Collins - unhappy

By Charlie Summerbell
August 12 2012

If Hartlepool United needed an early-season wake-up call, they certainly got it at Crewe where a 5-0 League Cup defeat in the first competitive match of the new campaign suggests we could be in for a tough nine months,

Not content with conceding English football’s first two goals of the season, Pools were four down well before half-time and conceded the fifth in second-half injury time.

It was a shambles, an embarrassment and probably a bit of a shock as well.

We can’t be bothered to mention the Crewe goals or the scorers, it only really matters to them anyway. But what should be mentioned is that the Pools started badly and gradually got worse.

No wonder Neale Cooper said he was devastated after the game.

He told the club website: “I was really hurt today.

“There was some horrendous defending … I’ve never seen a back four look so much like they’d never even met each other. That was horrendous … they tortured us and I am not a happy person.”

Skipper Sam Collins admitted the performance was not good enough and added: "Hopefully this will give us a kick up the backside. Maybe we are not as good as we thought we were.”

Hopefully a few home truths were issued in the dressing room after the game.

Losing at Crewe, arguably one of the best-run small clubs in the country, is no disgrace.

Losing 5-0 anywhere is.

If this was a foretaste of what is to come, Pools are doomed.

On this form, without a League game even played, they WILL be relegated.

It’s up to Cooper and his shell-shocked players to put it right.