GIVEN the number of times Hartlepool United change their manager, perhaps it’s no shock that Richard Money has left his position. But even by Pools prolific standards, they have still managed to surprise and come up with something new.

Money lasted 44 days. It’s 24 hours less than Paul Murray managed in 2014, but 18 more than Money managed at Solihull last season.

He’s now replaced by Craig Hignett, who had two games in charge before Money took over in December, and who was boss for 11 months from February 2016 and has been working as director of football since the end of last season.

Confused? Read on.

Pools, under the ownership of Raj Singh, who remember appointed the disaster that was Steve Staunton at Darlington in 2009, are supposed to be a stable operation in giving their managers a chance to breathe and develop. That was the club mantra when Matthew Bates was appointed.

Bates was going to be given the chance to progress, grow and learn his trade in the role. Money was talking of an 18-month managerial project to replicate the success he had at Luton and Cambridge.

They are now onto their third permanent manager of the season. Since Danny Wilson was sacked a little over a decade ago, Hignett is Pools’ 13th permanent manager.

Hignett was part of the recruitment process in appointing Money. So while Pools hunted for a new manager after Bates left, in effect already had him in situ.

Two games in charge in between appointments gave Hignett a taste for what he likes. He’s not comfortable sat at a desk. He’s at his best and happiest on the training ground, trying to improve footballers, making them better. It’s a job he’s done before at Pools and Middlesbrough.

There’s a lot to work on, plenty of room for improvement on Pools’ training ground to keep him busy.

Hignett didn’t have any time working with the players under Bates’ reign, but did so under Money and was in the dug out rather than the directors’ box. A tracksuit instead of a three-piece suit.

It made sense for the newly-appointed boss to tap into Hignett’s enthusiasm, knowledge and nous.

Now it’s all down to him again; tactics, teams, shape, formation and results.

Money’s comments after last weekend’s Harrogate humbling indicated he was seeking a way out. No manager, a month into his job, talks of someone else being in his position in the coming weeks.

He mused: "I'm well aware we need to win a football match very quickly, otherwise there might be someone else stood in this position pretty quickly. None of us are stupid all right?’’

Perhaps accepting his methods weren’t having an impact on this squad, he knew it wasn’t working out as planned and was engineering a change.

He never settled on a team or formation. Players were moved around, put in and then thrown out of the team, the set-up was changed during games at will. After the win over Gateshead, he made changes for the next game and Pools lost.

Carl Magnay played in central midfield under Money. Three years ago he told of his dislike for the position, but he was now willing to do a job for a manager he admitted he respected. It didn’t really work out.

Some players looked short of confidence, playing under duress under Money. Are they better than they have been over the last month or have they been subdued with sprit in the camp eroded? Three successive defeats, all of a pathetic nature, indicate they aren’t.

It’s now up to Hignett to help them prove otherwise.

If not, then another new low, and they’ve been setting them regularly over the last 18 months, beckons.