John Askey's 'remarkable' Hartlepool United influence as Pools bid to beat League Two drop

Askey is unbeaten in eight games since taking over at the Suit Direct Stadium in place of Keith Curle with two wins and six draws.

It is a run which has seen Hartlepool climb out of the relegation zone with just five games left of the season.

One word which has often cropped up when players have been asked to give their verdict on Askey since his arrival is ‘organisation.’

But first team coach Sweeney has expanded on that when detailing just why Askey has been able to produce such a turnaround at the club in a short space of time.

"He’s come in and he’s given the lads a solid game plan. It doesn’t veer too much away from that,” said Sweeney.

"So as a player you’ve got a clear understanding of what’s expected of you in them positions. It’s nothing too complicated, but when you reinforce them simple messages over and over again, whether it’s on the training ground or in team talks or analysis meetings, they sort of become second nature and I think that’s what you’re seeing.

"He wants to defend and he wants to be compact. He doesn’t want it to be too much like the 20 minutes at the end [against Stevenage] but he wants to give the players the freedom to go and play and score and get forward and be a real threat and I think that is what you’ve seen with our goal tally.

"We’ve scored a fair amount of goals, we’ve just conceded too many. But it’s the game plan and clear messages.

"He’s done a remarkable job because coming into the situation he did, it was a really difficult situation to come into. So to remain unbeaten against the teams he’s had to put our team out against, fair play to him. Excellent.”

Askey recently admitted to The Mail it would be his best job to date in management were he to keep Hartlepool in the Football League this season.

But after a bright start to life at the Suit Direct Stadium, it is now in Hartlepool’s hands as to whether they avoid relegation.

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