What next for Hartlepool United as Pools limp towards end of another underwhelming National League campaign?

For all the talk of progress on and off the pitch, Pools fans are now coming to terms with the prospect of a fourth successive season in the National League.

Saturday's bruising 3-0 defeat to play-off contenders Boreham Wood once again laid bare the fact that Pools have been nowhere near good enough to challenge for promotion this term.

While manager Nicky Featherstone might have pointed to the fact that Pools have amassed 62 points so far this season, a slight improvement on the 60 accrued in each of the last two campaigns, the harsh reality is that next to no progress has been made in a purely footballing sense.

True, ninth-placed Pools are still on course to finish in a higher league position than the previous two seasons - 12th in 2023/24 and 11th in 2024/25 - but it would not be much of a surprise were Featherstone's side to lose all of their last three games, opening the door for Woking and Tamworth to leapfrog them in the final weeks of the campaign.

Whatever the case, the fact that Featherstone is keen to focus on what is, to all intents and purposes, a meaningless statistic tells a tale all of its own.

For understandable reasons, the Pools boss is eager to find some positives from his up-and-down time in charge so far; after all, new owner Landon Smith looks set to run the rule over his future in the coming weeks, with a miserable recent run of four games without a win doing little to help his cause.

If this season is remembered for much at all on the pitch, then it will be for a series of humiliating defeats, some of which are likely to go down as among the worst in the club's entire history.

Pools were dumped out of the FA Cup at the fourth qualifying round stage - the third season in a row in which they've failed to make the first round proper - by Northern Premier League Premier Division side Gainsborough Trinity before suffering an even more ignominious exit in the FA Trophy, going down to Northern Premier League Division One Midlands minnows Anstey Nomads.

In the league, Pools were beaten 4-0 by Woking in their first game since Smith completed his takeover of the club from controversial former owner Raj Singh, were thrashed 3-0 at home by lowly Aldershot Town before losing 7-0 against Wealdstone last month, their heaviest defeat since 1994; while Featherstone's time in charge so far has not been without positives, the 37-year-old has been at the helm for all of those bruising results.

To make matters worse, Pools are now in the midst of a miserable run of four games without a win having been outclassed by Boreham Wood at the weekend, heaping further pressure on the embattled Featherstone.

Indeed, Pools are now without a goal in any of their last four matches - well over six hours of football - and have failed to score in 16 of their 46 games this term; the only three teams to have managed fewer National League goals than Pools this season have all been relegated.

The fact is that there is lots of room for improvement over the summer if Pools are to progress from this season's disappointing effort and the recent appointment of specialist football consultancy firm Bromby and Partners suggests it won't be long before the winds of change are blowing at Victoria Park.

Among the first decisions likely to be made are regarding the futures of Featherstone, who said on Saturday that off-field uncertainty was hindering his side's performances, assistant manager Gary Liddle, who admitted last week that Pools were "in the world of the unknown", and the playing squad, most of whom are believed to be out of contract at the end of the season.

Whatever happens, it's pretty clear that Pools need more than a superficial squad makeover if they're to achieve Smith's stated aims of sustainable growth and an eventual return to the Football League; after all, Pools have changed managers and overhauled almost their entire squad in each of the last two seasons, leading to next to no progress on the pitch.

If Pools are to achieve - and, significantly, sustain - success then Smith will also need to make some difficult decisions elsewhere.

While the American businessman's pragmatic, patient and practical approach has made sense so far - after all, Smith inherited the club in the middle of the season, while by his own admission he had plenty to learn about Hartlepool as both a town and a football team - there have been few signs of tangible change off the pitch.

Without doubt, there is still genuine optimism that Pools are on the cusp on an exciting new era but recent results and performances have been a sobering reminder of how much work Smith has to do if he's to achieve what Singh failed to do, leading Hartlepool United back to the Football League - and then keeping them there.

Your next Hartlepool United read: Featherstone determined to galvanise Pools but admits 'we can only help so much'