By Albatross
December 2 2002

Another month goes by, another month of topping the table. This is getting to be a habit! Albatross has a look round the division, and wonders who's going to leave next. At least now we don't have any more worries about our Manager leaving before the end of the season! It's been a turbulent November for Pools, with Chris Turner starting off in charge, then Colin West for a couple of games, and now Mike Newell in the Hotseat at Pools; but the cup defeat to Southend apart, the turbulence seems to have been confined to off the field.

No arguments about Manager of the Month this time round though; Brian Talbot has won the award after Rushden and Diamonds were the only team to go through the month with a 100% record. Like many Poolies I'm hoping that the curse of the award strikes him as much as it has previous winners: while York and Wrexham have returned to form this month, Kidderminster failed to win a League Game in November, recording just one draw from their three matches.

No less than six teams avoided league defeats; Rushden with their four wins, Pools, Wrexham and York with three wins and a draw, Hull with two of each, and Torquay with one win and three draws.

It says a lot for the character and team spirit at Pools that despite everything only one team has actually gained points on us, and even then Rushden have only closed by two points. The gap to second has closed from five points over Kiddy to four over Rushden, but possibly more importantly the distance between Pools and the team in fourth place - currently Cambridge - has increased from six points to ten.

At the other end of the form table, Boston have provided further evidence that they are destined to struggle. Not only did they lose all four league games, but they failed to score a single league goal as they fall back to bottom spot in the league. To add insult to injury, the recently-departed Daryl Clare has been in great form for Chester City, hitting six goals in the Conference after leaving York Street.

Bristol Rovers have also had a poor month, losing every league game, but did manage one goal; however Gas fans will be looking nervously at the table as they sit in 22nd, just two points above Boston and one ahead of Exeter, who currently occupy the other relegation spot. Ray Graydon needs to start turning things round soon, or Rovers fans will be discovering that his arrival was just another false dawn.

It's pretty tight at the foot of the table, and unlike in some previous seasons there's no team that you can say is definately destined for the drop. Just three points separate the bottom five of Swansea, Carlisle, Bristol Rovers, Exeter and Boston; Macclesfield are only three more points ahead at the moment; and with another four teams less than ten points off the bottom the pressure is starting to tell at some clubs. Three of the bottom five have already changed managers, and with Paul Brush at Orient and Paul Simpson of Rochdale looking under threat - Simpson in particular given their failure to challenge at the right end of the table - more sackings are likely to come soon.

Meanwhile though Pools fans can bask in the fact that we've now been on top of the league since the middle of September, and with this Saturday seeing the FA Cup in progress (time for Christmas Shopping methinks!) we cannot be dethroned until December 20th at the earliest. With Gordon Watson likely to be in action for Pools before that date, and Pools still looking like they aren't in top gear, it looks likely to be a very Merry Christmas for the Blue and White Hoardes. Now, I wonder if the Club Shop will have the Away Strip in....