By Albatross
January 12 2005

2003/4 was a great season for Hartlepool United, arguably one of the best in our history. And with the club seeming to be moving from strength to strength, there's plenty of reason for optimism next season. "Relgation, Relagation, Relegation!" No, not Tony Blair outlining a new policy, but the chorus of pundits and opposition fans at the start of the season. Chris Kamara was the one everyone remembered, but you didn't have to look far to find someone predicting a season of struggle for Pools - it was on the BBC Website's preview as well, Barry Fry said he thought we were going down, any number of fansites consistently had us as one of the bottom four. If the season was based on predictions, we would have finished bottom.

That the reality was somewhat different is of course a matter of record. Neale Cooper came in, did a great job, and when the predictions are made for next season very few will reckon we'll even be in the bottom half.

From the very first game of the season, we've confounded expectations - and for the first couple of months of the season at least seemed to leave a trail of bitter opponents unable to believe that they couldn't get the better of us. After that - and especially after the 8-1 hammering of Grimsby - we started to get a bit more respect from the rest of the division.

We never dropped out of the top half of the table, spent almost all our time in the top ten, only lost successive League games once, and demonstrated throughout the season that we were a side that would battle when necessary - we came back to earn at least a draw after being behind nine times, with three of those being wins. We had the best away record in the division, with ten wins and no side scoring more than our 37 goals. We pushed two sides from the upper reaches of Division 1 close in the cup competitions. We had a player called up to a full international squad. And when it came down to it, we were arguably closer to a playoff final than ever before - with a more than reasonable claim that it was only the injuries to half of our back four during the game at Ashton Gate that eventually cost us a place in Cardiff.

While the results on the pitch for the first team were consistently better than we were expecting, Cooper and Scott have though set a standard: anything less than a playoff challenge next season will be regarded as a disappointment. People know about us now; there will be no more glib predictions of victory by our opponents on the grounds that "it's only Hartlepool". Will it be tougher next season?

The answer may well be no - after all, every side knew what to expect from us in the second half of the season. The first time we played each of the 23 teams saw us finish with a record of P23 W8 D8 L7 Pt32, while the second time round we ended up P23 W12 D5 L6 Pt41. We failed to beat any of the promoted sides - QPR and Plymouth both beating us convincingly home and away - and the teams coming down to replace them don't seem to have the same quality, with only Walsall realistically having much chance of bouncing back.

Cooper and Scott have done a great job in remoulding the squad since their appointment, with arrivals and departures throughout the season. Leaving aside loan players and short term deals for the likes of Walker and Carson, the arrivals this year were Nelson, Strachan, Paul Robinson, Porter, Jordan, Robertson, McCann, Gabbiadini - who played an important role in the first half of the season, and Konstantopoulos. Meanwhile, a number of players on the fringes have departed throughout the year in the shape of Henderson, Richardson, Arnison, Bass and Easter - while the release of Mark Robinson and Anthony Williams was hardly a surprise at the end of the campaign.

Another big plus point has been the emergence of a number of players from the youth ranks - no doubt helped by the fact that Scott, the former Youth coach, knew what many of them were capable of. No less than nine products of the youth team have made the starting lineup this season, David Foley also made an appearance as a sub - and Andy Appleby was also included in a couple of first team squads. With our reserves including a number of youth teamers winning their league, and a victory in the Dallas Cup, the youth setup - always vital at a club like Pools - looks to be in tip-top shape. Players such as Boyd and Sweeney look like they are beginning to fulfil their potential, while the experience gained by players such as Craddock, Robson, Brackstone and Wilkinson can only benefit them. The move to allow some of these players out on loan to the likes of Whitby is also a positive exercise - it certainly helped Darren Craddock, and allowed Appleby to score a few goals and highlight his abilities in Cooper's mind.

In many ways then Pools were a work in progress in 2003/4 - making our achievement all the more remarkable. Cooper has already brought in Jack Ross, and there are rumoured to be others on the way; while if Boyd can continue his form next season we could have a player scoring 20+ goals. Can we "Do a Plymouth" in 2004/5 and take the division by storm? Who can say. But one thing is certain: we have plenty of reason to be optimistic, after our best finish in almost 50 years. Watch this space.....