How things unravelled for Paul Hartley after Hartlepool United part company with ex-Celtic and Hearts midfielder

There was an air of inevitability following the 2-0 defeat at Sutton United, as though Hartley knew he was on the precipice.

But if that were the case, he needed a performance from his players - a performance he didn’t get.

Pools were abject at the VBS Community Stadium, not for the first time, in what has been a stagnant and alarming start to the campaign.

And it is a start which now sees chairman Raj Singh searching for a new manager, with the decision made to part ways with Hartley just three months after his appointment.

But how have things unravelled so quickly for Hartley following a summer of cautious optimism?

Loss of key players

The first chink in the armour can be traced back to the primitive stages of Hartley’s tenure.

While the majority of the Hartlepool squad awaited their flight home from a warm weather training camp in Portugal, two key players from last season were making their own journeys across the UK.

Omar Bogle never travelled to Portugal. His absence, coupled with Marcus Carver’s illness, meant Pools did not have a recognised striker available to them for their opening pre-season fixture with Hibernian.

Instead, Bogle, who helped transform Hartlepool’s season under Graeme Lee in the early weeks following his arrival at the Suit Direct Stadium with four goals in eight appearances, was busy tying up a deal to join Newport County - where he has already scored six times this season.

Elsewhere, defender Neill Byrne, who did form part of the squad in the Algarve, was jumping on a flight to Merseyside to finalise a move to Tranmere Rovers.

They were two big losses for Hartley - even more so when you factor in last season’s player of the year Luke Molyneux’s exit, with Timi Odusina and Gary Liddle also moving on.

Collectively, these are huge misses for Pools. Key players who contributed a large quantity to the survival efforts in 2021/22.

And while these departures may not necessarily have been down to Hartley, given his arrival in June, they impacted him from the off.

Recruitment

Those exits also hinted at it being a summer overhaul for Hartley and his assistant Gordon Young.

With loan players returning to parent clubs, certain players overlooked for new deals and others moving on, 16 players left the Suit Direct Stadium between the final game of last season against Colchester United and the closing of the transfer window in September.

It was, then, crucial for Hartley to make his recruitment both right and efficient - one of which was not the case, the other of which remains very much open for debate.

Despite handing out eight debuts in his starting XI, Hartley was unable to fill his substitutes bench on the opening day of the season at Walsall owing to the ponderous pace of recruitment in key areas.

With that said, barring one or two of the new arrivals, most have struggled to adapt to life both at Hartlepool, and in League Two, as evidenced by results so far this campaign.

It’s no secret Hartley missed out on a number of targets this summer, some of which have already scored more goals individually than Pools have combined, which kind of tells its own story.

But with Chris Maguire, Hartley’s final deal has already fallen short.

The pressure was already on Hartley, but the signing of Maguire signalled, perhaps, a sense of backing from above.

Yet less than a week after joining the club, Maguire has been unable to feature due to a registration issue before Hartley then confessed to the 33-year-old being out indefinitely with a foot problem.

League Two surprise

That bruising opening day defeat at Walsall was a wake-up call to Hartley.

But, alarmingly, Hartley stated after that defeat: “I can’t accept another performance like that for as long as I’m here.”

Those are not the words to ignite hope or optimism on day one of a season, especially given that 11 of the 17 players in the squad were signed on his watch.

Did Hartley underestimate the level of League Two as a manager?

It’s difficult to say, but Pools have yet to learn from a number of the mistakes seen in that opening day defeat, with several performances akin.

Defensively frail

One thing Hartley suggested upon his appointment was the need to improve defensively.

But that has not been the case.

Pools are already the most penetrable defence in the league having conceded 17 times and - but for Ben Killip - it would have been more.

Hartley’s side have conceded four on three occasions and are giving up an expected goals (xG) of 1.97 per match.

Two desperately late equalisers against in recent weeks have undoubtedly impacted confidence, but there is a fragility to Pools in defence with Hartley himself admitting after the defeat to Sutton his side are ‘too easy’ to play against.

Lack of goal threat

Equally however, that vulnerability in defence has been mirrored by a profligacy in front of goal and Hartley hasn’t been able to remedy a formula to make Pools a big enough threat going forward.

Pools have an xG of 1.03 this season but even on the occasion they have improved on that figure, such as against Crewe, they have missed glaring opportunities to win games.

And while Hartley himself can’t put the ball in the back of the net, it takes you back to the recruitment in the summer.

Tactics and selection

Despite referencing the need for ‘speed’ and ‘power’ in both his recruitment and style of play, we have scarcely seen any of those attributes.

But what has also become evident is Hartley’s uncertainty within his squad given the number of changes made.

In 11 games, Hartley has used five different formations, with Saturday’s defeat at Sutton the first time he refrained from making any changes to his line-up.

This displays a possible lack of trust in his squad, as well as opening itself up to Hartley still being unsure of what his best team and set-up is.

After going a goal down at Sutton, Hartley made a triple substitution with little change to the system which would only come after falling further behind.

There is a balance between being reactionary and proactive in games and sometimes you could argue Hartley has been on the wrong side of that.

Likewise, there has also been elements of surprise in his starting XI, most notably in the opening weeks of the campaign when Hartley opted to leave out midfielder Tom Crawford despite him being one of the brighter sparks in pre-season.

Fitness concerns

For one reason or another, Pools have appeared to be off the pace in a number of games this season.

While Hartley has been unfortunate with injuries to key players, there has been a clear lack of match sharpness at times.

Hartley has revealed on a number of players brought into the club that they have not played many games recently, or they have missed out on pre-season, and that has told as Pools have laboured, particularly in the second half of games.