'Pools boss Neale Cooper spoke to BBC Radio Tees and his club's official website ahead of his side's League One match against Carlisle at Victoria Park tomorrow, Cooper getting accustomed to things after a month of his second spell in charge of Hartlepool :
“Every day I come it is even better and I am thoroughly enjoying it, obviously getting to know the boys better and they are a really good bunch of lads. I didn’t know a lot of them before I came so that is a learning curve for both parties, but I am really enjoying it and can’t ask for more effort than they are giving us. We don’t really have any out and out wingers at the club, we are playing two through the middle at the moment. So with the system at the moment the lads that are in playing are working extremely hard, especially in the wider areas.
“Since I have been gone the club and Hartlepool itself hasn’t changed very much, a lot of the office staff are the same, I think the majority are, which is nice because I always had a great rapport with them and Ritchie (Humphreys) and Micky (Barron) played for me and Micky was captain when I was here before. They have just been a tremendous help on the coaching side and advising me about the players, and the three of us work together and there is a good bond between us which is very important. All the coaching staff, the physios, everyone is just after the same thing and I just love it, coming back and being back on the training field as well.
“I have always liked a happy environment wherever I have worked, we have a good laugh but we work extremely hard and the work-ethic of these boys is fantastic. Half eight in the morning they are in training, they never complain, they do their weights circuit with the fitness coach at Durham University and then we go out and train and it is always a high tempo. But, along with that we do have a good laugh and that is important to have a happy camp, you want to take that into game situations and if you get that with everyone fighting for the same thing then you have won a watch.
“We sit and talk about the session before we go out with Micky and Ritchie and we try to make it obviously game-related every day and enjoyable as well. We tend to give them stuff I think we enjoyed as players and it is all related to the game and they seem to like it, unless they are telling us something different once they have finished training and they are saying they can’t stand it. But, you can tell they are because there is a smile on their face when they are playing, but one thing is that the work ethic is fantastic."
“We had a fantastic achievement the last time I was here and if we put another good run of games together then it is funny, win a few, lose a few, you could be down the way or you could be back up there and close to the play-off positions if you go on a good run. Can we do that? That is what we have got to try to set our targets for.
“Sheffield Wednesday was a really good hard-working performance, to go there, I have never seen a bigger team than Sheffield Wednesday, honestly, they brought on a substitute who was about 6’8 and the whole team were huge, I was saying to the boys that it was a bit like the Alamo with the way they were bombarding us with things, but credit to the boys, they stuck to their jobs.
“We gave away two bad goals, because the defence has been excellent in the last few weeks, but major credit again to coming back, going 2-1 down and under continuous pressure from them, we had a really good break up the park and Antony Sweeney scored a fantastic goal last weekend. We had to be really resilient and to come away with a point at Sheffield Wednesday after the barrage of play we were against was a fantastic result and great credit as well to the support, we had 600 down at Sheffield, fantastic for a club of Hartlepool’s size. We have to try to repay them by hard-working performances and hopefully that is what they got last week and the previous games.
“It’s understandable that the crowds fell off a little bit following the run of defeats. Even then I’ve heard that they stuck by the lads, so now it’s time to give them something back. The last home game against Rochdale was terrific. The win and the atmosphere which went with it was just how I remember the Vic from five or six years ago. I would love to have that again tomorrow. Most of the fans already have the tickets so my message would be to come down to the game and help us get another win, it should be a cracking game and a cracking atmosphere."
“Carlisle will be a tough one, I am hearing that they have just about sold out their allocation and I have been told they play a lot of good stuff, they are in a good position in the league at the moment, obviously I know big (Lee) Miller upfront from being in Scotland and he is a threat. But, they have got other players as well that can cause us problems, so it is a massive derby for us, well we call it a derby, the nearest team for us. So, we are all looking forward to it and hopefully we can try to get back to winning ways.
“We like to play good stuff as well, we are at home and we are going into it on the back of two very good points away from home. Can we go and take the game to Carlisle and possibly cause them problems? The last home game we had we had a really good performance and the run that we have been on of losing at home, can we go and win a few? We have got a bit of pace upfront with Luke James who gives us that dimension, although we are looking for a striker to come in with that he gives us that.
“Sweeney’s energy level, Andy Monkhouse has been a lot fitter this week because he had a sort of viral thing the other week that seemed to knock him a bit, but he has looked sharp in training and he is banging in the goals. So, they are three big players for us this weekend, but I think a bit of an unsung hero for us at the minute is Gary Liddle, he has done very well since I have come back and I thought he had a great game last week.
“He goes about his job in the middle of the park, along with Steve (Haslam) and Paul Murray, everyone is putting their bit in just now, everyone is doing the best they can, there is a good spirit there and hopefully that will continue. If you get that and a bunch of boys wanting to play then I think you can achieve anything, but obviously our main concern is to try to get up a few places in the league in the next few weeks, and after that who knows?
“It is early days yet though, I have just come in and I am trying to see what we can achieve, we are still looking to bring one or two boys in but they have got to be the right ones that can fit in with what is here. I don’t want people to come in that will spoil the camaraderie that is at this club. I’ve made contact with people and been told of players to watch. But no-one has really gone out and said ‘pick me’. I want that feeling when I watch somebody, things have to be right. I want players who can come in and make an impact, not someone who is working back to fitness. They have to be ready and right for us.”