Where is it all going wrong for Hartlepool United - and how can Pools get back on track?

It all started so well for Pools, who picked up 10 points from the first 12 available and kept four consecutive clean sheets. Simon Grayson's side then managed to navigate the notoriously tricky August bank holiday weekend, so often the undoing of Pools in recent years, unscathed after coming from behind to draw with well-fancied Southend.

Despite a turbulent end to the 2024/25 season and a dramatic summer that saw a change in the dugout, with Grayson replacing head coach Anthony Limbrick in June, a huge overhaul of players that included the departures of Mani Dieseruvwe and Joe Grey, as well as a chaotic period off the pitch that culminated in chairman and owner Raj Singh's return following a vote among season ticket holders, Pools looked to have made significant progress in the opening weeks of the new campaign.

It goes without saying that the chaotic conditions did not exactly seem conducive to a successful season, but as the dust settled on the latest off-field debacle Pools started to make positive strides in the right direction. While some fans were aghast at the threadbare state of their squad when Grayson, who arrived with four promotions in the Football League to his name and a new lease of life following spells coaching in India and Nepal, took charge, he insisted he relished the prospect of what was in effect a blank canvas. Despite starting off on the back foot, the new boss, together with head of football Joe Monks, set to work assembling a squad capable of challenging for promotion. Certainly, Grayson talked a good game, insisting that another mid-table finish - Pools were 12th in the 2023/24 campaign, and 11th last term - would be deemed unacceptable this time around.

Against the odds, Pools managed to make a number of impressive signings, with 12 new faces arriving at Victoria Park ahead of the new campaign - Vadaine Oliver, who has since scored in back-to-back home games, Nathan Ferguson, Michael Dacosta Gonzalez and George Evans have all joined since the beginning of the season. Pools assembled a whole new defence, with goalkeeper Harvey Cartwright, who has since returned to parent club Hull after sustaining a thigh injury having kept an impressive seven clean sheets in 13 appearances, as well as the likes of Jay Benn, Besart Topallaj, Reiss McNally, Cameron John and Maxim Kouogun all proving popular among supporters so far this season. To replace the goals lost by Dieseruvwe, who scored 43 times in 89 matches during a prolific spell at Victoria Park, as well as the creativity of Grey, Reyes Cleary and Anthony Mancini, Pools turned to Alex Reid, fresh from finding the net 17 times in 32 games for strugglers Wealdstone last term, Danny Johnson, Matty Daly and Jermaine Francis.

Whatever the relative merits of the club's transfer business, it's worth noting that the vast majority of Pools fans were delighted with most of the summer signings prior to the new season.

First of all, some perspective feels important. While a run of one win in their last 10 matches has seen Pools slide out of the play-off places and down to 12th, they remain just four points outside the top seven with more than two-thirds of the season still to go. While it's true that recent results have been hugely disappointing, it's worth remembering that Pools have been generally competitive and three of their four defeats so far this season have come at the hands of Forest Green Rovers, York and Carlisle, arguably the sides with the three biggest budgets and best squads in the entire division.

Had Pools turned even a couple of their six draws into wins, then the situation could well look entirely different and fans might be talking up their side's chances as genuine promotion contenders. After this weekend's FA Cup clash with Northern Premier League Premier Division side Gainsborough Trinity - a bit of a potential banana skin, given that the Lincolnshire outfit have won nine of their last 10 games in all competitions - Pools face, on paper at least, a more favourable run of matches and are set to take on strugglers Sutton, Solihull Moors and Morecambe, none of whom are higher than 17th in the National League table.

While a lack of goals is without doubt a significant concern - Pools have scored just 13 times in their first 14 games, making them the division's joint-lowest scorers - their rock solid defensive record should be applauded. Grayson's side have kept an impressive seven clean sheets in 14 games so far this season and have one of the division's meanest defences; if Pools can strike the right balance between defensive solidity and the need to get on the front foot and play attacking football, then this season could well turn into something special after all.

Even so, the parallels between this season and last term are strikingly concerning. Just like last year, Pools made a bright start built on solid defensive foundations but are at risk of unravelling due to a lack of firepower in the final third. Indeed, after 14 games last season, Pools had amassed 17 points, just one fewer than Grayson's side have after the same number of matches this time around.

True, by last October Pools already felt doomed to another season of frustration and disappointment, whereas this term fans are at least holding onto hope of an upturn in form, but Grayson's side can ill-afford too many more slip-ups before the tide of opinion on the terraces turns irrevocably against them. While Grayson's position, surely, is not under any sort of significant threat at this stage, the Pools boss will no doubt be well aware of the fate that befell the outspoken Darren Sarll after his side were dumped out of the FA Cup at the fourth qualifying round stage last October.

So, while Pools are right to feel that their season is still very much salvageable, Grayson will have to work hard to address a number of issues that have plagued his side in recent weeks. Foremost among them is a well-documented lack of goals, with neither Reid, who found the net three times in his first four matches but has failed to score in seven games since, nor Johnson, yet to open his account after 14 fruitless appearances, managing to hit the ground running at Victoria Park.

Of course, inevitable comparisons will be made between the two new frontmen and Dieseruvwe, who has scored nine goals in his first 11 outings for Rochdale, but it's worth remembering that the hugely popular talisman endured a lean spell at the beginning of last term and was at one stage dropped by Darren Sarll. In hindsight, a lot of that was down to how Pools approached games, with Dieseruvwe often left isolated and forced to feed off scraps in the opening weeks of the 2024/25 season.

It wasn't until Pools started to attack with more purpose and show a preparedness to throw more bodies forward that the frontman burst back into life. Reid and Johnson might well have been feeling a similar sense of isolation at times so far this term. Both men are proven goalscorers but it is pivotal that Pools start playing to their strengths if they're to bring the best out of them. Of course, there have been other factors at play of late and Pools have suffered a number of injuries to key players, with Reid joined on the treatment table by McNally, Benn and Cartwright at various stages already this season.

The bizarre departure of assistant manager Neil McDonald, meanwhile, just two months after his arrival suggested all had not been quite right behind the scenes. Pools fans will be hoping that the appointment of former South Shields manager Elliot Dickman to the coaching staff as well as a renewed focus on attacking football will help their side arrest their recent slump and turn their faltering fortunes around.

First thing's first, Pools need to make sure they avoid another embarrassing exit in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round stage. Perhaps Saturday's trip to an in-form Gainsborough side will give Grayson the chance to hand Vadaine Oliver, signed last month in a bid to provide Pools with some much-needed firepower up front, a first start in blue and white while it might also represent a welcome opportunity to take stock and prepare for what promises to be a hectic couple of months in the lead up to the festive period. Clearly, Pools are not where they'd like to be but there are still reasons to be optimistic this season - even if a turnaround in form will need to happen sooner rather than later.

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