Pools face two vital games inside four days, starting with a first-ever meeting with Hornchurch at Victoria Park on Saturday (kick-off 3pm), followed by a trip to Fylde on Tuesday evening (kick-off 7.45pm).
Life uses the word vital not in any attempt to big up what looks a run-of-the-mill non-league contest.
The truth is that every match is now vital for Pools, who find themselves in desperate trouble in English football’s fifth tier and out of the FA Cup after another humiliating fourth qualifying round exit.
Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to National League North outfit Marine means Pools have lost 13 of their 17 games in all competitions in a season which had, with the emphasis on the past tense, promised so much.
In a no-holds-barred post-match media conference, Wild admitted “a complete refurb of a job” was required at the Vic.
The new head coach conceded such a scenario would be impossible and told Life that he must try to get more out of the squad, but stressed the players have to play their part and show “character”.
“It has got to come from within,” he said. “Actions speak louder than words.
“Ultimately, the only way to get out of a situation, in any profession, is to roll up your sleeves.
“I think here that when the going has got tough, everyone has gone very insular and buried their heads in the sand.
“Character is key, isn’t it?
“The best footballers have the best character and, ultimately, I’ve got to try to get that out of them.”
Wild told Life that serious changes in approach need to be made to get Pools out of the malaise they find themselves in.
He has not only inherited an underperforming squad, he is trying to fix a mess made by Bromby & Partners, the consultants hired by club owner Landon Smith to run the football operation at Pools.
“We’ve got to approach every day like a Football League club, I’m not sure we do that,” said Pete.
“That’s no fault of the staff, we’re going to have to teach them.
“Coming from the EFL, my standards are different and I expect those standards [here].
“We need to have better standards, which breeds consistent habits which gets them in a better position athletically and physically.
“That puts them in a better position to handle the ball more and be more ruthless.
“That’s the first thing.
“Number two, as with every recruitment drive, some players just don’t work, for whatever reason.
“There are two or three that I don’t think have worked, but it’s not easy to get rid of them, because they are on contracts for whatever money they are on.
“You’ve got to try to move them out in order to bring people in.
“It’s not as though Landon is going to say ‘there’s another 200 grand, go and sort the problem out’.
“That’s not real life, so we’ve got to try to find a way to move some out to move some in.
“I keep saying about change the person or change the person. I’m on the edge with about four of them around changing the person.”
That quote works better in audio than in print, but he is saying change the person, ie improve him, and if that don’t work, replace him.
Wild is a no-nonsense fella and his post-match tell-it-as-it-is highlights his desperation to get Pools out of this dire situation.
It could signal departures from the Vic because he will struggle to get Pools up the National League with the current group.
“Staying in the league is the first thing that we need to do,” he said.
Author: Roy
Author of Sports Life and all sports articles.