By Albatross
November 1 2005

Hartlepool United come face to face with Neale Cooper tonight for the first time since his sudden departure last season. Cooper's Gillingham side visit Victoria Park for a game that was originally postponed due to international call-ups. Neale Cooper must be wondering what he's let himself in for at Gillingham at the moment: last season's relegation was followed by the dismemberment of the squad and he's not had much available in terms of funds to rebuild. The result is that the Gills currently find themselves just above the relegation places.

Their season has been one marred by inconsistency - now where have we heard that before! Saturday's win at home to Blackpool was their first in the league for a month; that in turn was more than a month since the previous one. They have yet to win on the road, but have managed to draw four out of six.

Former Sunderland forward Darren Byfield is leading scorer for the Kent club with four (plus one in the Carling Cup); however he has missed several games with a knee problem and is doubtful for the clash with Pools. He's only one part of a growing list of players unavailable through injury; to shore things up Cooper has brought in Neil Harris on loan from Nottingham Forest, and surprisingly Paul Smith from Walsall. The latter is actually the Gills' current player of the year, but departed in the summer after failing to agree a new contract. The club claimed to have offered a good deal; Smith himself claimed he'd been asked to reduce his wages by 70% - but having failed to cope with travelling up to the Midlands, he's back on loan and the former club captain with close to 400 appearances to his name is set to make the move permanent in the new year.

The situation at Priestfield seems a lot less than happy. Cooper put four players - including former Pools loanee Alan Pouton - on the transfer list last week, and apparently there may be more to follow. Whether it's Cooper or Scally making the decisions is currently a matter of some debate amongst Gills fans.

As far as the team news for Pools goes, the good news is that Mickey Nelson is available again after his suspension. Given the way the Collins-Williams partnership has performed it may be harsh to seperate them, but I expect to see Nelse restored to the defence with in all likelihood Craddock dropping to the bench. Other than the usual collection of injuries we don't seem to have any major doubts after Saturday although it's possible that Proctor may return, possibly in place of Llewellyn.

Can Pools make it three wins on the trot? Our opponents aren't pulling up many trees, and you'd have to favour us for this game. Cooper will be determined to prove a point, but I think he may have to settle for honourable defeat: 2-1 to Pools, Eifion and Bullock to score.