Give me duckworth over the club captain anyday, a masterstroke from those at the club.

When was Hartley club captain anyway? It was Humphreys last season and it's Sweeney this.

To get any money for him was a good piece of business.

Yes, Duckworth was an extraordinary piece of luck who just happened at the right time. But, of course Burgess, and quite a few others, are loanees who might well disappear any minute, as Dolan has. Surely we need a stable team, not just a series of temporary solutions.

What some people are asking is why, when you sell a player, you can't just transfer his salary to another signed player. Where does 'balancing the books' come in, if the departing player's salary was already accounted for?

Duckworths hardly luck, we never just seen a kid stood on a street corner with a pair of boots in his hand and asked him if he fancied a game, cooper is looking at the non leagues and people know that and offer him players regularly, we give them a trial like with duckworth and the rest is history.

Give the guy some credit.

According to chip, that isn't how Duckworth came to be signed up. But, in any case, it's nothing to do with my main point.

Well from what most people are saying, whatever the status of the players, being loanees or permanents, the quality of the football is much superior to last season. Given the lesser budget, isn't that someone doing a pretty good job?

Do we miss Hartley or Horwood? Suppose it remains to be seen if we miss Baldwin but we don't know if there's plans underway. I suspect there probably is.

I do struggle with the fact that some people can actually be sour about a young lad who we got for nowt, shone in his time at Pools, made us a respectable amount of cash and has moved on to further his career. How fucking miserable can you be??

Whose sour about it? No one is.

Shut the fuck up man.

Oh, blimey, kev, I'm off......if people don't want to give an opinion on an issue, fair enough, but spare me the straw man responses. What I said is what I said, not a distant translation.

What do you expect?

Cooper came into the club after the retained list was published (I think he had a hand in that list but that's another thread), he has signed Rodney probably on peanuts, he has signed Duckworth and tied him into a decent contract, he has brought in Compton which was clearly as stupid as brining in Duckworth, he has brought in Burgess on a season long loan, got us Dolan and now has Barmby and Williams on loan, and in addition to that has offloaded Howard and replaced him with an experienced forward with a bit of heart and the right attitude. Oh he also gave professional forms to a youth team player who has since caught the eye of the national teams coaching people, I suppose Walker's new contract was free though?

The exits since Cooper came to the club have been Hartley, Howard and Baldwin. Two of those exits earned the club the money to help fund the signings above and will help the club strengthen in the summer.

While the manner of Baldwin's departure may not have been ideal at least give people a chance before mouthing off about the club not spending money and if IOR want to use the income to balance the books so what? It is their club not yours despite the way you may think of it.

We were fucking abysmal last season and anyone who says they hoped for more than avoiding relegation this term is mental. We're not going to win the league, but we are playing football the right way, the players have the right attitude and with the quality of coaching they're now getting we will see lots more players leave and hopefully lots more breaking through and becoming transfer targets. Relying on loan players and being a selling club is by no means perfect, but ride it out for 5-10 years of league two & flirting with league one and producing good young players and being good at picking the best non-league players will yield benefits for the clubs coffers and maybe with time and a bit of luck Pools can be sustainable without the IOR bankroll and a club like Peterborough who are step to bigger things to players rather than a bottom rung of the ladder or last chance saloon.

is it just me or does anyone else find 'loyal blue' to be bit of a fucking crank ?

just asking like.

your being generous by adding the bit in there aido.

What I was getting at was comments most others made previously on how reserved the club are at publishing information.

Cooper. That's what the entire thread is about.