Robbie Stellng and Rich Mennear dissect all the latest news from Hartlepool United including the decision to appoint Lennie Lawrence as Darren Sarll's replacement. Pools lost Lawrence's first game in charge, going down 5-3 at York City on Saturday.
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00:30Hello, and welcome to another Pulley podcast, you from the Vic with myself, Richard Muneer
00:39and Robbie Stellin, fresh from an eventful game and weekend away at York City.
00:45Plenty to discuss this week.
00:46Robbie, first of all, how are you doing?
00:48Yeah, not too bad.
00:50Thanks, Rich.
00:51Came back from a week of annual leave and it's been a real baptism of fire.
00:55I was back on Thursday and obviously the changes in the dugout and the things that remain the
01:00same in the dugout as well, of course, and then, like you say, a crazy game on Saturday.
01:04But yeah, not too bad, all things considered.
01:06Good, good.
01:07Yeah, plenty to discuss over the next 20 minutes or so.
01:10So if we just sort of dive straight into it, we'll come to the York game in just a little
01:16while.
01:17But yeah, big news at the end of last week, probably not unexpected, I would imagine amongst
01:20Pools fans, but Lenny Lawrence giving the manager all until the end of the season.
01:24However, there was a couple of fresh additions to the coaching staff, which is now quite
01:29a sizable one, to be fair, for Pools as standard, certainly, and certainly for National League
01:33levels.
01:34So no excuses, you would think, on that side of things.
01:37So Anthony Lindbrick joined and also Gavin Scotland, both of those to the coaching team.
01:42I'll let you, Robbie, talk through the various different roles in a little minute or so.
01:47With Lenny obviously leading it, Nicky Feddersen remaining as player manager, or sorry, player
01:52coach, although I suspect he'll be doing a lot more playing over the rest of the season.
01:57And then obviously the strength and conditioning and the physio, you know, there's quite a
02:01lot of solid staff there now, isn't there?
02:04Robbie, what's your take on the news, first of all, that Lenny will lead the side for
02:09the rest of the season?
02:10And then if you could kind of just give a little bit of your opinion on how you think
02:13the new structure will work and who will be doing what?
02:17Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it, Rich?
02:19I mean, we were just saying it's going to be a tight squeeze on the dugout, in the dugout,
02:24I think.
02:25On Lenny, first of all, I've been really impressed with Lenny during his time as caretaker manager,
02:33which I suppose shouldn't be a surprise given his unbelievable experience, incredible record
02:40in the game.
02:41Obviously, nine years in charge of Charlton, a fantastic spell in charge of Middlesbrough
02:46as well, led them to the to the Premier League, time in charge of Crystal Palace, got Cardiff
02:51promoted as well, but of course, hasn't been in a permanent managerial role prior to his
02:58one at Poole since his spell at Cardiff came to an end in 2005.
03:02He had a spell as Crystal Palace caretaker in 2012, but he hasn't been out of the game
03:08as such.
03:09He's worked in various consultancy and director roles at the likes of Newport, Stevenage and
03:14of course, most recently, Poole's prior to taking caretaker charge.
03:19I think if you'd asked me a month ago when he first took over as caretaker, whether he
03:23was going to become the next permanent manager, I would have said in truth, no chance.
03:28But obviously, he did a really good job in the three games he had as interim boss, Poole's
03:33took five points from those three matches, including a couple of testing away games and
03:38played really well when they beat Aldershot at home a couple of weeks ago, beat them resoundingly
03:42to nil and it could have been a few more had it not been for a heroic goalkeeping performance
03:47from Marcus Dewhurst.
03:49And after that game, Lenny Lawrence sort of alluded to the fact that all possibilities
03:54remained on the table.
03:55We knew Poole's had a fortnight without a game on account of their premature exit from
03:59the FA Cup.
04:00And so it started to feel all of a sudden it started to feel inevitable that Poole's
04:04were going to appoint Lenny Lawrence probably to the end of the season.
04:09And that was what we expected, especially as the week dragged on.
04:13I mean, I can understand that some fans are perhaps slightly underwhelmed.
04:18I think the sense was that there was a preference for a young up and coming manager, someone
04:24like Graham Murti was probably the one who was most heavily, I think, obviously achieved
04:29good things with some of the new teams, the under 23s and the like.
04:34And so I think the sense was perhaps that Poole's fans would have preferred a younger
04:37man with Lenny acting as a mentor.
04:40But I like what I've seen from Lenny in terms of what he's done with the shape.
04:44Poole's a much better out of possession now.
04:47And also he seems to have got far more out of the creative attacking players.
04:51And if there was one real bugbear with Darren Song, it was the fact that Poole's have a
04:55squad full of attacking talent, but Song never really utilized them to anything like the
05:01best of their ability.
05:03And Lenny's obviously come in and changed that.
05:05I think when you have an older manager, there's sometimes a sort of expectation that the football
05:12is going to be old fashioned.
05:14But actually, I think Lenny showed that he's really capable of moving with the times.
05:21I think Sarr was more old fashioned, not just in terms of his approach to football, but
05:26his approach to management as well.
05:28I think Lenny is a sort of gentler character.
05:30He's more willing to put an arm around the shoulder of some of the players when it's
05:35required.
05:36And we've seen players struggling under Sarr really start to improve.
05:40I mean, if I could pick out just one, David Ferguson, who scored his first goal of the
05:45season on Saturday against his former side and really struggled under Darren Song to
05:49the point where he became a bit of a scapegoat among supporters, but has thrived under Lenny
05:54Lawrence.
05:55I think probably been man of the match in two of the last three games.
05:58Certainly he was my man of the match on Saturday.
06:00I saw him as we were leaving the ground on Saturday and he was buzzing.
06:04He's really enjoying life under Lenny.
06:06So perhaps it might not be the most exciting choice from Pools, but to a degree, I do believe
06:11that it is a sensible and pragmatic one.
06:14And of course, they have got a couple of new coaches.
06:17As you said, Anthony Lindbergh is going to be the club's new head coach and Gavin Skelton,
06:22former Carl Arnne assistant manager, is going to be the new first team coach.
06:25And I think there's a real sense that Lindbergh is probably going to be the next permanent
06:30manager.
06:31He's going to be the one to succeed Lenny Lawrence.
06:33I spoke to Lenny on Friday, just prior to the York game, and he said that Lenny, by
06:38the way, is remaining on the board.
06:40And he said that the club will consider an internal appointment when it comes time for
06:45Lenny to step down.
06:48He says that he's probably going to make the decision as to when the time is for him to
06:53move on.
06:54But he's confident that it'll be known later than the end of the season.
06:57And so Anthony Lindbergh comes in as the club's head coach.
07:01Perhaps Pools have a view on sort of moulding him into their next permanent manager.
07:06Obviously, what it will give him now is eight or nine months to get to know the players,
07:11get to know the footballing environment.
07:14And he has an interesting background as well.
07:16Australian, born was a semi-professional footballer in Australia since coming over to England.
07:21He's worked in the academies of Southampton and West Ham.
07:24He's had a brief spell coaching England under-17s, and he has had a taste of permanent management
07:30as well in the National League with Woking, in Wales with TNS, and in Gibraltar with Manchester
07:3662.
07:37So he's got a really interesting background from what I understand.
07:42Haven't had the chance to meet him yet.
07:45He was at Peterborough on Friday when we were invited to Maidencastle saying his goodbyes.
07:49He's been academy manager there since January.
07:53From what I understand, he's someone who likes to get the ball down and play football.
07:58He's someone that should, his coaching style should be well-suited to some of the players
08:03that Pools have at their disposal.
08:05And Gavin Skelton has arrived as the new first-team coach, having spent the last five years as
08:11assistant manager of his hometown club.
08:13Kyle Long obviously worked with the experienced Paul Simpson.
08:17They had real success.
08:19Staved off the threat of relegation to the National League, and the following season
08:23managed to win promotion to League One.
08:26OK, the following campaign in League One was very difficult, and Kyle Long are clearly
08:30in a difficult position now.
08:32But got to meet Gavin on Friday.
08:34First impression was positive.
08:36He struck me as unpretentious, someone who is really passionate about coaching, just
08:41wants to get out on the grass and help improve the players.
08:44And from what I understand in terms of the dynamic, because it is slightly unusual, especially
08:48at National League level, to have a manager, a head coach and a first-team coach, not to
08:53mention the likes of Karl Dickinson, who's going to remain as strength and conditioning
08:57coach, Nicky Featherstone, who's player coach, Adam Smith, who is remaining as a member of
09:02the playing staff, but will also be goalkeeper coach.
09:05It is unusual to have three frontline coaches.
09:09If you like, as I say, I think Lindbergh is being geared up to replace Lenny Lawrence
09:13in the future.
09:14But for now, I think it's going to be Lindbergh and Skelton are going to be the two that are
09:19going to lead the training sessions.
09:20They're going to be doing the hands-on work day in, day out, Monday to Thursday, doing
09:25a lot of the coaching, a lot of the work with the players on the grass with Lenny Lawrence
09:30overseeing all of that.
09:32And then Lenny is going to be the man who has the final say on tactics and team selection,
09:37obviously, given that he has a role on the board as well.
09:41I would imagine he will have an influence on what players come in as well.
09:45Lenny said that they've got a couple of players that are training with him at the moment,
09:49with a view to bringing them in as well.
09:53So it's been a really interesting week at Poole's, obviously more of the same to an
09:58extent with Lenny Lawrence, but something new as well with the shake-up to the coaching
10:04staff.
10:05It's going to be really interesting to see how it all plays out, because Poole's have
10:07a really difficult run between now and the new year.
10:10It's interesting, isn't it, the Limbrick situation, because if that is to be the case,
10:15he'll be the manager next season, then just put a bit of pressure on them to have a good
10:21end of this season.
10:22I say end of, but I know there's still a strong chance, there's still quite a long way to
10:26go this season.
10:27But my point is, if they were to struggle this season and finish mid to lower table,
10:30then how would that sit with fans, if somebody that's been a very integral part of that coaching
10:36staff who then gets that manager role next season?
10:38So that will be interesting to see how that develops in that dynamic, because it is quite
10:42unusual if that is to be the case, to be given such a long period before you get the top
10:49job.
10:50But yeah, we wish them all well.
10:51It's been interesting appointments, and yeah, Lenny takes charge.
10:55So with your dealings with Lenny, do you think he'll make, obviously he's had three or four
10:59games now since Darren Sarr left, do you think there'll be significant changes to the way
11:04Poole's play moving forward on the back of these two coaches coming in?
11:08Or do you think Poole's fans can expect a sort of similar style of play to how they've
11:12been approaching the games under Lenny the last four or five games or so?
11:17Well, I mean, they'll definitely be looking to evolve.
11:19The first thing I'll say about Lenny is he's a really nice man.
11:24I get on with him really well.
11:25He's a great character.
11:27I mean, he turned 77 in December.
11:31I've been perusing the Internet, and as far as I can tell, he is the third oldest active
11:35manager in the world.
11:38Dick Advocat, who will be a name very familiar to Sunderland supporters, is the manager of
11:43the Curacao national team.
11:44He came out of retirement to take on that role.
11:46He's 77, a couple of months older than Lenny, and the Romanian national team boss is 79.
11:52But Lenny is, I think, the oldest active league manager, as far as I can tell.
11:56If anyone knows differently, then they can send me an email or a tweet or whatever.
12:03Let me know.
12:04I'd love to hear.
12:05But he is...
12:06I was hoping to be retired by the age of 75, but after the events in the world the past
12:12week, maybe we'll all be working until mid to late 70s.
12:14They seem to get all the top jobs.
12:16Well, he puts us to shame, doesn't he?
12:19I mean, I feel tired after the weekend just gone.
12:24But Lenny is incredibly energetic and his passion for the beautiful game, I think, burns
12:28just as brightly as ever.
12:29And he has shown that he can move with the times because actually Pools have played some
12:34pretty nice football under him.
12:36He has made changes.
12:38I think he's tried to get the best players, the best attacking players, certainly in their
12:43best positions.
12:45We've seen the likes of Nathan Asimwe, who's obviously returned to Charlton, who really
12:49struggled under Sal.
12:51He's thrived.
12:52Campbell's been given an opportunity.
12:54And although he still hasn't quite burst into life, we've seen more from him.
12:58Manny Disaruing looks to be enjoying life under Lenny as well.
13:01Three goals in his last two games.
13:03And of course, you've got the likes of Joe Gray and Luke Chalmers.
13:06Luke Chalmers had a really good game on Saturday as well.
13:09So that's one thing.
13:10He effectively is dispensed with one of the three central midfielders that Darren Sal
13:15favoured in order to get another attacking player into the side.
13:18And I think that's something that has been appreciated by Pools fans.
13:23Out of possession, I think they've been well structured.
13:26They've certainly not been overly negative.
13:28I think especially on Saturday, they might have at times wanted to be a little bit more
13:33strong.
13:34And obviously conceding five goals is never a nice feeling, even though York were very
13:40impressive in an attacking sense.
13:42I think Pools will feel as though they were architects of their own downfall with pretty
13:46much all five of the goals.
13:48But out of possession, they have been much better.
13:50It's sort of been two banks of four.
13:52Like we see a lot of the time at the top level now, it's almost back in vogue that out of
13:56possession teams like to play with that 4-4-2.
13:59So Adam Campbell and Manny Disaruing will lead the press when it does happen.
14:03And then two organised banks of four.
14:06And that's proved difficult for teams to play through.
14:08I think back to the Old Tringham and Aldershot games, both of those teams found Pools really
14:12difficult to break down.
14:15I think what's actually stuck out to me, I mean, Lenny's obviously got unbelievable experience.
14:20We spoke about Anthony Lindbergh and Gavin Skelton.
14:22Neither of them were born when Lenny Lawrence took on his first managerial role in 1978,
14:29which goes to show just how long he's been around.
14:33But he hasn't tried to reinvent the wheel.
14:35I think he appreciates that this is a squad that should be doing better than what they
14:40are.
14:41Pools are 16th in the National League.
14:42There's plenty of talent in this squad.
14:45If you look through the squad, there's loads of players with promotion-winning experience
14:51at this level.
14:52There's loads of players with Football League experience.
14:53Obviously, you've got Manny Disaruing and Joe Gray, who really thrived last season.
15:00So I think it's been a case of less is more, speaking to some of the players as well.
15:04I don't think Lenny's tried to overload them with tactical instruction.
15:09There's been a sort of fairly well-organised shape out of possession, as I said.
15:13They have pressed much better.
15:15But a lot of it's just been about giving players the freedom to express themselves.
15:21I think an arm around the shoulder, to a certain extent, has certainly been appreciated by
15:25a lot of the players.
15:26So he hasn't made huge changes, but he's made noticeable changes.
15:30I think, of course, Pools will continue to develop.
15:32I think Anthony Lindbergh, as I say, is a coach who likes to play good football.
15:38And I understand that one of the things that appealed to Pools when they were making that
15:42appointment is that that was a direction that Lenny Lawrence was keen to go down as well.
15:47So I think we'll see.
15:49The core principles, I think, will remain the same.
15:51It's probably just a case of refining things for Pools, because if you look at Saturday's
15:55game, while they didn't play too badly at all, they let themselves down in both boxes.
15:59So I think it's just a case of refining things in certain areas.
16:04And we'll see what happens, because it remains a talented squad.
16:08It does, yeah. I think a lot of Pools fans would agree with that.
16:11And obviously, you know, the chairman of the board of the club made the decision to dispense
16:16with Sal relatively early in the season.
16:19So there is still plenty of time.
16:20And, you know, I don't think the National League is probably as strong as it has been in the last few years.
16:27So, yeah, plenty of optimism.
16:28Obviously, when the new manager is appointed, I confirmed a lot of Pools fans will anticipate
16:33transfer news and obviously no transfer window in the National League.
16:36I know Lenny was speaking about that last week, admitting that Pools are working on deals to
16:41strengthen their squad, potentially, with one or two players training with them.
16:44A couple of players have obviously gone back recently.
16:46Nathan, in some way, and Robson both returned to their parent clubs.
16:50A couple of players due back, the likes of Madean, Hunter, Waterfall, Robbie.
16:56Do you anticipate, before we get on to the York game, do you anticipate much in the way of transfer business?
16:59Or do you think it'll be, you know, a couple of short-term deals like we've seen a lot in the most recent history?
17:06I think more likely it'll be a couple of short-term deals, if I'm honest.
17:10It's always difficult to tell.
17:12I mean, one player that Lenny Lawrence is very keen on is Nathan Isinwe.
17:15He's obviously got the links to Charlton, having been manager there for almost a decade.
17:21And then he put Isinwe back into the side as soon as he took over as caretaker and was hopeful that he was going to be able to extend his deal beyond the month that it ended up being.
17:31Charlton had a few injuries, particularly at right back, and they wanted him to come in and play in their EFL trophy game.
17:36But Lawrence certainly hasn't given up hope of getting him back in the not-too-distant future.
17:41And that would be a real boost, because I think Pools, whether it's Isinwe or someone else, they'll probably look to bring in another attacking player, if possible, just to give themselves another option, having lost Isinwe.
17:55Perhaps, again, they might look to bolster in midfield, given the fact that Darren Robinson has returned to Derby, although we didn't see much of him.
18:04In truth, there are players, as you said, Rich, that are getting back to full fitness.
18:09I saw Gary Medin on Friday.
18:11He looks like he's certainly getting there.
18:15Luke Waterford as well, Jack Hunter, as you said.
18:17The sense that I get from many is that they might be available to feature next Saturday, probably not start, but potentially be part of the squad.
18:25I think Pools will look to strengthen, but I'd be surprised if it was anything other than a short-term or a loan deal at this stage in the season.
18:34So, just to reflect then on the trip to York at the weekend, a dramatic game in the end, I say dramatic, a dramatic scoreline in the end.
18:42I think, I'm not sure if the game was as dramatic, 5-3 at York, disappointing, obviously, you know, first defeat under the new structure.
18:52Was it as bad as it looks on paper?
18:53And what was your analysis of the game?
18:55And moving forward, you know, do Pools have a lot of work to do, or is it just one of those games?
19:01Well, they've definitely got work to do.
19:03I think it's hard, to be honest, Rich, to point the finger at the new management structure, who, as far as I understand it, sort of came in on Thursday, met the players on Thursday and Friday.
19:13So, had very limited time to work on anything.
19:18In truth, I think the first half was generally quite disappointing.
19:23I think they showed York too much respect, to be honest.
19:25Obviously, National League leaders only lost 1-16 prior to the game, 1-17.
19:31Now, and I think Pools just sat off, particularly in midfield.
19:34They allowed York midfielders Alex Hunt and Dan Batty to really dictate the game.
19:40And Pools had very little possession, especially in the first 20 minutes, and could have had very few complaints when the home side went ahead through the inform.
19:50On the pierce, I think it was one of those, if you look at the goals, especially in the first half, I think some of the players were a little bit overruled by the occasion.
19:58Obviously, 1,500 travelling fans, more than 7,500 fans inside the stadium.
20:03It was a red-hot atmosphere.
20:05And the first goal came about through a mistake from Billy Seth Davies, who's been really impressive in recent weeks, but had a difficult afternoon.
20:12I think goalkeeper Brad Young might have been disappointed with the second goal as well.
20:17But having said that, after David Ferguson scored to pull one back five minutes into the second half with a superb first-time finish after some great work from Luke Chumley, for 15 minutes or so, it really looked as though Pools were going to score a second goal.
20:34I mean, they had chances.
20:36Adam Campbell missed a Giltedge chance in the first half, which he'll be really disappointed with.
20:41And in the second half, with the score at 2-1, Pools squandered a couple of really presentable opportunities.
20:46Harrison Mell, who had a good gaming goal for York, made an excellent save from Joe Gray.
20:52And Manny Disarue was uncharacteristically selfish when he might have been better off passing to Adam Campbell, who effectively would have had an open goal.
20:58He tried to shoot on the turn, and his shot was blocked over the bar.
21:02York manager Adam Hinshaw would, I think, recognise that he needed to stem the tide of Pools' pressure.
21:08And he made three substitutions in quick succession.
21:11And one of those, Ashley Nathaniel George, scored a stunning goal from long range.
21:15Pools would have been frustrated that they allowed him so much time and space to shoot.
21:20But nonetheless, it was a wonderful goal.
21:22And that knocked the stuffing out of Pools, to be honest.
21:24And from then on, there was only ever really going to be one winner.
21:29And as you said, it was a crazy sort of final few minutes.
21:32Dipo Akinyemi and Ongi Pearce scored for York.
21:34Ongi Pearce scored his second goal, I think was very fortunate.
21:38I mean, the referee gave a penalty for a sort of shoulder-to-shoulder challenge involving Craig Sloggett.
21:44So Pools can count themselves a little bit unlucky in that regard.
21:46Luke Charman scored one for Pools.
21:48And then Manny Di Saruoi with almost the last kick of the game.
21:52So the game sort of lost its structure in the last five or ten minutes.
21:55And one that might have been very entertaining for some of the supporters.
21:58It was not for us who have to write the match reports.
22:01It was a complete nightmare.
22:02I was tearing my hair out, to be honest, Rich.
22:05But it wasn't all bad, that's for sure.
22:08I was surprised by some of the reaction.
22:09I think Pools fans were frustrated and disappointed.
22:12But actually, if you look at the reaction of the supporters in the ground,
22:15the vast majority of them stayed to applaud the players off the pitch.
22:20And I think that's always a good sign.
22:23Because bear in mind, York had only conceded...
22:25Sorry, they'd kept nine clean sheets in their first 16 national league games.
22:30And Pools scored three and could have scored more.
22:32They certainly showed that they are capable as an attacking threat.
22:37I think it's just about finding the correct balance.
22:40Under Darren Sir, we saw Pools were pretty solid at the back.
22:42But they never really looked like they were going to score a goal going forward.
22:47Pools have plenty of good defenders.
22:48And David Ferguson and Dan Dodds had really good games.
22:51I think the centre-halves were the ones who struggled.
22:54The gap between Tom Parks and Billy Sass-Davies was just too wide all afternoon.
22:58It's just about finding that balance between attack and defence.
23:01Because in both thirds and in midfield, Pools are more than capable.
23:05They've got good individuals.
23:06They've got a little bit of depth here and there.
23:09And hopefully they're going to add another couple to strengthen further in some of those areas.
23:15But they do have talented enough players.
23:19I think perhaps it was a sign that they still have plenty of work to do if they're going to compete with sides like York, who are at the very top end.
23:25But Pools certainly haven't given up hope of Jake crashing the top seven come the end of the season.
23:30Albeit they've got a really difficult run coming up.
23:32There's clearly plenty of work to do, Rich.
23:34It's never good to go and concede five goals.
23:37But it was not an afternoon without positives either.
23:39Just on that run, Pools host Eastleigh at home on Saturday.
23:45Then Solihull Moors the week after.
23:48So the schedule itself eases off for this week and next week at least.
23:51No midweek games.
23:53Followed by the game at home to Fylde and then Barn as well the following Saturday.
24:00So three, I think, throughout the next four are on home turf.
24:04So a good chance.
24:05We'll all remember that awful spell earlier in the season when Pools seemed to be at home every Saturday.
24:10The fans were fed up by the end of it, weren't they, with the tactics on the show.
24:15So this next batch of games will hopefully be a good chance for long-suffering Pools fans to see a different style of play and an opportunity.
24:25Like you say, there's some very tough games coming up.
24:27But with three out of the four of them being at home, it is also an opportunity, isn't it?
24:30So it could be an interesting month or so ahead.
24:32How do you envisage that next batch of games going?
24:36Yeah, well, I think they'll certainly have marked out Saturday's game against Eastleigh.
24:40Obviously had a really good start to the season, but beginning to tail off somewhat.
24:44I don't think there are many people that would have backed them to be in the top half of the table before the season started.
24:50And of course, the visit of AFC Fylde and Kevin Phillips.
24:54There's obviously that added edge now that Kevin Phillips is in charge.
24:57They've had a difficult run, really, under Phillips, but obviously had a smashing result on Saturday.
25:03They beat Gateshead 3-0.
25:04So that's added another interesting element to that fixture.
25:09I think Pools will be targeting those games as two winnable fixtures and two games in Truthridge that they're going to need to win.
25:15I think you mentioned Song-a-Ho, but they've got Gateshead, Barnet, Yeovil and Oldham between now and the new year.
25:23All teams in and around the promotion picture.
25:27And if Pools are serious about mounting a late challenge for the top seven, then they've got to remain within touching distance through this run of games.
25:36I would suggest a seven points adrift of the playoffs.
25:38Now, I would suggest if they could be anywhere between five and seven points adrift of the National League top seven come New Year's Day,
25:46then they'd give themselves a chance because then they might think, OK, we can put a run of games together, three or four.
25:51If we could win three or four on the bounce, all of a sudden we're right in contention.
25:56I think it's just about remaining within touching distance in this difficult run.
26:00And you mentioned at the top of this conversation about the fact that Pools fans might look on the likes of Anthony Lindbergh and Gavin Skelton differently if Pools have a difficult run.
26:09But I would suggest that perhaps Pools also might have been thinking that had they thrown an Anthony Lindbergh in at this stage in the campaign with such a difficult run of games to come,
26:20then it might have been a real baptism of fire.
26:21It might have been really difficult for him to to get off on the front foot as manager.
26:25So perhaps in that regard, it makes sense where as Lenny is someone who's who's seen everything there is to see in football.
26:31He might be better placed to to cope.
26:34And perhaps as well, as it sounds, shoulder any of the criticism if that is the case.
26:39I mean, Pools have got to win their home games, haven't they?
26:41Darren Siles said at the start of the season he wanted to make Victoria Park a fortress.
26:46And that was something, unfortunately, that he signally failed to do.
26:50It's one of the best grounds to play football as a home team when it's going well.
26:55But it can be one of the most difficult grounds to play as a home team when things aren't going well.
26:59And you said that the supporters are long suffering and they're desperate for something to get behind.
27:06And I think if Pools can just play with a bit of attacking intent, a bit more energy, if they can offer something going for it, as we saw to an extent against York
27:16supporters in general in the ground did appreciate their side's efforts, their side's courage, bravery, willingness to attack.
27:23So if we can see some more of that, then I think supporters will respond.
27:27Good stuff, hopefully. Yeah, that's just my natural cynicism, Robbie, coming through as a Pools fan with regards to the new coaching set up.
27:34And hopefully it's a very successful end of the season and there's a smooth transition in the summer.
27:39If what happens, you know, I think we probably all suspect that might happen.
27:42So we wish them well anyway. All Pools fans want to see is just a winning side.
27:47So that's about the end of football. So hopefully that'll get going at home to Eastleigh this weekend.
27:52Thanks for your time, Robbie. I think we've discussed most things there.
27:55We've discussed a lot of the big topics. In the meantime, head to the Mail website for the latest from Robbie throughout the week.
28:02We'll have press conference coverage even later in the week.
28:07And also there's the print edition out every Thursday as well. Until next time, Robbie.
28:11Thanks for your time. Thanks, Rich. Cheers.