New Hartlepool United manager Simon Grayson is determined to deliver "winning football" next season.
The experienced boss, who replaced head coach Anthony Limbrick earlier this month, becoming the sixth man to sit in the Pools dugout since the club were relegated to the National League in 2023, is bidding to secure a fifth promotion in English football. Grayson, who lifted the League Cup with Leicester in his playing days, has led Blackpool, Leeds, Huddersfield and Preston to promotion, while he also steered Lalitpur City to the Nepalese Super League title in April. Despite his distinguished record, there are one or two concerns following his appointment - Grayson's last promotion in the Football League was 10 years ago, while he hasn't managed in England since 2021 and has never taken charge of a non-league side.
Even so, Grayson is determined to succeed where many others have failed. Of the last four permanent Pools appointments, Anthony Limbrick lasted just 17 games, while Lennie Lawrence and Kevin Phillips managed 16 and Darren Sarll was sacked after only 15 matches at the helm. Of the last 15 Pools managers, promotion-winning boss Dave Challinor is the only man to have survived for more than a year at Victoria Park; the likes of Limbrick, Sarll, John Askey, Keith Curle, Paul Hartley, Richard Money, Craig Harrison and Dave Jones have all left with a worse than 30 per cent win record.
Grayson, therefore, will need to call on all of his considerable experience if he's to make a success of life at Victoria Park. If he is to buck the recent depressing trend of managerial failure, then the new boss will need to do it the hard way; Pools have lost ground on all of their National League rivals in the wake of a dramatic few months on and off the pitch and have just 11 players under contract ahead of the new season. Among Grayson's foremost priorities will be sorting out the futures of Mani Dieseruvwe and Joe Grey - and the new boss is believed to have met the prolific pair last week - and beginning to assemble a squad capable of competing next term.
Simon Grayson has called for hard work, spirit and determination following his appointment as Hartlepool United's new manager. Picture by Lewis Storey/Getty Images.placeholder image
Simon Grayson has called for hard work, spirit and determination following his appointment as Hartlepool United's new manager. Picture by Lewis Storey/Getty Images.
With all that in mind, then, fans might not be too concerned about what sort of brand of football their side are playing next season - as Grayson points out, supporters want winning football and a team to believe in above all else. Nonetheless, the style of football at Victoria Park has been a point of contention in recent seasons, particularly during the tumultuous tenure of Darren Sarll, who was committed to a direct, combative and robust approach which didn't sit too well with the fanbase.
Of course, a lot will depend on the condition of the pitch at Victoria Park next term. The playing surface, once among the best in the land let alone the division, steadily deteriorated throughout last season and made possession-based play nigh on impossible. That shouldn't phase Grayson, who is a self-described "pragmatist"; BBC Radio Leeds presenter Katherine Hannah hailed him as "canny" and "adaptable".
When asked about his set-up and style of play in an interview with the official club website, Grayson responded that his main priority was "playing winning football".
"I know that's quite simplistic but I'm quite pragmatic as a coach, so I'll play different systems. I know that I can play 3-5-2 and 4-4-2 and change to either system during the course of a game as well.
"We'll have players here that are going to be versatile players, players that can change and adapt. What I want us to be is a team that defend and produce hardworking performances, but at the top end of the pitch I want players to go and express themselves and get crosses into the box, get shots off, take people on and be positive.
"I want to get the people here on the edge of their seats - this is a one town football club, it's a working class town where people pay hard-earned money to come and watch this football club.
"A good example of that was last season when I was watching the game against Gateshead and the winger (Reyes Cleary) ran 50 yards back and made a sliding tackle - and it was as if the lad had scored a worldie from 30 yards. That's what the demands of the supporters are here, and rightly so. Working hard, winning tackles and giving everything should be a given for an player. At this football club, it's even more important.
"These supporters at Hartlepool would prefer to see someone win a 60/40 tackle against them than seeing somebody nutmeg somebody. The desire and the passion that the fans show week in and week out, that has to be replicated on the pitch.
"All my teams have done that, I like to think. I like to think the team will have a unity and a spirit among themselves where they realise that they're very privileged to be playing for this football club. They have to give their all week in, week out.
"This football club can get going again, we'll have big support and we are a big club in this division. Whoever signs, whoever stays, have got to realise that they're in a privileged position to play for this football club."
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