Tuesday night under the Mill Farm floodlights is on the agenda for the Coasters as Hartlepool United come to the Fylde Coast off the back of their 2-0 victory against Oxford City on Saturday and we’ve pulled together everything you need to know ahead of the clash.
The Lowdown:
The Coasters come into this matchup against their north-east counterparts with a 100% record after notching a 2-0 win on New Year’s Day at home to Rochdale. A brace from Danny Ormerod gave the Coasters all 3 points in what was a dominant display. However, it has been all change for the Poolies with manager John Askey getting the sack after a poor run of results which ended with back-to-back defeats against Oldham.
However, interim boss Lenny Lawrence guided them to their first win since November 18th with a 2-1 win at home to Oxford City. With both sides looking to bolster their squads within the January window, 3 points would be a good attraction for players looking to sign for either side.
The Interim Manager: Lennie Lawrence
Lennie started off his management career way back in 1978, which in perspective is 10 years before the Coasters were even founded. Lennie is one of the few managers around who have managed over 1000 games of football so he certainly knows his stuff. Lawrence was once a player and made quite a name for himself amongst the non-league clubs in the Southern region playing for the likes of Sutton United and Carsholton.
However, in 1978, Lennie got his first taste of management and has never looked back since. He started off as caretaker manager for a couple of games at Argyle before moving to Lincoln City in 1980 as a coach. This was when Lennie enjoyed his first success in the Coaching side of the game helping Lincoln get promoted to what was the third division in 1981. Lennie stayed one more season before moving back down south to Charlton Athletic.
Charlton was a club plagued with money issues at the time and even had to move out of their famous ground the Valley for a short period of time. However, between 1982 and 1991, Lennie was in charge and he certainly gave the fans something to cheer about, getting them promoted to the first division in 1986 and managing to keep them there until 1990 despite all the money issues. Lennie departed in 1991 leaving the club in a more successful place than when he joined. Lawrence moved back up north to Middlesborough who were also in the second division at the time of his joining. However, in his first season in charge, he quickly changed that, taking them to the newly formed Premier League at the first attempt.
They unfortunately didn’t last in the Premier League and were relegated the next season. Lawrence departed the club in 1994 being replaced by the Legendary Bryan Robson. Between 1994 and 2001, Lawrence enjoyed a series of clubs which included Bradford City, Luton Town and Grimsby Town. However, he never managed to gain any success at any of these clubs and even went down with Luton. After them poor spells, Lennie moved to Wales to join Cardiff City where expectations were high and pressure was on from the owners. Lennie once again managed to gain promotion to the first division. However, this was Lennie’s last managerial spell as he turned to different roles within football. He managed to get different jobs such as director of football, technical director, assistant manager and football consultancy roles.
Key Players:
David Ferguson – Left back who’s fierce in the tackle and can also get forward will cause the Coasters a big threat. Newly made captain Ferguson is one of the more reliable names in the Pools squad notching 129 games for Hartlepool following his move from York in 2020.
Anthony Mancini – Slightly different lifestyles for Mancini swapping the south of France for North East England. Starting his career in the Lyon setup Mancini moved on to Angers ii where he made 34 appearances. Then making the unusual move to Burnley before joining Hartlepool in the summer. Aged 22 he looks a force in the Pools midfield controlling games with his passing and also appearing at the right time in the box for a goal. The Frenchman is back from injury and is a key player in the North East side.
Nicky Featherstone – Nearly 400 appearances for the club, fan favourite, leader and knows what the club is about. A key man in the midfield who has a key relationship with Anthony Mancini and could cause the coasters some problems.
Previous meetings:
26th August 2017
National League
Hartlepool United 0 vs 2 AFC Fylde
Goalscorers: Fylde-Henry Jones, Danny Rowe
17th March 2018
National League
AFC Fylde 3 vs 3 Hartlepool United
Goalscorers: Fylde- Andy Bond x2, James Hardy Hartlepool- Tunnicliffe og, Devante Rodney, Jake Cassidy
27th November 2018
National League
Hartlepool United 1 vs 2 AFC Fylde
Goalscorers: Hartlepool- Liam Noble Fylde- Danny Rowe, Arthur Gnahoua
12th March 2019
National League
AFC Fylde 4 vs 2 Hartlepool United
Goalscorers: Fylde- Danny Rowex2, Fraser Kerr og, Lewis Walters. Hartlepool- Ryan Donaldson, Josh Hawkes
13th August 2019
National League
Hartlepool United 2 vs 2 AFC Fylde
Goalscorers: Hartlepool- Gime Tourex2 , Fylde- Ryan Croasdale x2
26th August 2023
Hartlepool United 3 vs 1 AFC Fylde
National League
Goalscorers: Hartlepool- Emmanuel Dieseruvwe (x2), Callum Cooke. Fylde- Gold Omatayo
Opposition Form:
Lenny Lawrence has a bit of a task on his hands at the moment with the pools struggling to gain any momentum or form in the league at the moment. With 3 wins since the 26th of September, Lenny will be looking to build on last Saturday’s win against Oxford. With star player Mancini back in the side, Pools fans will be a little optimistic about travelling to the Fylde coast this Tuesday night.
