What is Hartlepool United's plan and where do they go from here? Transfer business and play-off hopes assessed

While Dave Challinor knew he had a huge task on his hands coming to Pools, the past two months have probably given him an even better idea of how difficult it will be to get the club out of the division, particularly this season.

But he’ll also have a better idea of what he feels is required to help the club achieve its goals.

So far we’ve seen several changes in personnel, formations and systems yet results haven’t improved as there’s been no real ‘honeymoon period’ for the new Pools boss.

Talk has continued about a potential play-off challenge but Pools haven’t found themselves properly in the top seven at any point so far this season and have spent only three gameweeks out of a possible 30 inside the top 10.

There are still 51 points to play for in the National League this season so things are far from over. But to make the play-offs Pools would have to average roughly two points a game for the final 17 games of the season.

That’s asking Challinor’s side to suddenly establish and maintain title challenging form for over a third of the season – it’s unlikely.

We’re in January now and any Pools turnaround would have to be as drastic as it is unprecedented in the fifth tier.

There is a good reason why no National League team has been promoted after sacking their manager partway through the season and a lot of it is down to the players that manager inherits.

Whether the players have the quality or not, they’re ultimately not the new manager’s players and a period of bedding to discover the best side is necessary.

The turnaround is very difficult as we’ve seen at Hartlepool on numerous occasions. With Challinor, the case is he knows his best side just isn’t necessarily satisfied with it.

Over the next few months teams will be laying the groundwork and preparing for the following season which for Pools, looks set to be another in the National League.

But they can’t really afford to have another season of unfulfilled potential in non-league football, ideally they needed to go up this season.

In Challinor, Pools have a manager who is used to success and what is required to achieve it at a non-league level. He’s never finished outside of a play-off position in his 10-years in management and now faces arguably his toughest challenge yet if he wants that record to continue.

As the results suggest, the former AFC Fylde manager has been far from perfect so far but Pools do seem to have the right man in charge if given time.

A large part of it comes down to the players. Several players have been given more than enough chances to deliver this season but ultimately came up short and the ones who have delivered aren’t consistent enough to do so on a regular basis.

Ultimately, last summer’s recruitment was very questionable in hindsight. At the time, it looked as though Craig Hignett was assembling a large, experienced squad capable of challenging at the top end of the table.

In reality, it was a case of quantity over quality as far too many midfielders and similar players were signed and kept on during the off season. There was also a lot of bad luck in the form of injuries to Luke Molyneux for example with the winger only just returning to fitness now.

But in the case of Luke Williams, there was always a massive risk that his impact for the first team would be limited as has proven to be the case.

It would be interesting to see what Challinor would do given a similar sort of budget and how he could address the current shortcomings of Pools’ side.

A striker is the next obvious and quite frankly necessary target for Pools as Challinor hopes to complete a loan deal over the coming weeks.

Former Pools forward Devante Rodney is back available from Salford City after ending his loan spell at Stockport County, scoring twice in 10 National League matches.

Myles Anderson and Adam Bale have returned from their respective loan spells this week. Niko Muir could also return following this weekend which could leave the squad looking fairly heavy in numbers once again.

Bale is likely to be loaned out again while Muir’s loan at Hemel Hempstead could be extended though Anderson is thought to be keen to fight for his place in the side.

Anderson’s return could impact any potential extension of Gary Liddle’s loan move which ends following the Stockport County game at the end of the month.

Mark Shelton’s loan ends the game before against Yeovil Town though Challinor has expressed his desire to secure the young playmaker down on a permanent deal if something could be agreed.

Any outgoings will ultimately depend on who Pools are able to bring in. They don’t want their squad to become too heavy once again, it needs to be streamlined and competitive.

Jason Kennedy's limited game time could see him be allowed to leave the club this month after Challinor admitted he would make the midfielder available to other clubs if he remained uninvolved.

A number of Football League clubs are also thought to be looking at young defender Peter Kioso following several impressive performances for Pools this season. Pools will no doubt be keen to keep hold of one of their most consistent performers unless a substantial offer came in.

Overall, we can expect a busy few weeks for Pools in terms of games but also potentially transfers as well as they look to keep their season alive.