http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05rygsr#play
35 minutes in.

Could you give a summary please Jamie

Basically massively supportive. Club was a mess when he was there but you'd expect better from the owners who took over from Coxall. Clubs shouldn't run out of money in January. He thinks keeping the big squad and staff was a gamble that failed and that there are people at the club who don't have it's best interests at heart. Been enough money in when you count transfers - all been mismanaged.

He's got sympathy for Harrison because it is tough on players to be unpaid and lied to and managers have to say things they don't believe. No excuse for not being professional on match days though.

He applauds the fund raising but thinks you have to be sure about where the money is going. Feels optimistic about the future but thinks it depends on current owners being prepared to walk away and accept that they've made a loss.

Says he can see fan ownership working to a point but thinks that fan representation on the board alongside a benefactor would be best. Also thinks that sensible planning and realistic ambitions are needed so we can become competitive in two or three seasons.

Thanks for that.

I was talking to Higgy a few weeks ago and he genuinely believed he wasn’t far off making a difference, just needed another transfer window to move some out and replace. Seems a really good bloke

I am strongly of the opinion Hignett was building a good team, before the off field issues Pools were competitive in most games and in some played attractive football. Let's not forget Thomas and Carson who were flying got injured before the fire sale and non payment of wages.

I think at a club with a stable off field situation and fans willing to give him more than 5 minutes he could do well

Totally agree

It probably means nothing but I’ll just leave this here

I know the job aged Higgy but I thought he was older than ten.

He probably would have to be to have a 10th anniversary.

Sage walking away has always been a key part of the deal. I know exactly what he's talking about as I was at the meeting.

If they don't then there is no sense in taking it over and liquidation beckons. The sooner the better for me, ultimately the club will be far better off.

That was in dog years.

I wouldn't be disappointed to have him back as manager.


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I would. He had his chance and blew it. Like Harrison he could blame lack of money or whatever for his failure, but every manager with a brain , should know the score when they take on the Hartlepool job.

We need a manager who realises that 'playing football the right way' with non league players will not get us back into the EFL. Harrison's record winning run in the Welsh league resulted in the delusion that he could coach possession football as played by the very best. It may not be pretty to watch but much cruder form of the game is needed to succeed in what is a very poor league.

Brian will be tuning in his grave!

Brian May????

Brian Labone????

Brian Topmarksfornottrying .

Yup ! playing football the wrong way with non league players is the way forward, at least initially. Its ironic , that the best players from Gateshead , Spennymoor and Blyth, could probably make a good fist of it in the National League.

Whilst humour is appreciated respected posters such as Horden and Snowy know that that in the context of football playing style, there is only one Brian worth mentioning on an HUFC blog.

Which blog is that? Don't usually read blogs but would give a Pools one a go.

I'd file Hignett in the same category as John Hughes as ex-managers I would have liked stay at the club and had some decent backing from the board.

John Hughes was a good manager in my opinion he came in and straight away he got us to winning ways and got us a fair few points on the board for us to I wonder where he's at now? Didn't he leave at the time over a row with wanting to sign players or something about the budget or something along them lines correct me if I'm wrong like.

Think he wanted to discuss signing players etc but Russ Green wouldnt ever meet him to talk about it.

Hughes problem was he was in charge for the dreaded oldham game, and everyone knows pretty much everything thats went wrong in the world started that night.

Rumour has it trump drew inspiration in the victory and decided to run for office on the back of it.

Same as Wilson then. The sacking of Wilson in 2008 was the turning point imo. That's when IOR decided other than paying the bills, they were pulling the plug on any other investment.

I thought it was something along them lines, At least IOR used to pay the bills that's one thing about them they did do at the time, But in my opinion they coudnt take the club anymore further forward than they did we had the best off times under them in my opinion, I seem to Remeber a lot off people wanting them out and to sell the club and whinging and wining about them and then coxall and his cronies came in, Just goes to show be carefull what you wish for.

I don't get this "be careful what you wish for" phrase regarding IOR. Let's be honest, if they were still in charge we would still be in the National League and, probably, still struggling near the bottom. We would have still sold anyone we could get a fee for and none of the money would have been reinvested in the playing squad. It just would not have been, so obviously, nicked, and yes - the bills would have been paid. Those who wanted IOR out were hoping for someone who would have the Club's best interests at heart - we got crooks instead.

Totally Agree.
If theres any fans who are happy with bills getting paid on time they seriously need to raise there ambitions.
Hopefully next seson we start off with owners who want to get it right on the pitch for a change whatever that division is.
Us brilliant fans deserve a lot better than the cack we have had to endure these last few seasons.

Unfortunately Sage and Pam won't give a damn who are the next owners. They just want out!

Owners have to want to achieve something or we may as well call it a day. Smart arse investors/owners at this level have to raise questions in anybody's mind because investment means reaping a reward and that's very unlikely indeed.
Anybody thinking they've appeared from nowhere to make our dreams come true should be sectioned under the Mental Health Act for this life and the next.

That is an excellent post.

A lot of conflict has been created in the last couple of years by people making throwaway comments about fellow fans, me included probably, but the reality is the situation at Pools right now is fairly complex, it has a lot of layers of blame. Hodcroft was finished at Pools he had no more to give the John Hughes farce highlighted that. Him and Russ thought we had no chance of staying up but they brought him in and paid him 600 bar a week until the end of the season. They had no intention of giving the bloke a fighting chance even though he showed signs that with backing he could have given the club one, but many of the captains of hindsight who are now waxing lyrical about Hughes have short memories. Because I can assure you the bloke got similar abuse and ridicule as Craig Harrison has been subjected to. Yeah Hughes is/was a far more capable football manager but the point is he was hung out to dry. He was just a cheap option who rocked the boat too much so his days were probably numbered from the start. But Hughes was getting hammered, and mocked across various forums during the last couple of months of the season for talking nonsense like Craig Harrison has recently. The manager good or bad is the only one who's made to face the music on a frequent basis and be forced to say something, it's little wonder whilst overseeing the mess of Hartlepool United they resort to bollocks. It's about time a manager actually had half a chance to do his job here.

Its about time that the owners (whoever they may be) appointed an experienced manager who has realistic, achieveable ambitions and actually cares about the club. He needs to have decent experience and a track record of whichever echelon of English football the club actually finds itself in and not be swayed by smooth-talking bullshit of cheap option, former pro wannabees or dinosaurs winding down to their football grave.

You're an example of someone who misses the point and always blames the manager, I'd say the last manager who had every opportunity to succeed at Pools and failed was Martin Scott.

The club needs overhauling root and branch, we need a sustainable business plan and a long term outlook. Until that happens whoever the football manager is matters little.

Wadsworth was sacked when Pools were three points off the play off positions in League One after being given nothing to spend. He was doing a good job, Hughes did a good job, Hignett was doing a good job and signed some good players until Coxall and Sage pulled the rug out from under him. The club has been in decline for over 10 years and the problem has been owners that have shown no interest in building a winning team and that includes IOR once Larsen pulled the funds because Hodcroft was nothing without Larsen !