By Clarence Rode
December 31 2008

When footy teams are going through a bad patch, it's often said that it's up to the manager and players to dig them out of the mess they are in. In Hartlepool United's case, it's up to the chairman. Without a manager, out of form and hit by injuries, Pools need some urgent action - and it's a test for the man at the top, Ken Hodcroft.

Does he sit back and see if temporary boss Chris Turner (right, in 1952, or about then) can dig the team out of the clarts, or does he find a permanent replacement for Danny Wilson sharpish?
Hopefully he'll for the second option - Turner probably doesn't want the job anyway and while Pools won his first game back in charge, they were well beaten in the second and third either side of Christmas.
Hodcroft has a good record choosing new managers - he gave Turner his first chance, and between them they saved the club from disaster, he gave Neale Cooper and Mike Newell similar chances and they also did well. In fact, they did brilliantly until they fell out with the big boss man.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL FROM POOLSONLINE 

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Hodcroft's only mistake, apart from sacking managers when they are doing well, was in giving Martin Scott his chance and sticking with him for too long when he clearly wasn't going to achieve anything.
Hopefully, he will have learned his lesson from that experience.
Pools need some guidance, and they need it now.
It could also be argued they need one or two new players - a forward and a couple of full-backs would do to be gtting on with. Turner has admitted they need to strengthen the squad, but the club had little or no spare cash before the credit crunch happenbed, so the situation is probably even worse now.
So Pools go into 2009 at a crossroads, and Ken's the man in the driving seat. It's up to him which way the club turns, and while the FA Cup-tie at home to Premiership lump-it-and-run team Stoke on Saturday is the next test, it's the League that really counts.
The Stoke result doesn't matter in the long term, though there is a bit of cash at stake as well as pride and all that other FA Cup third round bullshit. What matters is that Ken makes the right decisions now.
over to you KH ... and Happy New Year.