On the latest episode of the Poolie Podcast, Robbie Stelling looks at who impressed for Hartlepool United as Simon Grayson's side defeated FC Hartlepool in their first pre-season outing of the summer.
00:00To start with last night's game, Robbie, first of all, what was your reflections on the 3-0 win?
00:05First time you've seen Simon Grayson's team in action and some of the new faces as well.
00:13Yeah, it was good, Rich. I think first and foremost, it was a good occasion.
00:20Second year in a row now that Pools have began their pre-season campaign against FC Hartlepool,
00:25who are clearly a club on the up, a really good club.
00:28They've obviously had success over the last few years and a lot of the money that they make from big games like this.
00:35There were more than 1,500 fans at Greyfields last night.
00:40They reinvest into the club. They reinvest it into some of their nice new facilities and also into their youth teams.
00:46I think they've got more than 60 thriving youth teams at the minute.
00:49We saw a lot of the youngsters leading the players out, doing a lap of honour before the game, taking some penalties at halftime.
00:56So it was a really good occasion and FC Hartlepool actually acquitted themselves really, really well.
01:01Got right in Pools' faces, particularly early on, actually had the first chance of the game as well, which had Adam Smith scrambling at one stage.
01:09Pools certainly grew into things. I think it was probably more about getting minutes into the legs than anything else.
01:17Obviously, with all due respect to FC Hartlepool, who, as I say, were resolute, well organised and full of spirit,
01:23Pools will need to test themselves against a higher level opposition before we can really gauge where they're at and what to expect next season.
01:32But nonetheless, it was nice to see some of the new faces.
01:35It was nice to have a first opportunity to meet Simon Grayson, who spoke really well.
01:39I was impressed by him, his ideas, his ethos, and the fact that he's willing to take on this challenge.
01:46And let's not hide away from the fact that it is a challenge.
01:48There's a lot of pressure and expectation that comes with being Hartlepool United manager.
01:55And clearly, again, the aim is going to be at least a playoff push.
01:59But that's going to be challenging, I think, in a league where there are a lot of strong teams, a lot of big budgets as well.
02:06You look at the likes of York, Carlyle, Forest Green, they're clearly going to spend a lot of money in order to try and be successful.
02:12And Pools are going to have to do things slightly differently, although it's worth noting that Grayson said to me after the game that he was really satisfied with the support,
02:21the financial backing that he'd received from the club, and that he was confident that Pools were in the process of assembling a really competitive squad.
02:31We saw three of the five new faces on show on Tuesday night.
02:36Pools played effectively two different 11s.
02:38They played 3-5-2 in the first half and then a 4-4-2 in the second half.
02:42Those are the shapes that Grayson has tended to favour throughout his career.
02:47And a couple of words that we've heard a lot since he's taken over, a versatility and adaptability.
02:52I think it's going to be important to Grayson that Pools are able to interchange between those formations, sometimes within a game.
02:59So that was certainly a valuable exercise.
03:02We saw Brad Walker and Jay Ben in the first half.
03:06Brad Walker, I was really impressed by, albeit he was allowed a lot more time and space on the ball than he probably will be.
03:12When the National League season gets underway, he looks powerful.
03:16He looks strong.
03:16He played in sort of a deep-lying midfield role just in front of the back three and was always wanting the ball.
03:22Kept Pools ticking over and showed his range of passing at times.
03:25The challenge, of course, with Brad will be getting him fit and keeping him fit.
03:29He's had a lot of injuries in the last few years, particularly at Port Vale and Trammer.
03:33But obviously, Pools fans know all about the type of player that he is.
03:37He can play in central midfield, he can play a little bit deeper, or he can even play as part of a back three and obviously played 123 times for Pools at the beginning of his career.
03:48Jay Ben was a little bit in and out, played as a right wing back, which I think is probably one of his favoured positions.
03:54Certainly, he can play as a conventional right back or even a little bit further forward if needed.
03:59And although at times I felt he was a little bit peripheral, there were certainly some promising signs.
04:02He got forward really well.
04:04He looked quick, he looked purposeful, he looked pretty powerful.
04:08And he caused FC Hartnepoel a few problems with some impressive driving runs.
