Analysis: How the Dave Challinor saga resulted in him leaving Hartlepool

After two hugely successful years, the news has left fans, club staff and the players baffled as to how this saga has unfolded in such a short space of time. A statemnt from the club didn't shed a lot of light and it now left people deciding the rationale behind the decision for themselves.

There could be a multitude of reasons. It’s no secret that Stockport County are heavily backed in the finance department which could have gone some way to luring Challinor away from Victoria Park. He knows the club well having spent two years at Edgeley Park making close to 100 appearances for the club. Also, from a geographical perspective, it’s a move that brings him back closer to his family back in his native Merseyside. Dave’s wife Kate took to social media last night to admit that there is much more to the move than just money.

But on paper, it’s step down the football pyramid from the 46-year-old that doesn’t cast a particularly credible light on Pools, considering he often spoke of his desire to become a Football League manager. It looks bizarre really. In all honesty, the way this whole saga has played out has been unlike anything that’s been seen very regularly in football.

Dave Challinor is all smiles as Hartlepool boss. PICTURE: MARK FLETCHER.

As we’ve seen, the odds were shortened on Challinor to be appointed at Stockport County. That can be anything from concrete information from several sources to a biproduct of success where managers who are doing well are naturally linked to other jobs. During his time at Pools, he was favourite to take over at Wrexham and Tranmere Rovers, which eventually transpired into becoming nothing, so it wasn’t unfamiliar territory.

But what sent fans into a frenzy at the weekend were his comments to BBC Radio Tees Sport in the wake of their 5-0 defeat to Leyton Orient. When quizzed about the job, he said “there’s no news at the moment.”

It was those words ‘at the moment’. That’s when you knew something was afoot and it wasn’t just speculation.

Challinor has been hot property for a while now. Senior sources have suggested to the Northern Echo that this is one of the reasons why there was a delay in the 46-year-old putting pen-to-paper on a new deal at the club.

Back in September, Challinor committed to a fresh three-year deal that would keep him at Victoria Park until the summer of 2024.

But who would commit to a club for a number of years only to leave just over a month later? It seems clear that the nature of the prolonged talks over his contract extend far more to just taking a while to nail down the right terms. It seems now that the manager may well have been holding out for a move away from Victoria Park until he knew those avenues were no longer reachable. Once again, that’s how quickly football can change.

As Pools have stated, they feel a sense of disappointment over the way this has played out and the way Stockport County have conducted themselves. Their main source of discontent being that conversations had already begun with the manager’s agent before a formal request was submitted to the club.

Make no mistake, Challinor will go down as one of the most important and successful managers in the club’s history. Astute, methodical and passionate. He has the highest win percentage of any Pools manager.

After being relegated to non-league for the first time in the club’s history back in 2017, he masterminded last season’s promotion season which saw they go up in the most dramatic circumstances beating Torquay United in the play-off final. Memories that even the 46-year-old admitted would last a lifetime.

He’d already etched himself into the history books for that achievement but he could have gone on to write himself into the club’s folklore and become a legend for years to come. 

Sadly, the nature of football is a completely different animal. Some people will point the finger at the way modern football is these days with money having too much influence. However, no one truly knows what goes on behind closed doors.

It seems to be a crossroads moment for the club. Having finally pinned down their main man only to look set to lose him a month later, where do they go from here?

At the time of Challinor’s appointment nearly two years ago, first team coach Antony Sweeney was kept on as part of his coaching staff and earmarked as someone who would be taken under his wing with a view to taking on more responsibility.

Whether this is the right time for Sweeney to take on such responsibility remains to be seen. But he’s the man now in charge of somehow lifting the spirits of a club who’s foundations have been shaken and consolidating their position in the Football League. For now.