By Charlie Summerbell
November 15 2009

Turn the clock back to early August and offer any Hartlepool United fan ninth place in League One with a third of the season gone, four points behind the play-off zone and with a team showing signs of gradual improvement after a shaky start to the season, and you would have had your hand snatched off. So what’s all the moaning about, and why did only 3,119 turn up at Victoria Park to watch Pools beat Leyton Orient 1-0, thanks to a goal from Adam Boyd (right) against his former club?
It’s a tough question to answer, and before we go any further we have to remember, in the interests of accuracy, that it’s only a minority who are having a go at the team, individual players and Turner himself, a gobby few even calling for him to be replaced.
But Turner has completely rebuilt a team that was lucky to escape relegation last season and he told the fans before a ball was kicked that the squad would need time to bed in and settle down into a winning team.
Now here they are with three wins in a five-game unbeaten League One run, an away record that stands comparison with many others in the League, and a home record which started badly but is slowly but surely being repaired.
What more do the moaners want?
Yes, there have been hiccups, some of them inexcusable ones (remember Grimsby and Kettering in cup matches), but progress was probably what everybody wanted this season – and that’s exactly what they are getting.
Adam Boyd’s fifth goal of the season gave Pools their latest win in a game they totally dominated. They could and perhaps should have won by more, but Boyd’s late strike was good enough as Pools were rewarded for their patience. Turner was right when he described the performances as possibly the best at home this season.
So their form is going to be really put to the test between now and the end of the season, with next weekend’s visit to goal-hungry Huddersfield followed by a midweek home game against alleged big club Southampton.
Results in those game might even persuade some of the moaners to have a rethink.