Ian Moore - goal No.9

By Clarence Rode
December 29 2007

Hartlepool boss Danny Wilson says he will be joining every other football boss in the country in some January window shopping as he tries to revive Hartlepool's flagging season. Loss of form and injuries have affected performances enough in recent games, but now the squad has been hit by a flu bug - and against Orient it showed.

The Londoners weren't much better in a drab, lifeless game that Wilson described as "flat".
He can say that again. Most fans would have used a slightly different four-letter word.
Pools were poor in the first half, when Adam Chambers gave Orient the lead on 33 minutes. Bu Adam Boyd's assist for the goal was about all he did on his return to his old haunts, and in the second half Pools improved enough for Ian Moore to score a well-taken ninth goal of the season for the equalizer.
Sub Michael Mackay hammered a shot on the turn against the angle of post and bar, but that was all Pools could manage, despite playing better than they had in the first half.
Rather than go on moaning about a poor team effort, let's look at the performance player-by-player:
Jan Budtz (right)- having second thoughts about him. He flapped at a few crosses and his kicking is crap.
Eddie Nolan - suffering from the flu bug, allegedly, so he has an excuse for some awful passing.
Michael Nelson - not bad, but still not at his best.
Godwin Antwi - great on the ground and with the ball at his feet, but causes scares when the ball is bouncing towards him.
Robbie Elliott - how come he has taken so long to get in the side? His crosses were great again, though some passes were poor.
David Foley - Pools' most lively player in the first half, but faded i n the second and subbed.
Antony Sweeney - what has happened to the form that made him such a star a couple of seasons ago?
Gary Liddle - one of the best in League One, so why does he insist on going round in ever-decreasing circles? And is he afraid to pass the ball forward?
Richie Humphreys - not one of the worst on the day, but still not at his best. The sponsors apparently made him star man!!!! Err ... no.
Ian Moore - star man, ran his legs off, scored a good goal and unlucky once or twice.
Richard Barker - not tall enough to cause damage in the air, not fast enough to cause damage on the deck. He's done well to score 11, but ...
Michael Mackay (sub) - unlucky when  he hit the bar, but is he really going to make it?
Ali Gibb (sub) - does not deserve the stick he used to get. Steadied the defence when he replaced Nolan and passes and cross better than most.

It wasn't so much that many players did badly, but more that the team just didn't work. Wilson said after the game that the performance was flat and pedestrian and lacked tempo and oomph.
Wonder if you can oomph and tempo in the January transfer window? Unless Pools get it before then, the New Year's Day visit to Carlisle looks a tall order.