachable for both.

Where Hartley was keen to forge that ‘all of us together’ mantra, it is Curle who has had more success in achieving it.

And while it’s results which will determine whether or not his stay at Hartlepool will be truncated, like Hartley’s, they are means, and standards, to which the club need to continue building their foundations upon.