John Askey inside track: What Hartlepool United can expect from ex-Shrewsbury Town, Port Vale and York City boss

Askey replaces Keith Curle and is tasked with retaining the club’s Football League status.

But what can Hartlepool supporters expect from the new man in charge and should they be confident he can steer them to safety?

To find out, we caught up with a man who knows Askey well in Dan Simmonite.

Dan dealt with Askey frequently as York City’s media manager during his time with the Minstermen and gives us the low-down on the new man in the dugout at the Suit Direct Stadium.

John Askey has been appointed as the new manager of Hartlepool United. Why should Hartlepool supporters be excited?

John Askey is a great manager and has a proven track record when it comes to working against the odds. He did it with getting York promoted and also Macclesfield on the lowest budget in the league.

I think the appointment has come at just the right time for Hartlepool. Fans will love him as he is a straight talker in interviews and genuinely cares about the club he works at.

He will get the team playing confident attacking football and I have no doubt the supporters will really warm to him. You only have to look at York’s increase in attendances from when he got appointed to see what a big impact and a lasting legacy he had at the club.

What can we expect a John Askey team to look like?

It’s no secret a John Askey team sets up to play attractive and attacking football. [York] would normally shape up in a 4-3-3 and he favoured fast wingers who could get in behind and chip in with goals.

One thing that was really noticeable from day one at York was the players looking to play along the floor and not resort to their previous long ball football. I think this really complemented the formation and attacking play and obviously got bums off seats.

Someone like David Ferguson would really benefit from his style of play and is exactly his type of player.

Hartlepool have the worst defensive record in the division. Is that something you expect him to resolve?

He will no doubt have known this coming into the job and will have a plan with Mark Goodlad to rectify the situation. One of the first things he did at York was bring in an analyst to work on these kinds of things which allowed players to get data driven feedback on their performances and also formulate ways to work together.

It’s fair to say he is walking into a challenging situation at Hartlepool. What can the players expect from him?

I think the players can expect a manager who is going to be honest with them in every situation. He wants grafters who will put everything out on the pitch.

He understands individuals and that can be said for the staff at the club as well – he got everyone wanting to run through a brick wall for him.

He will get the players’ confidence levels back up and you will hopefully see that on the pitch. Eventually we went into every game expecting to win which hadn’t been the case for a long time.

It's no secret John Askey is held in high regard at York City. Just how good was the job he did there and how did he do it?

John is considered one of the best managers we have ever had for getting us out of our lowest point in history when many had failed.

As a club we had high hopes for the 2021-22 season but were pretty much down and out in November sitting in mid table. John came in and we all didn’t expect much and had written off our season.

A few key players were shipped out and a bunch came in – most who had worked with John before - and things eventually just clicked. It didn’t happen immediately, but from February we went on a fantastic unbeaten run and managed to sneak into the play-offs and then won the whole thing.

A big thing was getting the supporters on side as this really helped with momentum and confidence of the players. John is an expert when it comes to this and will really try to bond with Hartlepool fans and unite the whole club.

Is there a preference for younger or more experienced players in a John Askey side and in the transfer market?

John tends to recruit players that he knows or has worked with before. I don’t think he has an age preference, but he does have a knack for unearthing a few gems – Maz Kouhyar comes to mind for York who joined from Hereford late in the season and virtually carried us over the line for promotion.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he is looking at a few current York players he signed who should be playing in a higher league. One thing with John is that he won’t just sign players he doesn’t know on a gamble – he will get them in training and look at them before deciding if they fit the mould of what he is trying to build.

He has also managed on a shoestring budget when Macclesfield won the league and successfully wheeled and dealed at York when there was no budget left to bring players in.

What can supporters expect from John Askey on the sideline? Does he like to be involved and seen to be shouting his instructions or is he more reserved?

You will always see John on the touchline shouting instructions and getting in the linesman’s ear. He was very vocal at York – even if we were up.

You won’t get much of a smile from him until the game is over because he is focused on getting the job done. Mark Goodlad is more laid back and will be John’s right hand man on the bench explaining tactics to players coming on and will put an arm round the players that need it.

Lastly, how confident would you be that John Askey can steer Hartlepool United to safety?

I think if he can replicate the same atmosphere we had at York where the club and fans were together in the quest of a common goal then Hartlepool will have no problem.

John will look to bring the fans on side, but the fans should be patient – as proved at York – it took a few games to get going but once he integrated his systems and got everyone at the club working together and believing again we were unstoppable.

Hartlepool are too big of a club to be in the National League and I’m very confident John will do the job to steer the club to survival. I’m sure York fans will be keeping a keen eye on the results and supporting ‘Sir John’ on his new project.