'It's not panic stations' - Antony Sweeney has played down Hartlepool United's recent form after Port Vale defeat

Antony Sweeney insists Hartlepool United are not yet at panic stations despite a fifth straight defeat in League Two.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

It was another disappointing day on their travels for Hartlepool as they were edged out by Port Vale at Vale Park with Pools’ slide down the table showing no signs of halting just yet.

Ben Garrity scrambled Vale’s opener just after the half hour before Tom Pett sealed the points for Darrell Clarke’s side late on as Pools once again struggled in front of goal.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

After an excellent start to the season, since Dave Challinor’s departure earlier this month, Pools have gone from the fringes of the League Two play-offs to 17th and bottom of the form table.

Antony Sweeney went up against his former teammate Darrell Clarke at Port Vale (Credit: James Holyoak | MI News)Antony Sweeney went up against his former teammate Darrell Clarke at Port Vale (Credit: James Holyoak | MI News)
Antony Sweeney went up against his former teammate Darrell Clarke at Port Vale (Credit: James Holyoak | MI News)

But Sweeney remained assured that there is no need for Pools supporters to panic just yet despite another frustrating afternoon in the Potteries.

“It’s quite easy to be really emotional right now,” Sweeney told The Mail.

“I don’t want to sound as though I’m disregarding a losing streak that we’re in, and I’m not. But it’s also not panic stations yet.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It’s not a case of [us] being right in a dogfight at this moment in time. If things carry on then that will eventually be the case.

“But we’ve shown at various times within games that we’ve got the right ingredients, we just can’t find the right mix for long enough.

“Hopefully a new manager will find that. I’m pretty sure there’ll be that new manager bounce that there tends to be and assessing the football club, I think it needs that.”

While Sweeney is hopefully of a new manager bounce, that requires the club to finalise an appointment with Pools now having gone seven games since Challinor’s departure.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A blip in form was always likely to happen for Pools at some stage this season and while there can be no denying the root of the cause has stemmed from Challinor’s exit for Stockport County, Sweeney insists it is a collective issue.

“There’s loads of factors which will go into this run. The obvious one is there’s been a major turnover in staff. Not just the previous manager. So there’s always a transition period of people trying to work out their lane.

“This is a collective thing. This is not a blame game for the players or the football club or a blame game for not appointing. There's all sorts of things that go into the mix.

“We’ve made mistakes as a staff which I suppose will happen when you’re a novice in the position whether that be team selections or substitutions, whatever that is.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“There’s things that I think we’ve got right but for whatever reason it hasn’t gotten us the rewards and the success that it should have.”

Pools must now turn their attentions away from League Two action as they face a cup double header in the Papa John’s Trophy at Sheffield Wednesday on Wednesday night before another away game in the FA Cup at League One Lincoln City.

Perhaps when Pools return to league duty themselves in 11 days there will be a new manager in the dugout at the Suit Direct Stadium and their fortunes can turn around.

A message from the Football Clubs Editor

Our aim is to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative Hartlepool United coverage 365 days a year.

This depth of coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to, please consider taking out a subscription to our new sports-only package here.

Your support is much appreciated. Richard Mennear, Football Clubs Editor.