Joe Ramage: Hartlepool United chairman Raj Singh found himself at a crossroads in relegation battle as Keith Curle departs

Having slipped to a 91st minute defeat against Newport County, and with games beginning to run out for Hartlepool, chairman Raj Singh pulled the trigger for the second time this season as Keith Curle was relieved of his duties at the Suit Direct Stadium.

There was a toxicity in the air when the full-time whistle was blown signalling an 18th defeat this season - the 13th under Curle in his 24 league games.

In recent weeks we have seen supporters aim their frustrations towards Singh, this was different.

Where there has been a certain apathy surrounding defeats this season, Mickey Demetriou’s 91st minute header ignited a fuse of anger amongst the home supporters which poured out towards Curle at full-time.

Curle walked out onto the pitch to applaud those who remained in the Suit Direct Stadium for their support. The feeling was not reciprocated.

For the first time we heard ‘Curle Out’ chants vociferously rain down from the stands. There is often little way back from that point.

And to that point, this was a decision which had been coming - or at least was a decision which was to be contemplated.

Attendances have continued to drop this season at the Suit Direct Stadium, Tuesday’s fixture with Newport drawing less than 4,000 for only the second time this season as supporters voted with their feet as well as their voice.

When Curle walked into the mess left by Paul Hartley he knew it was going to be an uphill battle.

This was a club without a win in the league, in the bottom two, and, after just nine games, a squad which appeared desperately short of the required fitness levels who were destined to struggle despite a summer of upheaval.

But this wasn’t a situation unfamiliar to Curle.

“Whether it’s just me, or the jobs that I attract, some of the clubs I've been at, they’ve been on a downward spiral and I turn them around,” Curle said back in September following his appointment on an interim-basis.

“I think Oldham being an expectation, but I think Oldham is a case of they needed to wait another two months to give me that January window then I’d have kept them up.”

And Curle continuously backed himself that he would get Hartlepool out of this situation.

But after defeat to Newport, the alarm bells which had been ringing in the background now came to the forefront.

Curle, you could say, has moved Hartlepool out of the relegation zone as per when he arrived. But owing to the significant number of games in hand held elsewhere, the club are in a desperate situation.

The home fixtures with Newport and Walsall represented an opportunity to, at least, try and make the gap to Crawley Town a two-game gap. They failed at the first hurdle.

Curle ignited spirits, initially, behind the scenes after the fractious departure of Hartley. But in recent weeks it has felt as though that dark cloud, which is never too far away from Hartlepool it seems, had returned.

Curle has won six of his 24 league games in charge which you could say is an improvement on the zero wins the club had achieved in the opening nine games of the season.

But Curle had hinted, in the wake of the defeat to Newport, he would need his side to win at least five of their remaining 13 games if they were to stand a chance of survival. And while that figure is more than likely true, it seems difficult to suggest Curle would have been able to achieve it, particularly given what has transpired this season.

Over the next month, Hartlepool face a trip to Tranmere Rovers before four fixtures against teams in the top half aiming for either the play-offs or automatic promotion in Northampton Town, Bradford City, Leyton Orient and Swindon Town, with Stevenage, Salford City and Stockport County also still to play before the end of the season. As run-ins go, this looks periodically tough.

It’s why there was such emphasis placed upon January and February, both on and off the field.

Hartlepool had fixtures against all of those in and around them but have won just two of 10 league games in 2023.

“We needed to improve where we were, not only in the league position but also the quality in the changing room,” Curle told The Mail when asked about the start to 2023 following the defeat to Newport.

“I think we’ve brought in some players who I think have added to the squad and the squad dynamics.

“Take on board the fitness levels - they haven’t been playing regularly and consistently at their parent clubs so that takes a little bit of time to get up to speed but they’ve bedded in, been made to feel very welcome at the football club and, to a certain degree, have shown little bits of quality that sees it being an improved squad.”

But for chairman Singh, they have not shown enough little bits of quality for him to back his manager for the remainder of the campaign.

When addressing the decision made on Curle, Singh suggested it was one of the toughest he has had to make in his tenure at the club - and that is understandable to a degree.

Both Curle and his assistant Colin West are good people.

Curle always declared himself as approachable to his players and, while there will undoubtedly have been a mean streak behind the scenes in order to crack the whip, he continued that through the lens of the media and with supporters.

But this is, and always will be, a results driven business.

And for all that amicable nature is welcome, Curle, it seems, was unable to attain that sustained period of results required, with Singh now making his move.

If he wasn’t already, Singh’s decision to act now sees him firmly in a sink or swim environment.

As he scours for a third permanent manager of the season, the Hartlepool chairman must very quickly establish what he wants from his next appointment.

Is this to be a firefighting appointment where at the end of the season there will be a handshake and the process of a long-term successor to Curle will be carried out in the summer?

Or is Singh looking to start that process now with whoever comes in seen as the next man able to progress the club?

Despite the precarious nature of the club, there will continue to be suitors for the role.

But with such little time to come in and implement new ideas could the option be in front of Singh with the likes of Antony Sweeney and Lennie Lawrence already in the building?

It is a critical decision for Singh – one in which Hartlepool’s Football League status is resting on.