Keith Curle comments on Josh Umerah award and the assistance of ex-Leyton Orient and Carlisle United striker

Umerah scored three times in five league appearances in January, taking his tally for the season to 13, as he saw off plenty of competition for the award.

Umerah received 19 per cent of the votes to take home January's award, beating fellow nominees including Carlisle United’s Kristian Dennis, Salford City’s Conor McAleny, Gillingham’s Tom Nichols, Stevenage’s Carl Piergianni and Colchester United’s Junior Tchamadeu.

Umerah scored Hartlepool’s first goal in the 3-3 draw with Harrogate Town on New Year’s Day before finding the back of the net against Rochdale and Carlisle with the 25-year-old suggesting there will be more to come from both him and the team over the remainder of the season.

Umerah thanked Hartlepool supporters and his team-mates as well as manager Curle, who believes the striker has taken on board the advice he has been given in recent months after demanding more from his talisman.

“It’s massive for the lad. He’s taken a step up, he’s committed to the football club, he’s committed to his career,” said Curle.

“[In the summer] it would have been easy for him to have stayed in London or around that area. He’s seen an opportunity and he’s taken it with both hands.

“Since coming up here he’s bought into the philosophy, he’s bought into the football club, and what we’re trying to do, and he’s scoring his goals and he’s enjoying his football.

“On a personal note, it’s pleasing for me because I had a conversation with Josh in that I still think there’s more to come from him and he took it in the right way.

“He understood that it wasn’t a dressing down. It was a demand for more because I see more potential in him. You can have that conversation with some players and they take it as a criticism, but from my point of view it was a case of ‘I think there’s more to come Josh’ and he’s on a progressive trajectory that will see him score goals and potentially climbing he divisions.”

Initially, it wasn’t straightforward for Curle and his discussions with Umerah.

The striker, despite leading the club’s scoring charts and impressing following his arrival from the National League for an undisclosed fee, felt as though Curle had an agenda against him and the other strikers at the club, with Curle having been a former centre-back himself.

But having analysed the data with Umerah, Curle was able to make a breakthrough with the forward after bringing in assistance from his former Carlisle United striker Jabo Ibehre.

Ibehre spent two years with Curle at Brunton Park where he enjoyed something of a rejuvenation with his career in terms of games played and goals scored with 27 goals in 74 league appearances.

And the influence of the former Leyton Orient man has allowed Umerah to remain Hartlepool’s key threat this season.

“Josh came to see me and asked if I did not like centre-forwards because I used to be a centre-back and enjoy confrontations with centre-forwards.

"But Josh is one of the players who has taken on board the statistical data that we’ve been able to supply to him. It wasn’t high enough.

"I got him in contact with Jabo Ibehre who was a an ex-centre-forward of mine who was coming to the latter stages of his career and, at the time, he went through victim mode as well thinking I was always on his case,” said Curle.

"But he had his best two goal season returns under me, he enjoyed his football immensely under me, he probably prolonged his career under me. But at the beginning he thought I was onto him because he could never do enough for me. I always wanted more.

“I got more out of him than a lot of other managers and formed a relationship whereby at the end of it he knew why I was doing it. At the time, first of all, he thought that I didn’t like him because he could never do enough for me.”

And Curle recognised the similarities with Umerah when demanding similar things from the Pool striker.

“It took a little bit of time to sink in because when he first walked in he thought: ‘Is the manager having a go at me? I’m the club’s leading goalscorer and you’re telling me you want more from me.’

“After [Josh] came to see me again for a little bit of clarity asking if he wasn’t doing enough I said no, but you can do more.

“There’s a difference in that conversation and he walked out with a smile on his face knowing that the message is ‘the manager wants me to do more.’ I think his numbers [since] have improved on the pitch and in training and I think he’s looking more of a goal threat.

“Every player has to get treated differently. I think there’s more to come from Josh so I put demands on Josh. It’s how he accepts it. I’ve coached and managed at good levels so for me to put demands on people who I think are there, take it as a compliment.”

Meanwhile, the PFA and also announced winners from the Premier League, WSL, EFL Championship and EFL League One, with Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City), Khadija Shaw (Manchester City), Chuba Akpom (Middlesbrough), and Josh Windass (Sheffield Wednesday) claiming the award alongside Umerah in League Two.