Next Hartlepool United Manager Odds

Hartlepool United are on the lookout for their third manager of the season following the departure of Keith Curle after just seven wins and seven draws in 29 matches at the Victoria Park club, equating to a 24% win rate.

At present, the Pools are 22nd in League Two, one point above the relegation zone, although alarmingly, 23rd-place Crawley Town have played four fewer games than them.

Curle succeeded Paul Hartley as manager, with the Scot fairing worse than the ex-Manchester City defender, having won just one of his 11 matches in charge - meaning that he had a win rate of just 9.1%.

Hartlepool have seemingly struggled to find a natural replacement for Dave Challinor following his shock return to Stockport County, with Graeme Lee fairing the best of any manager to date, winning ten and drawing 12 of his 32 games at the helm.

Below, we take a look at potential candidates to succeed Curle at Victoria Park.

Former Middlesbrough and Chelsea goalkeeper Ross Turnbull is one of the favourites for the vacant managerial role.

The 36-year-old has had a few different roles in his career since retiring as a player as he returned to Leeds United to be their opposition goalkeeper analyst, before departing to do the same job at Stamford Bridge.

In March 2018, Turnbull joined Hartlepool on a voluntary basis with former Middlesbrough teammate Matthew Bates as a goalkeeper coach, before leaving the club after their promotion to League Two last season to become a scout at Chelsea.

This job could be a good one for Turnbull due to his connections with clubs such as Chelsea and Leeds, as well as knowing the club well having been a coach.

Current Bromley manager Andy Woodman is also in the frame for the managerial role at Victoria Park.

Woodman, who is father of former Newcastle goalkeeper Freddie has had an array of jobs in football, as he has been an assistant manager at Rushden & Diamonds, as well as a coach at West Ham, Charlton Athletic, Newcastle and Crystal Palace as he is friends with Alan Pardew.

The 51-year-old left his role as Head of Goalkeeping at Arsenal to become a manager of National League outfit Bromley last season, who he lead to the playoffs in the previous campaign and evidently has an impressive record with, as he has a win percentage of 44% following 44 victories and 30 draws in 100 matches, that sees Bromley sit eighth.

Woodman's most notable managerial achievement of his career was winning the FA Trophy with Bromley last campaign, overseeing his side beat Wrexham 1-0 in the final via a goal from Michael Cheek.

Former Middlesbrough cult hero and Champions League winner Fabrizio Ravanelli has reportedly shown interest in the role at Hartlepool.

The 52-year-old spent just one season in the North East where he scored 17 goals in 35 matches for Boro between 1996 and 1997 and reportedly wants a return to English football.

‘The White Feather’ has had two managerial roles since retiring as a player back in 2005 and both were nothing short of disastrous, as he coached AC Ajaccio between June and November of 2013, winning just one of 13 matches in charge, leaving him with a win percentage of 7.9%, before taking over at Arsenal Kyiv in June and September 2018, winning just one of his nine matches at the helm.

Antony Sweeney is next on this list of those in contention for the job at Hartlepool.

The 38-year-old former central midfielder made 385 league appearances across a 13-year spell at the club and managed Pools to a 1-0 win over Everton’s Under 23s in the EFL Trophy.

Sweeney has a UEFA A License that he achieved in 2016 and has even managed Hartlepool at youth levels, before becoming the club’s First Team Coach in January 2019 which is still his official job title alongside his role as Interim Manager.

Hartlepool’s former Assistant Manager Clint Hill is also in the running to be the Pools' next manager.

The 44-year-old former QPR and Rangers defender joined the club in October 2021, but left within a month to join Stockport with Challinor. Hill has an array of experience having previously been a First Team Coach at Fleetwood Town under former teammate at Loftus Road, Joey Barton. Hill stayed at Fleetwood until Barton was relieved of his duties as a manager in January 2021.