Porter future unclear as Pools peter out
Hartlepool United 0 Nottingham Forest 1
AS FAR as farewells go, it wasn't
quite meant to be like this.
Ending the home season with
a defeat, the third in a row in
front of the Victoria Park crowd,
wasn't the most positive manner
for Hartlepool United to enter the
summer break. And, if this was -
as expected - Joel Porter's last
appearance in front of the supporters
who have held the striker
in great reverence over the
years, a ten-minute outing ended
by injury wasn't in the script.
Perhaps Pools can have few
complaints about losing to Nottingham
Forest. Boss Danny Wilson
didn't as he pointed out that
the promotion-chasers - who
have to beat Yeovil at home on
Saturday and hope Doncaster
slip up at relegation-threatened
Cheltenham - are one of the bigger
boys in the Football League.
Big budget, big crowds, big players,
big history.
On three of those fronts, Pools
ticked the boxes last season in
the bottom rung of the Football
League. Not so much this season,
however, as the stuttering nature
of this campaign comes to an
end. Pools still have scored more
goals at home than the rest of the
division, but seven losses in front
of their home crowd is too many,
particularly with the horrific
away record behind them.
How much the club is reshaped
over the summer remains to be
seen. And, while Saturday will
have been the last Victoria Park
outing for a few players, the question
asked by all was if Porter is
one of them.
A week after scoring his 13th of
the season, on Saturday he
pulled up after six minutes with
an injury to his left knee,
thumped the turf in sheer frustration
- a sign that his season
and perhaps days in the North-
East - were coming to an early
end, tried to carry on but couldn't
and hobbled off to the dressing
room and a telling standing
ovation just ten minutes in.
Hearsay and rumour have it
that Porter is off, 162 games and
42 goals after signing for Pools in
November 2003. Neither player,
manager or club will confirm
what the future holds, but Wilson
insisted that is the case with all
his players this summer
who are out of contract
or with an option
to take up on
their current deal.
"I don't know yet if
Joel's season is
over - we will
have to assess
him - but I
think it is,''
said Wilson.
"You never
know, but it
doesn't look
good. And I honestly
don't know if that was
his last game. Until the
last game is out of the
way and the chairman
decides if he wants to
keep them or not, we
won't know. Next Tuesday
I think.
"All we can do is put
our recommendations in to him
and he won't do anything until
the season is over, which is the
prerogative of the club I suppose.
It's a bit frustrating but that's the
way it is.''
Frustration' has been a word
to describe many aspects of the
season at Victoria Park.
Pools have never hit top gear
on a consistent basis and have
been found wanting at times, this
another example. When Porter
went off, while Pools leading
scorer, Richard Barker, was in
the stands looking on, the biggest
goal threat was James Brown.
He dropped off Michael Mackay
in search of possession and
space, but was often blocked out,
more often than not crudely.
That left Mackay up against
the man mountain that is Wes
Morgan, and he didn't get much
change from him. Pools tried to
get David Foley involved, but he
couldn't find his feet.
"I think we should have hurt
them more than we did, but it's
that bit of quality you need and
the ability to make the right
decisions at the right
times,'' added Wilson.
"We are trying
lads who are
v i r t u a l l y
untested at
this level.
"James (Brown) has
been out for a long time
and there's a lot of
pressure on him
at times,
Michael has
come out of Consett
- something
like ten leagues
below us or whatever it
may be and there's a lot
of pressure on these kids
and they aren't ready in their development
to take the pressure
yet, but there's nobody else in
there.
"We've been dealt a few hard
situations of late and we have to
put a team out as best we can.
But none of the players at all
have shirked anything asked of
them, it's just that little bit of
quality we haven't got.
"That was the difference between
the two teams on Saturday
- Forest were able to leave out
someone like (Kris) Commons
and a lot of their players are more
like Championship players.
"To compete you have to be
able to bring in that quality and
you have to pay for it.
"It doesn't come for nothing, if
you can get a player like that
then fantastic, but it doesn't happen.
If we are able to go and
spend then great, if not then we
deal with what we can afford and
that's how things are done here
at this club. There's not going to
be anybody spending money they
haven't got, it can't be done, but
we can see what is available for
us.''
After a drab opening half, the
game livened up after the break
and for a ten minute spell the
game resembled schoolboy
match with play swarming from
end to end to end again. But it
was Forest who created and
missed the clearest chances.
Twice Nathan Tyson put a header
wide, while Commons prodded
wide after Tyson drilled the ball
across goal.
The decisive strike came when
lively substitute Lewis McGugan
swopped passes and shot in from
20 yards.
After the final whistle, the
Pools players returned from an
embarrassing "lap of honour".
There was probably as many visiting
fans still in the ground as
there was home supporters and,
in truth, it was all a bit shabby -
summing up Pools season in one
moment.
9:36am Monday 28th April 2008
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