Comment: Great days for Pools under IOR but the right time to move on

KEN HODCROFT and Increased Oil Recovery Ltd arrived at Hartlepool United in September 1997.

They depart a little over 17 years later with the club having enjoyed the best of times, with a fear the worst of times lie ahead.

Pools were 14th in Division Four when they bought out the controlling interest of the late Harold Hornsey.

With new owners riding to the rescue, Pools are bottom of the Football League, six points from safety.

Morale and support is at a low point, the sort not witnessed since the desperate days of re-election in the 1970s.

A lift on and off the pitch is needed. It is hoped TMH2014 can provide it.

Hodcroft insisted on his arrival that there would be no big influx of cash, no big transfer kitty for then boss Mick Tait. “I am not coming in with pots of money, but I want to build up a squad with good, local players, some niche players and see the club do well,’’ he said.

And the club did do well.

IOR and Hodcroft deserve credit for not only putting the club on an even keel, but for the best years of football witnessed at Victoria Park.

Once relegation was staved off in their second season, things were on the up.

Chris Turner was an inspired appointment and he led the team to the unchartered waters of the play-offs three years running. They fell short and were beaten in the semi-finals each time, but it was progress. Rare success.

They were promoted in 2002/3, finishing second when they should have strolled to the title. Turner’s talents had been recognised and he couldn’t turn down an approach to manage his favourite club, Sheffield Wednesday.

Hodcroft’s second managerial appointment didn’t really work. Mike Newell came in, but didn’t have the character to work under Hodcroft’s methods. They were as intransigent as each other.

Newell, blamed by many for a failure to win some elusive silverware, was replaced.

In came another shock candidate in Neale Cooper, a polar opposite to Newell in character. He and Martin Scott proved a perfect match, and the morose ending to the previous season – never has promotion been celebrated so miserably after a 4-0 defeat – was soon forgotten.

Three appointments, two overwhelming successes.

Cooper exited sharply and mysteriously, before the final game of the 2005 season with Pools needing to avoid defeat at Bournemouth to make another play-off.

Under Scott they reached the final at the Millennium Stadium and were close to the Championship, probably as close as they will ever get.

Hodcroft gave the job to Scott permanently. It was the only decision to make, but it was a disaster. From the most positive and upbeat times to the most negative and disappointing.

If anything, Hodcroft was too patient, giving Scott too long in charge, waiting to February to sack him when he should have gone in November when Pools were beaten by Tamworth in the FA Cup.

They ended up being relegated.

But the appointment of Danny Wilson was inspired. He got Pools back on track and they romped to promotion. Again they should have won the league, but again fell short.

Five appointments: three successes, one disaster.

When he left in December 2008, Pools were sitting pretty in League One, in 13th spot. A well respected football club.

Since then, there’s been six managers in charge. Four weren’t even titled manager. One lasted 44 days. Five of the last six seasons have been fighting relegation.

What happened to the IOR ways and means? Has the financial oil well dried up? Their links with Norway, so strong and positive at one time, are minimal.

IOR did utilise their Norwegian links in their early days. A number of players arrived, one brilliant – Jan Ove Pedersen – some embarrassing – Stig Larsen.

That flow soon stopped and, at a time like now when Pools could have done with an influx, it wasn’t an option.

Secrecy has been a big issue. There’s no need for the chairman to be on the back pages every day, but a lack of communication has become a problem.

Hodcroft had previously said: "People don't have to know everything we do and why we do it. People then have to decide whether they want to follow a club that hangs its dirty washing in front of everyone."

That may work when a team is going well, as Pools did for a decade. But when it’s not going well, a little communication from the top doesn’t do any harm.

It can actually help the situation. Instead, the connection between club and supporters became fractured.

Appointing Paul Murray without an introductory press conference and then sacking him 44 days and seven games later amid a terse statement on the club website (which was the norm when the axe was wielded) was bizarre.

But, as they depart, the reasons behind an Aberdeen-based oil company with no connections to Hartlepool taking over the town’s football club remain something of a mystery.

Hodcroft claimed owning a football club was good for their business. It helped them ease into meetings, breaking down barriers and the fact that they were owners of a successful side gave them kudos.

Invite a few businessmen to the game, make a fuss of them and they are on the road to a deal. That’s business, it’s how it works.

IOR did increase levels of professionalism at Victoria Park, the club was professionally ran, paid its bills on time (not always the case over previous years) and the place was flourishing.

In recent years, the stability has disappeared, things have gone downhill. Recent events, among them the Murray fiasco, and Hodcroft’s methods and stubborn dealings, have ruined the club’s reputation in football.

It was good while it lasted, but IORs time was clearly up.

IOR TIMELINE

September 1997

IOR take over from Harold Hornsey, pictured below as he tries to calm down angry Hartlepool fans at Halifax match

March 1999

With Pools in danger of relegation, Chris Turner, pictured below, is appointed manager and keeps the club up

May 2000

Pools make the play-offs for the first time, losing to Darlington

May 2001

Play-offs again – this time losing to Blackpool

May 2002

A third play-off agony – beaten on penalties at Cheltenham. Pictured is Gordon Watson during the first leg.

May 2003

Despite the mid-season departure of Turner, Mike Newell leads Pools to their third-ever promotion, before being sacked

May 2004

Neale Cooper leads Pools to an agonising League One play-off defeat at Bristol City. Picture: Dejected Hartlepool 'keeper Jim Provett watches Bristol City players celebrate their second goal

May 2005

Cooper is sacked, but Pools enjoy their finest hour – a play-off final at the Millennium Stadium, losing 4-2 to Sheffield Wednesday

May 2006

After Martin Scott’s appointment and sacking, Pools are relegated to the bottom division

May 2007

Instant success under Danny Wilson as Pools finish runners-up in League Two. Picture: Hartlepool manager Danny Wilson receives the runners up shield alongside captain Micky Barron

December 2008

Wilson is sacked – replaced by director of sport Chris Turner, pictured below

May 2009

Pools survive relegation on the last day of the season, despite losing heavily at Bristol Rovers

May 2010

Another last-day survival, this time thanks to a 0-0 draw at Brentford, despite having three points deduced for fielding an ineligible player in Gary Liddle

December 2011

Mick Wadsworth, pictured below, is replaced  by Neale Cooper, but he leaves 11 months later with the dressing room fractured

April 2013

Pools, under John Hughes, are relegated to the bottom division and Hughes is sacked along with Micky Barron

May 2014

Colin Cooper keeps Pools up with a dramatic late win over Morecambe. He walked away in October 2014, leaving behind a desperately poor squad. Picture: Jack Compton jumps with Jack Barmby after their goals secured Pools future in League Two.

December 2014

Paul Murray is sacked 44 days and seven games after being appointed. IOR sell their shares to TMH2014, leaving with Pools bottom of the Football League.