I think we can focus too much on the decision to sack Ronnie and his role in Hartlepool's survival; after all, our record under Moore was appalling in the twelve months leading up to his dismissal and had he stayed, we would probably have struggled seriously this season anyway due to the uncertainty over the ownership of the club prior to Palios's arrival.
I also would not agree that our decline began in 2001. It really started in 20o9 with the return of Johnson as Chairman, the severe budget cuts and the ludicrous decision to appoint Barnes as manager. The managers that succeeded him never really had a chance given the constraints that were imposed on them. As Nigel Adderley has tweeted, five years of managed decline resulting in the end of a 94-year stay in the Football League.
To focus on today's game, I was pleased with how we played and we deserved a result. We deserve to be relegated, but we certainly did not get much luck today, particularly in terms of refereeing decisions: their forward dived in the penalty incident, their third goal was offside, and we were denied a blatant penalty of our own for a foul on Green. At 2-1 down we also had an effort from Koumas somehow cleared off the line. All academic now I know, but we were bold in the final third today, creating chances and scoring goals and it makes you wonder if we could still have scraped survival had Adams gone a couple of weeks earlier.
The reception given to Palios prior to the game and the sheer numbers that travelled today do give me hope that we have finally 'bottomed out' now and next season will be better. On the way home I listened to Bristol Rovers thrash Alfreton 7-0, with two play-off games to come for them. They have made a decent fist of life in the Conference and we need to follow their example; just another episode in the club's rich history. Relegation from League Two need not be the death knell of the club, certainly not with Palios in charge.
Having said all that, losing our league status still has not really sunk in. Difficult to take.