Striker Alex Reid "quietly confident" about Hartlepool United's promotion prospects
Hartlepool United striker Alex Reid has hailed manager Simon Grayson's calming influence and insists Pools won't put themselves under too much pressure to win promotion this season.
Pools are one of a number of former Football League clubs stranded in the fifth division, with the likes of York, Carlisle, Southend, Scunthorpe, Forest Green Rovers, Rochdale and Yeovil all desperate to get back to the promised land of the top four leagues. For some, like York and Carlisle, there is huge pressure to get back to League Two as soon as possible. York in particular have spent a remarkable amount of money relative to some of the other sides in the division, signing a whole host of high profile players over the summer to add to an already strong squad that included the likes of Ollie Pearce, who scored 31 goals in 47 games last season, Joe Felix, Alex Hunt, Harrison Male and Josh Stones, who was signed from Wigan in January for a rumoured fee of £350,000. Indeed, such is the weight of expectation at the York Community Stadium that manager Adam Hinshelwood, who staved off the threat of relegation during his first season in charge before leading the Minstermen to a second place finish last term, amassing an impressive 96 points, was sacked four games into the new campaign - even though his side were still unbeaten. Carlisle, likewise, have flexed their considerable financial muscles in a bid to bounce straight back to League Two having been relegated last term, signing Altrincham striker Regan Linney, who has bagged eight goals in his first nine games at Brunton Park, in May. With the likes of Southend, who average around 7,000 fans at every home game, and Rochdale, who have former Pools frontman Mani Dieseruvwe leading their line, also looking set to be in the mix this season, Simon Grayson's side have it all to do if they're to challenge for promotion.
Whether Reid is right and there really is less pressure on Pools than a side like Carlisle or York is up for debate. True, Pools haven't spent the same kind of money as some of their rivals in a bid to get back into the Football League - although it's worth noting that the playing budget does seem to have been increased over the summer by chairman and owner Raj Singh - but fans are still desperate to see their side return to, at least, League Two. Having been mere minutes away from winning promotion to the Championship in the 2005 play-off final, Pools fans have not had much to celebrate in the preceding two decades. Pools have been relegated four times, dropping out of the Football League for the first time in their entire history, and have even been pushed to the edge of footballing oblivion on more than one occasion. In recent years, the club has been wracked by division and discontent and a whole host of ownership issues have pushed some fans to stay away from home matches. So, while it might be a different sort of pressure, there is still pressure on Pools nonetheless; with tensions between some supporters and current owner Raj Singh still close to boiling point, Pools simply have to succeed sooner rather than later, or risk getting stranded in non-league football for the foreseeable future.
Certainly, there is pressure on Reid to score the goals to fire them into contention. Having lost Mani Dieseruvwe, who found the net 43 times in 89 games during a prolific spell at Victoria Park, to Rochdale over the summer, Pools turned to the 30-year-old in a bid to replace their talismanic top scorer. Fresh from scoring 17 goals in 32 games for Wealdstone last season, with his goals helping the Stones beat the drop on the final day of the National League campaign, Reid was a man in high demand over the summer and Pools had to fend off significant competition for his signature. After scoring three times in his first four matches, however, Reid is without a goal in five games and Pools have found things tough going in an attacking sense in recent weeks. Of course, Pools will need the likes of Danny Johnson, yet to open his account after completing a summer move from Walsall, Jermaine Francis, Luke Charman and new signing Vadaine Oliver to chip in as well, but fans are looking to Reid to score the goals to help their side challenge for a play-off place.
Although there have been plenty of positive signs, Pools, who are without a win in their last five games, are taking a little bit of time to get used to life under new manager Simon Grayson. Having replaced head coach Anthony Limbrick in June, Grayson and head of football Joe Monks did a remarkable job to assemble what looks to be a really competitive squad despite having lost ground on almost all of their National League rivals in the wake of ownership issues that overshadowed the end of last season. After a bright start that saw Pools pick up 10 points from the first 12 available, however, momentum has started to stall and Grayson's side dropped out of the play-off places on Saturday after failing to score for the third time in four games against newly-promoted Brackley. Nonetheless, Reid has been full of praise for the new boss, with the pair sharing a West Midlands connection; Reid, who was born in Birmingham, came through the ranks at Aston Villa, while Grayson made 49 Premier League appearances for Villa between 1997 and 1999. Speaking to Dazn, Reid hailed Grayson, who has already won four promotions in English football during his long and distinguished managerial career, as a calming influence on the Pools squad.
"The gaffer's been brilliant," he said.
"I wasn't aware when I signed that he'd played for Aston Villa. When I signed, and my family are big Aston Villa fans, my mum was like 'you know your gaffer used to play for Aston Villa'. That was one of the first conversations I had with him, we were talking about Villa.
"The gaffer's been brilliant, I think he brings a calmness to the lads. I've had managers in the past that will rule with an iron fist and shout and ball all the time. The gaffer's very precise in what he wants, he brings a calmness to the lads and so far, so good.
"I just think we can be quietly confident without there being masses and masses of pressure for us to have to go up, and have to be promoted. Unlike some of the other teams, we can just sort of chip away all season, get points on the board, win games and see where it takes us. Come the end of the season we can sort of look at it and say, 'well, we were quietly confident we could get promotion and do well. Maybe everyone else didn't quite see it.'"