By Albatross
September 27 2004

Neale Cooper will be asking some hard questions of his players following a very poor performance against MK Dons; the Franchise took advantage and Cooper now faces a series of hard games to get Pools back on track. To call the result at the NHS a disappointment is something of an understatement. Reading the comments from the Pools Fans that made the trip, and listening in on Pools World, it's obvious that this was a game that we could and should have won comfortably; instead, we were on the wrong end of a 4-2 scoreline against a side that has frequently been described by opposition fans as the worst they've seen in years.

Most of the finger-pointing has been at the defence, and with good reason: Mickey Barron, co-commentating on Pools World, was obviously hard-pressed not to criticise his team-mates but Cooper had no such problem; he laid the blame squarely at the feet of the defenders on duty. The disruption to the back four with Robertson, Ross and Barron all missing won't be helping matters, but the truth of the matter is that our last three away encounters in the league have seen us conceding three, three and now four goals - and only Swindon have shown any sort of form of the three sides that have beaten us. That is simply unacceptable if we are to mount any sort of challenge this season.

Cooper is apparently looking to strengthen his resources at the back, and hopefully we'll find out shortly if Ben Clark will be joining us from Sunderland; but whether Clark arrives or not, there's no doubt that players such as Nelson, Westwood and Tinkler - who were so impressive last season defensively - need to up their game. Certainly the fact that we are a little short of cover isn't helping matters - but more is expected of the players currently in the team.

Tomorrow night sees our LDV Trophy game with Hull - who have already said that they are sending a reserve team - and you have to wonder what Cooper's response will be. Will he tell the players on duty against the Franchise to get out there and show him how they can play, or will he take the opportunity of a pretty meaningless game to experiment a bit? Darren Craddock has shown enough for most fans to believe he should be given his opportunity on the right - indeed, it was something of a surprise when he made way for the returning Chris Westwood - but unless Clark or someone else comes in, Cooper's other options are limited. Given that the Reserves seem to be mostly from the youth team, and the youth team is calling up u16s, playing a second string is a luxury that the Pools Boss doesn't really have.

There will have to be changes to the starting lineup even if Cooper decides to field a full strength side; Anthony Sweeney's dismissal for an incident that the Pools boss described as "Immature" will see him banned for three games. Though Cooper was not entirely happy with the consistency of the refereeing, with McLeod also at fault but due to be banned for just one game after receiving two yellows, he will not be appealing the decision and Sweeney can expect his next pay packet to be considerably lighter. Sweeney has also ended Pools record of going almost two years since a league sending off (Mickey Barron at Bournemouth) and just over a year in all competitions (Chris Westwood in last season's Carling Cup).

There may well not be a preview of tomorrow night's game - and the attendance is unlikely to be over 2000. However there will be more than a few interested Poolie eyes on what Cooper decides to do for the game, and whether the players on duty actually perform. Could Ben Clark be making his debut? Will there be other new arrivals to bolster the Pools defence? Can Westwood and Nelson rediscover their best form? Only time will tell.