Josh Umerah hails 'magnificent' Keith Curle as ex-Charlton Athletic striker leads the way for Hartlepool United

Umerah has been the centre of attention since Curle’s arrival after he was surprisingly substituted early in the second half of Curle’s first game in charge against Gillingham, a game which would end in stalemate, before being a headline omission from the starting XI against Mansfield Town six days later.

Umerah watched from the bench for 60 minutes at the One Call Stadium before getting the nod from his manager where he would make the perfect impact in rescuing a point for Hartlepool with two goals in the final 30 minutes.

The 25-year-old repaid Curle’s faith upon his return to the starting line-up when expertly opening the scoring against Doncaster Rovers, helping Pools secure their first league win of the season and taking his tally to six for the campaign.

But despite his position in the starting XI perhaps not being as certain as he had imagined, Umerah has been impressed with Curle after replacing Paul Hartley last month.

“He’s been magnificent,” Umerah told The Mail.

“What he’s enforced into the team has been different, but everyone is buying into it. I’m buying into it and hopefully we start to get [more] wins.”

It’s widely accepted that Umerah has been one of the more successful summer acquisitions by Hartlepool after arriving for an undisclosed fee from Wealdstone.

But it’s not just been Umerah’s return of six goals in 12 league appearances that has caught the eye. Instead, it has been the nature of his performances when leading the line which has drawn supporters to him. Although, the goals have certainly grabbed the attention of interim boss Curle.

“Every team and every coach wants strikers. I’ve played in some games where, tactically, we’ve got everything right but haven’t put the ball in the net and other games where things have gone wrong and you’ve had 16 or 17 chances but don’t score,” explained Curle.

“We need goals in the team and everyone at the football club wants a centre-forward that scores goals.”

What has helped Umerah is how quickly he has been able to settle and readjust to life back in the Football League, an environment he does not want to give up again.

“As well as the staff and everyone making it easier for me, the supporters have made it easy for me,” explained Umerah.

"I see the love that they show me and as a player you thrive off that. No player will tell you they don’t thrive off the support of the fans so it’s a massive impact.

“My ethos is to always leave it out there every single game. Obviously you get players who score as many goals as I do and stick around in the National League for various reasons but my mission is to play in the league and play as high as I can.

“I’ve settled quite quickly. I’ve got myself a nice place not too far from the ground so I’m very happy right now.”