Speculate to accumulate great., but what happens when you don’t accumulate? It’s not always a success.

Leeds are a great example, they speculated massively when David O'Leary was manager and very quickly found themselves in div 2.
Man City have been piling money in for years but it took a while and umpteen managers to win anything.

you can only speculate in the money you actually have to speculate. unless anyone can prove to me that raj has the same money to burn like some other owners have then i,ll leave him alone. Not the ideal owner by any stretch but still better than some of the others and the vast amount of managers and players we have had. I,m not going on saturday for the simple reason i never was and a real show at halifax would not have changed my mind. Just cannot afford it.

I'll be there, as will most season ticket holders I imagine. Home game with Rochdale? Just like last season and umpteen times before. Dale are probably the team Pools have played more often than any other - and most games between them have been instantly forgettable. Ah well, it's a Saturday afternoon, there's a match on, end of.

Doesn't mean the result doesn't matter, any more than the 1,400 who snapped up the tickets for the York game will go there expecting to be humiliated. Football fans are eternal optimists, but John Askey is on very thin ice now and he knows it.

think rochdale have a bad record at the vic as well like we do at spotland. always seems a bit of a home banker in the past.

How do you know he sends them there. That's the sort of thing I'm referring to when I ask for evidence of your wild accusations. When you became a man did your parents send you anywhere, never mind Pools. My family is grown up and I don't do any sending to anywhere. I might suggest or recommend something but that's as far as it goes.
I can suggest something to you if you like. Why do you appear to favour the abusers instead of the abused???? If anyone is to be encouraged not to attend surely it is the abusers who should be kept away not the victims. That is surmising the abuse is confined only to the Vic, which it may not be. Agree or not.

I think we have to start with explaining the difference between selling players and players leaving for other reasons. List me every player that has been sold under Raj and for how much. Then list me the players who have left because they were touted by other clubs, wanted to be nearer home, sick of travelling, out of contract, don't get on with the manager etc etc etc. Rumour hath it that we failed to qualify for the FA Cup more than once since our conception in 1908. Check it for yourself or contact Madjohn from In the mad crowd as he highlighted the information on the Hartlepool United Forum. Relegation is always a possibility and there are no guarantees it will never happen whoever is the owner. Managers come and go at the vast majority of clubs, with very few exceptions. Apart from Challinor how many managers have departed in Raj's regime who the fans including you raised an uproar about. Even Challinor himself took the brunt of the fans anger.
Crowds dip and rise at the performances on the pitch. If the team is playing well the crowds are healthy, at Pools at least but not at some hobby clubs. If Pools fans don't like what they see some stay away. Been happening long before Raj and will happen when he's gone.
Lies about the budget, three questions for you. 1. What is the budget? 2. What and when did Raj publish it as, if different from question 1?
and 3.Where does the budget rank in relation to the other teams in the division? The lack of players going to Portugal but why is that the fault of Raj? Surely the recruitment process was in place, the manager had his budget and players were being pursued. Where Raj slipped up was he should have cancelled it as a waste of time and money but the decision to go was made.
A team, that has proved to be able to compete, and now only going through the motions, is not the fault of the Chairman unless you have evidence that he is running the training sessions, picking the team, choosing the tactics, sitting in the dugout/ prowling the technical area and making the substitutions.
Darlo and what happened there has nothing to do with us, unless you are referring to the fact that he was getting abuse from the fans allegedly and pulled the plug. And you and others are following the same path like lemmings heading towards the cliffs. Sorry if I've missed anything out but I'm sure you get my drift.

Well said Mr. D.

I am positive there are many Chairman of Football Clubs experiencing the same vitriol from fans as Raj has received.

I bet dear old Bill Kenwright got a fair share of "hate" from the Everton fans but reading now what a really nice man he was with many acts of kindness (and requested no publicity). He was so supportive of the fans of Liverpool after Hillsborough and had unveiled a plaque in Goodison Park. He was a true gentleman.

This post worries me a little bit Mr L and I must say it surprised me somewhat and I've read Mr PTID's reply and my judgement is that you just might be wrong. In light of that can I recommend that you have a rethink. TIA.

Raj and the Darlo thing is avoiding what caused their real down fall.
When George arrived, the vast majority backed him hook line and sinker.
Their reaction at Feethams in the play off match was a sign of that, they were on the way up, but that was the tipping point, IOR were coming and we were about to change places.
If we had a George who proposed building a 27,000 seat stadium at the Graythorp end of Brenda Road I’d describe him as mad as a box of spanner’s. Yet they did it.
Then came the parting of the ways, Feethams was history and the spiral began …Raj was like the bloke turning up on the Titanic to pump out the water when it was already going down and suddenly it was his fault…he’d have been better of turning a blind eye…because by then the club was lost.
In a way , it turned out to be the ultimate hobby club.

Thank you Mr C. Your analogy is impeccable and should make us all reflect.

I suggest ya read the Big Country thread.

still convinced that darlo even as a reformed club would be at least at our level or copied us with a couple of league seasons if they had still got the feethams. denied a play off place because the new ground was not fit for purpose and will always hold them back by never being allowed to play above the level they are now at. not knocking their fans one bit but is there saturday journey pointless.

yes and its sod all to how good or bad that owner is either. people like the kray twins would be heroes to fans if they brought any success to a club they owned when they were alive and free.

No i dont favour the abusers you keep asking for evidence, but wheres the evidence they have been abused? If they have they shoyld be banned from the ground, but who is abusing them someone must of heard them.

If they had Feethams they’d likely still be playing at our level.

I’d imagine for example if you were being abused you’d hear it, I would, you wouldn’t need others to verify what you heard…..whoever got banned from the Vic for shouting abuse about another individual….?

You are so very right there Mr A.

I did, JockRock.

I like Blackpool rock and Marsden rock.

Well said Mr Derwent.
I agree with everything you are saying.
In my opinion several people on this forum thrive on negativity and only come to life if we hit a bad patch gloating that I told you so.

What good does a boycott do?
If you are a genuine supporter then get yourself there and cheer the lads on.

A boycott does a lot.
It opens the owner eyes as it hits them on match days with the cost of security and catering services. Plus all the extra energy cost of gas and electricity, as the floodlights are on, from next week every game. Sounds stupid, boycotting could force the owners hands into selling up faster or putting their hand into their wallet.
No difference to when people don't shop, eat or drink in certain places because of a bad experiences, or unions go on strike over working conditions and pay.
Football is no different, if fans don't want to give their hard earned cash to a owner that's because they feel like not supporting the owner, that's the freedom of democracy society, as things stand. Until we get the Minimum Service Bill up and running, where Raj be able to say I require 4,000 every home game and 2000 must be paying customers.
I'm not being negative here. As I'm going tomorrow. Coming up this evening.

Has anybody got cast iron evidence that if pools went bust the council would allow a reformed club to continue playing at the Vic.

I'm going to Greyfields if HUFC go out of Business.

And the OWNER could just as much say, "Know what this is not worth the trouble"
Enjoy the game.

PS: How can Freedom and Democracy appear in the same sentance.

[quote="Grayhoundend"}

PS: How can Freedom and Democracy appear in the same sentance.[/quote]

That's years of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. For Democracy and freedom for people, without fear of the crappy regime killing them. Thank you for pointing out my errors in the English language. Everything we fought for, overturned in least of a year.

I agree - they certainly wouldn't have folded.

George built the Echo Chamber not only as a legacy to himself but also because the football ground at Feethams was owned by the Cricket Club and was protected by a covenant. That's why he moved it, as the cricket club refused to sell- so he took the club elsewhere- with disastrous consequences.

That's why the ground was derelict for so long and why the loid fans wanted to move back. The cricket club then sold the covenant to a developer for housing.

You’re right of course …but…when the man who decided to make a stand with the Gas board on the advice of his dumb mate and fix the gas leak himself, was sat in the wreckage of his home, he had second thoughts, but it was too late then.

It eventually forced the hand at blackpool, at the end of the day it doesnt make you a superfan if you still turn up, i wouldnt tell anyone not to go because at times its bloody enjoyable and a buzz at times. Sometimes though you have to make a stand and say hang on we dont want to be heading towards the conference north, were a big enough club to be better than that. Im not too happy ploughing more money into a club i feel has taken the fans for a ride the last two years, but i will still pick and choose games i want to see, at the minute though its the useless buggers on the pitch stopping me taking time out of work to see them, im not prepared to give up a 200 quid shift, to then pay 30 or 40 quid on top to watch 11 lads going through the motions. Years ago id of gone come what may no longer though, dont mind us losing when we show a bit of fight, having a go but this recently has been dire bar 1 game.

think the majority of fans will not boycott games because of raj or even the team on show. its a case of not wanting to go in the first place where boycott sounds as if they want to attend in the first place but are giving it a miss. can understand anyone who thinks i,ll give it a miss until the team gives value for money but cutting your nose off for something you have no power over seems pointless.

That's years of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. For Democracy and freedom for people, without fear of the crappy regime killing them. Thank you for pointing out my errors in the English language. Everything we fought for, overturned in least of a year. [/quote]

When the leaders of their countries go on the front line then i will give them the upmost respect Like i do with our veterans. (Until then they are parasites)

And i do have plenty of info regarging Afghanistan, From the horses mouth.

Speculate to accumulate, who would we have given loads of money to then - Paterson, Lee/Nelson, Curle???

You missed out Hartley and the rest of the stars that he signed.

Meant Hartley not Paterson.

Popular saying … quote of the month…’speculate to accumulate’…trouble is they’re speculating with someone else’s money..always easy that.
Even if he did ‘speculate to accumulate, two new players with great pedigrees would still be outnumbered by the grateful dead in the team.