GRAHAM TAYLOR called it The Impossible Job. He was referring to England, but he could have been talking about Hartlepool United.

Appoint, sack, replace. Appoint, sack, replace. The more you change a manager the more it becomes the norm. And for many of a Pools persuasion, sacking a manager is all they know.

As soon as there’s no free-flowing, exciting football, sack him. As soon as it shows any signs of going wrong, sack him. As soon as two games in a row are lost, sack him.

The 1,700 die-hards at Tuesday’s home defeat to Fylde weren’t that vociferous in demanding the manager’s head. But on social media, Matthew Bates was being hung, drawn and quartered. The internet generation has had its say.

Chairman Raj Singh won’t have read the viper’s nest that is social media nor the supporter messageboards. He will have made a rational decision, one he didn’t want to make.

At the start of the season, Craig Hignett, the club’s director of football, said that Pools wanted to put an end to their reputation of being a sacking club. They wanted to become a stable operation, one which could grant  their leader time to get it right.

That came with the caveat, however, that the situation would have to be looked at if he lost ten games in a row. It was said more in jest than anything, but six is the new ten.

Bates is the latest to be chewed up and spat out along Clarence Road. Pools have made some terrible appointments; Bates was not one of them.

Six defeats in a row, the club’s lowest league crowd in 20 years and their worst losing run since March 2014 put paid to what appeared to be a promising managerial career.

Bates cut a relaxed figure in charge; Pools fans demand a lively figure in the dug out. Bates was more Mike Newell than Neale Cooper. He was a reluctant boss at first when he picked up the reins – poisoned chalice? – from Craig Harrison back in February.

After the shortest of experiences at the end of the 2016-17 season, Bates was caretaker for a second time.

Leading a club in crisis, he deserves every bit of praise and recognition for the job he did in keeping Pools above the relegation line. The club, remember, was an utter shambles off the pitch.

On it, he allowed the players to relax and garner enough points to stay up. At the end of the season, the decision had to be made: appoint Bates permanently or get someone else in.

The nature of the performance at Tranmere on the final day of the season went a long way to Bates getting the job permanently. It certainly helped convince Raj Singh and Craig Hignett he deserved the chance to steer a more stable ship.

He tried to move on some of the bigger earners who Harrison signed, and got some out.

His two big high-profile summer signings have both been hit and miss. Andrew Davies has missed more games than he’s played through injury, while last week’s incident with Liam Noble is the sort of event which dogs a manager under pressure.

Bates dealt with Noble well; disciplining him for his actions after the midfielder criticised the eating habits of team-mates on the team bus and then putting him back in the squad the next game.

So who now? There’s names mentioned and listed who have appeared before. Martin Gray can surely be discounted for his Darlington allegiance. Alun Armstrong has his admirers, Lee Clark could be a decisive decision, John Askey did well at Macclesfield, but was sacked weeks into a job at Shrewsbury, if Darrell Clarke leaves Bristol Rovers he would be an immensely popular call.

Since Danny Wilson was sacked a decade ago they have gone through 11 permanent managers. Every type of boss has been appointed and sacked.

It’s a cycle which must be broken.