IT’S not long since Ronnie Moore was lauded in song as the best manager in the Football League. “It’s you Ron, Ron, Ron it’s you Ron, Ron’’ went the ditty.

After he left Hartlepool United yesterday, with the team lumbering third bottom of League Two, best could be changed for worst.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. After somehow keeping Pools in the Football League last season, the talk was of a top-ten finish, hopeful of a push for the play-offs. Without Moore and Pools would be a non-league team. For that he should always be celebrated and respected.

Under new owners, a big summer recruitment drive saw the squad revamped and changed dramatically.

There was a feelgood factor around the place from the day Pools beat Exeter on April 25 that lasted all summer, and beyond.

Four successive wins at the start of the season, this was easy. (Moore, however, was absent for two of the four as he was with his ill daughter in Spain.)

But week by week, game by game it seeped away. With it went Moore’s credit from last season.

There was never a settled team, formations and personnel were changed by the week. He’s made 11 loan signings, some of which were rank bad (Andrew Boyce, Mikael Mandron), some futile (Jason Banton anyone?), some positive (Kal Naismith, Jake Gray) and others for the sake of it (Brad Halliday, Ellis Harrison).

Most permanent signings were little better. Kudos Oyenuga and Ebby Nelson-Addy have long looked out of their depth. Jake Carroll and Harry Worley have struggled. Only Billy Paynter and Trevor Carson can be probably be redeemed a real success.

With such a turnover in players and movement in the transfer market, Moore could hardly claim he hasn’t been backed by the owners and chairman.

There was a lot of frustration with players rejecting moves to the North-East last month after fees were lodged and agreed with clubs.

Oxford striker Danny Hylton, who inflicted a pre-Christmas reverse by scoring for the Us in a 1-0 win, showed zero interest in a transfer after Pools bid was accepted.

Home form has been abysmal for a number of years now, and this season carried on the same. Tuesday was their eighth home defeat in League Two – and you can add in reverses in three cup competitions at Victoria Park too.

What chance does any team have of achieving anything other than failure when home results and performance are of such a low level?

Tuesday’s home defeat to Stevenage bore the hallmarks of a manager on his way out.

The team, before the game, looked promising. Moore made changes, as he always did. After the defeat he promised yet more alterations for Saturday’s home game with Yeovil.

It was concerning on Tuesday that the players didn’t appear to know their roles. It should have been simple enough to play 4-4-2, but Carl Magnay’s comment afterwards were poignant.

What he said is understood to have angered Moore and, tellingly, the club didn’t use the video interview on their own website in the aftermath.

“I’m a defender by trade and I’ve loved the confidence the manager has to play me in midfield and I’d be the first to say in ability and get on the ball in good positions, there’s players with more ability than me to do that,’’ he reflected.

“I’ll give it my best, but I can feel frustration from other players that maybe they can do a better job in there.

“I want to go and give my all wherever I play and if it means being more effective and getting better results maybe be needs to put round pegs in round holes.

“That’s for the manager to decide. There’s others to offer a little bit more in terms of midfield ability, stringing passes together and maybe we needed that at times.

“Start of the season I was in a midfield role and it was effective , the gaffer has a lot of decisions to make and I’m thinking of ways of making his team better and you have to be honest at times.

“We have to be honest, I want to make clear I will play where asked. I think in the position we are in you have to think of all angles and ways we can improve.

“I’ve thought there’s times we can do better in there, it’s not my skillset. I’m trying to give the manager ideas and if he agrees, or he may not agree. I just want to give the manager enough information for the team to do well.’’

Even when Pools moved from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 on Tuesday, winger Nathan Thomas on more than one occasion was asking Moore what the team plan was when Scott Fenwick was introduced.

Did Moore really know his best side and his best formation? Last season he wanted to play 3-5-2, but until the arrival of David Mirfin from Scunthorpe he didn’t have the personnel.

The system worked, Pools got results and stayed up. Pre-season, he stuck with that formation.

Then, the day the season arrived opted for 4-3-3 and didn’t revert again to three at the back.

Moore is an old-school manager. His character and spark last season lifted Pools off the floor. But different players react in different ways and Moore’s regular berating of his squad – in private and public – didn’t go down well.

Some players were switching off, some weren’t listening, some went into their shells.

And, so back to square one. The lift Pools need now is just what was required in December 2014 when Moore was appointed.

Owners JPNG and chairman Gary Coxall have a background in recruitment. In Craig Hignett they look like to they to have got this appointment right.