Really. I mean, REALLY.

Hartlepool United sacked Mick Wadsworth.

The same Mick Wadsworth who picked up the pieces when the whole club looked to be dying on it’s backside 15 months ago. The same Mick Wadsworth who led them to absolute safety in League One last season when everyone tipped them for relegation. The same Mick Wadsworth who got the club 5 points off the play-off places heading into Christmas. The same Mick Wadsworth who probably didn’t want the headline job in the first place, but took it on because it seemed the right thing to do.

There’s gratitude for you.

But gratitude doesn’t exist in football. Just ask Chris Hughton.

Wadsworth’s downfall came about because his problems were all on his own doorstep. The club’s wonderfully original and successful summer season ticket campaign got an unprecedented number of bums on seats and feet on terraces. Victoria Park was going to rock. Victoria Park was going to be a fortress and that was going to be the catalyst for something wonderful. But stage fright set in. 7 homes defeats in a row led to restless natives. That, in turn, led to a restless boardroom.

It’s a rotten run, there’s no disputing that, but what about some context ?

Exhibit A is the away form. They may be bafflingly hopeless at home, but they’re pure steel away and they’ve only lost once in the league on their travels. That isn’t the calling card of a struggling squad.

Exhibit B is common sense. They’re Hartlepool. They’re not Sheffield Wednesday, or Preston North End, or another of the historical giants who’ve fallen on hard times. They’re Hartlepool. Every season at this level is a tiny miracle. Further progress would mean radically restructuring the club. Further progress would render their stadium unfit for purpose. Further progress would frighten the life out of them. But suddenly 5 points off the play-off’s isn’t good enough anymore. It’s not logical and it doesn’t seem fair.

But ask Chris Hughton about life being unfair. While you’re at it, ask him about the perils of losing at home. Hughton and Wadsworth both inherited jobs in similar circumstances. Both went on to do their jobs very well. But a sequence of one point from home games against Blackpool, Stoke, Wigan and Blackburn played a big part in Hughton's downfall at Newcastle.

Steve Bruce is another who discovered you can only get away with serving up rubbish in front of your home crowd for so long.

So the very obvious lesson is - if you have to mess up, don’t do it on your own doorstep. Otherwise you’re in trouble. Hartlepool United have sacked Mick Wadsworth and it doesn’t seem fair. But we’ve been here before and we’ll be here again. Sometimes it works out, as Newcastle United fans can testify. Sometimes it doesn't.