WANTED. A new manager at Hartlepool United. Must be able to turn a losing mentality into a winning one.

Six successive National League defeats became seven as Pools chucked away a deserved victory in a matter of seconds.

Despair rules along Clarence Road. It has for years. So how do you solve a problem like Hartlepool United? There is no answer.

But now it’s up to Raj Singh, Mark McGuire and Craig Hignett to come up with the answer.

Chairman Singh said in his programme notes that they feared the club was “sleepwalking to relegation”. Players at the club, past and present, have been doing that for years now.

Seven defeats in a row equals the run of the class of December 1989. Pools even managed to go two more in 1993, during their amazing 13 game stretch without scoring.

Almost any record is in sight for this bunch of perennial losers.

Plenty of hopefuls will want the job, and the hierarchy must pick the right man; a thankless task.

Hignett said: “I want to go back into management but not here, this is a great club with a chairman with a vision and ambition.

“A manager coming here will come in and be supported to the hilt. I miss it, the training and coaching but I’m here to protect his investment, not to fritter it away and I‘m better being upstairs to look after it.’’

He added: “We have had a lot of applications; a lot of good ones and we draw up a list over the weekend and hopefully speak to people soon.

“There’s a real good squad of players there, but they need a bit more. This is the worst we are going to get with the way things are in terms of the squad and budget. We still want the play-offs, promotion as quick as we can but I know we will keep improving as a football club.”

Pools played with a more assertive outlook on Saturday. They were on the front foot and looked to move the ball forward and positively.

Their only reward came through a Liam Noble penalty. Noble also hit the post with a neat shot. Josh Hawkes, impressive playing off the front two, had a chance to shoot but instead played a soft pass to Luke James and the opening was wasted.

Pools needed a second, if only to calm the nerves.

Mark Kitching gave an improved showing, the left wing-back playing positively. He was replaced with two minutes to go, a combination of tiredness, fatigue and a willingness to kill a bit of time.

It didn’t quite work out.

Conor Newton fouled his man seemingly in the area, it mattered little as the free kick was floated over and Goodliffe headed in.

Pools got a corner, looking for a winner. The set piece came to nothing, the Daggers broke away and scored.

Cue misery. It’s a familiar feeling at the Super 6 Stadium.